When determining how to register data for editing, advanced data models and workflows are always the first consideration. To edit a feature class in a topology, geometric network, network dataset, or terrain; archive data; or manage the data with replication, you must register the data as versioned without the option to move edits to base. This provides many benefits, allowing you to take advantage of all the advanced transactional features of the geodatabase including undo and redo of edits, complete isolation within an edit session, and the use of named versions for designs and projects.
Leave the data unregistered or register as versioned with the option to move edits to base if the ability to easily share the data with third-party applications is a priority. Registering as versioned with the option to move edits to base is useful if you require the benefits of versions but also need to share updates with applications other than ArcGIS.
As a final consideration, whenever data is part of a relationship with another feature class or table, ensure that you register data on both sides of the relationship the same way.
| Nonversioned | Versioned with the option to move edits to base | Versioned without the option to move edits to base | |
|---|---|---|---|
Supported data types | All data types except feature classes in a topology, geometric network, network dataset, or terrain | All data types except feature classes in a topology, geometric network, network dataset, or terrain | All data types |
Supported workflows | Simple workflows | Simple and advanced workflows with versions Not supported: Archiving and replication | Simple and advanced workflows including versions, replication, and archiving |
Transaction | Confined to a single edit session | Can span many edit sessions | Can span many edit sessions |
Supports undo/redo | No | Yes | Yes |
Supports DBMS data integrity features | Yes | When editing the DEFAULT version: Yes, but only when you save When editing other versions: No | No |
Can be read by client applications not created with ArcObjects (third-party applications) | Yes | DEFAULT version: Yes Feature classes in other versions: No Tables in other versions: Yes, through versioned views | Feature classes: No Tables: Yes, through versioned views |
The following chart will help you decide which level of data registration a particular workflow requires:
To learn more about edit session isolation, see Concurrency and locking.
For more information on the advantages and disadvantages of each editing option, see Data maintenance strategies.
By default, ArcMap edit sessions are set to perform versioned edits. With this setting, you can only edit data that has been registered as versioned. To learn how to set up an edit session to allow nonversioned edits, see Configuring an ArcMap edit session to perform nonversioned edits.