Managing annotation feature classes
License:Feature-linked annotation is read-only in ArcGIS for Desktop Basic.
You work with geodatabase annotation feature classes in ArcCatalog and the Catalog window much like you work with other feature classes in your geodatabase. You can create, rename, copy, paste, or delete annotation feature classes. You can also view and modify their properties.
Managing feature class properties
To access annotation properties in the Catalog tree, double-click an annotation feature class to open the Feature Class Properties dialog box.
Learn more about managing annotation feature class properties
Managing feature-linked annotation
When you create a new feature-linked annotation feature class, a relationship class is created to link it to the feature class it's annotating. This relationship class can be managed like any other relationship class.
You cannot begin with a standard annotation feature class and make it feature-linked simply by creating a relationship class. Actually, there's nothing you can do to make a standard annotation class truly feature-linked. You can, however, do the opposite. If you delete the relationship class for a given feature-linked annotation class, it becomes a standard annotation feature class.
Learn how to re-create this relationship class
Learn more about managing relationship classes
When you copy and paste a feature class in the Catalog tree, any linked annotation classes, as well as the associated relationship class, will also be copied and pasted. The reverse is also true: if you copy and paste a feature-linked annotation feature class, the linked feature class (and relationship class) will also be copied and pasted. You will be notified of this in the Data Transfer dialog box that appears when you use the Paste command in the Catalog tree.
Learn more about copying feature datasets, classes, and tables to another geodatabase
Combining annotation feature classes
To save you from having to maintain several annotation feature classes, you may want to combine them into a single annotation feature class. You might do this, for example, if they annotate features in the same feature class or if they are standard annotation feature classes that annotate similar features in more than one feature class. When you combine annotation feature classes, the annotation from each feature class becomes an annotation class in the new annotation feature class. You combine annotation feature classes with the Append Annotation Feature Classes tool.
Upgrading ArcGIS 8 annotation feature classes
ArcGIS 9.0 and subsequent versions add functionality to annotation feature classes that was not available in previous versions. If you have annotation feature classes created in ArcGIS 8, you can display and query them. However, to edit them or modify their properties, you must upgrade them. Upgrading annotation feature classes also adds text symbol fields that are useful for querying and editing.