Access MDB connection file result does not have an object ID in ArcGIS 10.8

Question

I have made an MDB Access Connection by linking the Excel file with the Access one, but when I looked at the result in ArcMap the feature class table does not have an Object ID on it. I tried to export the file in shapefile in order to get Object ID on it.

How can we keep the connection with the MDB Access connection with the new feature class in order to update the data directly from Excel table to be displayed and updated directly on ArcMap?

Answer 1

See the following section (2nd) the ArcGIS webpage:

Because OLE DB connections do not have an ObjectID field, which is a field maintained by ArcGIS that guarantees a unique ID for each row in the table, you won't be able to perform certain operations in ArcMap. These include selecting the features in the layer on the map in any way, applying a definition query, creating full relates, or editing the attributes. For more information about working with tables that lack Object IDs, see About ObjectID fields.

• https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage-data/tables/connecting-to-a-microsoft-access-database.htm

And for more information on the ObjectID:

• https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage-data/tables/fundamentals-of-objectid-fields.htm

Instead of trying to connect a existing .mdb database, I would also suggest to look into "personal geodatabases", which essentially is a .mdb database but then with edit functionality. However, they do come with restrictions (such as a max. 2gb limit). Depending on your use-case, it might be a good fit or not.

• https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/manage-data/administer-file-gdbs/personal-geodatabases.htm#:~:text=A%20personal%20geodatabase%20is%20a,data%20in%20a%20personal%20geodatabase.