ESRI geodatabases using SDE style storage are created on database servers such as Oracle and other database servers. These are also referred to as ESRI enterprise geodatabases.
Esri utilizes several different "geodatabase" formats for data, in four main types:
Mobile geodatabases - Esri mobile geodatabases are SQLite databases that store Esri geodatabase spatial data. See the GDBmobile, ESRI Mobile Geodatabases topic.
File geodatabases - Stored as files and folders within a file system. These exist in two versions, the old format used by ArcGIS 9 and the new format used by ArcGIS 10 and subsequent. For discussion of new format file geodatabases, see the GDB, ESRI File Geodatabase topic. For discussion of old format file geodatabases, see the GDB, ESRI File Geodatabase, Old Format topic.
Personal geodatabases - Stored in Microsoft Access file format and limited to 2 GB. Personal geodatabases are now a legacy Esri format. They have been replaced with file geodatabases in most uses. For information on personal geodatabases, see the MDB, ESRI Personal Geodatabase topic.
Enterprise geodatabases - Also referred to as "SDE" style geodatabases and stored within a database server such as Oracle or SQL Server. When connecting to popular databases like Oracle or SQL Server, if there is an Esri SDE installation in there, Manifold will automatically be able to use that as well.
This topic is a stub to provide directions for connecting to SDE geodatabases, since no special procedure is required. If we connect to a popular database server like Oracle or SQL Server, if there is an ESRI SDE geodatabase hosted on that server, Manifold will automatically show that as well.
For connections to popular database servers, see the Databases topic.
Pass through of SDE to third party applications - When an ESRI SDE geodatabase is connected as a data source within a Manifold project, that data source then becomes available to any third party application which connects to the Manifold .map project by using the Manifold ODBC driver. This provides the ability to read/write SDE geodatabases even to those applications which on their own cannot connect to SDE geodatabases.
ESRI is not Manifold - When connecting to SDE we must be aware we are no longer using Manifold code but instead are using ESRI code. ESRI products are high quality and there are many advantages to using ESRI's own code to connect to intricate ESRI formats such as SDE, since presumably ESRI's code can handle all the many internal and undocumented quirks of the format. One major disadvantage is that ESRI's code in general is not as bulletproof as the Radian technology used in Manifold. ESRI code can and does crash, so connections to SDE fall outside of Manifold's reputation for never crashing.
Manifold Viewer - View GDB Faster than ArcGIS Explorer - ESRI's ArcGIS Explorer product is a free viewer that allows ESRI people to view ESRI GDB Geodatabases, along with other data. Unfortunately, ESRI has stopped producing Explorer and has replaced it with ArcGIS Earth, which cannot connect to and display ESRI GDB Geodatabases. The video compares Explorer to Viewer side-by-side so ESRI users can see that if they need to continue viewing GDB Geodatabases for free they can reliably use Viewer for fast, high quality GDB viewing.
GDB, ESRI File Geodatabase, Old Format
GDBmobile, ESRI Mobile Geodatabases
MDB, ESRI Personal Geodatabase
Example: Convert an ESRI File Geodatabase into a .map Project - How to convert data in ESRI's current file geodatabase format into a Manifold .map project in a single step. We convert ESRI's example NapervilleGas GDB geodatabase, all 857 files, into a single, unified Manifold .map project.
Example: Convert an ESRI Personal Geodatabase into a .map Project - How to convert data in ESRI's legacy personal geodatabase format into a Manifold .map project in a single step.
Example: Create an ODBC Data Source with Windows - How to create an ODBC data source (a DSN) using dialogs built into Windows 10.
Example: Connect to Manifold from Release 8 - Step by step procedure to connect from Manifold System Release 8 to a Manifold .map file using Manifold's ODBC driver.
Example: Connect to an ESRI GDB File Geodatabase - Connect Manifold to an ESRI GDB file geodatabase, display the contents, make a selection in the GDB and overlay in a map.
Example: Connect to an ESRI GDB usng GDAL/OGR - Instead of using Manifold's built-in ability to connect to modern ESRI GDB file geodatabases, use the Manifold GDAL/OGR dataport to take advantage of the GDAL library's ability to connect to deprecated GDB formats.
Example: Connect Through Manifold ODBC to a Third Party - With Release 8, use an ODBC connection to a Manifold .map to connect through the .map project to a third party, external data source, an ESRI GDB file geodatabase. We use Manifold facilities as an intermediary to give Release 8 capabilities it does not have on its own, to link into data stored within an ESRI file geodatabase.
Example: Connect LibreOffice Through Manifold to an ESRI GDB - A companion example topic to the Example: Connect Through Manifold ODBC to a Third Party topic. Shows how to connect LibreOffice Base, the database part of LIbreOffice, through Manifold to link an ESRI GDB file geodatabase table into LibreOffice.