NOTE: ArcEditor or ArcInfo is required to import into a feature-linked annotation feature class.
You can import one or more coverage annotation feature classes with the
Import Coverage Annotation tool. Similarly, you can import one or more CAD annotation feature classes with the
Import CAD Annotation tool. Both tools import into a new standard or feature-linked annotation feature class they create in the process. Importing from these formats into a feature-linked annotation feature class does not link annotation to features but does create the relationship class.
Learn how to link the imported annotation.
Values stored in regular text attributes in the annotation feature classes you import are carried over to the new feature classes.
Coverage and CAD annotation import into the geodatabase as they appear in ArcMap. For this reason, you should carefully set up the display of the annotation before you import. If you’re importing several tiled annotation feature classes at the same time, you need only to set up symbology for the first annotation feature class you list in the Import Coverage Annotation or Import CAD Annotation tool. The tools allow you to apply the same symbology to all the other feature classes you import.
When you display a coverage annotation feature class in ArcMap or ArcInfo Workstation, pseudo item fields in the coverage's text attribute table determine how the annotation displays. Pseudo items are used differently in ArcMap than they are in ArcInfo Workstation, and geodatabase annotation feature classes do not store pseudo items. Consequently, there are a couple of rules to keep in mind when importing coverage annotation:
- Because the following text symbol properties are stored in pseudo items, you can't change them with ArcMap: vertical and horizontal alignment, x and y offset and—if $SIZE doesn't equal zero—the text size. If you want to change any of these properties, change the pseudo item property with ArcInfo Workstation before displaying and importing the annotation with ArcMap. Another approach is to change the property in the new annotation feature class after import.
- If you want to carry over pseudo item values when converting—for example, for the purposes of querying—you should use ArcInfo Workstation beforehand to create regular items (not pseudo items) in the text attribute table that stores these attributes.
The values in the pseudo item $SIZE determine how the text size is set for the imported annotation. If the value is zero, the ArcMap text symbol size is used. This means you must display the annotation in the correct text symbol size before importing. The size you choose is the size in which the new annotation will display at the scale you’re zoomed to.
If the $SIZE value is not zero, you cannot change the size of the annotation in ArcMap. In this scenario, the $SIZE value is used as the size instead of the ArcMap text symbol size.
Learn more about coverage annotation pseudo items.