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Working with ArcGIS Enterprise and QuickCapture

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01-21-2020 02:25 PM
IsmaelChivite
by Esri Notable Contributor
Esri Notable Contributor
1 0 3,154
‎01-21-2020 02:25 PM

In this article you will find a few quick facts describing how ArcGIS QuickCapture and ArcGIS Enterprise work together.

You need a portal (Portal for ArcGIS): For ArcGIS QuickCapture to work with ArcGIS Enterprise, you need to configure the Portal for ArcGIS component.   ArcGIS QuickCapture projects are modeled as portal items, so you need a portal to store them.  Resources referenced in your QuickCapture project such as web maps, mobile map packages or feature layers are also referenced through portal items.

Versions of Portal for ArcGIS supported:  ArcGIS QuickCapture is officially supported only with versions 10.7.1 or newer of Portal for ArcGIS. You can technically make ArcGIS QuickCapture work against versions 10.6 and 10.7 of Portal for ArcGIS, but Esri will not officially support this configuration.  More details in the Working with non supported versions of Portal for ArcGIS section below.

Connecting QuickCapture designer to your portal: We host the ArcGIS QuickCapture designer web application in ArcGIS Online at https://quickcapture.arcgis.com You can make this web application work against your own ArcGIS portal as follows:

  1. Open a web browser and navigate to https://quickcapture.arcgis.com
  2. Click on Sign in with ArcGIS Enterprise
  3. Enter the URL of your portal and connect

To simplify access to the QuickCapture designer from your portal you can add  https://quickcapture.arcgis.com into your own portal app launcher as described in the Manage apps in the app launcher—Portal for ArcGIS (10.7 and 10.7.1) | ArcGIS Enterprise help topic.

Starting with ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8 a local copy of QuickCapture designer is included with the Enterprise setup.  You can access your local version of QuickCapture designer from the app launcher.  Given that we update the designer in ArcGIS Online pretty often, you may want to replace the URL of your 10.8 local QuickCapture designer shortcut in the app launcher with https://quickcapture.arcgis.com so you always get the latest and greatest.

Feature services (Federation required, avoid geodatabase versioning): ArcGIS QuickCapture can target feature services of all types. That is, you can target hosted feature services as well as feature services hosted in ArcGIS Server hitting a multi-user geodatabase.  If using ArcGIS Server feature services, you need to make sure that:

  1. Your ArcGIS Server site is federated with your portal. See Federate an ArcGIS Server site with your portal—Portal for ArcGIS (10.7 and 10.7.1) | ArcGIS Enterpr... for details.
  2. Your feature service does not contain feature classes from a versioned geodatabase workspace.
  3. Global IDs must exist in a feature layer before enabling attachments. You must use a globalid-based relationship for your attachments.

You can mix old versions of ArcGIS Server with your portal. For example, you can create a QuickCapture project on top of an ArcGIS Server 10.6 feature service and host your QuickCapture project in a 10.7.1 portal. As long as you can federate your ArcGIS Server site with your portal, you will be fine.

Make people's live easier by using links and QR codes: From the user of the ArcGIS QuickCapture mobile app, the most error prone aspect of working with ArcGIS Enterprise is having to type he portal URL to login. You can save many headaches by simply using project links and QR codes.  When authoring your QuickCapture project in QuickCapture designer, make sure you get the link and/or QR code of your project.   When those are used, there is no need for people to type the URL of your portal, because the URL is embedded in the link. 

For example, you can add the QR code of your QuickCapture project in an Enterprise Site, a StoryMap or a sharepoint page. You can also include the link with an e-mail or even through a text message. Getting field workers up to speed with QuickCapture on top of ArcGIS Enterprise should be a matter of two clicks!

Deploying ArcGIS QuickCapture with a Mobile Device Management solution: You can deploy and manage ArcGIS QuickCapture through the most popular MDM solutions (VMWare AirWatch, Citrix XenMobile, Microsoft's InTune, etc). Starting with version 1.4 of QuickCapture, you can also use AppConfig to set the default portal URL.

Working with non-supported versions of Portal for ArcGIS:  If you want to work with 10.6 and 10.7 portals you need to perform manual registration of QuickCapture in your portal. This is a manual and error-prone process and it needs manually be undone if you ever upgrade your portal to a newer version. Step by step instructions are provided in this unofficial guide. You can follow these instructions at your own risk. It is strongly recommended that you avoid working with versions of portal older than 10.7.1.  If you really have to do it and run into a problem, all you have for help is that from your QuickCapture colleagues in GeoNet. Do no attempt to follow manual registration instructions with versions older than 10.6: it will not work.