Confused, need suggestions on best way to consume my flex-builder maps

ErikBlake

So. I have started working with flex viewer-App builder and have successfully created a few Web Apps that function really well. But now I am confused as to whether or not I am going in the wrong direction when it comes to be able to deploy these maps to our field people. We ultimately want to have our field crews using tabulates. I understand that Apples IOS does not support flash plug-ins. And that Android does. now I am reading, hearing that Android is not the way to go because Adobe is doing something with flash and the new androids will not support flash plug-ins. So needless to say I am very confused at this point with what direction I should be headed in. Is it best then to buy adobe flash builder and learn how to create my own map apps that will allow us to use our flex viewer builder maps that I have created or should I be concentrating my efforts somewhere else. I have little to no programming experience which is why I liked builder a lot. If someone could please give me an idea as to what tabulates would be best for us to use or which is the easiest ones to create web apps for if that's what we need to do. We are a smaller organization so our field crews don't edit data just view and query, look at linked drawings, in the field. From my reading I am guessing that building map apps in adobe flash builder with Arcviewer flex API is probably the best route to ensure that any tabulate we use will consume my builder web apps. Please help me be less confused. Sorry for such a long post but in need of some guidance/ideas.
Erik

BjornSvensson

I think this is the same question you had in your other post, but I'll just try to answer here.

My option #1: smartphone apps
Based on your use case, it seems like your field crew would be fine using the "apps" that Esri have created for Android and iPhone/iPad.  See http://resources.arcgis.com/en/communities/smartphone-apps/ for more information on "ArcGIS Application for Android" and "ArcGIS Application for iOS".

• Create a "Web map" on ArcGIS.com
• Share the "Web map"
• Install the "ArcGIS" application on the mobile device.
• Open the "Web map" inside the "ArcGIS" application on the mobile device.

My option #2: browser-based application based on Javascript template
Use one of the existing templates on ArcGIS.com.

• Create a "Web map" on ArcGIS.com
• Share the "Web map"
• On ArcGIS.com, "Make a Web Application" using a tablet friendly template like "Simple Map Viewer".
• Share the application
• Open the link in a browser on the mobile device.

This assumes that you don't want be a developer to solve the problem, in which case Flex, iOS, Android APIs would all be worth looking into.

I hope this makes you less confused... 🙂