Development starting point

Question

Hello,

I am trying to learn about ArcGIS in an effort to use it inside an application I am building.  It simply needs to allow for the placing of "sensors", the drawing of polygons, and importing highly detailed terrain data.  My current line of thinking is to build a LabView program.  I hope to achieve this by building a C# .dll that can be called.  Naturally I've been looking for any kind of C# example that uses ArcGIS.  PREFERABLY one in a Windows Form application considering that's what I have the most experience in.

However, I have had a hard time reading through and understanding how the ArcGIS API works.  There appears to be many different versions (REST, SOAP, etc.) and the tutorials seem old (http://edndoc.esri.com/arcobjects/8.3/gettingstarted/walkthrough1cs.htm).  Not to mention the different types of ArcGIS (Globe, Maps).

The above tutorial in particular mentions .dll's that I don't know how to get... ESRI.ArcObjects.Core?  No clue where to get that.

So I would love input on where you guys think I should begin. Not even sure if I am in the most appropriate forum...

I have the desktop version of ArcGIS as well as the "Engine" and "ArcObjects" I think.  Does anyone know of any example projects in C# (again, preferably ones that aren't WPF)?

AndreaFlesca · Answer

It simply needs to allow for the placing of "sensors", the drawing of polygons, and importing highly detailed terrain data.

Hi wrightky,
I am Andrea, and I'm writing from Italy.
Maybe I've got a little help for you, but only if my understanding (of the problem) is correct. As I'm not a native English speaker, I'm not sure, so let's try:

You load a terrain layer of data into your GIS viewer. Then you need to add a vector layer produced by you in order to see your vector layer overlapped to the existing terrain data layer. You also have license problems...:(
Well, if the situation is this, here are my two cents:

You need to be able to realize one or more data files in shapefile format. Into the shapefile you can put your points, polylines, poligones and text labels.
In order to produce a shapefile for your needs, you have to use these C++ open source libraries: http://shapelib.maptools.org/. It's very easy, you will not have problem (or you can ask me if you need).
Once you have created your shapefile, just put in into your GIS viewer.

Let me know,
regards

Andrea

KyleWright2 · Answer

Okay so I'm working with government computers and I don't know if they have the engine.  They have ArcGIS desktop.  If they have that, do they have the engine?  If they don't can it be downloaded from somewhere? How can I check to see if they have the engine?

LeoDonahue · Answer

It's at the very end of the page:

To develop it, you need a:  Engine Developer Kit  (which should come with a license of ArcGIS Desktop)

To deploy it, you need a license of one of the following:

Engine
ArcGIS for Desktop Basic
ArcGIS for Desktop Standard
ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced