??? ArcGIS API for WPF??? or ???Hosting the ArcGIS Windows Form Control in a WPF window???

Question

We develop a stand-along application with WPF. The application will run on laptops without internet access. The map files will be stored locally.

It seems there are two solutions of using WPF with ArcGIS.

1, Use ArcGIS API for WPF;

2, Use ArcGIS Engine controls, which are Windows Forms controls, in a WPF environment. The WindowsFormsHost control will be used as a container.

Could you please advise which one fit our project?

Thanks!

RichardWatson · Answer

Thanks for the response Mike.  I appreciate it.

I think that the ArcGIS Runtime is really cool.  I like the idea of being to run it against ArcGIS Server or in a disconnected mode using functionality on the local system.  I also really like the architecture in that it forks off requests to multiple processes, i.e. it issues asynchronous HTTP requests that can be processed locally.  This will work well with Windows 8.

As an application developer what I want to do is to be able to add application specific coarse grain APIs to the set of functions exposed out.  Today I can do that using an SOE in conjunction with ArcGIS Server.  The thing that I'd like to be able to do is to leverage that work in the ArcGIS Runtime locally.  I ask for that because having to develop a custom set of libraries/add-ins for the runtime is expen$ive.  Perhaps this is not possible but if GP works then alot of the core infrastructure must in place.  I have a dream that one day I will be able to write code for the ESRI platform that works across the various technologies you offer.

MichaelBranscomb · Answer

For Engine, Desktop, and Server it is possible to customize the system using low level (fined grained) ArcObject APIs.

Is there any similar provision for ArcGIS Runtime?

Essentially, do you have an extension mechanism which runs in disconnected environments which allows a non-ESRI developer to access ArcObjects?

Richard,

The ArcGIS Runtime SDKs do not allow you to access ArcObjects in a disconnected environment. The current point for extensibility is Geoprocessing, including support for Python scripts. However, on the longer term roadmap, we are considering an extensibility framework for the ArcGIS Runtime ideally based on an "add-in" model which would continue to support the simple Xcopy-style deployment story.

Cheers

Mike

RichardWatson · Answer

Mike,

I have a conceptual question about the ArcGIS Runtime.

For Engine, Desktop, and Server it is possible to customize the system using low level (fined grained) ArcObject APIs.

Is there any similar provision for ArcGIS Runtime?

Essentially, do you have an extension mechanism which runs in disconnected environments which allows a non-ESRI developer to access ArcObjects?