nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

ArcGIS Explorer 2500 discussion

MarkBockenhauer

Questions and comments in regards to ArcGIS Explorer 2012 beta and the ArcGIS Explorer 2500 release.

thanks,
ArcGIS Explorer Team

Encontre mais publicações marcadas com

Accepted answers

All comments

RobertHeitzman

Should the 1750 Data Access Extension work with the beta?

JeffJacobson

I noticed that in the Beta install directory there are now arcpy and Python directories. What are those used for?

MarkBockenhauer

Is it just me or does the Analysis Buffer tool crash Explorer Beta when it is run for other users too?

Thanks

Barry

Yes, the buffer analysis tool is not functioning correctly in the beta release, and it does crash. It will be fixed for the final release.

Mark

BarryWere

Is it just me or does the Analysis Buffer tool crash Explorer Beta when it is run for other users too?

Thanks

Barry

MarkBockenhauer

I have 36 users working with 1750 and today i updated a few to beta 2012.

I use the previous - next addin (PreviousNextExtent.eaz) and every time i open beta 2012 the software asks me if i want to install it.

I cant get rid of some useless for my users buttons through Application Configuration Manager eg add overlay text and map text

I get some problems during navigation.

and for the end a little request: I would really like to have the date of the bing maps imagery i see.

We did change the way add-ins are handled by ArcGIS Explorer.
For ArcGIS Explorer users with Add-ins that update to ArcGIS Explorer 2012;
When ArcGIS Explorer 2012 starts for the first time a prompt will be shown to install each Add-in that is on this system. Once accepted on future starts of ArcGIS Explorer 2012 the add-in prompt should not occur. I assume that you have accepted the add-in, but you are still prompted to install it when you start ArcGIS Explorer in subsequent sessions.

Yes, we identified a problem with the Add text button and application configurations. It will be fixed at final, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

What kind of problem do you see during navigation?

Mark

MarkBockenhauer

Does the 2012 Beta work with the 1750 SDK? I cannot seem to build an add-in with the 1750 SDK. It looks like the MakeEaz MSBuild task cannot find the ESRI.ArcGIS.Utilities.Compression assembly. I tried copying both the SDK and assembly files to both "Explorer" and "Explorer (x86)" bin directories, and registering the Compression assembly, but I still get the FileNotFound exception during my project build.

Attached is the error.

No, the 1750 SDK will not work with ArcGIS Explorer 2012. With the final release we will have an ArcGIS Explorer 2012 version of the SDK.
Until then, you can develop add-ins with ArcGIS Explorer 1750 and use those Add-ins with ArcGIS Explorer 2012.

Mark

MarkBockenhauer

I have a user who has the Beta, but needs the ESRI fonts... they tried to install the 1750 font pack but no go. I've got some layers built... and we need to keep the symbology consistent.

Thanks

Cam

Cam,

I think this might work for your case. Install 1750, install the expansion pack. Uninstall 1750, but leave the expansion pack on the machine and install ArcGIS Explorer 2012. With the final 2012 release the 2012 expansion packs will also be available.

Mark

MarkBockenhauer

I'm sorry but in my opinion that is an unacceptable solution. People shouldn't have to search for or manually select jpgs or png images to get decent symbols. Why is it so hard to include some basic styles and allow for selection similar to ArcMap or even the basic symbology in ArcPad? Having the ArcPad symbology would be a huge improvement. For such a big release there doesn't seem to be much improvement. I guess I'm stuck with .lyr files. Curious if you guys even listen to users/customers? I remember seeing many posts in the forums about Explorer Desktop symbology and there is no plan to improve it even after all that feedback.

Nathan,

Yes, we do listen to users and customers. In a future version of ArcGIS Explorer (post 2012) their likely will be changes to the available symbols and the user experience for working with them. We have thousands of enhancement requests and software ideas in our database; often the requested enhancement is the most important issue for the person that submitted it. We are well aware that when we do not address an issue, the person that submitted it will be disappointed, and we do not take this lightly. Our users' needs are important to us too! We have the challenge of prioritizing all of these requests against one another and defining a project to address the requests in a reasonable time frame. We also have to look at the ArcGIS Explorer Desktop product and weigh whether the requested functionality is a good fit. This is particularly true of functionality that exists in other Esri software products. ArcGIS Explorer Desktop is not a copy of ArcMap or ArcGlobe. ArcGIS Explorer is meant to be complimentary software for visualizing content created by ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap, ArcGlobe, ArcScene) and ArcGIS Server. It's primary role is to allow those who do not have ArcGIS Desktop to work with and view the content created by those who do have ArcGIS Desktop. ArcGIS Explorer Desktops availability and price point (free download) lowers the bar for accessing / viewing ArcGIS content.

ArcGIS Explorer does have capabilities for viewing "raw data"... shapefiles, geodatabase, rasters, text files, but admittedly there is not a strong cartographic toolset for defining how this data should be displayed (ex. symbolize by attribute). At this time ArcGIS Explorer map authoring is focused on assembling content that has already been cartographically rendered (ArcGIS layers, Services, Web Maps). As ArcGIS Explorer evolves the functionality and user experience in this area could change.

Your enhancement requests are important to us and will be considered as we continue to enhance existing software and create new software products.
We do have requests for specific symbols and symbolsets in our user requests database.

Thanks,
Mark

CameronWallace

I have a user who has the Beta, but needs the ESRI fonts... they tried to install the 1750 font pack but no go. I've got some layers built... and we need to keep the symbology consistent.

Thanks

Cam

Anonymous User

There are no plans to add or change the symbology in ArcGIS Explorer 2012. In regards to points you can add images to use as symbols. http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/2012//en/dialog_manage_my_symbols.htm#

I'm sorry but in my opinion that is an unacceptable solution. People shouldn't have to search for or manually select jpgs or png images to get decent symbols. Why is it so hard to include some basic styles and allow for selection similar to ArcMap or even the basic symbology in ArcPad? Having the ArcPad symbology would be a huge improvement. For such a big release there doesn't seem to be much improvement. I guess I'm stuck with .lyr files. Curious if you guys even listen to users/customers? I remember seeing many posts in the forums about Explorer Desktop symbology and there is no plan to improve it even after all that feedback.

MarkBockenhauer

Just installed the beta and noticed the same atrocious symbology. Will there be ANY improvements to symbols in the 2012 release? As described to me once, the symbols in Explorer are way to "cartoony" and need to be more professional looking. There should be more of an option other than "use layer packages or use .lyr files". layer packages seem to have less functionality than directly adding shapefiles. Users can't change colors or mess with popups from a layer package. So if somebody wants different colors for something they have to go back to the source to get a new layer file.

If the symbols won't be changed at least make it easier to install and use symbol or style packages from ArcGIS Desktop within Explorer. Or even allow users to download symbol packages or esri fonts. Something. But either way something has to be done with the symbology.

There are no plans to add or change the symbology in ArcGIS Explorer 2012. In regards to points you can add images to use as symbols. http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/2012//en/dialog_manage_my_symbols.htm#

MarkBockenhauer

Can you expand on this a little more? Will this be like the 9.2/9.3 days where you had to install Bing maps as an extenstion (virtual earth if i remember), which required registering with Microsoft and ESRI? Where are we to obtain a bing maps key in the future and where are we to input this key to gain access to Bing Maps. My agency already has a Bing Maps key but other people might want to know some details on this.

This is the URL to obtain a key from Microsoft. http://www.bingmapsportal.com/

There is no registration with Esri, the ArcGIS Explorer 2012 final version will have an option for entering in a Microsoft key to enable the use of Bing Maps data.

Anonymous User

Just installed the beta and noticed the same atrocious symbology. Will there be ANY improvements to symbols in the 2012 release? As described to me once, the symbols in Explorer are way to "cartoony" and need to be more professional looking. There should be more of an option other than "use layer packages or use .lyr files". layer packages seem to have less functionality than directly adding shapefiles. Users can't change colors or mess with popups from a layer package. So if somebody wants different colors for something they have to go back to the source to get a new layer file.

If the symbols won't be changed at least make it easier to install and use symbol or style packages from ArcGIS Desktop within Explorer. Or even allow users to download symbol packages or esri fonts. Something. But either way something has to be done with the symbology.

Anonymous User

Esri is phasing out the complimentary use of Bing Maps in its ArcGIS products. The final version of ArcGIS Explorer 2012 as well as other Esri products will be "Bing Ready", which will allow you to input a Bing Maps key that you obtain directly from Microsoft. After you input the key you will be able to use Bing maps as you did previously.

Mark

Can you expand on this a little more? Will this be like the 9.2/9.3 days where you had to install Bing maps as an extenstion (virtual earth if i remember), which required registering with Microsoft and ESRI? Where are we to obtain a bing maps key in the future and where are we to input this key to gain access to Bing Maps. My agency already has a Bing Maps key but other people might want to know some details on this.

JoeFlannery

Harry:

Have you considered caching your vector data on ArcGIS for Server and sharing that map service with your end users? That is how we solved a similar issue with a very large parcel polygon data set. It's super fast!

HarryBowman

I still haven't found a good way to get our big (46 million record) feature class to draw quickly in ArcGIS Explorer, even when zoomed in. In ArcMap at the same scale, things draw fine.
On the other hand, poking around the documentation, the contributed add-ins, and the SDK has turned up support for labeling, opening non-geometry tables, showing related records, and joining. A combination of third party and home coded add-ins should allow the software to handle what we could do with ArcView 3.3.

I think the thing that might get people interested in converting - maybe - is the integrated support for imagery. Right now the flow goes the other way - export shapefile to KML and load it up in a Google product.

I've uninstalled the beta so that I can test out some extensions that run on the released version.

JamesNyberg

Does the 2012 Beta work with the 1750 SDK? I cannot seem to build an add-in with the 1750 SDK. It looks like the MakeEaz MSBuild task cannot find the ESRI.ArcGIS.Utilities.Compression assembly. I tried copying both the SDK and assembly files to both "Explorer" and "Explorer (x86)" bin directories, and registering the Compression assembly, but I still get the FileNotFound exception during my project build.

Attached is the error.

MakeEaz_Exception.txt.zip

AchilleasDrosos

I have 36 users working with 1750 and today i updated a few to beta 2012.

I use the previous - next addin (PreviousNextExtent.eaz) and every time i open beta 2012 the software asks me if i want to install it.

I cant get rid of some useless for my users buttons through Application Configuration Manager eg add overlay text and map text

I get some problems during navigation.

and for the end a little request: I would really like to have the date of the bing maps imagery i see.

HarryBowman

I ran the routing tool to drive from one place to another in town. I noticed that when I clicked on the map to get my origin and destination, the flags were not added. Nothing was added until I generated directions. I think it would be better to place the flags first. When I double clicked my origin in the the Directions in the ToC, the map centered on the origin, but it zoomed way out, so that the entire rout was less than a fifth of the map extent. Why? That's pretty much opposite of what I would have expected.

HarryBowman

You aren't necessarily doing anything incorrectly, but you may be able to get a better user experience by trying the following: [various good tips]
Mark

I was able to get good performance with the shapefiles by turning off all the basemap imagery and using some hollow polygon features for the USA, Canada, Counties and points for cities to orient. And the search by Lat Lon made finding the location pretty easy. With no basemap and the map in the data's coordinate system, shapefiles were fast enough. File GDB of the entire country, even when very much zoomed in, was very slow. The File GDB has a spatial index managed by ArcGIS, so I don't know what's wrong.

Is it possible to label features or look at tables and do relates in ArcGIS Explorer - I have a feeling that the answer is no, from the documentation, without custom code. If that's the case, our guys will probably stick with AV3.3 until it dies - it can do everything they need, and the data is still shipped to us in shapefiles.

It's a toss up for them, though - they'd also like to have the imagery behind the streets. Right now, that's done with KML export and Google. We'd prefer to avoid that.

MarkBockenhauer

Installed the beta last Friday.

Background: I have used the previous version only a little, so there is a decent chance I am using it suboptimally and the performance issues I see are a result of user error.

Use case: We have data in shapefiles representing streets in the USA and Canada. Supporting these feature classes and shapefiles are extra tables about maneuvers, etc. The data is stored centrally and is read only. I am evaluating ArcExplorer Desktop as a potential replacement for the couple copies of ArcView 3.3 the field collection guys use to study some tricky intersections. They load up the appropriate shapefile (usually half a million to a million streets) in AV 3.3 very quickly and the guys zoom to their intersection and use a combination of Identify, symbology, and occasionally relates to figure things out. We'd like to move off AV 3.3 before it stops working with some version of Windows. We'd also like to eventually move the data to geodatabase.

Here's what I've tried: keeping the data in central shapefiles, local shapefiles, local filegeodatabase, local layer package.
Here's what I've seen: ArcExplorer draws the shapes very, very slowing, spending a large amount of time telling me it is "streaming." I can start AV 3.3 and look at the data in the same time I am waiting for the data to render. The field guys will never accept this performance hit. In just a little looking, I was also not able to figure out how to handle the user need to look at other tables by relate. I didn't spend much time on it, though, because the slow drawing was a total deal breaker.

I assume I am doing something incorrectly, but if the performance difference is unavoidable, I think our guys will want to stick with AV 3.3 - it is familiar and fast.

What am I doing incorrectly?

You aren't necessarily doing anything incorrectly, but you may be able to get a better user experience by trying the following:

1. Make sure your coordinates system of the map matches the coordinate system of the data, if possible. Projection on the fly is always slower than drawing in the coordinate system of the data. From the file menu (ArcGIS Explorer icon upper left) Click map properties and 2D coordinate system, specify the coordinate system of your data. Also, when working with a lot of features your going to get better performance working in 2D, rather than 3D.

2. Use a Display range. In ArcGIS Explorer on the appearance tab you can set the Minimum scale at which the data draws, the data won't display when zoomed out beyond the specified scale (or if using ArcGIS Layers, Layer packages, ArcGIS Explorer will honor visibility settings stored in the layer). You can specify a display range that ensures the data only draws when zoomed in close. This narrows the extent of the data fetched for display and improves performance. Make use of another layer that draws fast (like an ArcGIS Explorer basemap) so that your users have a point of reference for where they want to zoom in, but only draw the large dataset when zoomed in close.

Mark

MarkBockenhauer

Hey,

... Is it possible to add the new Web Feature Services hosted by ArcGIS Online or is it planned to add such a functionality? At the moment there only seems to be support for common GIS-server technologies.

I think this would be a perfect addition to reach a maximum integration between both systems.

best regards
Richard

We agree that this would be a great addition. However, Feature services are currently not supported. Support for these will be added in a future release, post ArcGIS Explorer 2012.

Mark

Anonymous User

Hey,

I've also tested the new beta version of ArcGIS Explorer Desktop 2012 because a client of us is using it extensively in combination with ArcGIS Online for Organizations content. Is it possible to add the new Web Feature Services hosted by ArcGIS Online or is it planned to add such a functionality? At the moment there only seems to be support for common GIS-server technologies.

I think this would be a perfect addition to reach a maximum integration between both systems.

best regards
Richard

MarkBockenhauer

I seem to be in some strange loop for Add Ins, though. When I go to Resources > Add Ins, it asks if I want to restart to load one. Not sure what it's loading, but restart doesn't end the popup. I've got:

Add Ins Online
File WithCoordinates
Raster Georeferencing
Create or Add GeoTagged Images

I'm also unable to remove any of them.

I also had a third party Add In developed for search and rescue. I can't install that, though it worked on build 1750.

Workaround is to keep 1750 on my machine. Can I then use 2012 beta off a USB?

Thoughts and comments welcome

Thanks!

George

George,

For ArcGIS Explorer 2012 we changed how the Add-ins are handled when added to the software. As a result you will be prompted to Accept all the add-ins that you currently have installed when you run ArcGIS Explorer 2012. It is expected that user experience for adding and removing should work as it previously did. I will have to take a look and see if I can find a scenario where they are not handled properly.

It is also expected that all add-ins 1500 - 1750 should work in ArcGIS Explorer 2012. Those that do not will need to be looked at on a case by case basis. If you can send the Add-in we can take a look.

Yes, you could run ArcGIS Explorer 2012 from a USB or copied folder on a machine that is running 1750. The only issue is that the cache files created by ArcGIS Explorer 2012 will not be useable by 1750, so when running 1750 data that was cached and viewed in ArcGIS Explorer 2012, will not display in ArcGIS Explorer 1750. For basemaps you may even see an error message in regards to an "invalid layer". To correct this problem you just need to clear out all of the ArcGIS Explorer cache. (delete %tmp%\E3)

Mark

MarkBockenhauer

Noticed that the Beta version is for 32-bit. Are there any plans to release a 64-bit version? We have done a lot of customization using the Add-in functionality within version 1750, will it still worj in 2012?

Regards,
Stefan
ssteenekamp@ppf.org.za

Stefan,

Yes, a 64 bit version is planned, it currently lags a bit behind the 32 bit version, as we get the code working in 64 bit. Yes, Add-ins from 1750 will work In ArcGIS Explorer 2012. For the 64 bit version you will need to confirm that the add-ins were targetted at "Any CPU"

Mark

MarkBockenhauer

Did we lose the option for Bing basemaps?

I do like having the option to finally put text on the map - kudos for that.

Esri is phasing out the complimentary use of Bing Maps in its ArcGIS products. The final version of ArcGIS Explorer 2012 as well as other Esri products will be "Bing Ready", which will allow you to input a Bing Maps key that you obtain directly from Microsoft. After you input the key you will be able to use Bing maps as you did previously.

Mark

MarkBockenhauer

When I attempted to add a base map to ArcMap, the basemap opened in AGX as a new ArcGIS Layer and not in ArcMap.

So, initial problem is kind of solved, but I don't think what just happened was by design.

Dan,

It certainly was not by the initial design... For ArcGIS Explorer 2012 we did work to "separate" ArcGIS Explorer desktop from ArcGIS Desktop, this is what allows it to run off of a USB, a side affect is that for shared file types, things like layers and layer packages that can be opened in ArcGIS Explorer, ArcGlobe and ArcMap, we do not have a real clean file association solution. So, we made the decision that if ArcGIS Explorer is running, it takes the file association. This is something we will continue to look at, when double clicking in windows explorer or opening content from the ArcGIS online webpage we can't really control which Esri app will get the common file type, but when opening from an application (opening basemap in ArcMap) we should be able to direct it to the correct application. This could be a future SP fix for ArcMap.

Mark

HarryBowman

Installed the beta last Friday.

Background: I have used the previous version only a little, so there is a decent chance I am using it suboptimally and the performance issues I see are a result of user error.

Use case: We have data in shapefiles representing streets in the USA and Canada. Supporting these feature classes and shapefiles are extra tables about maneuvers, etc. The data is stored centrally and is read only. I am evaluating ArcExplorer Desktop as a potential replacement for the couple copies of ArcView 3.3 the field collection guys use to study some tricky intersections. They load up the appropriate shapefile (usually half a million to a million streets) in AV 3.3 very quickly and the guys zoom to their intersection and use a combination of Identify, symbology, and occasionally relates to figure things out. We'd like to move off AV 3.3 before it stops working with some version of Windows. We'd also like to eventually move the data to geodatabase.

Here's what I've tried: keeping the data in central shapefiles, local shapefiles, local filegeodatabase, local layer package.
Here's what I've seen: ArcExplorer draws the shapes very, very slowing, spending a large amount of time telling me it is "streaming." I can start AV 3.3 and look at the data in the same time I am waiting for the data to render. The field guys will never accept this performance hit. In just a little looking, I was also not able to figure out how to handle the user need to look at other tables by relate. I didn't spend much time on it, though, because the slow drawing was a total deal breaker.

I assume I am doing something incorrectly, but if the performance difference is unavoidable, I think our guys will want to stick with AV 3.3 - it is familiar and fast.

What am I doing incorrectly?

CraigBeech

Noticed that the Beta version is for 32-bit. Are there any plans to release a 64-bit version? We have done a lot of customization using the Add-in functionality within version 1750, will it still worj in 2012?

Regards,
Stefan
ssteenekamp@ppf.org.za

GeorgeDurkee

Just fiddling with Beta now. Looks great: loads much faster; excellent addition of map text; also seem to have solved ability to print popups and shapes on maps (for some reason, with 1700 & 1750 I was unable to have drawn shapes and their popups show when I went to print or Copy to Clipboard. This was true on a number of machines I used).

I seem to be in some strange loop for Add Ins, though. When I go to Resources > Add Ins, it asks if I want to restart to load one. Not sure what it's loading, but restart doesn't end the popup. I've got:

Add Ins Online
File WithCoordinates
Raster Georeferencing
Create or Add GeoTagged Images

I'm also unable to remove any of them.

I also had a third party Add In developed for search and rescue. I can't install that, though it worked on build 1750.

Workaround is to keep 1750 on my machine. Can I then use 2012 beta off a USB?

Thoughts and comments welcome

Thanks!

George

Participe da Conversa

Membros conectados podem postar, seguir atualizações e mais. Novo aqui? Registre uma conta gratuita.

Links Rápidos

Community Help
Find useful guides, FAQs, and documents to help you navigate and make the most of Esri Community.