topic Re: How do you add a map service? in ArcGIS API for Flex Questions

How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:03:26 GMT

I am extremely new to ArcGIS Server as well as Flex Builder and am trying to see if someone can help me step by step on how to add a map service that I have created in flex builder. I have a map service and web app on ArcGIS Server where I am interning and the web app works great. However, I am trying to turn it up a notch and learn how to use Flex to make it look even better. The map (mxd/msd) is not a tiled (cached) map....so I am trying to figure out what steps I need to take in order to publish the service I currently have as a .NET into Flex?! The server type is ASP.NET and I have published the service from the MSD of my map. ..... I am not sure how to figure out what my Web application root and Web application URL are (for the project properties in Flex)? I assume that the web application URL is the URL where my web app is. I have very little knowledge of computer and mxml code, and little knowledge of technical computer terms but have been told that even I am capable of using Flex. I just want to get my service to run in Flex. Can someone walk me through this in "Layman's terms" please? All the tutorials and demos I have watched through ESRI and Adobe are completely over my head and I don't even know where or how to begin. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Josh C.

Re: How do you add a map service?

BobHeien — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:02:10 GMT

I'm a Flex newbie too, and was wondering the exact same thing, where will I find the service URL. I finally did find after much digging. Enter this ArcGIS Server services address in browser: http://<your server name>/ArcGIS/rest/services. Should see your available services that you have added in ArcGIS Server Manager here if ArcGIS Server installed and working correctly. Then just copy the address to mxml code like:
    <esri:Map>
        <esri:ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer url="http://<your server name>/ArcGIS/rest/services/<service name>/MapServer"/>
    </esri:Map>

Also, Take a look at the precompiled flexviewer here on the Getting Started page: http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/index.html. All you need to do to get started is place the downloaded folder on your webserver per instructions and tweak some of the code to get going with flex.

Hope this helps.

Bob Heien, GISP
GIS Systems Analyst
WCICC-IT
Woodbury County Information & Communications Commission - Information Technologies
620 Douglas St.
Floor 2 1/2
Sioux City, IA 51101
bheien@sioux-city.org
Office: 712-279-6509
Fax: 712-279-6545

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:02:44 GMT

Thanks for your help Bob, I am looking through it now and going to give it a shot!

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:48:13 GMT

Ok well still no luck with this. First off - - - when using the getting started using the compiled package, I dont understand fully what is going on. I have flexviewer installed however I dont know how to find the web server folder. I assumed it was the folder in the server i use called \\gisserver....there is a folder in there called wwwroot with subfolders aspnet_client, backup_instannce, gisserver, my map service, etc. so do i just put the flexviewer folder inside the wwwroot folder? i did this and the web app opened....however, after doing Part 2....everytime i saved the xml and refreshed the web browser...no changes I made ever took place?!

Second - - - how do I open the flexviewer as a project in flashbuilder 4 and link it to my map service that I have in my server wwwroot folder? Every time I open flashbuilder and go to import flex project, when I navigate to the flexviewer folder and try to add it, it tells me the specified folder does not contain a flex project....but its the flexviewer that I downloaded. What am i missing here? Am I just that stupid or is this just not as easy as ESRI makes it seem? I am getting beyond frustrated that I can not grasp this concept. I want to use Flashbuilder to add my map service that is stored in my server.....and I can not figure this out whatsoever! Bob thank you for the help, I just can not get this to work. After getting the flexviewer open in the web browser following the getting started guide...is there not a way to add my map service to it...or does it not need to be done in flashbuilder?? I am wanting to do this through Flashbuilder so if someone can tell me how to do this with flashbuilder that would be amazing!!!

Josh C.

Re: How do you add a map service?

DasaPaddock — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:22:38 GMT

You need to download the source code zip. See the Getting Started page in the Developers book at:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/index.html

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:56:49 GMT

Ok, I have downloaded the source code and gone through the steps for the Uncompiled package. I was successfully able to create and build the project within Flash Builder. I then went on to the "Verify setup of Viewer" process and after getting to step 4 (where it has you run the index.mxml and opens a browser to view the flex viewer application....nothing is displayed. The web browser opens the url "http://www.localhost.com/flexviewer/index.html" and the page is blank? Why is this? I saved the flexviewer-2.0beta2-src.zip into a folder i have created "......My Documents\ArcGIS\ArcGIS API for Flex\ArcGIS_Flex. Flash Builder extracted the zip file correctly into "C:\Documents and Settings\coatesj\Adobe Flash Builder 4\FlexViewer". Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong and what I need to do to get this rolling? I need to show the project on my web server, therefore the next steps show you how to change the output folder and output folder URL...and I am guessing this is where I tie my server into the flex project to display it on my server. However, I have a service running in ArcGIS Server Manager....this map service is the one that I want to make a Flex map of.....so can anyone tell me what needs to be done next? I really appreciate everyone who has helped me thus far.....I feel like I'm getting closer and closer.

Josh C.

Re: How do you add a map service?

DasaPaddock — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:42:42 GMT

Open the Project Properties and go to the "Flex Build Path" section. If you have a local web server you can set the Output folder to a place that the web server will serve and set the corresponding URL. If not, then then set the Output folder to wherever you'd like and clear the URL field. This should let you run it from within Flash Builder. Once you're ready to deploy it to your production web server you should select "Export Release Build..." from the Project menu and choose a place to save the output and then copy that output folder to your production web server.

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:46:12 GMT

I have a local server that I chose as the output folder.......and used the same for the output folder URL. I try to launch and I am getting an Application Error

Error: Event Target: [object HTTPOperation]

Event Type: fault

Fault Code: Server.Error.Request

Fault Info: HTTP request error

What does this mean?

Re: How do you add a map service?

DasaPaddock — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:23:42 GMT

Try using a tool like HttpFox, Firebug, Charles Proxy, Fiddler etc. to see the http requests and responses and see which ones are failing.

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:37:31 GMT

I did this and all the types that are failing are all the ones that start with "text/html"....these are all mostly from URL "http://publicgis/floodplain/assets/images....". I have no idea what all this means?! Why am I having such horrible luck with Flex?! Is there something I am overlooking or does this happen for many people?

Re: How do you add a map service?

DasaPaddock — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:42:37 GMT

Can you give more detail about the errors? Are you getting 404 response codes? Are you able to load these urls in your browser? You may need to check that your web server is properly configured.

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:30:51 GMT

00:00:03.486 0.152 502 (5898) GET 304 text/html http://publicgis/Floodplain/index.html
00:00:03.646 0.021 407 (26337) GET (Cache) application/x-javascript http://publicgis/Floodplain/swfobject.js
00:00:03.674 1.446 550 (2009) GET 304 image/gif http://www.adobe.com/images/shared/download_buttons/get_flash_player.gif
00:00:03.702 0.100 552 (670254) GET 304 application/x-shockwave-flash http://publicgis/Floodplain/index.swf
00:00:03.822 0.052 464 (670095) GET (Cache) application/x-shockwave-flash (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/index.swf
00:00:03.896 0.014 429 (209) GET (Cache) text/x-cross-domain-policy http://fpdownload.adobe.com/pub/swz/crossdomain.xml
00:00:04.413 0.007 421 (141) GET (Cache) text/x-cross-domain-policy http://fpdownload.adobe.com/crossdomain.xml
00:00:05.487 0.034 504 (3696) GET 304 text/xml http://publicgis/Floodplain/config.xml
00:00:05.713 0.039 543 (112969) GET 304 application/x-shockwave-flash http://publicgis/Floodplain/widgets/WidgetContainer/WidgetContainerWidget.swf
00:00:05.734 0.104 430 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_link.png
00:00:05.772 0.165 431 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_close.png
00:00:05.793 0.217 432 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/Red_glow.swf
00:00:05.817 0.253 433 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_pushpin.png
00:00:05.840 0.277 412 326 GET 301 Redirect to: http://publicgis/floodplain/?f=json http://publicgis/floodplain?f=json
00:00:05.865 0.302 507 (659674) GET 304 application/x-shockwave-flash http://publicgis/Floodplain/blackgold.swf
00:00:06.119 0.147 413 357 GET 403 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/floodplain/?f=json
00:00:06.387 0.082 434 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_collapse.png
00:00:06.389 0.141 428 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_up.png
00:00:06.391 0.200 430 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_down.png
00:00:06.393 0.258 439 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_collapse_down.png
00:00:06.395 0.318 430 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_left.png
00:00:06.397 0.378 431 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/w_right.png
00:00:06.399 0.437 534 (132164) GET 304 application/x-shockwave-flash http://publicgis/Floodplain/widgets/MapSwitcher/MapSwitcherWidget.swf
00:00:07.157 0.069 447 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/widgets/MapSwitcher/MapSwitcherWidget.xml
00:00:07.191 0.135 545 (118920) GET 304 application/x-shockwave-flash http://publicgis/Floodplain/widgets/HeaderController/HeaderControllerWidget.swf
00:00:07.743 0.084 451 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/widgets/HeaderController/HeaderController.xml
00:00:07.779 0.194 535 (106923) GET 304 application/x-shockwave-flash http://publicgis/Floodplain/widgets/OverviewMap/OverviewMapWidget.swf
00:00:08.392 0.110 447 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/widgets/OverviewMap/OverviewMapWidget.xml
00:00:08.428 0.229 433 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_expand2.png
00:00:09.028 0.116 428 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/logo.png
00:00:09.067 0.242 434 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_bookmark.png
00:00:09.106 0.972 434 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_bookmark.png
00:00:09.185 0.213 432 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_target.png
00:00:09.226 0.308 432 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_police.png
00:00:09.268 0.354 432 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_search.png
00:00:09.311 0.400 429 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_rss.png
00:00:09.355 0.489 431 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_draw2.png
00:00:09.400 0.589 431 1774 GET 404 text/html (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) http://publicgis/Floodplain/assets/images/i_print.png

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:35:55 GMT

Not sure if I posted that correctly....

Re: How do you add a map service?

DasaPaddock — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:12:22 GMT

Looks like you're getting 404's for anything under the assets folder. Can you double check that they exist on the file system and that you can load those urls in your browser.

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:56:54 GMT

What do I do to check the file system? I am not familiar with the term. I have looked in the src main source folder and the images are there....and i have looked in the output folder and the images are there. But I dont see URL's to test them in a web browser. When I open the Assets folder, there is a folder called images, and within it are several images.

I have put the URL where the map service is sitting as the mapservice URL. Under "flex build path" the main source folder is src, the output folder is a folder i created sitting on my web server "\\publicgis\wwwroot\Floodplain", and the output folder URL is "http://publicgis/Floodplain". When I run the project....the web browser opens....the flex interface opens with widgets and scale and header...however no map. It is just a black screen?! Any ideas? Thank you for all your help btw dpaddock! I really appreciate your support through all of this.

Josh C.

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:25:09 GMT

YAY!!!!!! I got it:) I just had to match up the initial extent values from the service to the xml config file. Ok...now one last ? Can you point me towards information on how to get my layers in into the xml config so that they display in the web application and can be toggled through?! Thanks again!

Josh C.

Re: How do you add a map service?

DasaPaddock — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:35:20 GMT

Glad to hear you got it working. For more information on how to add your own services, see the Configuration Files -> Main Configuration file page at:
http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/index.html
You'll need to add operationallayers.

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:30:20 GMT

Ok so the map service I have now, which is made from a MSD that I created in ArcMap....has 3 layers. On Layer is the basemap, and the other two are floodplain data from two different time periods. From what I have read....it sounds like I have to make completely new maps, with one layer per map, and create a service for each individual layer map that I create? I am really starting to not like Flex so much. I did not realize there was going to be so much difficulty in using it. I just want the layers of the service I currently have the web app running from to show up in the UI so that they can be turned on and off. I created a operation layer and just used the same URL as the mapservice URL....and it shows up on the UI in the top right hand corner if u click "more", however, things still show on the map when u zoom in even if that particular layer really is not turned on. The xml looks like this:

<operationallayers>
<layer label="Layers" type="dynamic" visible="true"
url="http://publicgis/PublicGISserver/rest/services/Bartow_Floodplain/MapServer"/>
</operationallayers>

In order for this to work properly do I have to do what I mentioned above?

Re: How do you add a map service?

DasaPaddock — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:59:00 GMT

You don't have to create separate map services. Instead you can control which layers are visible in three different client layers. For example, in the basemaps mapservice set visiblelayers="0" and in two separate operational layers, set visiblelayers="1" and visiblelayers="2".

Re: How do you add a map service?

JoshuaCoates — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:26:48 GMT

How can I specify which layer in my msd I want to be "1" and which one I want to be "2"? Can you show me an example of xml for everything I need in the <operationallayers> section? In basemaps><mapservice label.......I just put visablelayers="0" right after alpha="1"...is this the right way to do it? Where can I find example codes for xml....the code gallery for beta has hardly any examples.