topic Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data in ArcGIS Collector Questions

Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RandallClark2 — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 22:50:41 GMT

We are using an Ipad Air 2 (wifi) with our Collector and we are finding out the accuracy is sh*t...maybe 3 meter...anyways we are better off using a high res aerial image for this project and just placeing the point.

So can Collector be set so that the default way to collect a point is by placing in on the map?

and sadly no i can not take it off line as we need the high res basemap that is hosted on our server.

thanks.

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RonKnepper — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 00:18:00 GMT

If you tap the gps icon you can disable or just disable it on the device itself. If you are going to just do Arial though why not just use desktop?

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RandallClark2 — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 04:08:39 GMT

Becuase we still have to go out and collect attribute infomation on each of the points

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

PeteCrosier — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 09:45:18 GMT

If you stop Collector being able to use your device's location you'll have to place the point yourself, or you can let it place the point then move it, or you can long-press on the map then choose "Collect here".

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

peterNOTMEknoop — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 16:54:50 GMT

We often find ourselves in a similar situation, and we usually leave the GPS on, so that it pans the map to the general vicinity of where we want to collect the data. When we go to collect an actual feature, we simply drag the location from where the GPS placed it to the correct location, based on our own high-resolution aerial photo we're using a basemap. If you traveling a distance between locations -- at least the scale of the map -- we find it helpful and saves a bit of time to have the GPS get us close to the right place and do the panning and zooming work for us.

Also, even though we are operating online, we still find the performance is better when you have the high-resolution aerial photo stored locally on the device as your basemap. As our imagery is usually quite large, we leverage the side-loading approach to quickly and easily get it on the devices, rather than downloading it over wifi to each one.

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RonKnepper — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 19:02:19 GMT

I've been playing with side loading, where did you get your imagery for side loading? Is it something you created in house? I've never been able to get side loaded imagery since ESRI basemaps do not support

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RandallClark2 — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 19:42:10 GMT

Saddly the GPS using the WiFi net work at my place is crap that it cant even get us with in 10m plus it just randomly drops out...i am sure if we had a 3g/4g option we could do better. eventually i just want to get a Bad Elf and pair it up...but baby steps first.

So on that last part...can you please go over that in a little more detail?

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RandallClark2 — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 19:43:52 GMT

thats fine its still better then the wifi we have.

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

peterNOTMEknoop — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:19:26 GMT

Most of the time we are working with our own imagery. We use Desktop to create tile packages of that imagery, and then side-load those tile packages.

For ESRI basemaps, the overall workflow is to set-up the project up on one device for offline use, then use side-loading to copy the basemap tile package from that device to all the other devices. The basic steps for an iOS device are:

Configure your web map in ArcGIS Online for offline use.
Download the web map in Collector on a device, during which you will be asked to specify the ESRI basemap's Work Area (or extent) and Map Detail (or maximum resolution or zoom level).
In iTunes, select your Device, then navigate to its Apps settings screen, then scroll down to the File Sharing section.
Locate the Collector app in the list, select it, and on the right you'll see the list of "Collector documents" on your device.
Select the Basemaps folder in that list of documents, and click on the "Save to..." button near the bottom right of the screen.
- The Basemaps folder you just saved on your computer will contain folders for all the basemaps you currently have stored on your mobile device. So if you have more than one basemap on your device, then you'll need to figure out which one is the one you want.
- Inside each basemaps' folder is the Tile Package or .tpk file for that basemap. This is the file you want to copy to all your other devices.
- I usually rename the .tpk file to something more meaningful, as that is the name that will show up in Collector's Basemap menu when you are selecting a basemap to use.
Proceed with your other devices, using iTunes to side-load the above tile package to your other devices.
- You can follow the standard side-loading directions to do this. Basically it is just the reverse of above, attach a device, goto the Apps settings screen, down to the File Sharing section, select Collector, and now use "Add.." to copy the .tpk file to the new device.

If you are using Android devices, then it's pretty much the same thing. You just use your file browser, instead of iTunes, to copy around the appropriate tile package.

Hope that helps!

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

peterNOTMEknoop — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:23:17 GMT

In case you're asking about side-loading in general, a good place to start is the "Go Offline" section of the Collector documentation:

Go offline—Collector for ArcGIS | ArcGIS

You might also want to take a look at the "Using your own Basemap layers with Collector for ArcGIS":

Using your own Basemap layers with Collector for ArcGIS | ArcGIS Blog

Otherwise, hopefully my replay above to Ron Knepper covers what you need?

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RonKnepper — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:29:32 GMT

Thanks yeah that is usually my issue we do not have our own imagery and ESRI basemaps you cant create tile packages. I was hoping you found some other way but both your explaination and the blog are great step by steps.

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

RandallClark2 — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:52:19 GMT

Wow. did you figure that out on your own?

Re: Can Collector be disable from using "my location" when collecting data

peterNOTMEknoop — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 14:59:30 GMT

If you end up doing work with the native runtime SDKs, you'll learn a lot about how the data is stored on the device!