topic Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0 in ArcGIS Earth Questions

ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

LanceCase — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 21:31:18 GMT

ArcGIS Earth is pretty awesome. Out of the gate it reads projected shapefiles (in addition of KML and KMZ), measuring distance and area is A LOT easier, and you can switch basemaps. Then for those that use it, you can add your ArcGIS Online map services to ArcGIS Earth! This is great!

However, if you're going to call something version 1, you have to expect there will be bugs corrected and features added to version 2. So to help that process along, here are some corrections/features I would like to see in version 2.

The ability to save drawn features as KML, KMZ, SHP, etc. Seems kinda basic.
The ability to rename layers.
Support for GPX files.
Support for geo-referenced JPG, PNG, and TIF image files.

Also, it would be great if the URL for APFO ArcGIS Server NAIP imagery worked (http://gis.apfo.usda.gov/arcgis/services ).

Any other low hanging fruit I missed?

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

DanPatterson_Retired — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 21:56:23 GMT

Lance

Interesting ideas. My only wish is that esri not blurr the boundaries of what each piece of software does.

The overlap in functional requests between arcmap, arcgis online, collector and now Earth is beginning to grow.

It would be nice to see the vision for what the software will do in the future...I am sure that that plan must exist somewhere. Or at some stage, people are going to wonder why they can't do shortest path routing in Earth like in google maps.

So my request would be ... what makes ArcGIS Earth unique, and how it will remain so

Addendum... Getting to know ArcGIS Earth 1.0 | ArcGIS Blog recent blog post comes close to providing the context and direction...albeit a bit open-ended on functionality futures

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

LanceCase — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 13:48:27 GMT

Hi Dan, I agree to a point. I'm primarily an ArcGIS Desktop user and haven't had much use for ArcReader (b/c it requires ArcPublisher), Explorer for ArcGIS or ArcGIS Explorer for Desktop. I recently had a client give up his ArcMap license, so had a need for a free viewer app. It just so happens that I've been leveraging ArcGIS Online A LOT, so I can offer the user more than just KML, KMZ, or SHP files. Due to the spatial extent I'm working at and the level of resolution detail, geoPDF or simple graphics don't cut it. ArcGIS Earth fits our needs. I've also got several of our staff using ArcGIS Collector. The ArcGIS and ArcGIS Navigator apps aren't very useful to us. In terms of "app blur", I'm glad there are options more tailored to user needs. It seems somewhat like the shotgun approach to see what users want and will actually use. Is ESRI indecisive or flexible? I'm tending to the later. 😃

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

JeffJacobson — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 17:38:49 GMT

I would like to see support for viewing data from SQL Server / SDE.

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

Anonymous User — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 23:59:14 GMT

Hi Jeff,

This is a good request that we can certainly consider.

One of the issues that we have is that we are trying to build more tailored apps for different user communities and, for Earth, we've been pressured to be both functional and to have a small footprint. GDB support, even File GDB support, means either bringing along a very large chunk of code many times larger than Earth, rewriting GDB access wholesale, or substituting with some kind of partial access library that doesn't provide consistent functionality with other products.

The best I can say is that Earth is a 1.0 product with a dedicated, but long distance dev effort in front of it. We will do our best to respond to user needs that are consistent with the product and platform direction.

Chris

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

Anonymous User — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 00:02:19 GMT

Lance,

This is great information to read about and pretty close to exactly how we are hoping Earth will be used... as an installable product that can provide a consistent experience for viewing a range of map data served out of the platform.

Esri has always (I used to be a developer and business partner in the Esri community) taken the platform capability approach. This sometimes can cause our desire to be flexible to cause some blur between products. Having been at other large companies, I can say that product developers always have pressure from users to allow them to do more of their job within fewer products, which leads to this blur. That said, we do have a ways to go with Earth before it's 'fully formed.'

Chris

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

JaimeNeira — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:31:16 GMT

Wondering if there are plans to allow adding web maps too (I know useful for ArcGIS Online and Portal users). It would be an improved shared option for ArcGIS Earth, over current screenshots, and an alternative read-only viewer for ArcGIS Online and Portal. If the web map editing gets added later on...even better!

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

Anonymous User — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 21:55:06 GMT

Hi Jaime,

We have the concept of web maps for 2D and web scenes for 3D. We are, in fact, considering the ability to enable a user to publish and load web scenes from Earth. That will likely be a little further down the road, but it's definitely something we want to enable.

For a variety of reasons, we have so far stayed away from automatically converting from web maps to web scenes across the Platform, though you can experiment with this in ArcGIS Pro. The experience can cause results that some users find unpredictable or inconsistent.

Thanks for the comment,

Chris

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

Anonymous User — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 22:44:46 GMT

Ability to read file geodatabases would be great, as well as tile packages (tpk).

Understand of course the concern around app bloat.

Would love to use Arcgis Earth as a viewer for clients, but would prefer to send them native ESRI files (e.g. fgb and tpk's!). Could improvise by converting to shape files or kml although that seems a step backwards.

Cheers,

-Paul

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

JasmineDu — Mon, 16 May 2016 10:27:02 GMT

Hi Paul,

The information is very helpful. Native files are definitely among the top list. Currently, the team is working on .tpk and .spk support for V1.2 release around UC. The flexibility between .shp and .kml are something we would like to add in the long run as well.

Thanks for the comment,

Jasmine

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

JeffSchloss — Fri, 27 May 2016 14:42:42 GMT

I second the request to be able to access SDE geodatabase and file gdb content - hopefully that won't be too much bloat. I read somewhere you are working on the ability to identify line and polygon features - I second wanting that ability too. The ability to label features or read layer packages seems like a pretty basic piece of functionality that is missing, even if the identify functionality grows.

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

DanPatterson_Retired — Fri, 27 May 2016 14:46:50 GMT

Now is your chance to put wishes into action

ArcGIS Ideas

In full swing since yesterday

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

JeffJacobson — Fri, 27 May 2016 19:49:37 GMT

Or perhaps the SDE capability could be some sort of add on, so that only people who need this capability would have to download it.

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

StefanSundvall — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 04:43:15 GMT

Is there any plan to add ability to read lpk or mpk in Earth? Would need to view ArcGIS feature data offline with Earth. Also, any plans for ability to connect geoprocessing services and/or geoprocessing packages later on?

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

JasmineDu — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 03:46:28 GMT

Hi Stefan,

Supporting offline data has always been an important feature. In V1.2 release, ArcGIS Earth has supported TPK and SPK. Lpk, mpk and geoprocessing services/packages have always been hot topics, though there are no close plan in V1.4 release. We might visit them in the middle of next year.

Best,

Jasmine

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

herbertFreytag — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 05:53:07 GMT

I have many layers to control in many combination. A real win would be the desktop/portal - style layer management that lets you switch on all layers in a folder together but only if they have been individually checked (vice verse, uncheck).
Ability to render KML truthfully and efficiently is of prime interest to my clients. I suspect issues with memory management as application tends to freeze up after a while, and tile caching is super important in a heavily networked environment as well.
Just delving into the automation API, the more support for customising and extending ArcEarth the better, obviously.

Thanks,

Herb

Re: ArcGIS Earth Wish List for Version 2.0

Mandy_Li — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 02:05:52 GMT

Hi,

I believe layer visibility control inside a folder is already supported. Right click on My Data and choose Add group allows you to manage (trun on/off, collapse/expand all, etc.) the layers inside this sub-folder.

Please have a try with ArcGIS Earth 1.7 Beta, application responsiveness and rendering performance are both improved, expecially for KML layer, and will continuously been working on for future releases. ArcGIS Earth extendability workflow is also on the road map, stay tunned.

Best,

Mandy