topic Re: Fetching base map information in Qt Maps SDK Questions

Fetching base map information

RainerFarsch — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 21:57:14 GMT

I have a bathymetry map that is a map of ocean depths - the deeper the blue the deeper the ocean. The map is provided as a .mxd file. I can open this file in ArcGIS Desktop and I'm able to click on it using the Identify cursor to query for depth at the clicked location.

Next I rendered this map into a '.tpk' file that I open using ArcGISLocalTiledLayer in ArcGIS Runtime. So my question is: can I get depth information in ArcGIS Runtime from the base map like was I able to get in ArcGIS Desktop?

One idea I've heard is to create a feature table in ArcGIS Desktop containing depth information and using that for depth information in ArcGIS Runtime; but I was curious if there is a way to get it directly from the base map - either in this release (10.2.6) or in a future release (Quartz).

Thanks!

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 23:02:45 GMT

Hey Rainer-

Are you working only offline (with a TPK and ArcGISLocalTiledLayer) or also online (with an ArcGISTiledMapServiceLayer)?

-Luke

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 23:07:13 GMT

The reason I ask is because with ArcGISTiledMapServiceLayer (online), you can set up the service so that you can run a query against it. However, you won't be able to do this with the ArcGISLocalTiledLayer and a TPK.

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 23:25:11 GMT

To elaborate a bit, the TPK is basically a compressed file of a bunch of images in a specific folder structure, so the attributes associated with the data for identify in ArcMap are no longer with the TPK once it is created. If you created a new, blank MXD and brought the TPK into ArcMap, I don't believe the identify operation will tell you the same information as what you saw with the original MXD.

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 00:03:52 GMT

And we are considering adding something for searching for features in a basemap layer at Quartz, however it would likely be using something other than a TPK with an ArcGISLocalTiledLayer. Hope that helps!

-Luke

Re: Fetching base map information

RainerFarsch — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 00:30:47 GMT

Offline only.

Re: Fetching base map information

RainerFarsch — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 00:36:17 GMT

Will I be able to render something (not a .tpk file) from the .mxd file in ArcGIS Desktop that I could then use in Quartz for searching the base map?

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 16:58:23 GMT

The full story is not yet worked out, but it will likely be through a package that can be created in ArcGIS Pro, and can then be consumed in ArcGIS Runtime APIs and ArcGIS Pro.

Re: Fetching base map information

RainerFarsch — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 22:31:46 GMT

Thanks Luke,

Let me dig a bit deeper. If I wanted to compute the mean and standard deviation of the depths within a circular buffer placed on the map, would this future (Quartz-compatible) package allow for this? Or would I be better served using something else - like creating a feature table of gridded depths from the base map raster using ArcMap, and then using a buffer in ArcGIS Runtime to compute the mean and standard deviation of the depth features lying within the circular buffer?

Thanks.

-Rainer

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 22:49:07 GMT

If your data are in vector format and you are using the new type of package, something like this should probably be possible, though I can't say for certain, as we are still in the early stages of design. The alternative workflow you suggested would work as well.

Another feature we will have at Quartz is support for raw raster files (tiff, jpg, etc), so if you have bathymetry data that are already in raster format, this may end up being the best route to go. You could have a raster function that did something like your buffer workflow that you suggested.

-Luke

Re: Fetching base map information

RainerFarsch — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:32:39 GMT

Thanks Luke,

Which ever way I go: (1) Feature table (now), (2) new package type (Quartz), or (3) direct from raster (I have a .tif file)(Quartz) - how do I best go about computing the mean and standard deviation of the depths within a buffer region with ArcGIS Runtime? Sorry if this is a newbie question.

Thanks.

-Rainer

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 19:04:42 GMT

Hey Rainer,

No worries, glad to help. I can't speak to the 2 Quartz options as they are still in design. Once they are fleshed out, I believe the raw raster analysis is going to be the cleanest and most straight forward.

For now, try to create the feature table, either of grids polygons or maybe even point centroids (do this work in ArcMap). Once you have that, I would bring it into your Runtime app, and do the following:

1) Create signal handler for mouse clicked on the map

2) call Buffer on the mapPoint that is returned

3) Set up a query against the feature table. The query will need to have several things set:

- Where clause to "1=1" to return any record. Change this to some other SQL clause if you want to filter results.

- Set the geometry to your buffer polygon

- Set spatial relationship to either intersects or within, depending on what your requirements are

- Set outstatisitcs to gather the average, standard deviation, sum, etc. Here are the different out statistics you can set - ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Qt QML API: Enums Class Reference

4) Execute the query and create a signal handler for when it completes. The results will be aggregated values to whatever your outstatistics were set to, as opposed to individual values from the raw data

I do something similar in the following example. It creates the buffer, runs a query with the buffer, sets out statistics, and gets the aggregated data points back. The only difference is this runs a QueryTask, but this workflow should work against a feature table with queryFeatures. RuntimeQtSamples/main.qml at master · ldanzinger/RuntimeQtSamples · GitHub

Hope this gets you on the right track.

-Luke

Re: Fetching base map information

RainerFarsch — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 01:43:17 GMT

Hi Luke,

I appreciate the detailed response - I've got my work cut out for me. Can I safely assume that this done using the Spatial Analyst extension for Runtime, and that we would need to purchase a license pack for deployment?

Is there a way of identifying in the API what belongs to Spatial Analyst?

Thanks!

-Rainer

Re: Fetching base map information

LucasDanzinger — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 02:43:37 GMT

Hey Rainer-

No, this won't need the spatial analyst extension. The only time you will need that extension is if you are using the Geoprocessor, and running a geoprocessing tool that requires Spatial Analyst extension. If this was the case, you would need to publish a Geoprocessing package (GPK) from ArcMap, and consume that package in Runtime. With this workflow, you would know you need to purchase an extension if you also needed the extension to execute the tool in ArcMap- if the tool in ArcMap required the extension, the tool once packaged as a GPK will require the extension in Runtime.

Cheers,

Luke

Re: Fetching base map information

RainerFarsch — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 03:18:19 GMT

Thanks Luke,

I guess I was getting all turned around on this - still learning. I was looking at Local Server geoprocessing tools support—ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Qt | ArcGIS for Developers and now it makes more sense that you've explained it.

-Rainer