topic Re: Local Map Services in ArcGIS Runtime SDK for WPF (Retired) Questions

Local Map Services

ShaunWeston — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 03:37:17 GMT

So I understand that when we load map packages they are bound to the local server and a mini ArcGIS Server is created with a list of services we can access through the REST API. I can see these services at a directory like this:

http://127.0.0.1:50000/V3XM5j/arcgis/rest/services (With the name changing each time)

And I see that the map services, gp services, feature services and geocoding services are all listed there, HOWEVER the Tiled packages are not?

Just wondering why they are not listed? It's great that the architecture is basically the same as ArcGIS Server, but are the tiled map services done differently?

Re: Local Map Services

MichaelBranscomb — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 08:29:10 GMT

Hi,

RE: Tile Packages:

We found that reading Tile Packages directly from disk as a single TPK file offers excellent performance without going as far as implementing a local tiled service which would require the runtime local server. This also means that, licensing-wise, Tile Packages are available with the lowest level of license, termed "Basic". For more info see http://resourcesbeta.arcgis.com/en/help/runtime-wpf/concepts/index.html#/Functionality_set_requirements/017000000067000000/.

RE: http://127.0.0.1:50000/V3XM5j/arcgis/rest/services (With the name changing each time):

You can use the Local Server Utility (accessed from the Start menu) to control various properties of the runtime local server. This can be useful when debugging your application. One of these properties is the random prefix ("V3XM5j" in your example) which means you can keep hitting the same URL from a browser if you need to view the REST endpoint for local services as HTML/JSON (i.e. http://127.0.0.1:50000/arcgis/rest/services). It will also allow you to capture the http traffic in a network monitoring tool such as Fiddler.

Cheers

Mike

Re: Local Map Services

ShaunWeston — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Ah I See! Yes the tile packages are very quick to load and good to use.

Oh ok cool, I didn't see the local server utility tool. It's got a bunch of useful stuff there I can use for debugging.

Cheers 🙂

Re: Local Map Services

AA8 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:36:03 GMT

I have a related question - if you can't see the tiled map services listed via REST then how can you enumerate them?

I ask because I have an application that works with the old ArcGIS Online API for WPF and it goes via REST to enumerate the service catalog for servers and then allows access to these services. Now I am interested in expanding it to work with local servers. So I thought fine I'd just be able to point it at the local web server and it would work (although I have concerns about the random port number, random letters inserted before ArcGis in the URI and generally whether all the requests would still work e.g. GetServiceDescriptionsRequest).

But the posts above seem to suggest that tiled services won't appear in the catalog for local servers which would scupper my application.

Thanks.

Re: Local Map Services

MichaelBranscomb — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:26:35 GMT

Hi,

For local content, the RuntimeLocalServer just should really be considered just implementation detail, not necessarily something you address directly. When supporting offline workflows the content you're working with comprises Map Packages, Tile Packages, Locator Packages, and Geoprocessing Packages. Therefore I'd advise using the API rather than making RESt calls directly. Having said that, you do need to be aware of the underlying RuntimeLocalServer infrastructure because you're effectively a local server admin. Some of the settings a server admin would normally configure in ArcGIS for Server, you set via the API for local services.

Cheers

Mike

Re: Local Map Services

AA8 — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:49:18 GMT

But from my understanding of the above posts there is no way of enumerating the services available locally through the API.
Indeed even if I was to use REST to get the service catalogue then it still wouldn't tell me which tiled map services were available.
Since my application can connect to any ArcGIS server currently and allow the user to select and access a service there appears to be no way to do this through the new runtime for local servers.

Re: Local Map Services

MichaelBranscomb — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:57:38 GMT

Hi,

Actually the API is there for enumerating local services running on the RuntimeLocalServer (http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/runtime-wpf/apiref/index.html?ESRI.ArcGIS.Client.Local~ESRI.ArcGIS.Client.Local.LocalServer~Services.html).

But what I was really trying to say is that the only local services running would be the ones your application has already explicitly started via the API and therefore I coudn't easily envisage a scenario where you would need to access the service catalog as you might want to for an online server where there are a published set of services.

Cheers

Mike

Re: Local Map Services

AA8 — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:33:09 GMT

Hi,

Actually the API is there for enumerating local services running on the RuntimeLocalServer (http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/runtime-wpf/apiref/index.html?ESRI.ArcGIS.Client.Local~ESRI.ArcGIS.Client.Local.LocalServer~Services.html).

But what I was really trying to say is that the only local services running would be the ones your application has already explicitly started via the API and therefore I coudn't easily envisage a scenario where you would need to access the service catalog as you might want to for an online server where there are a published set of services.

Cheers

Mike

But how can I start the services running if I don't know which services are there to start with?
My scenario is we have lots of customers running ArcGIS servers, desktop etc. and we give them our app and we don't know what services they have set up either locally or online. The app needs to be able to point at the local package file(s) they have created from desktop and say hey here is a tiled map service, geocoding service etc. etc. It then starts them up and can access them and present the services to the user.

But as I understand it currently we can only enumerate services that are already running. So its a bit of a chicken and egg situation.

Re: Local Map Services

MichaelBranscomb — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:37:59 GMT

Hi,

Although the ArcGIS Runtime SDK for WPF uses a "local server" to host local content for offline use, there is not one central local server on the client machine which may be hosting any number of services. When you deploy your application, you also deploy an ArcGISRuntime deployment folder. That folder contains and number of ArcGIS Runtime components, including what will become an instance of the RuntimeLocalServer. That instance is only used by your application, hence the port numbering and unique prefix (both of which you can control via the LocalServerUtility tool). There may be multiple WPF applications on the machine, but each will be using it's own RuntimeLocalServer instance. Therefore, the only services you'll be accessing are the ones your application has created.

Each local server is seeded from a package (Map, Locator, Geoprocessing) and therefore when working with offline content your application really works with packages and the local Layer types that expose them. Although it is important to understand the architecture, the fact there's a local server is really just an implementation detail.

Cheers

Mike

Re: Local Map Services

AA8 — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:36:58 GMT

Hi,

Although the ArcGIS Runtime SDK for WPF uses a "local server" to host local content for offline use, there is not one central local server on the client machine which may be hosting any number of services. When you deploy your application, you also deploy an ArcGISRuntime deployment folder. That folder contains and number of ArcGIS Runtime components, including what will become an instance of the RuntimeLocalServer. That instance is only used by your application, hence the port numbering and unique prefix (both of which you can control via the LocalServerUtility tool). There may be multiple WPF applications on the machine, but each will be using it's own RuntimeLocalServer instance. Therefore, the only services you'll be accessing are the ones your application has created.

Each local server is seeded from a package (Map, Locator, Geoprocessing) and therefore when working with offline content your application really works with packages and the local Layer types that expose them. Although it is important to understand the architecture, the fact there's a local server is really just an implementation detail.

Cheers

Mike

So are you saying that if my customer enters a path into my app to a folder with his packages in then I can just create the local server(s) from those packages (enumerating the files by the known package extensions) and then I can ask the API what services are actually contained in those packages? That is what I need to be able to do - it's not a simple case of me deploying packages for a customer or knowing in advance what packages they are going to create and what services will be in those packages. Our customers for security reasons can't tell us anything except for a location where there may be some package files or some sort so that's all I've got to work from.

Re: Local Map Services

MichaelBranscomb — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:13:14 GMT

Hi,

Yes, apologies if the previous answers weren't clear, if your app has for example a folder browser dialog which returns a folder name you can enumerate the files in that folder looking for .TPK (Tile Packages) and .MPK (Map Packages) then create ArcGISLocalTiledLayer and ArcGISLocalDynamicMapServiceLayers from those by setting the Path property in each case. If it's a fairly simple view-only affair then you can just instantiate the layer object, set the Path property and add it to the map. The map will kick off the layer initialization which in turn will start a RuntimeLocalServer instance if required and create/start the LocalMapService as required. In that scenario you don't necessarily need to work with the LocalServer/LocalService classes directly.

If you need a little more functionality from your layers then for example you might need to ask the user whether they want to edit, in which case you'll need to create an ArcGISLocalFeatureLayer from that MapPackage (which will start both a LocalMapService and a LocalFeatureService because the latter is a sub type of the MapServer). There are a few other properties on the local service objects you might need to consider setting as well, such as MaxRecords - which typically for a local service you can set very high but by default it's a 1000 like ArcGIS for Server. In this scenario you will need to work with the LocalService classes directly to set those properties.

Cheers

Mike