Collector for Android - SD Card Support for .tpk

[KirkDavis1]

Hello all,

I have researched into this topic, but have not found an updated answer.  Has ESRI Collector for Android decided to support tile package (.tpk) storage on SD cards?  I understand that there were performance issues with SD cards during testing.  I would like to know if anyone has experimented with this or if Collector plans on including this feature in future iterations?  I need to make a disclaimer that I have not tested saving .tpk files in an SD card - I wanted to check here first.

Thanks,

Kirk

[Kylie]

Thanks for all these details Doug! Could you please email these requirements to Collector4ArcGIS@esri.com?

[DougBrowning]

Well the update came out today and it looks like there is no way to choose a directory as i stated in my post.  Since you asked for the list I was really hoping you guys did it.  It only lets you change to sdcard then forces you to use ArcGIS_Collector folder (unless I am missing something).

Why not just give is a file pick box?  Please!  If not I will still have two copies of my data.  Also it seems like this change was only for basemaps and it does not have the ability to just read in any tpks.

Thanks

https://community.esri.com/community/gis/applications/collector-for-arcgis/blog/2017/06/06/collector... 

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

Doug, I have no android nor have I worked with SD on Android or Collector all that much (doing stuff today though).....anyway you can map the data drive and give it the  "ArcGIS_Collector" name?  Just throwing things out there.

[DougBrowning]

Thank Yes I am thinking about changing the dir I use to Collector but that means going out and switching 170+ tablets that are in the field already. Also we use a file structure that allows for using the tpks zipped and unziped which I am not sure collector will allow (the large basemaps work faster unzipped).

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

170 in the field....That would be an issue.   

We're dealing with iPads right now, so no SD option.  We're just starting to work on the basemaps we need to work offline and although it is working (with side load), we're running into projection and different tiling schema issues...or that is my best guess and I'm working on that theory now.  I

f you have any best practices, file structure, or other tips that you used, it would be great if you can share...either thru a new post or DM me (I follow you).  Not trying to hijack this thread, but it was a good time/place to ask.

[Shauna-RaeBrown]

Doug, When you unzip the TPK file(s) where on the device or microSD card do you put the extracted files?  I've got a 4.4GB tpk file and Collector just sits and spins when I'm trying to load the background.  Thanks ever so much for your help.

[PeteCrosier]

Just copy the TPK in to the ArcGIS_Collector folder, don't unzip it.

[JoeCeradini]

I am also having trouble storing tpk files on an external SD card and using them as base maps in Arc Collector. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I have a NVIDIA shield K1 tablet (Lollipop version), which is rooted. I have tried many approaches for moving/linking collector to the SD but none have worked, such as Link2SD, Apps2SD, FolderMount, and File Commander. I have also tried these apps with and without the SD card partitioned. The apps say that Collector has been moved or linked, and certain Collector data files are on the SD, but I still cannot store tpk’s on the SD and get Collector to find them.

A Collector folder always shows up on the internal storage even after it has supposedly been moved. If I put a tpk in the Collector folder on internal memory, the tpk is stored on internal, and Collector converts it to a base map (this is great for smaller files, but I quickly run out of internal memory). If I try the approach outlined by batpro99 in this thread (I copied the Collector folder to the external SD via File Commander), the tpk is stored on the external memory but Collector cannot find it.

Any suggestions? Is there a better way to copy/move/link the Collector folder from internal to external memory and still get Collector to recognize the files in the external location?

- Joe

[PatrickMurphy]

Here is how I did it.  I made a folder on the extSD card called ArcGIS_Collector.

I copied the .tpk file there.  It showed up as a basemap when I opened the project, I selected it, it loaded quickly.  I looked on the internal memory and found a folder with the .tpk file name but only two small files were there and the tpk was still on the extSD card.  For other basemaps that I didn't load this way, the tpk was still in the folders on internal memory.

So...it worked.

[Anonymous User]

Just an update - Collector 17.0.1 introduced loading basemaps through a sd card. This is only possible on Android.

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