ArcGIS Explorer 2500 discussion

MarkBockenhauer · ‎06-27-2012

Questions and comments in regards to ArcGIS Explorer 2012 beta and the ArcGIS Explorer 2500 release.

thanks,
ArcGIS Explorer Team

MarkBockenhauer · ‎01-31-2013

Harry, I checked with the data team and the ArcGIS Explorer 1750 bing key will not expire until September.

Tom, you are not alone. We want it released and many others have sent me e-mails with similar sentiments.

Nick, The ArcGIS Eplorer user community is large and demanding and we are trying to meet the needs and expecations of as many users as possible. The 3D improvements are isolated and something to try while we do final testing for the release.

MichaelLakey · ‎02-01-2013

Harry, I checked with the data team and the ArcGIS Explorer 1750 bing key will not expire until September.

Mark, does this Bing key expiration date apply to ArcGIS Explorer Build 1700 as well?

Thanks,
Mike

MarkBockenhauer · ‎02-01-2013

Mike,

Yes, the same key is being used for all versions of ArcGIS Explorer that support the Bing basemap.

Mark

HarryBowman · ‎02-01-2013

Mark:

Thanks for the information about the Bing Key. That's a big relief to us.

- Harry

JohnNowlin · ‎02-01-2013

Mark,

I greatly appreciate that you take the time to respond to the posters directly and specifically; I think that shows great professionalism, especially in the presence of us cantankerous users. . .we are critical and we have high expectations, but it is because it is a great product for the cost 🙂 . . . You are doing good work to keep us informed . . .it really does make a difference to know what the hold ups are . . .

I have to agree with Nick, we use AGX in as lo-fi way as possible, points, lines and polygons. . .routing . . .the shiny bells and whistles can wait.

I am wanting to get to the point of being able to produce add-ins and our company is at a complete standstill on development and GIS training (for the masses) until the new release comes out.

I am not being critical of ESRI, just trying to convey that out here in the trenches we really need your product.

On a second note, can you or anyone in the cloud of witnesses speak to how the SDK will change with this release and maybe how add-ins from the past will work in the future. . .

Best Regards,
John Nowlin

MarkBockenhauer · ‎02-01-2013

John,

The ArcGIS Explorer 2500 SDK remains unchanged. An add-in developed with 1500 will work in 2500.

Mark

DustinDunnill · ‎02-06-2013

Just wanted to say to the devs that are bringing us this free and very capable AGX Viewer THANK YOU! Ive been seeing alot of demands being put on a FREE Viewer that people seem to think is a paid replacement. Mark and the others working on this I'm sure are very busy and all the "seemingly" blatant demands are a little over the top. It's great to voice your opinions but harassing the devs will not help them. Kind suggestions to a dev is worth a thousand more productivity points than a heated demand. Software development is very mind taxing and takes ALOT of patience!

I recommend before you roll out a free program to your administration/user base, to make sure (do some research) it is and will be what you need. I know we all have bosses breathing down our necks but don't transfer your lack of planning to your frustration with the devs that are providing a FREE product.

Lets take a deep breath and come down to earth for a sec and thank Mark, Burnie and the Crew for all the hard work and imaginative thinking they are doing in bringing us this VERY CAPABLE FREE VIEWER.

I'll Start: THANKS DEVS! KEEP IT UP!

NickRose2 · ‎02-06-2013

Justin,

I think we all get your point that this is a FREE viewer but a couple of points should be made clear;
- The viewer was promised in August last year, and there have been ongoing promises of imminent release.
- Whilst FREE, as you put it, many use this product to access content created with VERY EXPENSIVE tools, on VERY EXPENSIVE servers.
- I myself have no problem with using build 1750, but I have advertised the improvements anticipated in 2500 to users, and have stalled the creation of training material and implementation strategies based on what I thought was an imminent release.
- The reason for the latest slip in release was based on trying out new algorithms for 3D rendering. I don't think this is appropriate given the delays already encountered.

I think that the developers have done a good job to bring us a FREE product, but, lets put this FREE product in the context of VERY EXPENSIVE infrastructure that goes withi it.

Nick

DustinDunnill · ‎02-07-2013

Nike ;),

I'd recommend not to base too much on pre released software. It is exciting but 9 times out of 10 software is pushed back because of issues in almost all instances. Games, OS's, Assorted programs, you name it. And 9 times out of 10 if they are release on time they were pushed out to early and there are bugs that make them more frustrating than if they were delayed. Developers know this and sometimes it cannot be helped. I understand you do not think certain aspects of the program should be implemented to your needs if it will push back release but perhaps you are in the minority when it comes to that opinion? I don't know but that could be a reason.

From my experiences, if you are telling your staff this "software will be coming out at so and so time" make sure it won't curtail your efforts if it does not. I'm pretty sure it will come out but you have to have a plan B. That's just the way software works in my experiences.

We use the AGX 1750 on many computers and have many different licenses here for paid ESRI products ranging all the way up the latter. I chose to push this Viewer out to our staff because it seemed like the most innovative and was also economical as you know, and I was prepared to deal with the inconsistencies a free product might bring with it. I might recommend that to all GIS Authors, don't jump the gun, wait till it comes out and is stable before you count on it too much.

SeanLynch · ‎02-11-2013

Ditto the thanks to the DEV team! My organization also relies hevily on Explorer to compliment all of the other ESRI products we license (enterprise btw). Thanks for continuing to improve upon the tool!

That being said. A simple target date of when the release might be available might help keep everyone off the DEV teams back and help us all plan our implementations and deployments of the new version accordingly.

Thanks again!

Just wanted to say to the devs that are bringing us this free and very capable AGX Viewer THANK YOU! Ive been seeing alot of demands being put on a FREE Viewer that people seem to think is a paid replacement. Mark and the others working on this I'm sure are very busy and all the "seemingly" blatant demands are a little over the top. It's great to voice your opinions but harassing the devs will not help them. Kind suggestions to a dev is worth a thousand more productivity points than a heated demand. Software development is very mind taxing and takes ALOT of patience!

I recommend before you roll out a free program to your administration/user base, to make sure (do some research) it is and will be what you need. I know we all have bosses breathing down our necks but don't transfer your lack of planning to your frustration with the devs that are providing a FREE product.

Lets take a deep breath and come down to earth for a sec and thank Mark, Burnie and the Crew for all the hard work and imaginative thinking they are doing in bringing us this VERY CAPABLE FREE VIEWER.

I'll Start: THANKS DEVS! KEEP IT UP!