Custom Geocoder in Locate Workflow

[MattMcGuire]

How can I use a my own ArcGIS Server Geocoding Service in the Esri Maps for SharePoint Locate workflow?

[DavidCarpenter]

Just wondering if you had heard anything or got this working? 

We have a similar requirement and the new "ESRI Maps Locate" workflow is throwing me off since it appears to be completely tied to ArcGIS Online.  While we have an Organizational account I am actually not interested in leveraging it to locate the data in our List, I need to access our Locator on an internal server.  I never got a change to try it at 2.1.1 since I just managed to get the data to build the Locator, but I am sure the old "ArcGIS Locator" workflow allowed it.

Thanks.

[KatherineDalton]

Matt and David,

The Esri Maps Locate Workflow requires a connection to the ArcGIS Platform, meaning either ArcGIS Online or a Portal for ArcGIS instance. As you've noted, it is tied to the ArcGIS Platform because it uses the ArcGIS World Geocoding Service. We don't currently support using your own AGOL geocoding service in the Locate Workflow, but it is on our roadmap for a future release. Alternatively, we do currently support using a custom locator via Portal if it is set as the Portalâ??s default locator.

Katy

[HaydenFoley]

It is very dissapointing that there is no longer an option to create a custom Locate Workflow based upon your own ArcGIS Server Locator Service. It basically means the ESRI Maps for SharePoint no longer has any value for me. I need to be able to use my own set of geo-coded place names that are very granular and specific to our business.

I too feel sure that the old ArcGIS for SharePoint allowed you to use my own locator services for the equivalent workflow. I have made design decisions and promted a 'Self Service' registration tool based upon this feature only to now discover it has been removed from the latest version.

What other options if any are out there without having to write something from scratch to gain the same functionality but using my own locator service??

[KatherineDalton]

Hi All,

Please know that we do plan to provide the ability to use a custom locator in the future and we realize this is a priority for you. In the interim, we'll be releasing Esri Maps for SharePoint 3.0.1 shortly which includes the ability to create a custom location type based on a hosted feature service in ArcGIS Online. This isn't the exact same as having a Geocoding Service that you can pull in and use, but if your organization has its own boundaries (water districts, sales districts, zoning boundaries) shared on ArcGIS Online, you can map your data using those locations instead of using one of the default location types.

Katy

[CarmaGerber]

Hi Katy

I am currently using this functionality in Esri Maps for Office, creating my own locator by using a feature class on AGOL as my reference data so that I can map excel data against existing features. This is an excellent function and it's really impressed some of our clients.

Am I correct in assuming that the current locators available in Esri Maps for Office are based on the current locator styles that are provided out of the box in Desktop? This would be why the General Single Field locator can only map polygon or point data (as per locator style General - Single Field locator style)? We have linear features (utility network) that we would like to map based on an asset ID field from Esri Maps for Office.

So if this is the case, our next step is to create a custom locator style (in desktop) so that we can map linear assets against a general single field locator. Once we create this custom locator, we can publish this as a service, add into AGOL and then it will be available for users to map assets from Excel?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and getting confirmation that this is how the out of the box locators in EMfO and EMfSP are built.

Regards,
Carma Gerber

[KatherineDalton]

Hi Carma,

Esri Maps for SharePoint will actually work by pulling in custom locators directly from your AGOL/Portal account.

Hope that helps,
Katy