Are there other ways to push a customized road network, with other feature layers to ArcGIS Navigator other then a Mobile Map Package? (MMPK)

[TorySanna]

Greetings all,

I have just recently gotten to utilizing ArcGIS Navigator more recently, as well as the company I am employed with is testing the capabilities of the application for potential use in the future.  From most of the research I have done, it seems that ArcGIS Pro and Navigator work hand in hand - however at the moment I am only working with ArcGIS desktop.  

I am mainly wondering if there is a way to get design into the ArcGIS Navigator Application other then uploading a MMPK.  Just hosted feature layers for now, as it could use the available base map for the state and the road network that is already loaded into the application with the feature layers added to that.  I understand that with more advanced/customizable road networks you would use the network analyst extension, but at the moment just getting hosted feature layers other then road networks into the Navigator basemap, utilizing ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Online.

I am worried that Navigator and ArcGIS Desktop do not exactly pair with each other nicely.  Wondering if there is a way to upload something, (other than a MMPK), to ArcGIS Online and then push it from ArcGIS Online to ArcGIS Navigator?

Can ArcGIS Desktop even produce MMPK's? (My guess is no based on the research done, but perhaps I missed something).  For now it would be nice to figure out how to upload feature layers directly to the ArcGIS Navigator Application's basemap, I will worry about a customized road network second.  

Thank you in Advance!

[RobertBorchert]

We  have also found Navigator to be lacking.  The new version of Collector has a built in navigation button that allows you to automatically use Apple or Google Maps at the press of a button.

As a work around for desktop I simply created driving directions for all 2400 sites in our system.

If you create X,Y using decimal degrees you can generate a driving directions field that can be hyperlinked

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Current+Location/" &[Ying]&"," &[Xing]

[ChrisDunn1]

Hi Tory,

Navigator was designed to be an offline app from the start, so it does require a mobile map package and cannot currently ingest hosted feature layers or other online data.

While desktop cannot produce mmpks, there are tools to bring your mxd files into a Pro project and easily create mmpks. To do this manually you can use the Import Map button on the Insert ribbon in Pro and then on the Share ribbon use the Mobile Map button. This will allow you to share an mmpk directly to your online account.

If you do any automation with python you could also create a script that handles these steps for you using ArcPy - the ArcGISProject class has an importDocument method and the Create Mobile Map Package geoprocessing tool can be run with Python. The resulting mmpk could then be uploaded to your online account using the Python API.

I hope this helps!

Chris

[TorySanna]

Chris,

This does help, thank you! 

I was pretty certain MMPK's were a product of ArcGIS Pro and not Desktop but still was not 100 percent sure...  Is there any work around here as far as MMPK's, or "Packaging", of data goes besides creating an MMPK that can be pushed as a package to ArcGIS Navigator? 

For Example, is it possible to have layers from ArcGIS Online Packaged to be utilized in one of Navigators Base maps?  Forgive me if this is repetitive I think I asked something of the sort prior, but just want to clarify it sounds like ArcGIS Pro is required to use ArcGIS Navigator?  Desktop and online have no real capabilities with the application, (other then pairing Collector and Navigator together?)...  

Can layers from collector be utilized and transferred to be used in Navigator?  Or is it more like Navigation can be used in Collector App but cannot actually have both applications working in synchrony.  

Thank you for your help!

[ChrisDunn1]

Hi Tory,

Navigator does come with some maps for you to use, so to use the app itself you don't necessarily have to use Pro (when you log in to Navigator you should see some Esri-provided navigation maps sorted by proximity to your current location).

However, if you want to add your own data then yes, you will need to use Pro. That being said, you can still use Pro only for the packaging if you're still focused on using Desktop.

For example, you could have a feature layer being updated with Collector and have a Desktop mxd containing that feature layer and any other layers you want to use for your basemap. Then that mxd could be imported to Pro and used for packaging an mmpk. You wouldn't be able to collect data in Collector and immediately switch apps and use it for a basemap in Navigator because the mmpks need to be created in Pro first.

Chris