Web App Builder (Beta 3)

[BrianO_keefe]

I'm toasted.

I've spent 2 days now trying to develop an app with Web App Builder.

1) Local

Downloaded Web App Builder (Beta 3). Set it up on my server. Double-clicked startup.bat and get nothing but errors. Don't know if it's due to having a WebAdaptor or what, but I can't get it to work. My co-worker is suddenly decisively moving forward trying to unlock the errors but I'm done.

2) ArcGIS Online

Built the entire web app with Web App Builder (Beta 3) online. Laid it out, setup the pop-ups, configured the widgets, and then realized there wasn't a 'download' button. Almost lost my mind.

3) Web App Viewer

Downloaded this cockamammy nonsense and am proceeding to pull my hair out.

http://maps.cityoftulsa.org/iot/

There's the URL. I keep getting 'Forbidden Access' and I have no idea why. I'm editing the config.json file, but I'm quickly losing hope. Long week... and it's only Tuesday.

I figured this whole process would be INFINITELY easier if we just installed Portal but I don't have the time to even research it thoroughly enough to figure out if it will cause issues with our current configurations?! Ugh.

[AaronKreag]

Brian,

I am reading this thread and all I can think of is that you need a vacation.

That said....just so I am correct.  I have the Flex 3.6 builder and some decent maps running.  We do NOT have a JS/HTML5 builder that installs on my web server and can be used to push some maps that can then be customized like in the Flex world.  Is that right? 

Thus far, after looking at all this stuff online it looks like I am being forced to live in the ESRI ArcOnline world....where I do NOT want to live.

[BrianO_keefe]

lol... yeah. I can't even begin to explain how right you are.

UGH!

But yeah, if you are running Flex then you aren't doing JS/HTML5. At one point I was dedicated to re-learning Flex. I had developed in it several years ago (mainly for entertainment projects) but had fallen so out of touch with it that it felt like learning it for the first time when I tried to pick it back up.

Needless to say, we are in full-on JS mode. It's the non-compiling, mobile-ready, -ness of it all that really is powering our shift away from Flex and Into Javascript. Being able to open text editor and customize all aspects of the map and it's widgets in minutes makes Javascript a choice I can agree with.

I'm pushing Portal on my GIS group (me, my GIS Lead, and the GIS DBA). I can't believe it's more integrated with ArcGIS Server!? I mean, if we spend THOUSANDS of dollars on setting up our own servers, building our own enterprise GIS databases, maintaining all of it, building our own web maps, and then we have to re-direct through ArcGIS online?!?!?!?

No thanks.

I'm going with Portal (and whatever headaches that I believe will come with it) and I don't plan on looking back.

[BrianO_keefe]

On a side-note.

I was 'playing' around with a proof-of-concept map. A 'ParksFinder' editor. And I got it working with WAB + AGOO/AGO.

So basically, I can (hopefully) begin creating maps for these departments and then dev them an editor map so they can manage their own data. I don't want to be the Parks, Streets, Stormwater, etc. GIS guy. I want to develop tools that these departments can use to manage their OWN data.

So I now have a ParksFinder editor so that the Parks department can update their own parks data.

Next comes a MyWatershed editor so that Streets and Stormwater can manage their own Watershed data.

THAT almost feels like a vacation...

[BradNesom]

There are two web app builders.

A flex and an html5

[AaronKreag]

Right. I have a Flex builder locally installed on my server. Is there a JS/html5 builder that will run locally, internally? It looks like it's all some kind of hosted ESRI SAS or ArcOnline thing.

I am looking for a JS/html5 builder that I can download and install on my desktop or server.

Is there not one?

Aaron

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Note® 3, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

Let me clear some terminology up for you guys. "Application Builder" (notice no Web in front) is and Abobe Air application for building ArcGIS Viewer for Flex web sites. Web AppBuilder is the JS/html 5 Javascript API web site builder app that use JS Node, and there is a version that runs on AGOL and Portal and there is a Developer version that is available to those signed up for its Beta testing. The developer version is only available to those who have applied for its Beta program and is locally installed and run on your desktop or server. When it has hit final release in conjunction with ArcGIS Server 10.3 it will be available to others.

[BrianO_keefe]

I feel like ESRI should put together some graphical lexicon for these things. lol

But yeah, what Robert Scheitlin, GISP‌ said...

[LeeGraham]

I didn't help any that Esri sent out the most convoluted email I have ever gotten from them announcing the imminent release of WAB 3....I had to read it multiple times to finally figure out what they were talking about.

The email text is included below:

Thank you for your help with beta testing Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS.

Starting today (9/24) Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS Beta is now available as part of your ArcGIS Online organizational subscription. Please refer to the What’s New section in ArcGIS Online or visithttp://arcgis.com/features/apps/index.html and http://doc.arcgis.com/en/web-appbuilder/ to find out more.

If you do not have access to an ArcGIS Online Organizational subscription, you can access Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS through Portal for ArcGIS 10.3 Prerelease (coming soon). Please note that Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS available via ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS does not support custom widgets and themes. If you want to create an application by extending or customizing Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS, you should continue to access the Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS (Developer edition) through this Beta.

PS: As ArcGIS 10.3 Prerelease is made available in the next few weeks, you will be able to log support incidents by visiting support.esri.com. Accordingly, we will be disabling Submit Bug functionality in the Beta Community. We will continue to work on existing bugs and issues logged through the Beta Community.

Thanks,

Regards,

The ArcGIS Team

[BrianO_keefe]

Does anyone know if Portal 10.3 will be able to be the ONLY 10.3 version ESRI software or do we have to update our ArcGIS Servers and Desktops to 10.3 to work with it?

Because we aren't upgrading again for a couple years probably. This last upgrade to 10.2.2 marked the first time that the City had everyone using the same version and connected to a single license server. We don't WANT to upgrade again. Too much fricking work. We've been DYING to get LGDM fleshed out and more in populated as well as convert our Flex maps over to a JS version. And I'm itching to get some time to start working on custom widgets for JS. I just saw that they have a JQuery widget option that I am DYING to try my hand at in development.

I'm REALLY hoping we can install 10.3 Portal on top of 10.2.2 everything else.

[glennhazelton]

I don't know for sure I expect you would have to upgrade arcserver to 10.3 .

your desktop arcmap users could stay at 10.2.2 but they wouldn't be able to publish.

what I do is install arcmap on the server with arcserver so I can author maps from there.

all  this is just a guess but this has been the pattern in the past.