I Can't Live Without ArcMap because...!!! - plugins, add-ons, and Jerry Garcia

BrianBaldwin · ‎08-02-2023

UPDATES AS OF: July 31st, 2024

HAZUS? X-Tools? GeoRAS? That picture of Jerry Garcia when you typed 'jerry' in a new edit session?

We would like to know what add-ons/plugins are preventing you from moving to ArcGIS Pro from ArcMap.

The goal of this post/blog is to record and track the add-ons/plugins that the education community has let us know are a roadblock for moving to ArcGIS Pro.

In the comments - please let us know about other add-ons that are not on the list and we will work to update the main post.

The goal for this post is not to discuss ArcMap/ArcGIS Pro features/functions... that is taking place in many other locations, we want to hear about add-ons, etc.

Lastly - almost all of the organizations that are managing or building these plugins have contact forms and message boards. Please use these avenues to let these teams/individuals know about your need for an ArcGIS Pro version.

HAZUS

What/Functionality	Hazus is a nationally applicable standardized methodology that contains models for estimating potential losses from earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis.
Who	FEMA
Where	https://msc.fema.gov/portal/resources/hazus
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.8.2
Current Plans	"pending outside influences that might impact, November 2024 release"

HEC-GeoRAS

What/Functionality	Hydraulic engineering software
Who	Army Corps of Engineers
Where	https://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-georas/
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.2
Current Plans	"HEC will no longer test and verify newer versions of HEC-GeoRAS that is compatible with versions of ArcGIS that are newer than Version 10.2.1." We would recommend that you look at the current functionality in Arc Hydro, which offers selected functionality that is comparable. You can download Arc Hydro for free from here: https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/water-resources/arc-hydro/downloads#arc-hydro-for-arcgis-pro

Community Viz

What/Functionality	Urban, city, regional planning
Who	Texas A&M
Where	https://communityviz.com/
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.8
Current Plans	"CommunityViz for Pro, Coming soon to 2024"

ArcSWAT

What/Functionality	Soil and water assessment tool
Who	Texas A&M (TAMU), USDA
Where	https://swat.tamu.edu/software/arcswat/
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.8 (Jan. 3rd release)
Current Plans	ArcGIS Pro Beta is currently available for testing by request. Release is imminent.

TBEST (Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool)

What/Functionality	TBEST, or Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool, represents an effort to develop a multi-faceted GIS-based modeling, planning and analysis tool which integrates socio-economic, land use, and transit network data into a unique platform for scenario-based transit ridership estimation and analysis.
Who	Florida Department of Transportation, University of South Florida
Where	https://tbest.org/
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.8.2
Current Plans	There is currently a Beta version of TBEST 5.0 available that uses the ArcGIS Maps SDK - please just inquire or reach out on the TBEST website.

X-Ray

What/Functionality	Schema and geodatabase design
Who	Esri
Where	Old Blog: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-desktop/mapping/x-raying-your-arcmap-documents/
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.8.2
Current Plans	Please see the schema reporting tools that are now included as part of ArcGIS Pro: Generate a schema report

DSAS (Digital Shoreline Analysis System)

What/Functionality	Calculating shoreline change
Who	USGS
Where	https://www.usgs.gov/centers/whcmsc/science/digital-shoreline-analysis-system-dsas#overview
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.4 - 10.7
Current Plans	There is a new (6.0) release of DSAS that is 'GIS agnostic' - there is a documented workflow for importing GeoJSON files and working within ArcGIS Pro.

MGET (Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools)

What/Functionality	Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools (MGET) is a free, open-source geoprocessing toolbox that can help you solve a wide variety of marine research, conservation, and spatial planning problems.
Who	Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab - Duke University
Where	https://mgel.env.duke.edu/mget/
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.8
Current Plans	"We anticipate that we will eventually release a version of MGET for 64-bit Python 3.x that will be compatible with ArcGIS Pro. However, the work required for this is nontrivial. In early 2023, we were approached by a funder who was willing to underwrite this effort. Discussions are ongoing and we hope to have an update on this initiative later in 2023."

gSSURGO - Soil Data Development Toolbox

What/Functionality	It allows users to create on-demand thematic maps of soil properties or interpretations with controls for aggregation method and depth.
Who	USDA
Where	https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/data-and-reports/gridded-national-soil-survey-geographic-databas...
Latest Supported Version	ArcMap 10.3.x
Current Plans	"... they are currently updating the Soil Data Development Toolbox to ArcGIS Pro... hopefully be released later this year."

Others...?

If there are items that are not included on this list that are a must have, with functionality that is not found in ArcGIS Pro or the suite of current extensions, please let us know.

Again - almost all of the organizations that are managing or building these plugins/add-ons have contact forms and message boards. Please use these avenues to let these teams/individuals know about your need for an ArcGIS Pro version.

AyanPalit · ‎08-02-2023

@BrianBaldwin Thanks for getting this list started! Relevant note, ArcGIS 10.8.2 is the current release of ArcMap and will continue to be supported until March 01, 2026. ArcMap Continued Support

JoeGuziStarkCountyOH · ‎08-02-2023

XRAY.... a thousand times XRAY.... I vote XRAY For all of these reasons X-Ray for ArcGIS Pro... I'm Joe Guzi and I approve this message.

AddyPope · ‎08-11-2023

Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS)

From the USGS - Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)

BrianBaldwin · ‎08-11-2023

Thanks @AddyPope - just added DSAS. @MarkLecher1 - Just added MGET as well.

PatIampietro · ‎08-11-2023

@BrianBaldwin MGET YES!!! Just came here to add that myself!

BrianBaldwin · ‎08-11-2023

@PatIampietro - I just sent a note over to the MGET team to let them know about this blog/etc. - feel free to send them a note (if you haven't in a bit) to let them know you are waiting!

(All of the project websites listed above have a 'contact' or 'help' alias and thus far - almost every team has been really positive and responsive!)

PatIampietro · ‎08-11-2023

@BrianBaldwin yes, me and the MGEL folks at Duke (the MGET Team) are old friends, but I haven't chatted with them in a while so I will drop them a line!

AmyWork3 · ‎10-27-2023

@BrianBaldwin - I had another one to add to this list--ArcScan. I have a student who needs to do large scale digitization of raster data to vector data. I found something that led me to ArcScan . It's an extension in ArcMap, but in other forums, it looks like there hasn't been any movement to include ArcScan in Pro.

PeterKnoop · ‎10-29-2023

@AmyWork3 I am definitely not an ArcScan wizard, and I'm sure it did more than we every used it for, however, we recently found that Extract Features Using AI Models (Image Analyst) is a helpful substitute in some of our typical workflows.

For example, extracting polygons from scanned historic black and white parcel or census division maps. Assuming you are starting from the same kind of 1-band, 1-bit raster you would prepare for ArcScan, then you can run the tool in "only postprocess" mode, and choose Line or Parcel regularization.

Like ArcScan, the results are not perfect, however, it also greatly reduces the amount of manual digitization required to generate a final product. It also can benefit from pre-cleaning of the raster, when that takes less effort than post-processing fixes, as did ArcScan, though it lacks the helpful tools ArcScan provided for pre-cleaning.

AmyWork3 · ‎10-30-2023

Thanks @PeterKnoop! I'll pass this information along. Yes, it's a 1-band raster of lines that they want digitized.

RobertArens · ‎11-10-2023

@AyanPalit

But the extended support only refers to technical support but no security updates (ending 02/2024) or am I misunderstanding?

AyanPalit · ‎11-13-2023

@RobertArens Similar question discussed at: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-questions/will-pro-honor-import-mxd-functions-after-arcmap/...

What happens once ArcMap is in Mature phase - this is explained at ArcGIS Product life cycle support policy

Keep an eye on ArcMap Continued Support page.

RobertArens · ‎11-14-2023

@AyanPalit

thank you very much for the answer and the links.
What I'm not quite sure about is the support for security-relevant patches.

We have extensions for ArcMap 10.8.x, which will probably not be released for ArcGIS Pro until 2026. However, our security officers will not authorise any software for which no security updates are published. At the same time, encapsulation of the application would be linked to encapsulation of the databases and so on, which poses a major problem for the provision for our users (distributed access to databases and editing from different applications).

We have tried to find alternatives for the extensions, but unfortunately there are currently none (for example ALKIS extensions or various cadastral applications - with full functions for ArcGIS Pro).

Software updates and patches will end in February 2024, i.e. the provision of security updates will definitely be discontinued(?).
Will there still be any (additional) support for security updates that can somehow be contractually added?

AyanPalit · ‎11-15-2023

Hello @RobertArens Here are my thoughts:

Going strictly by the verbiage referenced, no patching would include security patches. So, you may run into the risk of non-compliance with organizational security polices. The retire policy is similar to other technology companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Google.
However, there have been special circumstances where Esri has issued patches due to the extreme nature of the security vulnerability and the wide impact to users (for e.g. log4j). This is more of an exception and not the norm, so suggest not relying on this practice.
Having said that, you can certainly raise the matter with your Esri Account Representative and seek specific guidance. Secondly, you should also raise the concern with the vendor/creator of the ArcMap extensions. Any software maintenance plan on the extensions should have a roadmap for porting to ArcGIS Pro.
You can certainly consider additional support contracts but my advice is that funds are better used towards a future state with ArcGIS Pro based tools versus maintaining legacy tools.

BrianBaldwin · ‎02-22-2024

@Bud - here is the latest documentation from the ArcGIS Pro page explaining how ArcMap representations are still 'view' enabled (can still be used) - but there is not the ability to create new representations.

ArcGIS Pro has attribute-driven symbology - which should hopefully be meeting the needs that representations filled.

If there are gaps or needs you have that they don't fulfill - I would make sure that you note it on the ArcGIS Pro Ideas page - or the ArcGIS Pro product pages - as the product team probably won't see comments on here.

UCDITServices · ‎03-22-2024

@BrianBaldwin here is another from an academic at my institution

SmartDissolve

Global Human Settlement - Tools - European Commission (europa.eu)

GHS-SmartDissolve 2 User Guide.pdf (europa.eu)

On asking if the ArcGIS Pro Dissolve (Data Management) would do what is needed, this is his reply :

"This is a whole other level of Dissolve. It's been custom written through Matlab interfacing with ArcGIS and the European Commission host the code. I've been in touch with the author but he said it's unlikely they'll package it for ArcGIS Pro. It will let me collapse a grid to ensure there are enough data subjects in each grid to protect them under GDPR rules. ie. giving the most optimum spatial resolution to display data nationally but still being legal. We nearly always use a reasonably large grid or Electoral Divisions, etc. to report data but there's massive loss in detail. This would do a lot to address that."

BrianBaldwin · ‎03-22-2024

@JoeGuziStarkCountyOH - just curious - did the new ArcGIS Pro schema reporting tools meet the need for X-Ray?

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geodatabases/overview/schema-report.htm

JoeGuziStarkCountyOH · ‎03-26-2024

@BrianBaldwin On paper yes, but in all honesty I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I am excited to try it, I have just been busy with other things.