Top 10 Questions and Answers from LTS - Simplifying Field Data Workflows with Collector for ArcGIS

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02-23-2015 03:25 PM

Top 10 Questions and Answers from LTS - Simplifying Field Data Workflows with Collector for ArcGIS

There was a Live Training Seminar on Simplifying Field Data Workflows with Collector for ArcGIS.  This was presented by Jorge Ruiz-Valdepena and Jeff Shaner and was a great introduction using and the capabilities of Collector for ArcGIS.  Below are some of the questions and answers from that Live Training Seminar (LTS).

1.    How much does Collector for ArcGIS cost and does it consume service credits?

You can download Collector for ArcGIS from the iTunes App Store or from Google Play at no charge, the app itself is free. However Collector does require an identity.  You must sign in as a named user of an ArcGIS Organization and that identity must be unique.  With regard to the use of credits, the “Directions to here” tool uses service credits as it falls under the Analytics section of credit usage.  A common question is whether or not photos you attach to features will cost service credits due to use of storage.  If your feature service was published after July 2nd, 2014 – it will not use service credits.  See the Storage section for more details.

2.    Is Collector for ArcGIS supported on the Windows platform?

Collector for ArcGIS is available on the iOS and Android platforms today. However we are currently in development of Collector on the Microsoft platform (supporting both Windows tablets and Windows Phones).  We are interested in having customers join us in a beta this spring.  If interested, please email Collector4ArcGIS@esri.com and letus know!

3.    Can I use an external GPS/GNSS receiver with Collector for ArcGIS to improve locational accuracy when collecting data?


Yes, well sort of.  There are a number of external receivers that can connect to your smartphone or tablet and improve positional accuracy (EOS Positioning Systems, Trimble, Geneq iSxBlue, Bad-Elf, Dual Electronics, etc).  There are several challenges with using them however.  For example, you may receive accurate positions within the Collector app but the accuracy displayed will not reflect the accuracy coming from the receiver,  there is no way to specify a datum when transforming coordinates between spatial references (Collector assumes positions coming from the receiver are WGS84), and there is no means to capture NMEA data from the receiver and attach it to a feature (PDOP, HDOP, VDOP, number of satellites, etc).  All of these limitations we are considering for a future release of Collector for ArcGIS.

4.    Does Collector for ArcGIS only work with ArcGIS Online?

No, not exclusively. Collector for ArcGIS requires you sign in with an ArcGIS Identity.  That identity could come either from ArcGIS Online or from Portal for ArcGIS.  To see how you can sign in with a Portal identity, please read this help topic.  Likewise, the feature layers that you use to collect and update data may be supported either by an ArcGIS Server Feature Service that is entirely managed within your infrastructure or from a Hosted Feature Service that is managed within ArcGIS.com.

5.   Does Collector for ArcGIS require that I have an Internet connection to use it?


With Collector for ArcGIS you can use maps when connected to a network or if you know that you will be using Collector in an area without connectivity       you can download the map to your device before going out to the field.  Please read our Collector doc on taking maps offline to learn more.

6.   Does Collector for ArcGIS work offline with versioned data?

Yes it does.  With the 10.3 release of ArcGIS for Server, you can now publish feature services that support offline use with Collector.  For more information, please refer to the topic Offline maps and versioned data in the ArcGIS for Server documentation.

7.   Does Collector for ArcGIS support relationship classes in the geodatabase?

Yes!  New for the 10.3 release of Collector for ArcGIS is the support of editing relationships between features and tables.  For detailed information about Collector and related tables, please read this blog article.

8.  Can I use my own basemaps with Collector and copy them to the device?  Or do I have to use Esri basemaps?  Also if I am using Portal for ArcGIS, can I use the Esri basemaps published within ArcGIS.com?


Yes you can use your own basemaps with Collector and you can copy them to your device as well.  Please read this blog article for more information on how  you can create your own basemap layer using ArcMap and copy it directly to your iOS or Android device.  With Portal for ArcGIS, you can use an Esri basemap as well.  You simply need to create an item that references the Esri basemaps within your portal.  You can find more information on how to do this in the Collector documentation here.

9.   Can I customize the functionality within Collector for ArcGIS?


Collector for ArcGIS isconfigurable, but is not customizable.  For each web map that you create, you can configure the tools used within the Collector application. For example, you can configure the search tool to search for features as well as places and addresses.  You can also disable tools like Measure and routing if you like.  Esri does not provide the source code for the Collector app so that you can customize its functionality however.

10. How do you create the form that is used when creating data and can you customize it?

The form that you fill out when editing data inside of Collector is founded on the popup created for the feature layer in the map you are editing.  Taking full advantage of the ArcGIS platform you can create popups that improve the efficiency of data capture and limit error.  The tutorial for Creating Maps can help you understand what is possible.   At this point in time, customizing the form beyond what the popup has to offer is not available.  This is a consideration for future development within Collector.  Please send in your comments to Collector4ArcGIS@esri.com or vote up enhancements at ideas.arcgis.com.

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