Latest Contributions by daveostrander

Notes or Comment fields can be a tedious field to fill-in without the aid of a keyboard, especially if you have something wordy to input. Additionally, notes and comments fields are not well suited for common attribute table tasks say, querying. Honestly, as far as I can tell there really is no good reason to store these fields as text fields in the first place. Wouldn't it make more sense to have the option to digitally write your notes and comments using a stylus, that is stored as an image, and gets attached to the feature service? For example, Survey123 already seems to have this capability as implemented within the signature field. The only problem with using the signature field as a way to take notes is the limited amount of space the signature field allots users. Maybe this is very simple fix; create a new field type called "Comments", and extend the amount of space to a full page, or as determined by the user. So far I have been using the Notability app as a workaround, but being able to jot down comments, or take a picture and write directly on top of it with a stylus all within the Survey123 application would be a whole lot simpler, and a less clumsy approach. Filling out forms using a stylus; seems like a no-brainer! ... View more

Have you ever wanted to include a comment field in a feture class, but cringed at the thought of having to type out something wordy one letter at a time. Sometimes, a text field that requires writing by tapping one letter a time can frustrate the techiest among us, not to mention more unfamiliar users, say your parents. Instead, wouldn't it be really useful to convert our comment or note fields to a writable document that can be viewed as an attachment, like how pictures and other documents are created as attachments in ArcGIS? In case no one has noticed, comments fields are notoriously horrible to use for quering or performing other database tasks on that making them an attachment would be just as useful, but being able to write them instead of tap them in would be hugely efficient. With Windows, Android, and now iOS offering a stylus to accompany their latest releases of tablets and 2 in 1's, it would make sense for ESRI to start making that leap as well. Consider this, a middle aged building inspector has been handed a tablet to do a building inspection using Collector for ArcGIS. For the past 20 years he has been using carbon copy forms, on which he is able to freely jot down notes using pen and paper so that the contractor can undestand what it will take to pass inspection. With the tablet approach we are asking him to perform those same job functions, only now, instead of being able to quickly write down the reasons why the contractor has failed the inspection, he is forced to patiently type out three paragraphs one letter at a time. Oh, it looks like I forgot to mention our middle aged building inspector is not that patient. Here's an idea, how about we create a mobile mapping application that gives him the flexibility to use drop down menus where they make sense, take pictures of problem areas at the job site, and quickly and easily jot down further instructions or comments pertaining to the building inspection. In this scenario, we are still completely digital, and since we are working with web services the information can be shared with anyone simply by sharing a link and providing a permit number, but best yet, our building inspector hasn't radically had to change the way he performs his work. As a matter of fact, he is a much happier person because he no longer has to babysit a stockpile of file folders, keep track of scheduled building inspections, plan out routes to get to those building inspections, upload pictures to his office computer from those inspections, or scan all the documents that continually grow over the course of those inspections. In this case, the key to being happy is the ability to use in app writing with Collector. Without it, you have the old paper based way of doing things vs. some poor old guy frustrated that what used to take him mere seconds now has to be painstakingly entered in, one letter at a time. ... View more

I have perhaps a controversial idea, but I think a pretty good one. Each time I call customer support (which is great by the way) I get an analyst on the other end who I believe has an enormous capability that I do not have. I will typically explain my problem and give them an error message if applicable and then they will conduct a search on their end in an attempt to solve the issue. What I am assuming is that the analysts are probably querying through all the logged tickets that the support staff have ever resolved. Wouldn't this be a huge benefit to ArcGIS users to be able to tap into the ESRI incident log prior to making a phone call to support. I realize that there would be a few privacy hurdles that would need to be worked out to keep client confidentiality intact, but I think with some tweaking that could be accomplished.  Look, I know we have forums, and countless pages of help documents, but actually browsing resolved tickets would be a huge boon for users, and I am willing to bet considerable cost savings for ESRI. Allowing support staff to publish tickets to a searchable database that is accessable to ArcGIS users in my mind would be the next step towards GIS nirvana. dave-o. ... View more

I have perhaps a controversial idea, but I think a pretty good one. Each time I call customer support (which is great by the way) I get an analyst on the other end who I believe has an enormous capability that I do not have. I will typically explain my problem and give them an error message if applicable and then they will conduct a search on their end in an attempt to solve the issue. What I am assuming is that the analysts are probably querying through all the logged tickets that the support staff have ever resolved. Wouldn't this be a huge benefit to ArcGIS users to be able to tap into the ESRI incident log prior to making a phone call to support. I realize that there would be a few privacy hurdles that would need to be worked out to keep client confidentiality intact, but I think with some tweaking that could be accomplished.  Look, I know we have forums, and countless pages of help documents, but actually browsing resolved tickets would be a huge boon for users, and I am willing to bet considerable cost savings for ESRI. Allowing support staff to publish tickets to a searchable database that is accessable to ArcGIS users in my mind would be the next step towards GIS nirvana. dave-o. ... View more