Latest Contributions by MarcoBoeringa

A simple copy/paste of a raster stored as a BLOB into an SDO_GeoRaster type make ArcCatalogue to freeze indefinitely (more than 1h) doing nothing. No error message. Although you are likely to have hit that particular Oracle bug in the link, there still remains the question whether the process really failed. The copy and paste is probably mostly a server task, so seeing ArcCatalog idle on a local machine, is no clear indication the process really failed, it may just take an excessive amount of time to process the raster copy operation on the Oracle server. The fact you don't receive any error message in ArcCatalog, may also be a small indication the process is actually continuing in the background. Since raster datasets can be extremely big, operations on them can be time consuming, depending on the operation. Have you made absolutely sure there is no activity related to the copy & paste on the server? Oracle probably provides you with enough tools and logging to get a better idea of what is going on on the server. Sad to see Oracle refusing to tackle such an important issue and demanding a "customer business case" before even starting a move towards a solution. ... View more

Hi Robert, I don't have 10.1 yet and no ArcSDE available, but looking at this 10.1 Help topic: What's new for raster and image data in ArcGIS 10.1 I started wondering what type of raster data you are using? Is it classified and visible in ArcCatalog as the new "Raster product" data type, e.g. Landsat imagery with a Multispectral layer. The Help is not so clear here, but there seems to be an indication of possible extra raster viewing layers being created: "... A raster product is a raster dataset that uses metadata and header information to pre-create a raster layer from the raw data. ... Instead, they contain one or more derived raster datasets, such as a multispectral or pan-sharpened product, depending on the metadata and available bands. ..." If these derived layers are indeed not being created "on-the-fly" but pre-created and stored like for example raster pyramids, it would definitely explain a possible serious increase in storage requirements compared to previous versions of ArcSDE raster data storage. Lastly, when, at what version, did ArcGIS introduce the "Overview" with mosaics...? Besides pyramids, these could add to raster storage too. ... View more

I appear to have resolved the problem after doing a "Repair" installation. Hmm, wonder if some XML settings file is used for storing search defaults that went bust causing the issues, and was fixed by the Repair installation? Anyway, good to hear you solved your issues for now. All in all, the Search tool is a great and long desired addition to ArcGIS, especially with the addition of finding specific Geoprocessing tools from the vast ArcGIS collection of tools, as well as geodata. ... View more

This doesn't work though. I've tried it a few times.  I get the warning message select_by_survey_result_%Survey_Number% already exists.  Regardless of the variable number.  I also have geoprocessing options set to Overwrite the outputs of geoprocessing operations. Also, it doesn't add the layer to the map.  If I manually enter select_by_survey_result_1 for the Output Layer it works and adds it to the map. It appears the tool is treating %Survey_Number% as a string and not a variable. The variable %Survey_Number% DOES work in the sql statement.  But it doesn't work in the Output Layer text field of the Make Feature Layer tool.  Is there some other method to add the variable to the text field? I think you've hit the culprit in the bold text. Yes, in many instances, the variable is treated / passed / must be a string, and you will need to account for this in your code to make it work properly. E.g. convert numbers to strings or the other way around before using them in some parts of your code, like for this case with a filename. I have used string variables successfully in tools of multiple models. ... View more

Just to make sure that I understood you correctly. What you are saying is I do not need to install ArcSDE on the database server because the client contains the SDE functionality. Yes, this is true, but in a 2-tier Direct Connect situation, be aware you may need to install other additional software like Oracle Client on the client ArcGIS computer, to get the connection to your database up and running. This is not necessary with a separate server side 3-tier installation of ArcSDE. Another way of saying it: - I could use direct connection without ArcSDE installed for two-tier topology. - I could use ArcSDE to hide or conceal the database in a three-tier topology. am I right? Yes, that is about the story, although "hide" is probably a bit overstated, you will always have some database related stuff, like database login with username and password, that is there on the client side. And again be aware that for Oracle, you need to install Oracle Client in a two-tier topology, and that it needs to be a 32-bit version, as ArcGIS is still 32-bit. Also, rephrasing the first sentence to: - I could use direct connection without ArcSDE installed on a server for two-tier topology. is probably a bit more accurate, as, as you now understand, ArcSDE is always installed on the client side as part of the ArcGIS installation. ArcSDE is the engine of the "car" called "geodatabase"... Take away the engine entirely, and you will grind to a halt. ... View more

Is the qouted text true if I don't install ArcSDE 10.1? No, it's true, like Russell Brennan wrote, if you don't Create or Enable Enterprise Geodatabase functionality on your database using the new geoprocessing tools in ArcGIS 10.1. It has nothing to do with whether or not ArcSDE is installed on your database server. As Vince says, even if you don't use or install it on your database server, ArcSDE is still part of your client ArcGIS application, there are by default DLLs installed on your own computer with ArcGIS that handle the geodatabase SQL logic ---> That is essentially what ArcSDE is! E.g., have a look at your "C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.X\Bin" folder on your local computer. You will see DLLs like "sde.dll" and "sdesqlsrvr100.dll" etc. As soon as you attempt to connect to an ESRI Enterprise Geodatabase, these DLLs will be in use by your client ArcGIS application. There is no way around this when connecting to an ESRI geodatabase - at least for full functionality including editing - ArcSDE is just the component ESRI devised to handle the connection to the database and SQL stuff needed to allow advanced geodatabase functionality like versioning. There is nothing special about ArcSDE or these DLLs in this respect, other vendors like Bentley or Autodesk have similar software components in their software to handle connections and SQL stuff related to geospatial databases, they just call it differently. ... View more

I do notice a strange thing too, look at the attached images and notice how *searchterm*.shp* returns a different, bigger result set than searchterm*.shp* even though the filenames found indicate that there is no clear difference in file naming that could explain it (all starting with "ctour"), and the result of *searchterm*.shp* are correct when the folder is viewed. None of these datasets have metadata associated with them. For the record: ArcGIS 10.0 SP5 on Windows 7 SP1 ... View more

For example, if I look for the term "*shp*", it should find all kinds of Shapefiles.  However, all it ever seems to find are .xml or .txt files with "shp" in the path or file name.  Very annoying.  What's going on? You haven't by any case tried to search ArcGIS Online before attempting this, and forgotten to reset the Search window to "Local Search" instead of "ArcGIS Online"? There is a combobox for this choice in the upper right corner of the Search window. I did notice ArcGIS can be picky as to the usage and placement of the wildcard, e.g.: searchterm*.shp* returns nothing, even if there is a shapefile matching the search term *searchterm*.shp* does return result ... View more

Hi, I just had a go with the Batch Conversion, but that percentage of original option will physically resize the image size, and the objective is to provide a georeferenced aerial photograph, so in my instance that one wont work. Cheer Ben, That is what I remarked in my "UPDATE" in the last post. Actually, the problem is not so much in physically "resizing" the image, because we do it every day in GIS with raster datasets, but in not properly changing cell size to avoid changing geographical extent as well. If you resample an image to a coarser raster in any GIS, it will change cell size, but Irfanview is blissfully unaware of something like a geographical context, as it is a simple image processor and viewer, not a GIS. ... View more

Lastly, Irfanview doesn't write the coordinate system to the file nor copies over *.prj or *.xml files. This causes problems when adding to ArcMap. Use ArcCatalog, the options to define a Spatial Reference for a raster therein (preferably and easiest to import from the original file using the Import option). - Right click new ECW file in ArcCatalog - Choose Properties from context menu - Choose Spatial Reference/Edit - Choose Import - Select original ECW file to import from Now you should be able to add the new ECW file to ArcMap without issues. *** UPDATE ***: Hmmm, that was a bit optimistic ;(... When I tried it, the image does display, but if it is resampled to a smaller size, Irfanview/ArcMap doesn't register a bigger cell size, and just reduces the coverage of the image to a fraction of the original extent, which is of course completely wrong. E.g. if I choose to reduce size in Irfanview to 25% of the original, the extent in ArcMap comes out as 25% as well. Of course, Irfanview was never designed to handle GIS data and be able to handle geographical coordinate system stuff. ... View more

Hi Guys, I have got an 18Gig .ecw file here at work, and a contractor has asked for a lower quality one that could be burned to DVD or put on thumb drive (i know we can get big thumb drive, but the DVD option is better for us) so im trying to work out how to convert the 18Gig to be a smaller 4gig file. I have done the obvious thing of opening it in Irfanview, clicking save as, then reducing quality to abot 3:1 as per the options, and this dramatically reduces the file size to about 10meg, while still being adequate for what contractor needs. But when i bring this new ECW into my MXD map it comes up with warning - see photo below. [ATTACH=CONFIG]19209[/ATTACH] So i open Catalog and import the same coord system as all my projects/files and try again, but the error still comes up, and the image doesnt project on my plan. Does anyone know why this is happening, and how i can resolve this? -Cheers Ben, There is no way an 18Gig ECW is compressable to just 10Mb without resampling / downsampling to a much, much more coarse resolution, e.g. create a 100x100m ECW of a high precision 0,2x0,2meter ECW file. You have to realize that ECW is already an extremely well compressed format (usually up to 20x and more), there is not much to gain by trying to recompress it, unless you are willing to sacrify a serious amount of the image quality by recompressing again at a target ratio of over 20:1, e.g. 50. The resulting image quality is likely so-so... In addition, you are miss-interpreting the Irfanview control. The compress ratio 3:1 is a target compression for the file size based largely on uncompressed raster size, meaning if you have a non-compressed file, a 3:1 ratio will reduce the file size to a third of the original. More normal values are, as visible in Irfanview, 20:1 or 10:1, meaning a 1Gb file will be reduced to 50 or 100Mb file size. In your case, if the 18 Gb image was an uncompressed TIFF, setting a 3:1 target compression would result in possibly a 6Gb ECW file at best. If I run a re-compress to ECW against an already well compressed small ECW of 11Mb with a target ratio of 3:1 in Irfanview, the file size actually INCREASES, to about 38Mb... This all means that in all likelyhood, the "Save As" in Irfanview simply failed. Are you able to view it back in Irfanview, and especially, zoom in to the same level of detail as you were in the original file? If not, this is again an indication the "Save As" failed as intended, and maybe Irfanview just compressed or wrote one of the higher level pyramids to a new file. By the way, Irfanview does offer a re-sampling option to save a new file to a coarser, and thus smaller file size, image. The option is available under File/Batch conversion and than under "Batch conversion settings" choose "Use advanced options/Resize". I usually find it the easiest to just choose "Set new size as percentage of original", and set for example  50% to reduce the number of image pixels to 1/4 of the original. Combine this with a moderate target compression of let's say 10:1, and you may have a decent smaller image with still good image pixel quality. ... View more

Sam, I can hardly read the screenshot you posted. Most forums, and this seems too, resize your screenshots to some predefined maximum allowable size. It is wise to stay below it, so as to prevent resizing, for example by selecting only the error window in an image editor (e.g. Windows Paint) and writing that to a file before attaching to a post. However, from what I see, it is clear that the Multiple Element Layout Manager (which I am not yet familiar with - is it some user submitted add-on for ArcGIS?), expects an extra field in your DDP index layer, if I read it right it must be named "pageNameTimID". You may be able to solve the issue by adding such a field, although it would be wise to consult the documentation, if any, to find out which fields, and their field types, are required for this application. Marco ... View more

You may also be able to solve this last issue by setting the "Resample during display using" option under the Layer properties "Display" TAB to bilinear interpolation or cubic convolution instead of the default nearest neighbour resampling. This will interpolate a value during display and zooming, giving smoother results. ... View more