Latest Contributions by MarkBockenhauer

The past few weeks we have been working on improving the performance of fully cached mapservices (Web Mercator Auxillary Sphere and WGS84, The ArcGIS online basemaps) in 3D.  This past weekend we discovered some new mathematical approaches that could yield even greater performance increases over what we currently have.  We are taking the next 2 days to assess whether this approach will yield the expected results.  This means that we will not be releasing ArcGIS Explorer 2500 this week. TPColson - The ArcGIS Explorer 2500 system requirement level is the same as 1750.  We know that ArcGIS Explorer does have problems running on a combination of graphics cards and drivers, often an updated driver can resolve the issue, but it is not always the case.  As far as other system specs, if the graphics card and driver are not a problem, ArcGIS Explorer runs on some low end machines, at least by today's standards.  One of my test machines is a 10 year old XP OS single core pentium 4 with 2GB of ram, I even have a Windows 8 64 bit OS dual core with 2GB of ram.. and ArcGIS Explorer runs on both of them. Mark ... View more

I have seen instances where newer drivers make things worse...   Also, as I understand it, the integrated graphics cards are customized by the computer hardware vendors (or ordered to specification) and that is why you will see specific drivers from the computer maker for the graphics card.  While the base technology in an intel 945 chipset card in a Dell computer and HP computer may be the same, the actual use of the card by the computer is not necessarily the same.  So much so, that a new driver from intel for the chipset does not apply to grahics card used in the Dell or HP computer.  Hence the HP computer with 945 chipset works, but a Dell with the "same" chipset does not.  At this point we are at the mercy of the computer maker to produce drivers that incorporate the latest advancements from the chip maker. Typically it is the notebook and laptop computers that will have an integrated or "mobile" version of the card, and finding newer or different drivers for this type is not always possible. While ArcGIS Explorer is using technology that is firmly rooted in Windows and OpenGL we are looking at Direct X and lesser OpenGL requirements in forthcoming software products.  We do want Esri mapping software to run on as many computer and computer like devices (phones, tablets etc...) as possible. I posted the list for reference.  I have tested ArcGIS Explorer on a number of computers over the last 6 years, whether you have 2GB of Ram or 16GB, Single core or quad core, a $300 or $5000 computer, its the graphics card and the driver that is the number 1 cause of failure or success.  I have only had 3 computers cross my desk that had the "desktop background displays where the map should display" issue and in those instances there were newer drivers available that fixed it. The next version of ArcGIS Explorer (2500) does not decrease the requirements, but it does not increase them either.  Mark ... View more

At the UC (26 Jul 2012) Mark and Bern said AGX 2012 would likely be released in August 2012 (http://video.esri.com/watch/1862/arcgis-explorer-desktop). Now Mark has said that it will be out this month (Jan '13). It feels like we are given a time that this will be released and when that doesn't get met we are given another future date, and this is frustrating. I mean seriously, there are only 16 days left in January 2013. . . only 12 of them are working days. Is AGX build 2500 (previously 2012) totally broken, that it needs this much time to fix? ....... Right now, at this moment we are still on track for release this month. -mark ... View more

The best guess at a cause when ArcGIS Explorer desktop fails on first start, especially if ArcGIS Explorer has never ran successfully on the machine before, is the graphics card driver  and/or graphics card. Often getting an updated driver for the graphics card will resolve the issue, but in some cases it can cause an issue.  We have had reports where ArcGIS Explorer was working fine, and then one day quit working, the quit working also coincided with machine updates that changed the driver on the graphics card. If you have an integrated or mobile graphics card (common in laptops and notebooks), look for an updated driver from the computer hardware vendor (HP, Toshiba, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, etc..)  If you can not find a driver from the vendor or the vendors driver does not work, try the graphics card maker. For those that encounter problems it would be helpful if you listed the Computer, graphics card and driver as well as the experience... Doesn't start, computer background shows where the map should be, 2D works - but 3D does not, etc... Here is a short list of computers and drivers where ArcGIS Explorer is known to work. ArcGIS Explorer works with these, and many more, these are machine that I have used ArcGIS Explorer desktop on. Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX1400...........10/29/2007...........6.14.11.6265 Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800M........2/19/2010.............8.16.11.8921    Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800M........7/31/2010.............9.17.12.5922    Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX3600M.........8/5/2011...............8.17.12.7589 Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX3800M.........8/18/2012.............9.18.13.593 Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX4600............2/9/2012..............8.17.12.9573    Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX4600............12/27/2010...........6.14.12.6645    Dell        NVIDIA Quadro FX5500............3/23/2010.............8.17.11.9728                        Lenovo    Intel(R) HD 4000.................8/21/2012............9.17.10.2843    HP          Intel(R) 945 GM/GU...................2/22/2007............7.14.10.1214 ... View more

On the machines that only have ArcGIS Explorer 2012 beta, my point symbols are not showing up properly.  The triangle and square end up being the # sign with color coding and the circle ends up being the ( sign with red color coding.  This does not occur on the machine that has Arcinfo. It is the Fonts.  When the Final Release of ArcGIS Explorer desktop 2500 is available there will be a fonts expansion pack that you can install to get the fonts. For 2012  you could.... Uninstall 2012 Install 1750 Install the Fonts Expansion Pack for 1750 Uninstall 1750 Install 2012. The Fonts are just installed in the Windows\Fonts folder on the machine.  You could also copy all of the ESRI fonts in this folder from your working machine to the fonts folder on the machines that are not working, as a workaround for beta 2012. Mark ... View more

The ArcGIS Explorer team is very close to completing ArcGIS Explorer 2500 (formerly named 2012) we have one remaining issue that we are working to resolve today.  If the problem is fixed today, ArcGIS Explorer 2500 will be available for download next week.   I will update this thread with the precise status when it is known. The ArcGIS Explorer Desktop 2500 release will be available in January 2013. Mark ... View more

The ArcGIS Explorer team is very close to completing ArcGIS Explorer 2500 (formerly named 2012) we have one remaining issue that we are working to resolve today.  If the problem is fixed today, ArcGIS Explorer 2500 will be available for download next week.   I will update this thread with the precise status when it is known. As Joe Flannery points out, this release has been a long time coming, the team prefers to release on a 4 to 6 month cycle.  For this release we leveraged new capabilities in the Esri enterprise system, and the coordination with on-going work in that system (ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS online) took some extra time to synchronize. Thanks for your patience; the next release of ArcGIS Explorer will be the best one yet. Mark ... View more

Jpg image files geo referenced in Google Earth, saved as KML files, then brought in to 2012 beta don't display. They displayed fine before 2012 and after uninstalling 2012 and reinstalling 1750. I was not able to reproduce this problem.  Can you share the KMZ file that you created? Thanks, Mark ... View more

The ArcGIS Explorer 2012 final release setup will install on Windows 8.  The beta installer did not have the logic for Windows 8. Mark A workaround for installing and using ArcGIS Explorer 2012 beta on windows 8. When you run the setup the install files are placed in your %tmp%\ArcGISExporer_build2012Beta folder.  In this folder you will see two Windows Installer Package executables.  PerUser (non admin install) and AllUsers.  You can run either of these to install ArcGIS Explorer on your Windows 8 computer. Mark ... View more

Beta will not install on Windows 8, and that OS is going to be a reality soon. I find it somewhat funny because the older 1750 build will install just fine on Win8. The ArcGIS Explorer 2012 final release setup will install on Windows 8.  The beta installer did not have the logic for Windows 8. Mark ... View more

As mentioned before, I can see my ArcGIS Online maps that I have created; however, I cannot see any of my data when opening them. Most of my maps are a feature service right now. Does ArcGIS Explorer handle feature services yet? Thank you, Jarom ArcGIS Explorer 2012 and prior will not support feature services.  Feature services will be supported in the 2013 releases. mark ... View more

Hello: Is there an estimate for a release date (week,  month, season...) for ArcGIS Explorer Desktop 2012 final? Will there be another beta release? I cannot find any way to get "About..." info in the UI, to get the build number. I'm probably missing it. The executable I have says 2.0.0.1995. Is there a more recent beta? And, for a follow up, is there any official or semi-official statement about this product's future development, in light of the upcoming (at some point) release of the ArcGIS "Viewer" for Windows? Thanks, Harry We have beem implementing some User Conference bug fix and enhancement requests that have caused us to miss our intended August release window.  We have also been looking ArcGIS 10.1 service pack 1 work and moving applicable enhancements into ArcGIS Explorer as well. One of the significant items is support for Publick Key Infrastructure. That work is still on-going and a few weeks from being complete. We are not planning another beta release.  The next release will be the official ArcGIS Explorer 2012 release. The ArcGIS Viewer for windows is a Multi-screen (window) dashboard mapping application.  It is a compliment to the ArcGIS system, not a replacement for ArcGIS Explorer. Longer term ArcGIS Explorer continues to be developed.  Post ArcGIS Explorer 2012 we will be working to address issues with map display and performance by using a new 2D and 3D display architecture.  The first of many releases on the new display will be in 2013. Mark ... View more

I have an inquiry regarding the add GIS service on ArcGIS Explorer. How do I connect my citrix server database to be utilized in ArcGIS Explorer? I have tried using this URL (http://citrix/Citrix/XenApp/site/default.aspx?NFuse_CurrentFolder=%5cDesktop%20GIS), but it fails to connect. I pray to the GIS gods that I can eventually link the server to this awesome piece of software. Hans Geo-Spatial Analyst OSHPD Hans, ArcGIS Explorer connects to ArcGIS, ArcIMS, WMS and GeoRss services.  I am not sure what you are referring to in regards to "citrix server database" ArcGIS Explorer can be run within a citrix environment, but I am not familiar with connecting to a citrix server. Mark ... View more

Arno: See this thread.  It's old, but still applies. http://forums.esri.com/thread.asp?c=184&f=2206&t=288838 I have had quite a few people tell me that they run ArcGIS Explorer with aero using the setting: <E3Settings DisableAeroDWM="false"  mentioned in the forum post, and it doesn't cause them problems.  We are not going to change the default behavior though, for 2012, as there are quite a few ArcGIS Explorer users on older hardware (graphics cards / drivers) where it is problematic. Mark ... View more

Hello We are currently testing ArcGIS Explorer Desktop Beta Build 2035 and just want to let you know that geosearch capability isn't working. We have no problem using a new service, http://geocode.arcgis.com and geosearch in ArcGIS Desktop 10 but it does not seem to be working in the current version of ArcGIS Explorer Desktop Beta.  Are you planning to fix it by next upcoming release? Thanks, Sach The ArcGIS Explorer 2012 final release will work with the http://geocode.arcgis.com service. ... View more