Latest Contributions by MarkBockenhauer

James, There are a variety of ways to manage this depending on what you want to allow your users to do.  Providing the application configuration (NCFG) shortcut to the users in your organization is pretty straight forward and probably easy for everyone to understand from a management perspective. You could let your users browse and open any map, just take away there ability to save it.  You could also put the main map in a folder that your users only have read access to,  that way they could not over-write it, but they could save the map to their own computer and make their own variation of the map, or make new maps if they need to. If you want to make sure they are using the map that you provide, giving them an Application Configuration (NCFG) is a good solution. Mark ... View more

James, I see two main things to consider. 1.  Lock files on shapefiles used by ArcGIS Explorer. 2. Make sure ArcGIS Explorer users can't mess up the map. For 1 This is how I would approach the problem.  I would create layer packages out of the shapefiles, placing the layer packages in a central location.  I would then build my ArcGIS Explorer map using the layer packages.   In the future the shapefiles can be edited (ArcGIS Explorer is not referencing them, so they are not locked), the layers also can be modified (except for the name) and just overwrite the layer package with a new layer package to update the ArcGIS Explorer maps.  Just make sure the Layer Package you are over-writing has the same name, and the same number of layers with same names inside.  To keep it simple one layer package per layer (shapefile) in your map. (don't use groups layers) One thing for you and your map users to be aware of, when you update the layer package, the ArcGIS Explorer user will not see the update until they re-open the map.  You could make this be the default map, and they just shut down ArcGIS Explrorer and restart, or they just go to the file menu - Open and select the map, to reload it and see the update -  No restart required.  You would still need to notify them when an update occurs though. For 2 You most likely want to use an Application Configuration.  There are many options available for the amount of control that your users will have. The basic idea is to create an application configuration (NCFG) and deliver that to your users.  The NCFG is a custom configured "view" of the ArcGIS Explorer application and a specific map. Take a look at the help here http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/1500//en/appconfigs.htm The NCFG can even be accessed by reference, so you could make upades to it and your users will just see the changes when they open ArcGIS Explorer... changes to the ArcGIS Explorer interface and/or the map.  A lot of flexibility. You can try this application configuration to get an idea for how they can be used. http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=8943032b54c2490991a6c5887e2f969d Mark ... View more

When you click on the map it does somethng like this? Does it occur in both 2D and 3D? What language is your computer running in?  it may have something to do with this, but I am not sure. Mark ... View more

Does this occur with all layer packages or is it specific to particular one? If you open this layer package in ArcGIS Explorer does it work? or does ArcGIS Explorer still hang? http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=170b5e6529064b8d9275168687880359 Mark ... View more

1. Is the layer broken?  Nothing displays in the map, but the layer in the table of contents has a red exclmation point next to it? or 2. The symbols on the map display keyboard characters instead of the symbols that the map was created with. Possible solution for 1 The red exclamation point means that the computer you are using the map on, does not have access to the data.  Often this is because the map (NMF, NMC) was created by adding data from a local drive letter location on the machine.  ArcGIS Explorer maps reference the data where it is on the machine.   Broken data links also occur when referencing ArcSDE and served (services) data that the other machine or user does not have access to. If you right click on the layer and click properties, you can click "source data" to find out where the data is being accessed from. If you want to share local data (shapefiles, rasters (imagery), filegeodatabases), creating and uploading layer packages to ArcGIS Online and building your ArcGIS Explorer maps out of the online content, is the best way to go. Especially if you are sharing to computers that have access to the internet, but not your local machine or local area network. http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/1500//en/sharing_map_and_map_content_files.htm It is easiest to share with others if the data sources are internet based (http://)  ArcGIS Server Services and ArcGIS online (layer packages) work great for enabling this. Possible Solution for 2 The map is using symbols that are comprised of ESRI Fonts.  The second machine does not have ArcGIS Desktop installed on it, and only has ArcGIS Explorer.  The base ArcGIS Explorer install, does not install all of the ESRI Fonts (they increase the download size too much).  To get the ESRI fonts on the second machine, you just need to install the Fonts Expansion Pack at http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-explorer/1500/download Download fonts expansion pack now Mark ... View more

Uli, You can use a filegeodatabase for this exercise.  You will not encounter the field size character limit using a filegeodatabase. Mark ... View more

Ben, 'Get unique values' only works for local data sources.  It is not supported for services. Interrogating the service for the unique values can be a costly operation for the server and the client.  There is no option to turn it on for services. Mark ... View more

When you start the application configuration manager it loads the dialog with previous configurations. As a test: In windows explorer address bar type %appdata% This will show you the appdata folder for your user account. In the 'esri' folder rename the 'arcgis explorer' folder to somethng different, and try starting the application configuration manager again. If this allows it to start, then look at the 'configuration manager' folder in the ArcGIS Explorer folder, one of the files in there, may be causing a conflict. Mark ... View more

can you access this URL?  http://www.esri.com/software/basemaps/basemaps.xml Starting with version 1200, the basemaps are pulled from the URL. Mark ... View more

As you have already figured out, ArcGIS Explorer online only works with GIS data through services.  You need to publish your data to a service to use it with ArcGIS Explorer online. Mark ... View more

Brad, You may want to try adjusting the coordinate system in ArcGIS Explorer.  If it is reprojecting the service that will have the biggest impact.  In general mapservices work best in ArcGIS Explorer 2D if the ArcGIS Explorer coordinate system (set in map properties http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/1200//en/map_properties_coordinate_systems.htm) is the same as the services coordinate system.   This results in the sharpest and fastest display. Mark ... View more

Kayla, You can get around this issue for ArcSDE data by changing a map property to store the authentication in the NMF or NMC file. To write the authentication into the map. 1. Click the File Menu (ArcGIS Explorer Logo upper left corner of the application). 2. Click Map Properties 3. Click Data Access 4. Check "Write authentication information for secure services into the map document" 5. Save the Map or Export from the contents window. This will store the authentication in the NMF or NMC files that you create, and the layer will connect to the geodatabase server correctly. Currently you are seeing a broken link, when you should be prompted to enter the authorization information.  This is a problem that will be worked on for the next release.  You should only see broken links when the server is not reachable, or you are unable to provide the proper authentication. -Mark ... View more

If you single click on a feature, using the left mouse button, the popup window should appear.  If it is a service layer, you will need to turn the popup functionality on for the layer. 1. Right Click on the layer in the contents window. 2. Click Properties 3. Click Popup and check the box to enable popup content for the layer. Also, for ArcGIS Explorer questions use this forum - http://forums.arcgis.com/forums/25-ArcGIS-Explorer Thanks, Mark ... View more

Srikanth, You are not missing anything.  The popup window does not automatically show file paths as links. In the popup properties you could choose to "use the value of a field as popup content" to see the PDF file when you click the feature. Keep in mind that anything you author that relies on a drive letter file path will only be useable on your computer, or another computer that duplicates the folder structure that you have on yours. Mark ... View more

Mark, Our agency will not allow us to upgrade to 1200. What about upgrading to 9.3.1 sp1 or ArcGIS 10 when it is released? Thanks, Mark ... View more