Latest Contributions by Christopher_L_Rogers

BTW James, The new features work beautifully and have removed many headaches from our end users thanks again! Not to be greedy but any news on when there may be a Grid Layer capability for Survey123? 🙂 Thanks, Chris ... View more

Wondering if anyone on the Operations Dashboard Team can help with this conundrum... Jeff Shaner  Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS  Ismael Chivite Hi Tif, This is very nice and extremely useful but I need to take it one step further so I'm hoping you can help me solve this conundrum. I have a Hosted Feature Service layer that was created by a Survey123 I built which also has one related table that contains information as well as pictures that are uploaded. I have successfully created two lists just as you've described here with the first providing the top level information from the Host Feature Service layer, actions are then set to load the second list based on a single selection from the first using the Parent/Child ID Relationship and this works perfect! Now here's the catch when the second list loads from the related table it has references to the photos that were taken and uploaded from the field by the field technician now what I need to be able to do is show the photos in a way that they're either thumbnails in their own View List window perhaps, as icons for each record perhaps (though each record usually has more than one photo), or even as the Pop-Up in a Normal Map handles them by opening up a blank Browser Tab/Window and allowing the viewer to see the pictures all at once or one at a time. I have looked at the photos in the related table but they don't really exist there as they are merely a reference point that is used in a dynamically built URL/Web call (at least in the case of a normal pop-up in a Map) thus Operations Dashboard doesn't have a smooth intuitive way to handle this. Now I will admit I haven't tried to solve this with the new "Embedded Content" capability yet but I am working on that as we speak so if you have any ideas on how to accomplish this that would be great or at least give me some technical info that might help me understand how to generate the right URL Link to these photos while dynamically passing in the photo reference key I think I can pull a rabbit out of the proverbial hat. So to clarify the use case and workflow here goes; I have created a Survey123 that allows Police Officers to work interdictions stop where they will be taking photos of vehicles, vehicle identification plates, license plates, area photos, and other such things and will be uploading the details and photos thought this Survey. The survey has multiple pages one of which has a Repeat in it for the photos and has two data storage parts 1) the Hosted Feature Service layer which contains the main/general information and 2) information one each photo taken and the photo itself uploaded and I can access all of this in Operations Dashboard. My Workflow... 1) Create the Sruvey123 and upload it whereby instantiating the necessary Hosted Feature Service layer, the Related Table, and a Map connecting it all. 2) Creat a new Operations Dashboard loading the Map from this Survey into it and then adding two lists. 3) Configured, the first list pulls in the data from the Host Feature Service layer and when a record from it is selected it feeds a second list which then pulls the data for each related record to its parent. When I try to then select a related record from the second table I don't see a way to construct a method to see the photos associated with each record. I can however; add an Indicator that provides a count of the number of photos in each related table record so I know I can see the individual photos as records yet I can't seem to figure out how to then create a dynamic link using each photos unique id that a user can click (like in the pop-up of the map) to view them or better yet perhaps using the Embedded Content widget to load the photos in it creating a way to display them all as thumbnails perhaps and if one is clicked see a larger view. This is a great way for to create a an application that allows Commanders to see what's going on out in the field and then to gain deeper insight into the details of the data submitted through the Survey. I hope this makes sense and hope you have some ideas as how to make this happen. If I come up with a solution with the new Embedded Content widget I'll let you know and share with the world. Thanks Tif look forward to seeing you at UC again this year! Regards, Chris Rogers OKDPS ... View more

Hey Jeff you know me... crazy and always trying to bend reality and rip a hole in the time space continuum but you brought up some very real and powerful use cases. We are already working on Alerts, Notification, and Messaging in Operations Dashboard with or without GeoEvents (some of us need the poor mans method) . As well as continued integration with external web resources continuing to extend the capabilities of the new "Embedded Content" recently released. We should connect so I can show your some real interesting use cases, demonstrations, and some out of this world blending of the new Embedded Content feature. You'll think I'm crazy but you guys built it and provided it and I squeezed new meaning/use out of it. It's not pretty at this stage but it will show you how I have been able to take the latest release and blend real-time Law Enforcement Radio Traffic Streams, Traffic Camera Streams, our use of Workforce as an AVL, and other interesting concepts into a very rich and meaningful hybrid command and control app. This is still in the Mad Hatters Lab phase but I can share it with you and other Esri team members for now and probably the general public at UC. Cheers Jeff, you and all the folks at Esri are doing amazing work and the products and those of us around the globe twisting them to fit our needs are proof positive! Regards, Chris  ... View more

Actually Kylie we have been using Workforce from it's very humble beginnings and we have found the this information is partially correct; 1) The One Minute interval is experienced by us when using what we call the Dispatch Console or Workforce Web Client for making assignments. These assignments then arrive on the Workers mobile device within about 1 Minute (60 seconds approx.). 2) The Workforce Application on the mobile devices that the Worker logs into sends the Workers Present Position Updates (Latitude/Longitude) every 30 seconds and we have watched this diligently to validate and verify this occurrence. I have actually used Operations Dashboard to create a monitoring tool so we can see when each of our users mobile devices updates their present position and in a list have it automatically resorting to put the person/mobile device which last updated the Workers layer on the top of the list. We also have another list that watches the Workers to see if any of them stop updating their present position and when this happens we reach out to them to find out why is it 1) they've changed status to On Break or Not Working, 2) is it because they are no longer in an area that has Internet or Cellular connectivity or 3) has their mobile device caused and issue perhaps because it has gone into power saving mode when the battery gets low as most mobile devices shut down the GPS first in order to save power or 4) it the mobile device's OS or the Workforce App experiencing a problem and keeping these present position updates from being written back to the Workers layer. When the system is operating in best case scenario the Workers layer is updated every 30 seconds rather than the aforementioned 60 seconds. Now that I've covered that I'd like to chime in on something you said... "Because accuracy is critical in data collection, Collector uses the most accurate information available. Workforce, on the other hand, doesn't have the same requirements, so uses the most easily accessed information." This is a bit frustrating and I feel was an faulty assumption and judgement call on the development teams part without having explored this with the end-users. Point in case we the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety and Oklahoma Highway Patrol have been using Workforce since Beta 0.0.1 and have worked closely with Craig Gillgrass and Jeff Shaner on trying to enhance and trouble shoot Workforce's use in our Public Safety / Law Enforcement environment where accuracy is absolutely critical for our use cases whether we are using that information for Situational Awareness to locate and manage our Workforce or using it to place on Collision Reports and/or Violation/Citations our needs require us to have immediate incremental updates of present position within 1-5 seconds and accuracy of their location to within one meter (approx. three feet) and even greater accuracy when using the location data for a fatality collision. I'm quite aware that there are a multitude of solutions outside of Workforce that would give us this level of accuracy and present position refresh rates BUT when these limitations are based on arbitrary design/development decision rather than technical or FCC communications limiting factors it is very frustrating and reflects poor on what is a fabulous product and capability. Hence; it would be awesome if Workforce would allow the end-user to determine at what frequency rate / interval the Workers layer will be written to just like we can do with the Locations layer for breadcrumb tracking purposes which by the way is much less important than Near Real-Time Present Position information especially in life and death situations. As it stands now we can have the Locations layer set to update as frequently as every 15 seconds so why wouldn't we want to be able to have at least this for where a Worker currently is or in the case of Public Safety even faster than that down to 1-5 seconds even if the system has to record ten one second intervals and transmit that every ten seconds if technical limitations are at play. This would provide the Dispatchers and Command and Control viewers a much smoother and more accurate picture from which to make solid decisions of personnel deployment for "Calls for Service" to Public Safety users' Fire, EMS, Police, etc. Last but not least the Workforce team at Esri has been doing a phenomenal job and this has become such a powerful product but I feel as if it is being held back from being as great as it could be including not being able to run it in the Windows environment since development stopped their (supply and demand) however; I have run up a few Android emulators on Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 10 Enterprise and it works though it's reliability rate is scary at best and brings with it an entirely new layer of latency and trouble. Our device typically provide GPS data to within one to three feet and sometimes even better so here are the high points and take away from this long discussion; 1) Make the frequency rate that the Workers layer is update upon a user definable setting from 1 second to ????? 2) Re-engage in the Windows version OR create a few widgets one for Web AppBuilder (WAB) and/or one for Operations Dashboard (OPD) where folks like me can tie into the GPS on a device (regardless of OS/Platform) and then integrate with the Workers layer just as we can with other Widgets like the Smart Editor, etc. 3) Provide within this Widget(s) and possibly one or two others the ability to have the same functionality as the mobile device apps have a) login and select the proper Workforce Project, b) provide the end-user the ability to set the frequency they desire that the device the WAB or OPD is running on (this would be a setting in the widget), and c) be able to send/receive Assignments etc. information in another Widget that could also be integrated with WAB/OPD. If a little bit of time was spent doing these few items I suspect the adoption rate of Workforce would jump through the roof as you would be removing the biggest limitations Workforce currently has and needs to overcome. Thanks in advance for all the awesome work and products you and every one of Esri's team members are producing and enhancing everyday. It's almost unbelievable that truly rich and powerful applications can be built by smartly designing and taking advantage of a hand full of Esri's offerings such as; ArcGIS Online, Collector, Survey123, Navigator, Explorer, Workforce, Operations Dashboard, Web AppBuilder, AppStudio, and then when you really need to get your hands dirty and build a Ferrari or Space Shuttle break out the power tools and crank up AppStudio and QT. As I see it the only limitations these days is in the minds of the designers/developers the tools speak for themselves!   Sincerely, Chris Rogers Full Stack Engineer ... View more

James, Bless you and the whole Team... you're my Heroes for the day! ... View more

Hello Everyone, JTedrick-esristaff‌ ichivite-esristaff‌ ESlavik-esristaff‌ Philip.Wilson-esristaff‌ Has there been any update and/or new development regarding the Paging issues mentioned here 1) Starting at the top of the page when moving to the next page and 2) adding a back arrow or last page/ previous page button? Very interested in this as well! We are developing Field Data Collection apps with Survey123 for Law Enforcement Officers and they can be distracted by the smallest things. Thus, these two issues are driving them crazy along with our not being to create page layouts that take advantage of a landscape layout such as in a traditional web apps. Thanks in advance for any feedback! Sincerely, Chris Rogers Christopher L. Rogers Law Enforcement Programs Administrator Oklahoma Department of Public Safety International Association of Crime Analysts ... View more

Thanks Derek, I will endeavor to add the Chat Widget as an Enhancement request in the ArcGIS Ideas Site. I don't have any Public facing Ops Dashboards but I'd be happy to share/invite you and/or Chris D. and John Beck to a project so that you can see it if you'd like. Otherwise I can drop you some screen shots to check out. I have seen the Video link you provide and it was nicely done. Typically we stretch the Out of the Box use of these solutions to fit our needs and bend to our will but alias there are some limitations without getting into AppStudio and banging out some code to extend and/or enhance the COTS for specific use cases. The best part is the rate of growth and maturity with these new features is amazing including Workforce, Survey123, and StoryMap we creatively blend many of these together to provide various solutions for our Officers/Troopers. Thanks again for the feedback! Cheers, Chris ... View more

What are the chances that the Chat Widget in the Windows Desktop version of Operations Dashboard will make it into the Web Based version? And any timeline on this happening? Also I truly find the current release of the Web Based Operations Dashboard very powerful and capable of providing the types of Operational views needed for Public Safety Operations Centers. I'm hopeful that there will be some power enhancements coming in the near future such as the Chat widget previously mentioned as well as some other Widgets that allow integration with Real-time Video/Audio services and integration with the GeoEvents Server. Streaming Services such as Chat, Messaging, Video, Audio, etc... would be an awesome enhancement to the current Operations Dashboard platform and are necessary for true Public Safety Operations Centers. Real-time access to all data is the key to dealing with Natural Disasters and/or Man-made Disasters... weather related events, search and rescue events, criminal events, fire fighting events, terroristic events, etc. Thanks for the awesome work and the great tools and keep'em coming! Sincerely, Chris Rogers Law Enforcement Programs Administrator Oklahoma Department of Public Safety  ... View more

Thanks Ismael, What a great write up and chocked full of great information. One thing I'd like to add is that if an organization is interested in routing their workers to the location of an assignment and then wants them to provide data from the field back to Ops, I can't imagine a better way to do this than to incorporate Survey123 or Collector with Workforce to achieve one of the best workflow opportunities I have seen in my 25+ years in technology solution development. Esri you never cease to amaze me and your teams are top notch always bringing new ideas and capabilities to the user community. With the solutions we now have at out disposal, it is easy for me to stretch and bend them to my agencies needs even beyond the documented uses. A true testament to how awesome the vision is behind these tools and solutions! Please keep up the great work! Hats off to you and your teams good Sir! Sincerely, Chris Rogers Oklahoma DPS ... View more

Is this a particular issued related to how PostgreSQL handles field names or as implemented by Esri? Oops never mind I found the answer I was looking for and here it is if anyone else is curious... from Stack Overflow sql - Are PostgreSQL column names case-sensitive? - Stack Overflow All identifiers (including column names) that are not double-quoted are folded to lower case in PostgreSQL. Column names that were created with double-quotes and thereby retained upper-case letters (and/or other syntax violations) have to be double-quoted for the rest of their life. So, YES, PostgreSQL column names are case-sensitive: Oh and BTW don't use quoted column names in any DB ever as it's a bad practice and will haunt you in all your future projects... just my personal and professional opinion! Cheers, Chris ... View more

Ah that makes sense then that it will only allow for Pattern Matching. Thanks for the updated link this will be a major help - http://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/create-surveys/quickreferencecreatesurveys.htm The one I had and had been using didn't have the other function and references - https://doc.arcgis.com/en/survey123/desktop/get-answers/quickreferencegetanswers.htm The "Quick reference" under the Get Answers tab in the Survvey123 website is different than the one under the Create Surveys tab and since they're both labeled "Quick reference" it was a bit misleading/confusing... Thanks again for the link...!!! ... View more

Almost forgot here's the Microsoft link to RegEx.Split() function... https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8yttk7sy(v=vs.110).aspx ... View more

Actually James you can use RegEx to decode or parse strings in certain IDE/Languages such as in .NET using "Regex.Split Method (String, String)" which splits an input string into an array of substrings at the positions defined by a regular expression pattern. While this may not be a capability within Survey123 it would be nice to add it to the Wish List so that you don't have to rely on characters counts as you do with SubStr() so that you can call the RegEx.split() function and use patterns to define what parts of the String you want to use to define something else such as in my case the two digits which represent Vehicle Year, Make, or Model, etc... If the Survey123 SubStr() Function would allow you to define how you want to parse a string start char, stop char, number of chars it might be easier to do it that way but the Survey123 implementation of SubStr() seems a bit limited but that just may be my limited understanding of how the function is implemented. I can't seem to find a Functions list for what functions are available for use in Survey123 and how they are implemented versus how other languages implement them so I am sometimes at a bit of a loss without some laborious experimentation. Long story short I'd really LOVE to have a document on the Functions available within Survey123. Thanks for your assistance! Regards, Chris ... View more