Latest Contributions by MichaelBranscomb

Russell, ArcGIS Explorer 1500 (the 10.0 release) does not offer thematic mapping spefically but there may be ways to achieve the desired effect with some of the new functionality that we are introducing. It should be available in a few weeks time. Regards Mike ... View more

Thoralf, If you need to roll back - ArcGIS Explorer 900 can be downloaded here: http://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build900/ArcGISExplorerDownload.exe. In a few weeks we hope to be releasing ArcGIS Explorer 1500 which contains many enhancements over the 1200 release in addition to bug fixes. It is a shame you have had a frustrating experience so far with Explorer 1200 - perhaps you can list your hardware/software spec so we can try to ensure it's covered in our testing. I do not know whether Windows 7 offers a better environment for running ArcGIS Explorer specifically but it is widely regarded as a more stable OS all round - and we're running ArcGIS Explorer very well on many laptops/desktops here in the office. Regards Mike ... View more

John, I believe ArcGIS Explorer 1500 will provide the functionality you are looking for - by introducing some Shapefile (+ other vector data source) filtering in the application through SQL-style queries. We hope to have this release available later in August or possibly early September. There are also some API additions in this area which you may be interested in if you are planning any development with the (free) ArcGIS Explorer SDK. You could also consider approaching your local ESRI distributor/regional office to speak to an account manager who I'm sure would try to support you during your product evaluation - we have evaluation licenses which might be available for this situation. We also have a developer programme which although has an upfront cost per developer, provides access to a whole bundle of ESRI SDK for desktop, web and mobile development. Regards Mike ... View more

There is different types of content on ArcGIS.com so at the current 1200 release, how exactly you add content will depend on what type of content it is. At the imminent 1500 release we have made it much easier to get to ArcGIS.com from inside ArcGIS Explorer allowing you easily search for an add content. So for the time being, at 1200... 1. Open ArcGIS Explorer 2. Go to ArcGIS.com in an internet browser 3. Identify some content you wish to open 4. Click the "details" link which takes you to a page about that item (e.g. http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=1975e61a45044d448c132755896bae42). 5. Click the expand button next to "Open" beneath the thumbnail 6. Choose ArcGIS Desktop then when prompted to save or open, click open (alternatively you could save the file to disk) 7. With ArcGIS Explorer already open it will intercept the .pkinfo file and open the content. Alternatively if you would like to add content that ESRI host, the URL you need to use in ArcGIS Explorer (Add Content > GIS Services > New Server Connection): http://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/services As I said - at 1500 this process is much simpler. Unfortunately it's still a few weeks away. Regards Mike ... View more

Andrew, Ensuring as consistent experience as possible across the different clients (ArcGIS Explorer Desktop / ArcGIS Explorer Online / Web APIs / iOS / ...) is a high priority for ESRI. We're in a good position to do this because none of the above applications/APIs are on the same release cycle as the main ArcGIS Server platform which means we can rollout new functionality on a more frequent basis. Regarding getting other data into ArcGIS Explorer Online - the current options are ArcGIS Server services and client-side generated content in the form of Notes. These Notes once saved into the web map will be available in ArcGIS Explorer Desktop. Unfortunately due to some limitations with the underlying SilverLight technology we were unable to provide any local data support (e.g. File Geodatabase) in ArcGIS Explorer Online in the current release. This may change over the next few month/years as both SilverLight and ESRI software make advances. ArcGIS Explorer 1500 will bring some new capabilities for sharing content with ArcGIS Desktop users and other ArcGIS Online users. The ArcGIS for iOS is a new release for ESRI and so I would expect to see that platform evolve, and likely very rapidly, in the short-medium term as we begin to really exploit the full capabilities of the platform and understand more about what our users would like to achieve in this client environment. ESRI are also working hard at making ArcGIS Server more affordable, both in terms of making addtional functionality available in lower license levels of the product but also exploring new deployment routes such as the recently announced Amazon EC2 cloud-based option, and lastly other programmes such as Enterprise License Agreements and the ESRI Developer Network (EDN). I'd encourage you to approach your account manager with your requirements and budget and see what they can do to help. Regards Mike ... View more

Natsuko, Thanks for the information - it is possible that some combinations of software/hardware/drivers which involve ATI cards might not work - but during our testing prior to the release of 1200 we did not identify any. Also, we have ArcGIS Explorer 1200 successfully running on several machines in the office here which have ATI cards. Regards Mike ... View more

Carolin, The URL http://services.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/services is for the new ArcGIS Online web services which are based on ArcGIS Server. I believe that ArcExplorer may not support ArcGIS Server and instead currently only supports ArcIMS. It may be worth taking a look at ArcGIS Explorer to see if you can deliver your educational content with this application as if offers many new features over the older ArcExplorer. One key difference though would be Mac support, so if you need that then you should stick with ArcExplorer for the time being. Regards Mike ... View more

Andrew / Kevin "Notes" are only supported in ArcGIS Explorer Desktop and ArcGIS Explorer Online as applications. Unfortunately they are not currently supported OOTB in the Web APIs or in the ArcGIS iOS app/API. Regards Mike ... View more

Thoralf, Sorry to hear you're having a problem with your installation of ArcGIS Explorer. Although your PC meets the minimum spec according to the system requirements have you run the automated checker? (http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/1186/10895). Even if your PC passes this test it is worth checking for an updated graphics driver for your graphics card. If it is a desktop PC try the graphics card vendor website, whereas if it is a laptop try the laptop vendor website. Regards Mike ... View more

Adam, Thanks for the files - I believe I have successfully reproduced the issue and we are investigating. I'll post an update as soon as I have some more information. Regards Mike ... View more

Hello.  I am experiencing the same problem with ArcGIS Explorer 1200 crashing after startup.  Running MS Windows XP Professional 2002 with SP3.  Display adapter is Intel Q965/Q963 Express Chipset Family. I already have ArcGIS Desktop Evaluation Edition with all available extensions and SP2 on the same machine. Really need help here.  I have never had problems with Explorer on other machines.  Thanks Ryan, My first suggestion is to check your machine meets the minimum spec: http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/1186/10895 (NOTE: this URL changes with each release - use http://wikis.esri.com/wiki/display/agxpsr/ArcGIS+Explorer+System+Requirements to get the latest system requirements info). Even if it does meet the spec - it is definitely worth checking whether there is a graphics driver update for your machine - if it's a laptop try the laptop vendor site otherwise try the graphics card vendor site. Regards Mike ... View more

Noureddine, Sorry to hear you're experiencing difficulties with ArcGIS Explorer. Do you always click "Send Error Report"? - if not please do as all the error reports are analysed and and are investigated if specific areas are causing repeated crashes. A couple of things to try are: 1. Delete the Explorer layers cache: this can be done within the application via the advanced options dialog or alternatively open Windows Explorer and type %temp% into the address bar then look for a folder called "E3" - delete the contents of this folder. 2. Delete your default map in C:\Users\<USERNAME>\Documents\ArcGIS Explorer 3. If the above doesn't work try deleting your Explorer profile: Go to C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\esri\arcgis explorer and cut/paste the the contents elsewhere (to back it up) then open ArcGIS Explorer. Regards Mike ... View more

Adam, Can you attach a sample of the KML and I'll take a look? Cheers Mike ... View more

Allen, Further to my previous post - rest assured ArcGIS Explorer 1500 (the next release due out soon) features much greater/tighter integration with ArcGIS.com plus other enhanced sharing capabilities. Regards Mike ... View more

Allen, Unfortunately I should have said - at the moment it depends on the type of content. If the thing you're trying to open is an ArcGIS.com web map (automatically opens in the ArcGIS.com map viewer) then that will not be supported in ArcGIS Explorer until the 1500 release (due mid-late August). I'll follow up internally on whether ArcGIS Explorer local/desktop should appear in that Open options list as a standard choice - that may well be the plan once 1500 is released. Regards Mike ... View more