Latest Contributions by AmyNiessen

At Game Developers Conference, not only were we excited to host a virtual booth demonstrating our ArcGIS Maps SDK for game engines capabilities, but we were also looking forward to attending sessions and interacting in the live chat with attendees. With ArcGIS Maps SDK for game engines, we focus on the developer components for Unity and Unreal Engine. This product is in beta, and we're preparing for a pre-release in August, with our first production release scheduled for Q1 of 2022.  There are many opportunities available to developers with building out games. The developer technology for data provisioning capabilities as part of the system can help developers out who are wanting to use real-world data. We encourage those who are to look at and work with ArcGIS Maps SDK for game engines to bring real-world data, geography, and/or a geographic content -- essentially bringing geospatial -- to their games. There may also be developers who want to work at a more granular level within the apps that they are building for game development, and with still adding an element of real-world data, a great option would be for a look into ArcGIS Platform. ArcGIS Platform offers a set of location services, which includes basemaps and other analytics as well, so that developers who want to work "closer to the metal", but also want to take advantage of location or geospatial services and capabilities that are outside of the box, can do so. The documentation on those capabilities are available here. In addition to having the virtual booth, we were also able to attend some of sessions being offered during the conference that were particularly interesting to the developer community: Business & Technology Trends in the PC Gaming Landscape (Presented by Intel) Program your Games Today. Prepare for Tomorrow. (Presented by Intel) Fair Play Summit: LIVE Fireside Chat: The Disruption and Harms in Gaming Framework: Six Month Check-In. Fair Play Summit: Tackling Cheating In Gaming. Community Safety: What Does It Mean? Advocacy Microtalks Conquer Challenges No Matter Your Team Size (Presented by Perforce) We enjoyed our time at the conference and were able to welcome a number of visits to our virtual booth, and we look forward to seeing the involvement in our public beta program. If you yourself are interested in participating in the ArcGIS Maps SDK for game engines public beta program, sign up here: https://esriurl.com/a4ge.  ... View more

It's one of the best times of the year at Esri - User Conference (UC)! With hundreds of technical sessions taking place July 12-15, it can be quite overwhelming for attendees; however, if you're a developer or interested in checking out our developer-focused sessions, you've come to the right place! Here is a guide to our ArcGIS Platform for Developers track and the sessions in it that you will not want to miss: Monday, July 12 Catch some of our most important introductory sessions being offered. We're going to have to make you choose between ArcGIS AppStudio and ArcGIS API for JavaScript (tough call!), but we trust you'll make the best decision. 12:30pm - 1:30pm (PDT) - ArcGIS Platform: A Developer's Introduction 1:45pm - 2:45pm (PDT) - ArcGIS AppStudio: An Introduction 1:45pm - 2:45pm (PDT) - ArcGIS API for Javascript: An Introduction 3:00pm - 4:00pm (PDT) - ArcGIS Runtime: An Introduction Tuesday, July 13 To all the developers in the place with style and grace, allow us to delve a bit deeper into styles and awesome techniques you can use in your development. You can also dapple in some game engine development, if that suits you! 7:15am - 8:15am (PDT) - ArcGIS Experience Builder: Designing Apps with Style and Layout 1:00pm - 2:00pm (PDT) - ArcGIS API for Javascript: Modern Development Environments and Techniques 2:15pm - 3:15pm (PDT) - ArcGIS Maps SDK for Game Engines: An Introduction Wednesday, July 14 And for the last day of sessions offered in the ArcGIS Platform for Developers track, we have some great features for you to look forward to, especially as we look into the future. 7:30am - 8:30am (PDT) - ArcGIS API for Javascript: Web Editing in 2D and 3D 11:15am - 12:15pm (PDT) - Geocoding: What's New 11:15am - 12:15pm (PDT) - ArcGIS API for Javascript: 3D Visualization 12:30pm - 1:30pm (PDT) - ArcGIS Runtime: What's New and Road Ahead 1:45pm - 2:45pm (PDT) - ArcGIS API for Javascript: The Road Ahead We hope you enjoy this year's offerings for developers at UC. One great way to provide feedback would be through the Session Survey located in every session on the bottom left of the viewing screen. We can't wait to hear about your experience and what you'd enjoy seeing in the future! Another great way to express how passionate you are about Esri's dev tools, location services, maps, and data would be through our ArcGIS Developer Ambassadors Program! To learn more about this program, read about it here. Are you interested? Let us know in our survey. ... View more

On Wednesday, June 16th, we hosted a GeoDev Webinar, “Working with Custom JavaScript Functions in ArcGIS Survey123”. Ismael Chivite, Senior Product Manager, and Travis Butcher, Professional Services, presented this webinar that helped developers learn how to take their ArcGIS Survey123 smart form logic to the next level using their own JavaScript functions. With over 400 developers in attendance, we received a good number of questions. Most of them, you can find in the recording of the webinar; however, we have captured the ones we were unable to get to during the webinar below. Q: Where can I get started with custom JS functions in Survey123? A: Here are three useful links: Survey123 help topic Extending Survey123 smart forms with custom JS functions, blog post Survey123 JavaScript XLSForm sample in Connect Q: Can custom JS functions work in the Survey123 web app? A: Yes, custom JS functions are supported in both the web and field Survey123 apps. Q: Can custom JS functions work while offline? A: It depends on what your custom JS function does. If your code makes use of external web services, your JS function will not work while offline. Q: Can I use custom JS functions in a public survey? A: No. Due to security considerations, the execution of custom JS functions is disabled in public surveys. Q: Does Esri have any plans to support custom JS functions in public surveys? A: So far, security reviews advise against enabling custom JS functions in public surveys. Esri will not enable execution of custom JS functions in public surveys if they compromise security. Q: When would I use a custom JS function instead of a webhook? A: The “when” and “what” will help define if we should use a custom JS function or a webhook: When: A custom JS function is invoked while the form is being completed by the end user. A webhook is executed after the form has been submitted. You want to use a custom JS function if you want the end user to have immediate feedback while completing the form. For example, to run a validation rule or to calculate a value that must be presented to the user or used somewhere else in the form. Custom JS functions can be invoked multiple times while the form is completed by the user. For example, if you invoke a JS function as part of the calculation of a question, your JS function will be invoked anytime a question used by your calculation changes. What: Custom JS functions are best used to perform short and simple operations, for example, to do a quick query against a feature layer, to process elements within a repeat, parse the output of a QR code, etc. If you need to automate notifications or integrate with other business systems, webhooks will be a better choice as tools like Microsoft Power Automate and Integromat will do that job easier. Q: What is the best way to store the latitude-longitude vales of a geopoint question using custom JS functions? A: The use of a custom JS function is not necessary to extract and store the latitude/longitude values of a geopoint question. Check this blog post for details. Q: How can I assign a preferred IDE to use with Survey123 Connect? A: Simply configure your operating system to open .js files with your favorite IDE.  Once this is done, Survey123 Connect will let you open your Survey123 custom JS files from your IDE. Q: When does a custom JS function get invoked? A: Depends on where you insert the pulldata(“@javascript”) call. For example, if you use your JS function in a calculation, Survey123 will invoke your code any time the value of your question needs to be re-calculated. Q: Can I use a custom JS function to populate a list of choices? A: No. However, you can use the search appearance to populate a list from a feature layer query. Check the details in the Survey123 Early Adopter Community. Q: If my JS function outputs JSON, can I parse that JSON using XLSForm? A: Yes. Using pulldata(“@json”). Q: Where can I find more details about using webpack.js.org in my custom JS functions? A: Watch this YouTube video.   If you were not able to catch this webinar, no problem! We have a recording of it, as well as the slides that you can review. Recording: https://youtu.be/_AS7EgSLrF8 Slides: See attached We have more ArcGIS Survey123 webinars in the month of June and will follow each one up with a blog post. For more webinars coming, please see our GeoDev events page. ... View more

Earlier this month, Christopher Zent from the ArcGIS Pro SDK team and Robert Burke, Esri Instructor, co-presented the GeoDev Webinar, "ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET: Extensibility Patterns. Throughout the presentation, attendees can submit their questions. The questions below are the ones we were unable to get to during the webinar. For those we did address, as well as the presentation recording and slides are listed below. Check out what you may have missed!   What are the most common extensibility patterns and customizations seen with the Pro SDK? By far the most commonly used is the Pro add-in pattern. This is very similar in concept to the traditional ArcMap add-in pattern which Desktop developers have used since ArcGIS Desktop 10.0. The Pro add-in provides the range of capabilities which most developers and their end users are looking for, whereas the other patterns are more specialized.   Are there any samples for CoreHost updating databases? The CoreHost community samples demonstrate the concepts of accessing and reading geodatabases. Review the Geodatabase ProConcepts and Snippets documents for examples.   Is the SDK backward-compatible – can I write an add-in with the 2.5-2.6 SDK and expect it to run in Pro 2.3? ArcGIS Pro add-ins are only forward compatible with releases of ArcGIS Pro. For an add-in to run with ArcGIS Pro 2.3, it would need to have been compiled with ArcGIS Pro SDK 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 or 2.3. An add-in compiled with ArcGIS Pro SDK 2.3 can be used with ArcGIS Pro 2.3 and higher 2.x releases. Earlier releases of the Pro SDK can be found in the Assets section under each release at this page.   How are the ArcGIS Pro API extension files installed? The Pro API core and extension assembly files are always installed as part of ArcGIS Pro. There is no separate install required.  Developers only need to install the ArcGIS Pro SDK (.VSIX) files to access the APIs. More information can be found on the documentation site here.   Do you support NuGet packages for Pro SDK? Yes.  You can find out more about downloading and using the ArcGIS Pro Extensions NuGet in this guide document.   For those experienced in ArcObjects SDK development, how quickly could I become productive in using the ArcGIS Pro SDK? Many developers coming from ArcObjects development find using the Pro SDK to a highly productive and streamlined development experience. There are many online resources available for getting started, including a set of easy to follow ArcGIS Tutorials for the Pro SDK, and documentation on Migrating to ArcGIS Pro and getting started with the Pro SDK. We also recommend the instructor-led training course.   How is real-time data handled with the Pro SDK, and are there samples? The Realtime Stream Layers API allows for management of stream layers in ArcGIS Pro, with documentation here.  There is also a sample available here.   Can you build Custom Cylindrical Objects on the Map connecting to Real Time Data. Using the Geometry API it is possible to create multipatch features, and using the Realtime Stream Layers API you can connect to real time data in stream layers in Pro.   Can you add BigQuery (Google Cloud) data with lat/long into Pro using a plugin datasource? See the ProConcepts Plugin Datasources document for information on the architecture and requirements for source data.   What are the language options for developing with the ArcGIS Pro SDK? The language options for development with the ArcGIS Pro SDK are C# and VB.NET.   To view the recording, visit this page: ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET: Extensibility Patterns  To view the slides for this presentation, click here.   Have a question? Post them below! ... View more

At the end of May, we hosted a GeoDev Webinar on one of the latest blog posts the came from Kristian Ekenes, who works on the Senior Product Engineer on the ArcGIS API for JavaScript team. He wrote a blog post on Mapping Large Datasets on the Web, and since we thought this would be a great topic to cover more in-depth, we decided to host the same topic as a webinar where attendees could ask questions. There were a lot of good questions that came in but were not addressed during the live Q&A portion of the webinar, so Kristian addresses them below.   Q: What parameters need to be set to enable dynamic tile service? A: You don't need to do anything to enable dynamic feature tiles. You get them out of the box with online hosted Feature Services and Enterprise feature services. See attached matrix for more specific information on versioning.   Q: Can you show me where the quantization parameter is defined and for which type of services? A: Quantization parameters are query parameters for the feature service. You can directly query data in quantized format using the JS API's Query object. See the doc here:  https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/api-reference/esri-tasks-support-Query.html#quantizationParameters. But you don't need to worry about that. The JS API takes care of querying the data in quantized form for you.   Q:  I have an ArcGIS Online license and I uploaded a 4GB data set as a CSV that created a table feature layer, that then is used to create a map. The thing is that I must update this data set every week. Is there some way, or an architecture that let me automate this? I already updated the data set with ArcGIS REST API, but it doesn't reflect on the maps or in the table feature layer. A: Yes. You can automatically apply edits to this feature service using the ArcGIS Python API. Though this isn't my area of expertise. I would reach out to someone on GeoNet in a Python discussion for a more specific answer. The thing to remember though, is that once you update the data, the old feature tiles are automatically replaced with tiles containing the new/updated data once a new query for that data is made. So you don't have to worry about the backend taking care of that for you!    Q: I am using one feature service to different maps. How can I filter data based on a map? A: You will want to contact Esri Technical Support for this.   Q: When publishing a feature service to ArcGIS Online, will this eliminate the restriction on how many features you can render? A: There isn't a limit to the number of features you can publish. The limitation you may encounter is with storage. The number of features you can render is dependent on the client loading the data, the network speed/latency, number of attributes required, etc.   Q: Will example code be available in GitHub? A: Example code is here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/large-data and here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/plenary.   Q: Do we have to set the scale in the feature layer definition? A: One way to avoid loading too many features unnecessarily is by progressively filtering out data based on view scale. This isn't the only way, but just one method without having to load the layer multiple times.   Q: I am not familiar with CDN cache. How can I optimize the performance by using this cache? A: You don't need to do anything to take advantage of this. It just applies to public feature services. If you have a public feature service hosted on ArcGIS Online, then you automatically benefit from the CDN cache.   Q: Is there a dataset where we can get access to US population or zip code density? I could not seem to find any. A: The Living Atlas of the World has zip code layers you can freely use as well as up to date population estimates through the ACS. I highly recommend searching there. https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/en/browse/#d=2&q=zip%20code   Q: Why are you cloning the renderer for Feature Layer? A: I'm cloning the renderer so when I reset the renderer the layer will detect changes and re-render the data. We don't watch all renderer and symbol properties for changes for performance reasons. Therefore you must clone the renderer, make your modifications, then set it back on the layer. This is your way of deliberately telling the layer  a change has been made and it needs to redraw the features.   Q: Can you apply this visualization techniques in ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro? A: Not all of these techniques can be applied in our desktop software. You can set the same renderer types…graduated symbols, color visual variables, etc. But you cannot update the renderer based on another attribute like time or depth. The time and depth UI sliders in Pro and ArcMap perform filters of the data. I'm rendering all features in the JS API and updating the renderer rather than performing a data filter. This allows me to avoid loading duplicate geometries just to show different data values. So no, you can't use all of these techniques in ArcGIS Pro/ArcMap. Also, you cannot set up the size range by scale in ArcGIS Pro.   Q: What about applying this visualization technique in ArcMap or ArcPro regarding line color thickness? A: Regarding the scale-dependent line thickness in the pipes example. You can configure that in Pro, but it's a different approach than in the JS API. In Pro, you set a reference scale and a size that will render the lines at that scale with a specific size. When you zoom in or out, the line width will adjust linearly based on the difference between the map scale and the reference scale. You can set more stops in the JS API to do it.   Q: Can the Arcade expressions and other things be leveraged in a context wherein everything is, by intent or design, is cached on the client in memory or with the CDN -- specifically avoiding everything except the initial call to the originating ArcGIS service as a REST service?  A: Arcade can execute against client-side features and you can query your data client-side, thus avoiding another round trip to the server. You first have to ensure that you actually have all the data available on the client though.   Q: Could you provide the code for this examples please? A: Example code is here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/large-data and here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/plenary   Q: What difference between filter scale on API and display scale on mxd then publish to feature service? A: Hopefully I get this right…display scale in ArcGIS Pro/ArcMap is similar to visibility scale in the JS API (layer.minScale/layer.maxScale). The difference is the visibility scale determines when a layer will be queried and displayed based on map/view scale. The filtering by scale still queries the data regardless if there is visibility scale (if there is one the visibility scale is still honored). You're just being more deliberate about filtering out data, such as smaller or less meaningful features that aren't needed for that scale. So you still see data, just not all the features in the approach where you filter based on scale.   Q: How do you normally explain clustering to the lay person? A: Clustering is a method of reducing the number of features in view by aggregating features into clusters based on a predefined cluster radius. Larger cluster graphics indicate areas that have a higher density of features. Smaller cluster graphics indicate areas with fewer features.   Q: Is clustering available in Portal as well as ArcGIS Online? A: Yes   Q: Could you provide the codes and the links for this examples please? A: Example code is here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/large-data and here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/plenary   Q: How do we deal with the time based data? For example, I am dealing with vehicle speed data which is 70k line per minute, and I want to show animation that will last for one hour. A: I'm not sure I understand the case. Animations can be tricky…perhaps a question to post on the ArcGIS API for JavaScript GeoNet community with more specific details?   Q: If you need to update the layer, how do you update it? A: Just apply edits or set the properties.    Q: Do you offer tailor made training on web app development? I find the One Ocean app cool and would like to develop one for my region. A: No. But I regularly contribute to the ArcGIS blog where I discuss details on some of these projects like One Ocean. You can read it here: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/js-api-arcgis/mapping/mapping-large-datasets-on-the-web/ other JS API blogs can be searched on this page: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/?s=#&products=js-api-arcgis.   Q: Thank you for the examples of using queries with a Feature Tile Cache. Can you also use  Filter Widget, or reporting tool widgets with a Feature Tile Cache? A: Any time you filter your layer, the data is requested in tile format, which means it is automatically cached for you. So you don't have to worry about configuring it. As long as the JS API recognizes the query as a repeatable one, you leverage the feature tile cache.   Q: Can you use this techniques with rasters or grids? A: Not at the moment. This only applies to vector data.   Q: Is there a GitHub link for the EugeneTrees - Cluster example? A: Yes, you can find it here: Map Viewer    Q: Is it best to limit the fields (attributes needed) in ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro before you publish or elsewhere (i.e. in the web map configuration)? A: Not necessarily. You can also limit the fields using a hosted Feature Layer View. You can also limit them in the outFields of the layer in the JS app. If you have a long list of fields though, the query won't be cacheable (query stings must be less than 2048 characters), so it is best to limit fields in those situations whether it is from Pro or a hosted layer view.   Q: Some of the features you presented (such as adjusting the size of a line by scale, or definition queries by scale) look really interesting, but I am developing web apps in web app builder. Can you use those tools in a GUI driven environment? Or would it have to be within the code? A: When you style a layer using the new Map Viewer Beta, you already take advantage of the scale-driven symbology by default. But the renderer must be authored in the viewer. That means resetting it there even if you have one saved to the layer. Or you can simply load it in the new map viewer beta and check the box. Read this blog for more information - https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-online/mapping/auto-size-by-scale-now-available-in-map-viewer-beta/ Regarding the scale-driven definition queries, you have to do that in code. There is no GUI for it.   Q: Hello, how can I access the JavaScript backend code which you have reviewed? A: Example code is here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/large-data and here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/tree/master/ds-2020/plenary   Q: How much can you improve performance of a dataset by adjusting text lengths of an attribute table? Do longer lengths greatly reduce draw speed in a feature service? A: Longer lengths will reduce speed. But it may only matter if you have a lot of features and/or a lot of fields you are loading. We're continually improving draw times though, so it may matter less and less. You should see a significant improvement here later this year.   Q: Is there any documentation on geometry thinning? A: You can read more about it in this blog - https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/js-api-arcgis/mapping/mapping-large-datasets-on-the-web/#geometry-thinning - But you can also read about it in Pro documentation under Select Layer By Attribute. Fundamentally, what I mean by "geometry thinning" is filtering out unnecessary features based on their geometry...whether they are inside or outside an area of interest...or in this case...whether there are too many points in a grid (e.g. stacked on top of one another, or even grid resolution).   Q: How do I cluster the thousands of POIs from different categories for better performance? A: To cluster by category, you need to set up different layers with definitionExpressions based on each category…I'm not sure if you get better performance though. You should get decent performance in clustering with a few thousand features (even in the hundreds of thousands). But if you have way more than that, then you'll need to enable clustering on your service, which isn't fully supported in the JS APi yet. Though it's coming soon...   Q: When will snapping will be available in 4.x? A: It is planned, but there is no specific date set.   Q: If I set scale range in mxd for a feature, but I want to see all data in attribute table, I receive slow results. Why? A: This doesn't appear related to the JS API. I would contact Esri Technical Support.    Q: Would you happen to have any advice for improving dataset performance within an ArcGIS Dashboards? A: I would ask that question on GeoNet in the ArcGIS Dashboards discussion. You'll get someone who works on that product that will provide you with a better answer than I can give.   Q: How frequently is the data is cached? Can we change the frequency? A: You can change the frequency using the maxAge parameter in the layer's settings in ArcGIS Online. Go to the layer item. Click the "Settings" tab. Scroll down to "Cache control". There you can control how long clients will have to wait before seeing an updated cache. That applies to editable layers where the features/attributes may change. Once the tiles are cached, they will stay that way until an edit is made.   Q: Are there any plans to move Web AppBuilder for Developers to work with the 4x API? A: Yes. You'll need to contact the Web AppBuilder team though. You can reach them on GeoNet.   Q: How do I publish feature tile services instead of feature services? And it sounds like feature tile service is better than feature service. Should I use feature tile service all the time? What's the advantage of feature service that feature tile service doesn't have? A: Feature services automatically query data as dynamic feature tiles. You don't have to do anything to take advantage of this functionality. It's all happening behind the scenes for you.   You can find a recording of this video on our GeoDev Webinar playlist on YouTube. If you would like to download the slides to the webinar, you can do so here: https://github.com/ekenes/conferences/raw/master/ds-2020/large-data/geodev-slides.pptx.    We hope you enjoyed this installment of the GeoDev Webinars! You can find all of our GeoDev Webinars on go.esri.com/geodev. Until next time... ... View more

The ArcGIS Online Elevation Analysis services provide a group of capabilities for performing analysis against elevation and hydrological data curated and hosted by Esri. In this demo theater session, Jian Liang will demonstrate how to embed ArcGIS Online Elevation Services in custom web applications using ArcGIS Web AppBuilder, online configurable apps, and ArcGIS API. Jian will show you how to find out the slope of a road, to calculate a viewshed, or to find where water flows to, or comes from using elevation services in your web applications. ... View more

Data often changes, and you want your geocoding service to be up-to-date with the latest data. This session presented by Victor Bhattacharyya will go over the recommended way to update your locator services for your organization to ensure the least possible service downtime. He'll go over automated approaches and also talk about how to use ArcGIS Pro to overwrite your service. ... View more

Duc Hoang and Nidhi Kumar present the basics of Agile methodologies and a broad view of how it has been adopted for Runtime development at Esri. Goal is to educate the users on how this could help them with their own application/software development. We will go over a few challenges/case studies and potential solutions for them. A few examples would be shortening sprint duration and introducing grooming sessions, etc.  ... View more

Matthew Nelson and Nathan Castle demo how to build tabletop and world-scale AR experiences in a native, mobile application using ArcGIS Runtime! ... View more

Read more from Kristian Ekenes how to begin Mapping large datasets on the web. He breaks down the process of creating highly performant and interactive visualizations with a 4GB dataset of 52 million points. ... View more