Latest Contributions by AmyNiessen

On Wednesday, June 6th, the Developer Outreach team headed up to PDX to support the Esri Portland R&D team to host a HackerLab during the day and their first theme-based GeoDev Meetup in the evening! The theme was Web GIS, and they had Rene Rubalcava host the HackerLab as well as keynote the Meetup. Here's how the events shook out: HackerLab This free, hands-on self-guided training was focused on our Data > Design > Develop model, and this was led by both Rene and Mara Stoica. They started out focused on introducing the ArcGIS Platform and the role of web maps and web scenes. They moved into covering the basics of the ArcGIS API for JavaScript which included how to get it and how to use it. The team then worked with the class on web maps, pop-ups, searching/geocoding, directions, and styles and Smart Mapping. They moved into Arcade First Aid, which seemed to be useful to the class. To finalize the training, Rene and Mara covered authentication and the cream on top, building apps.   Overall, the training was successful, as we had 18 attendees - with many of them having never even heard of Esri's capabilities! Can you believe it? Well, they came to the right spot to learn about building apps using our ArcGIS Platform! Meetup After the HackerLab, most people decided to stay to join the rest of the PDX developer community that came out for the GeoDev Meetup! We saw some familiar faces and some brand new ones. The new attendees had never been to our office and enjoyed seeing our setup and meeting some of our key developers in the office.   Eli Gregory welcomed everyone to the meetup and provided a great deal of information on what the Portland, OR team has been working on and what the Developer Outreach has accomplished in their efforts. Click here to see Eli's slide deck.  Rene came back to give his "Web GIS and JavaScript" keynote talk and demo. The audience loved seeing new features and ways to use some of Esri's tools. He was kind enough to share his slides. They can be found here. Allison Davis and Nate Bedortha demo'd some really cool base maps as part of the Vector Tile styling tool we recently introduced. They were kind enough to provide a way for you to see it here.  Aside from enjoying the developer networking atmosphere over pizza and beverages, they were also given the opportunity to share a project of theirs with the PDX community. This meetup was unique in that we made it based on a Web GIS and JavaScript theme. Here are those who decided to share their work with others based on this theme: We had a great time listening and learning from our speakers, and we appreciated how they came through with some awesome content for a theme-based meetup! After stumping a lot of our attendees with some really cool Portland, OR trivia, we randomly selected our DevSummit winner, Kevin Hill, who will be attending the DevSummit in Palm Springs in 2019. Thank you to everyone for making this event a fun and fruitful event. We have made some new connections and rekindled previous ones. Please keep your eye out for our next meetups in September and November. We welcome any suggestions you may have for themes. Leave some in the comments below! ... View more

On Wednesday, May 16th, Ken Gorton and Morakot Pilouk‌ took the hour to cover a fast-paced introduction to GeoEvent Server, which is the server role that brings real-time capability to developers' ArcGIS Enterprise. During the webinar, questions were asked that we ran out of time addressing during the recording, so we are featuring them here. Be sure to comment at the bottom of this blog post should you have additional questions or just want to compliment the presenters for their awesome webinar! Q: Other than GeoEvent Server, can we use Stream Layer? A: A stream layer can be used to connect directly to a web socket so no stream service is necessary. The only thing necessary is that the JSON messages sent out must be the same format as the JSON that returns from a query to a feature service. It’s documented at https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/3/jsapi/streamlayer-amd.html#streamlayer2.   Q: Is there a connector to store data to a traditional data warehouse such as MSSQL Server? A: There are out-of-the-box connectors to write features to feature services. A non-spatial data repository, such MSSQL Server, can be the datasource for a feature service if you publish a map with a query layer that references data in that data repository. GeoEvent Server could then send features to that feature service. Q: Can feature services use a big data store as its source or is it required to be a a traditional EGDB? A: The data in a spatiotemporal big data store are exposed as feature services and map services and can be used as layers in ArcGIS applications, web maps, etc. Q: Is GeoEvent Server a component of ArcGIS Enterprise? A: ArcGIS Server is part of ArcGIS Enterprise. GeoEvent Server is an optional server role of ArcGIS Server. More info here: http://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/get-started/latest/windows/what-is-arcgis-enterprise-.htm Q: Is GeoEvent Server part of Server for ArcGIS? A: GeoEvent Server is an ArcGIS server role. Perhaps one way to look at it is that GeoEvent Server IS ArcGIS Server, but specifically configured to handle real-time data and processing exclusive of other types of ArcGIS Server capabilities (e.g. Geoprocessing services, Locator services, etc). Q: Can this be used with Operational Dashboard? A: GeoEvent Server can send data to feature and map services in ArcGIS Enterprise Data Stores, Spatiotemporal Big Data Stores, ArcGIS Online feature services, stream services, etc, all of which can be added as layers to web maps and visualized in Operations Dashboard, Web AppBuilder apps and other clients. Q: How do you suggest handling data streams that have duplication of data or data that comes in out of order? A: Some input connectors have the ability to only ingest data that is newer than previous data but apart from that GeoEvent Server does not provide any tools for validating data order or for de-duplication of data.  Q: Can you update labels at a static position on the map? A: The values of feature labels in web maps are determined by the values in the attribute field that backs them. GeoEvent Server can update attribute values of records in a feature service. Thus when the value of an attribute changes, any labels that reference that attribute field should reflect the latest updates. Q: What is the cost of deploying GeoEvent Server? A: The cost of deployment will vary widely depending on your system architecture, licensing requirements, and many other factors. I suggest you reach out to your Esri account representative for an answer specific to your use case. Q: Does the 3DFx widget in ArcGIS Web AppBuilder support stream service? A: Stream Services are not yet supported in web scenes and therefore not available as a source layer in a 3D Web AppBuilder app. The 3DFx widget is not available in a 2D Web AppBuilder app. Q: Can I export data from Spatiotemperal data store as a feature class or CSV table? A: One way to do this is to add the feature service from the big data store as a layer in ArcGIS Pro, then right-click the layer and select Data > Export Features. The resulting output is subject to the maxRecordCount setting of the big data store source, by default 10,000 records. Q: Is there a processor that can enrich a EGDB feature class of events with values from other feature classes or rasters? For example, elevation from a DEM at an event's location. A: The Field Enricher Processors essentially do a 1:1 JOIN operation between the geoevent and a record in an external feature service or file based on a common ID. In order to enrich a geoevent with a value that comes from a spatial query of an external data source at the geoevent's location you would need to develop a custom processor. Q: Is the GeoEvent Server available in ArcGIS Online or only on ArcGIS Server? A: GeoEvent Server is not available in ArcGIS Online. Here are the system requirements for installing it in your on-premises or cloud environment: http://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/geoevent/latest/install/windows/system-requirements.htm  Q: Can I run an input with a specific time of day? A: You can set certain connectors to run at specific intervals, but there is no way to set the exact time of day. Q: You showed a GeoTab input connector in your partner list, but we can't find it. Can you send a URL? A: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=cf02f3b8564042db8de60f582e1ad2a3  Q: Using a stream service, are the point objects selectable such that a user can view attribute values (in Operations Dashboard or web app)? A: Web maps support pop ups on stream layers which allow you to view the attributes of a selected feature. While Web AppBuilder and Ops Dashboard maps can display stream layers, other Web AppBuilder and Operations Dashboard widgets cannot yet leverage the attribute data from stream layers. Q: Does GeoEvent Server come with connector? A: GeoEvent Server includes several connectors out-of-the-box: http://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/geoevent/latest/process-event-data/input-connectors.htm, output connectors: http://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/geoevent/latest/process-event-data/output-connectors.htm, and processors: http://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/geoevent/latest/process-event-data/processors.htm, Additional components are available for download from the following ArcGIS Online Groups: ArcGIS GeoEvent Server Gallery: http://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?id=cdb23c8bd5ef42feb5fe74483a676844#overview, ArcGIS GeoEvent Partner Gallery: http://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?id=3433c67e98384f9089a1f853ed74ddd5#overview, ArcGIS GeoEvent User Community Gallery: http://www.arcgis.com/home/group.html?id=9a41985604ec4301a21d6cd375e5762e#overview Q: What happens if you're polling or subscribing to an external service, and an extra field gets added that you aren't expecting (i.e., it isn't present in the definition)? A: Input connectors—Real-time Data Feeds and Sensors (10.6) | ArcGIS Enterprise  Q: My organization has AVL data on a fleet of school buses. The GPS data is on a non-Esri SQL DB. What connector would be the best for connecting to this data? Both the DB and the portal are on our servers behind a firewall.  A: One approach is to create a map document with a query layer that queries data from the database. Then you can publish that map document to ArcGIS Server as a feature service which will expose the query layer a feature layer. GeoEvent Server can then poll the data via that feature layer. Q: Is stream service preferred compared to Feature service? Is that an extra cost or just another option? A: Sending data to Stream Services is generally faster than sending to Feature Services and typically generates less network traffic. However Stream Services do not persist data in any sort of permanent storage. Thus each has its advantages and best use relative to the other. They are a core capability and do not require additional expenditures to enable.  Q: Can I export the stream service data from Spatiotemporal data store as a feature class or CSV table? A: One way to do this is to add the feature service from the big data store as a layer in ArcGIS Pro, then right-click the layer and select Data > Export Features. The resulting output is subject to the maxRecordCount setting of the big data store source, by default 10,000 records. Still have questions, or did this Q&A get you thinking about more? Leave us a comment, and we'll get back to you! Interested in questions asked during the webinar? Check out the webinar here: Real-time GIS: Mapping and Analytics - YouTube  Don't miss our next GeoDev Webinar on Data > Design > Develop on June 13th! Follow us on Twitter @EsriGeoDev to keep your fingers on our pulse! ... View more

If you missed out on DevSummit this year, or are just looking to re-live it, the following are the top 20 technical sessions you want to check out. 1 - ArcGIS Indoors: An Introduction   Bring the Science of Where indoors. Learn about indoor position, and how to collect and assemble indoor datasets, then how to make them available to your users to solve a wide variety of tasks.   2 - ArcGIS Enterprise and SSL Considerations   This video simply has to be near the top of the Top 20 this year, if only because the rooms in which we held these workshops were far too small. Way too many DevSummit attendees who wanted to be there simply could not get in. Securing your Web GIS from server to client is a big topic, and this is a great session to learn what you need to know.   3 - Optimizing your JavaScript app for Performance   Have a need for speed? This one is yet another perennial favorite at DevSummit. End users of web apps have a notoriously low tolerance for apps that respond and perform slowly. Learn techniques for gaining the speed you need.   4 - Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) with ArcGIS   Sure, they look cool, but VR and AR provide ways to interact with your maps, spatial data, and tools in a very natural way. Watch real-world examples of how VR and AR are making users more productive.   5 - ArcGIS Enterprise: Architecting Your Deployment   This was the most heavily attended session at DevSummit this year. The title says it all. Optimizing your resources, storage, and performance starts with a solid architecture that fits the needs of your organization, apps, databases, and users.   6 - Leveraging 3D Across the ArcGIS Platform   Web Scenes bring a consistent 3D visualization experience across all desktop, web, and native apps. Learn how to use the latest capabilities and design your 3D maps for high effectiveness and natural usability.   7 - ArcGIS Runtime: An Introduction to the API and Architecture   This was the most heavily attended Runtime SDK session. Whether you want to build native apps from scratch, or include ArcGIS in apps you're already building, here is where to get started.   8 - ArcGIS API for JavaScript: Tips and Tricks for Developing and Debugging Apps   Development environments and browser-based developer tools are more useful than ever. Code fast, find fast, fix fast. This is a session that is more and more popular every year. You know what you want to build, so use the best tools to get it built, debugged, tested, and into production more effectively.   9 - ArcGIS API for Python: Introduction to Scripting your Web GIS   Automate and administer your Web GIS, and its content, tools, groups, and users using a Jupyter Notebook.   10 - Introduction to GeoAnalytics Server   Learn how parallelizing your analytical processes across an array of commodity hardware can help you make better more timely decisions faster than ever before, so that you can keep up with and react to data that changes often.   11 - ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET: Beginning Pro Customization and Extensibility   Make your desktop GIS end-users more productive and standardize UI/UX and workflows by building, then quickly and easily deploying custom add-ins and solution configurations.   12 - Real-Time GIS: Best Practices   When it comes to getting the most use from streaming data, there can be lots of "gotchas" along the way. Prepare for and prevent them, so that your end-users can visualize and analyze your streaming data for the most timely, actionable information possible.   13 - Using TypeScript with ArcGIS API for JavaScript   You've heard of it, you might already be developing web apps with it, so in this session learn how to get the most of your ArcGIS development by learning the basics, and techniques for setting up your development environment using the ArcGIS definition files for TypeScript.   14 - ArcGIS API for JavaScript: Using Arcade with your Apps   Arcade is a relatively new expression-based scripting language for getting a lot more from the data stored in your layers, whether it be for thematic rendering symbology rules, flexible and formattable labels, or custom popup design, use Arcade to improve your data layers in a very simple way that's portable and reusable across the ArcGIS platform: desktop, web, and native.   15 - ArcGIS API for JavaScript: What's New   This API for web developers is not only the most popular in the ArcGIS platform, but its capabilities grow very fast. This "What's New" session is the best way to learn how to use the latest and sneak peek at what is next.   16 - ArcGIS API for Python: Advanced Scripting   Are you already using the new Python API for ArcGIS and thinking that there's a lot more you could be learning and doing? Good chance you are right. Learn about the rich ecosystem of Python packages out there and ideas for how to use them with ArcGIS for improved visualization, statistical analysis, and data science.   17 - Building Your own Widget with ArcGIS API for JavaScript   Well-designed widgets make you a more efficient developer - plain and simple. Common tasks, even complicated ones, designed and built into reusable widgets, allow you to spend the bulk of your productive coding time solving new or one-off problems, and creative time innovating new ways to make your users more productive.   18 - Customizing Hub and Open Data   Learn what developers need to know about Hub, Open Data, and how apps and workflows can be designed to maximize collaboration and standardization, throughout your organization, and through citizen engagement.   19 - Improving Your Web App Through UI/UX Best Practices   It can take a lot of work to make things easy for your users. They're demanding, and want your apps to work for them, powerfully, intuitively, correctly, and right now. Learn some UI/UX design principles you can put to use right away to meet their expectations.   20 - ArcGIS Monitor: An Introduction   Learn how to use this system administration tool, designed so that you can watch the health of ArcGIS throughout the lifecycle, with alerts, notifications, metrics, reports, and more.    We hope you enjoy viewing the top 20 tech sessions. More videos are rolling out soon. Stay tuned! Should you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the thread below. ... View more

While being the largest Developer Summit ever, it was hard not to let the excitement of all of the developer community activities go to our heads. With Lightning Talks, SpeedGeeking, and User Presentations, our developer community was given opportunities to share, network, and learn from each other. Lightning Talks Taking place on Monday afternoon, the Lightning Talks opened up multiple ideas and projects to the developer community as the presenters shared their unique ways of incorporating Esri tools into their every day tasks. Check out our presenters below: First name Last name Organization Lightning Talk Title Jacob Stark SAP Why it All Matters Brandon Payne Trihydro Thinking Outside the Map: Combining Technologies for Deeper Understanding Jo-Anne  Antoun USC Development of a User-Centered and Agile Software Development design and development framework for Web GIS Nicholas Romano University of Maryland, College Park Extending ArcGIS Web Applications With Component Based Design Juan Vasquez City of Los Angeles Office of Finance Build for Politicos: 5 Protips for Appealing Government Maps Lawrie George Assetic Inc. Asset Lifecycle Modelling in ArcGIS Pro Eric Shook University of Minnesota XSEDE and the GISandbox Raj Singh IBM Speed up the development of your ArcGIS applications using IBM Data Science Experience Yu Zhou Bowling Green State University Teaching World Geography with Story Maps  SpeedGeeking On Tuesday, we continued our developer community events with SpeedGeeking. SpeedGeeking is just like SpeedDating but with developers. There were 14 developers who were ready to share five minutes on a tool, tip or trick, or some feature for users to learn about. After five minutes, the users change stations and learn something new! See some of our presenters and their topics below! Presenters Topic Aaron Pulver Dude, where’s my breadcrumbs? Allan Laframboise 10 ArcGIS Developer Tools and Techniques You Didn't Know You Needed David Vitale Automating Workflows with Python Deelesh Mandloi Building Routing and Directions Apps Eli Gregory Designing iOS UI for a map Jacob Wasilkowski Canvas-Flowmap-Layer Jayson Ward Repo-mining: Mining AppStudio templates and public repos. Jeff Jackson Strategies for Accurate, Battery-efficient Location Tracking on iOS Kelly Hutchins Make your map accessible Ken Field  So You Want to Make a Map? Nicholas Furness A Modular Example Maps App Niklas Koehn Using TypeScript for JavaScript Widget Development Sandie Peters  Explore Nearby Scott M. MacDonald Automating your ArcGIS Deployment using ArcGIS Chef Cookbook User Presentations On Wednesday and Thursday, we hosted the User Presentations in Mesquite B and C. Attendees were able to stop by during any of the 25-minute slots and listen to their community members share their stories at greater length.                 Wednesday                                                                          Thursday Mesquite B Mesquite C Mesquite B Mesquite C Mapping Item Dependencies Across ArcGIS Seth Lewis FTTx Network Design in ArcGIS Using Clustering Chandra Reddy Esri ArcGIS Online and Serverless Computing: So Long Bare-Metal Kevin M. Gooss Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Supporting Large Mobile Maps Offline Aaron Crary Creating a Custom Table of Contents in Angular Brandon Payne Geek Perspectives: Lessons from Hybrid Mobile GIS Adnan Bilwani Building Highly-Scalable, Mobile Apps with ArcGIS Runtime, ArcGIS Enterprise and AWS S3 Jake Shapley Reservoir Surface Area Mapping in the Lower Mekong Region using Esri Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS Aekkapol Aekakkarrungroj Real-Time GIS and IOT for Public Safety: A Business Process Model Reza Nourjou Visualizing ArcGIS Services with Potree and Three.js Renardi Tanuwidjaja Put the “You” in UI: Creating Intuitive User Interfaces using ArcGIS and Survey123 Leah Newman ArcGIS API for JavaScript: 3.x or 4.x - Why Not Both? Ian Schmitz Real-Time Municipal Snow Plow Tracking with GeoEvent Server Chris Dougherty Extend Python with ArcGIS Runtime for Qt Mark Cederholm So You've Gotten an ArcGIS Insights License…Now What?? Bryan Chastain No Second Chances: Revolutionizing Archaeological Recording Using the ArcGIS SDK for Java Sandra Schloen Chrome Plugin for ArcGIS Server REST Services Ken Doman PG&E Digital Catalyst - Building User-Centric iOS Apps for the Enterprise Mobile Workforce using the ArcGIS Runtime SDK for iOS John Ngoi Rosey Baune Releasing ArcGIS Runtime Apps with Confidence - a Unit Testing Story Rebecca Zeckoski Smart Palettes: Editing in the ArcGIS Runtime for .NET David Chambers City of San Diego’s Story of Undergrounding Sameera Rao Pipeline Spill Modelling with ArcGIS Pro, .NET and Python Donnacha Fitton Leveraging the Power of Databases for Spatial Analysis and Processing John Reiser Controlling the Chaos: Establishing Best Practices for Python Scripting Erica Pfister-Altschul Connecting Dashboard To Collector Data For Monitoring Appraiser Progress After Harvey Flooding Tiffany Selvidge Developing a Web AppBuilder Widget with React and Webpack Bryan Grill Integrating Beacon Infrastructure Through Python and ArcGIS Enterprise for Indoor/Outdoor Navigation Brent Dell Spatiotemporal Risk Estimation of Traffic Accidents Using Python Benjamin Acker Hearing Evidence Mapping Application: The Evolving Life Of Harris County Appraisal District's Collaborative Custom GIS Application Tiffany Selvidge Fully Offline Mobile Apps with AppStudio for ArcGIS Adam Drackley We had a great time this year and cannot wait for next year's developer events during DevSummit! If you attended any of these events, feel free to share any comments, questions, and/or suggestions you may have! We're all ears and would love to hear of ways we can improve.  ... View more

Back in January, David Martinez and Gavin Rehkemper hosted a GeoDev Webinar on Extending Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS. During the webinar, questions were asked that were not able to be addressed during the recording, so here they are with complete answers: Q: How do you confine a URL search to only search original map extent or map features? A: See step "J" here: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/web-appbuilder/create-apps/widget-search.htm - "Optionally check the Only search in current map extent box if needed". Q: Where are you getting all the information that you are pasting into the editor? A: That was example code that we had pre-written - similar to a cooking show, the webinar would be boring if you just watched us type the entire time! We instead copy/pasted code snippets so that you could see the full process of building a widget. You can go back and re-watch the webinar if you'd like, and all the code is available on GitHub: https://github.com/gavinr/web-appbuilder-find-restaurants Q: Is there anyway to make the widgets available to the WAB version on the portal for ArcGIS .. like not only for the version on the PC for development? A: Yes, this is possible for certain versions of Portal. Please see this documentation page for more information: https://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2017/06/30/web-appbuilder-for-arcgis-now-supports-custom-widgets-in-arcgis-enterprise-10-5-1/ Q: Within the widgets there are functions, such as analysis widget, that has the buffer and overlay functions. Is there a way I can use both the buffer and overlay at the same time?  A: You should be able to call ArcGIS Online tasks from a custom widget and have them run at the same time. Feel free to post on GeoNet if you'd like to expand on this question and we will try to help you out! Q: I need to open another widget from a custom widget link. A: This is possible using WidgetManager https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/api-reference/widgetmanager.htm - see "openWidget" function. Q: How does Web AppBuilder handle the customized popups, for example, displaying some charts with labels while clicking? A: Your custom pop-ups that you define in your web map in ArcGIS Online should display the same way in Web AppBuilder. Q: Can the theme include an additional fixed panel, e.g., footer pane? A: Yes, you can include a fixed panel; it is all about the position. What is the purpose of your panel footer? Q: You said there's a way to push the theme to Portal, I believe? Is there a way to do the same with Widgets? A: Yes, this is possible for certain versions of Portal. Please see this documentation page for more information: https://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2017/06/30/web-appbuilder-for-arcgis-now-supports-custom-widgets-in-arcgis-enterprise-10-5-1/ Q: Do the Web AppBuilder versions line up? It seems that the Developer Edition lags behind the ArcGIS online version. A: Please see this documentation page that shows what versions align with what versions of Portal: https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/guide/about-versions.htm Q: How do we download the application from Esri site? Is it a free or to be paid for? A: Go to https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/ and click the "Download SDK" button. You must log in with an ArcGIS Online named user account. Q: Can we customize Portal with Web AppBuilder? A: Yes, this is possible for certain versions of Portal. Please see this documentation page for more information: https://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2017/06/30/web-appbuilder-for-arcgis-now-supports-custom-widgets-in-arcgis-enterprise-10-5-1/ Q: What would be the best approach to add engineering record drawings (as-builts approximately 6GB) to an app? I added a URL within a layer, which my field workers must copy the path and search within documents. How can I have an image popup using an Apple Device? A: These questions are very general and to really answer them ,we would need a few more details. Please open up discussions on GeoNet. Q: What are the advantages of the "config URL parameter" approach that Gavin showed for custom widget development, over other approaches? I've been developing widgets in "Launch"ed apps, then copying my custom widget back into stemapp when it's working as expected... but I'd happily switch to the "config URL parameter" approach if there are clear advantages!  A: I think that method is ok too. Whatever works for you and gets you going the quickest! Don’t forget to check out our pattern of using a Grunt script to copy to BOTH locations automatically: https://github.com/Esri/generator-esri-appbuilder-js Q: Would it be easy to create a widget for a data collection form for SQL Server? A: Collector for ArcGIS might fit your use-case (http://www.esri.com/products/collector-for-arcgis). Otherwise the Web AppBuilder out-of-the-box "Edit" widget may meet your requirements. If none of those work for you, building a custom widget might be your best option. Q: Will Web AppBuilder require any license to use in an organization?  A: To use Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS, you must have an ArcGIS for Developers account or an ArcGIS organizational account and be a level 2 member. If you don't have an ArcGIS account, you can sign up for an ArcGIS free trial. https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/guide/xt-system-requirements.htm Q: What does jimu stand for? A: "building block" Q: Is ArcGIS JavaScript API source code available in a readable non-compressed format? A: Not currently. You can see information about including the ArcGIS API for JavaScript in your builds and from NPM here: https://github.com/Esri/jsapi-resources Q: Can we configure widget that not yet exist at the list of widgets? How can we do that? A: You can add widgets manually through the app's "config.json" file if you need more control than the builder provides. https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/api-reference/app-configuration.htm Q: What is a good compiler to customize code for widgets? I am using Notepad++ to write codes now. But when I add to the WAB online-map, it shows the error message but no details info to show which line is wrong or cause it stop. I would like to know which is a good compiler to write a code.  A: There are lots of options for a code IDE other than NodePad++, and mostly the choice is a subjective personal preference. We happen to like Visual Studio Code currently. If you include linting in your project (like ESLint or Prettier) that will help you catch errors quicker. Q: Could you share this custom Web AppBuilder Theme on Github? A: Code samples have been posted here: https://community.esri.com/groups/geodev/blog/2018/01/17/geodev-webinar-extending-web-appbuilder-for-arcgis-resources Q: Will this sample code be available to download? A: Code samples have been posted here: https://community.esri.com/groups/geodev/blog/2018/01/17/geodev-webinar-extending-web-appbuilder-for-arcgis-resources Q: What is the credits impact when creating custom widgets? A: There are no credits required to create custom widgets. The only time you need credits if you're performing a task that requires credits such as batch geocoding, geoenrichment etc. Please visit https://developers.arcgis.com/pricing/credits/ Q: Will an existing ArcGIS Online account work for developers? A: You must have an organization account or developer account (which is free) to work with the developer edition of Web AppBuilder. Q: Do we have to use ArcGIS online map services? Or can we use local REST APIs as map services for WebApp Builder? A: Yes, you can use map services with Web AppBuilder. Q: Can the widget position be relative instead of absolute? A: Yes, take a look at the Splash Widget that is positioned relative to the browser. Q: Is there a formal Web AppBuilder Esri training course? A: Yes, please go to https://www.esri.com/training and search for Web AppBuilder there is an instructor lead course. Q: What composes a Web AppBuilder widget? A: Here is some documentation that explains the required components https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/guide/required-files.htm. Q: Are there any plans to allow deploying custom themes to Portal? A: We currently have this as a feature request but no timeline is set. Q: We also use Angular 2.0. Can this be used within Web AppBuilder? A: Yes, you can use Angular with Web AppBuilder. Q: Which IDE do you use for coding? How do you enable the code snippets? A: We were using Visual Studio Code https://code.visualstudio.com/ and to launch the code snippets you would use ctrl + space.  Q: Can I try out making a widget using ArcGIS Desktop 10.5 or do I need the enterprise edition of ArcGIS? A: Yes, all you need is the directory of the files that make up the application.  Q: Can the pages built by Web AppBuilder be published as html and js only or does it need Node.js in order to work in a production environment? A: Yes, you can download the application you created and publish it on your own Web server. Please review https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/guide/xt-deploy-app.htm Q: Is there a way to put a link on the pop-up that would execute a feature action? A: You can extend the BaseExtendFeature class to help you accomplish this functionality.  Q: How about TypeScript support? A: You can use TypeScript in Web AppBuilder. Please check out this repo https://github.com/gavinr/web-appbuilder-typescript-examples  Q: Do you know of a class or seminar that is more basic, or perhaps one that just revises existing widgets for now: For example: Query widget: we want to have query Criteria under “Only return feature that have spatial relationship with features in another layer” A: Yes, please visit our training site and search for Web AppBuilder courses https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/search/ Q: First, in order to share them, can I build them on my local machine, or do I have to do this on our server?  Also, we are a utility, and by necessity are therefore still at ArcGIS 10.2.1. Our ArcGIS Server is also 10.2.1. I am confused about the requirements for custom widgets – do you have a link to some introductory explanations on this?   A: Please review the get started section for custom widgets https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/guide/get-started.htm We welcome you to leave comments below if you have any additional questions. We're happy to help! ... View more

Welcome to the new year with another webinar to kick off a great start! This month we introduce you to the webinar, "Extending the Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS". David Martinez and Gavin Rehkemper will help you to learn how to extend Webb AppBuilder for your own custom workflows. They will dive into the Web AppBuilder framework to demonstrate how you can create your own widgets and design the look and feel of your app using a custom theme. They will also discuss patterns and techniques to streamline their Web AppBuilder development.  We welcome you to register for this webinar by going to http://go.esri.com/geodev. Be sure to continue checking this site for future webinars. ... View more

Devs, devs, devs. The deadline is fast approaching for the user presentation submissions for DevSummit in Palm Springs. So to get your creative juices flowing, we thought we would entice you by showing you what you're up against thus far.  Take a look at what some of the developer community has proposed thus far: SAP + the Science of Where by Jodi Luostarinen - The current stack of GIS software by Esri offers a robust selection of technology for developers to select from when solving an issue. Selection of the best technical approach is critical when integrating GIS with other systems. In this presentation we will go over two different cases where completely different technical approaches were selected to extend SAP HANA into the City of San Diego’s operations by expanding the power of ERP with spatial operations. The developed solutions go beyond the typical ERP/GIS sync approach and involve user editing of SAP data in real time through a map interface. Insights to ArcGIS Licensing by Bryan Chastain - This talk will take an honest look at the pros and cons of Insights and provide some best practices for how to integrate spatial and non-spatial data to create compelling visualizations. Additionally, Insights will be compared and contrasted with other industry-leading data visualization software, such as Tableau and Qlik, and libraries, such as D3, to help developers determine which approach works better in different situations. Mapping Automatic Packet Reporting System Data from Software Defined Radio by Matt McCormick - Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is a digital communication channel used by ham radio operators to share location and other data over long distances. Some Search and Rescue Teams use it to monitor location of their search teams. Other ham radio operators use it to share vehicle location. Using Python, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, a Raspberry PI computer, and an inexpensive TV tuner device, you can capture, store, and map APRS location data using modern mapping technology. Extend Python with ArcGIS Runtime for Qt by Mark Cederholm - Mark will show how to use PyQt to launch a QML app. He will also show how to use SIP and qmake to create Python bindings for the C++ API that work seamlessly with PyQt. Finally, he'll show how to use Qt Creator to create (and debug!) a coarse-grained object in C++ and add SIP wrappers in the release build to make a Python module. Includes QtWidget and QtQuick examples that work in macOS and Windows. Creating a Custom Table of Contents in Angular by Brandon Payne - A table of contents (ToC) is one of the most important pieces of information to be able to view a map effectively and with ease. Though useful the current JavaScript LayerList widget fell short in some areas for users to effectively view the ToC data. This presentation will show where users found the LayerList to be lacking, and how we customized a ToC solution using Angular and the Esri ArcGIS API for JavaScript to meet their needs. Attendees will be shown applicable code of how the new ToC was created. Esri ArcGIS Online and Serverless Computing: So Long Bare-Metal by Kevin Gooss - This talk will present an example of this “hybrid” ArcGIS Online/Cloud solution to solve a transportation infrastructure problem. The application will combine the spatial resources of ArcGIS Online with the analysis capabilities of a popular cloud-based serverless computing platform. Kevin will discuss how this model can be extended to tackle virtually any issue in a simple, easily maintained computing environment that involves NONE of your own computers.   Crowdsourcing Flood and Sea Level Rise Events by Mark Hebert - This presentation is for a Citizen Science, crowdsourcing application for documenting Flood and Sea Level Rise events on iOS and Android. The application collects and aggregates locations of water inundation due to rainfall, weather, and tidal events; as well as Sea Level Rise. It also enables tracking over time and location. The app provides users the ability to record longitude and latitude of reported flooding, a tagged picture of the event, and a user-reported, approximate depth of the event. It allows for time and date stamping as well as local weather snapshot for the event record.  Building Modular Applications with Prism, MEF, and the ArcGIS Runtime API by Joe Hershman -  Prism allows developers to use proven patterns and practices to create XAML and Xamarin Forms applications to target Windows and multi-platform development. Utilizing Prism and the ArcGIS Runtime, a loosely coupled, MVVM, modular application was built.  With this approach, the complexity was broken down into smaller, simpler modules. By employing MEF for dependency injection and extensibility, runtime discovery of modules could be used to make the application features configurable at deployment. Disseminating Information from Desktop Environment by Jason Muriki Kinyua - Sharing of information has been simplified and doesn't increase exponentially with increase in population with which the data is being shared (within organization or open for world-wide access). This has been facilitated by advancement in web-mapping and mobile GIS technology. Data stored in spatial database and results of spatial analysis can be made available to a large group of users through web map and/or mobile application service. The data would reside fully in the desktop/server environment. User requests from the web map/mobile device are received by server and passed to geodatabase for spatial queries. Results of these queries are sent back as response to client request. Further processing of the data and geovisualization of products takes place on client browser or mobile device. By so doing, redundancy of data is greatly reduced by ensuring only required chunks are sent to client. The client also doesn't require to do heavy installation of software or incur costs of printing graphics but instead use readily available mobile device or browser services to get the information. Brought on board is ability to perform on-the-fly analysis such as changing reference systems, etc. In this presentation, Jason will demonstrate how this can be achieved using the ArcGIS Online platform and the ArcGIS Android SDK. So there you have it! These are some of the presentations we have thus far. To read more, please check the DevSummit 2018 User Presentation page on GeoNet. Do you have an idea or project completely new and fresh to bring to the table? We would love to see you submit your abstract! The deadline is Friday, January 12th.  We believe in you. ... View more

Are you wanting to go to DevSummit in Palm Springs, CA this year but aren't sure how to do so? We have a recommendation. Just a small one....SUBMIT A USER PRESENTATION! That's right! If you read about how to submit a user presentation to this year's DevSummit and think you have something other developers would love to hear, follow the instructions to submit an abstract and get your presentation out there!  But wait a second...there's a catch. You have to do it soon...like, within the next week or so soon. That's right! By January 12th, we will be closing the submission window to begin the voting portion of the user presentation process. After the 12th, the developer community will read all of the proposed user presentations and vote on the one they'd love to see make it to DevSummit in Palm Springs. That could be yours! There's one more thing that you should know about presenting at DevSummit. We think it's kind of a big deal, and to thank you for coming out to present, we offer you the early bird rate for your registration! YES! You receive a discounted rate! So what are you still reading this blog post for? You should be submitting your abstract RIGHT NOW! GO! RUNNNNNN! ... View more

Happy New Year, GeoDevs! We are so happy to start off 2018 on a healthy note! We were able to accomplish so much in 2017, and we'd like to keep the good times rollin'! Webinars Last year we introduced our GeoDev Webinar Series, and we're more than happy to announce that we are continuing on with these in 2018. Catch us as we cover Web AppBuilder this month, ArcGIS ProSDK in February, and widgets in March! For more information and registering for these webinars, please go to http://go.esri.com/geodev. Meetups Once again, our meetups around the U.S. have been incredibly welcomed by the developer community, so we are continuing these tech socials. Geared towards gathering developers within an area and sharing how the ArcGIS platform has improved and enhanced the work completed throughout the communities. For more information on upcoming meetups, please go to GeoDev Meetups | Locations . Conferences We are getting very excited about our upcoming Developer Summit in Palm Springs, CA March 6-9. We have pre-cons,  so many tech sessions, user presentations, Lightning Talks, dodgeball, and more! Last year's DevSummit was so enlightening and inspirational that we want to focus on doing the same this year. We also have our DevSummit DC taking place in Washington, D.C. and DevSummit Berlin scheduled for later in the year. So exciting! Overall, we've got a very exciting year ahead of us and are looking to make it even better than last. In the comments below, let us know what you think about what we have going on, where you think we could focus our efforts a bit more or less, and what you're excited about for 2018 in development! New Year, New Us! ... View more

by Amy Niessen, John Gravois, and Patrick Hammons We tend to host our GeoDev Webinars in the middle of the month, in the middle of the week. This helps make it easy for our developer community to make themselves available for a webinar and encourage the likelihood of attendance. We had no such problems getting the developer community to sign up for the ArcGIS Hub webinar! John Gravois (@geogangster) and Patrick Hammons (@hamhandedly) delivered the fourth installment of the GeoDev Webinar series and introduced the developer community (and aspiring developer community members) to ArcGIS Hub! They took time to set context and explain the history of the ArcGIS Online Open Data offering, showing the additional capabilities that Hub exposes, and they demoed both its administration and community management tools. With over 700 participants in attendance, John and Patrick dove into the low-level open source components that make up ArcGIS Hub and discussed customization options, key extensibility points, and relevant development paradigms like Configurable Apps and Shared Themes. They also took a look at opportunities for civic tech inspired citizens to collaborate with our government customers and leverage tools like the ArcGIS API for Python If you would like to see the slides from the webinar, check them out: https://johngravois.com/presentations/geodev-hub/#/ Throughout the webinars, we encourage users to submit questions that we address at the end of the hour; however, there are so many that are not addressed, so instead of leaving anyone hanging, we have addressed them below. (A big 'thank you' goes to John and Patrick for taking the time to answer each question!) Q: For Initiatives and Comnmunity part of Hub, the documentation is not there. When can we expect that? A: You can find documentation for both Initiatives and Community here: http://doc.arcgis.com/en/hub/. Q: Is this part of an Enterprise license? Do we have access to it if we have an ArcGIS Online organization? A: The open data capabilities (creating sites, sharing data, making pages) are included with your ArcGIS Online license, but premium capabilities like the initiative builder and the community admin tools require additional licensing. Q: Can one organization administer multiple hubs for multiple clients from one centralized ArcGIS Hub admin console?  A: No, the Hub admin only pertains to one Hub associated with one ArcGIS Online organization. To manage multiple Hubs you would have to log in to each individually. Q: Is there any copyright issue if I leave any organizational account? Later can I use my maps in my personal account of what I've created before? Or does that organization own those maps?  A: Esri doesn't dictate the license of either individuals or organizations. Q: Is there a way for a user to select projection for data being downloaded? A: Local projections can be set on an organization level, but not on a download by download basis. Q: You guys mostly focused on governmental communicaton with the wider community. Do you see Hub as being a useful resource for the private sector (or semi-private) to interact with the communities around them? (e.g., utilities)? A: We are focused primarily on public sector use cases, while continuing to explore other potential markets. Open data and transparency are core capabilities for this product, both of which tend to be public sector concepts, but the Hub could be very useful to any groups that interface with the public. Q: How is it licensed? Does this require additional licensing?  A: The open data capabilities (creating sites, sharing data, making pages) are included with your ArcGIS Online license, but premium capabilities like the initiative builder and the community admin tools require additional licensing. Q: If a city has Open Data setup, what does it cost and take to get Hub going on top of that? A: For the premium Hub capabilities, pricing is scaled by community population. For more details specific to your context we recommend talking to your account manager. Q: Can it run on ArcServer? A: Hub is currently only available on ArcGIS Online. Services can be hosted on your own servers or on ArcGIS Online, but should be available on the open web in order to be registered in ArcGIS Online Q: Regarding social media logins for citizens: Does this create an ArcGIS Online account so that non-subscribers can use Survey123 or Collector as long as those apps are published as public? A: Yes, the social media login process creates a named user that can be given the same permissions as any other named user in ArcGIS Online. Q: Can we link our events with the citizen calendar?  A: We do not currently have direct integration with other event management applications in the roadmap. That said, there is nothing stopping you from linking to events within a Hub page/site. Q: Why is the social login with Twitter not available? A: Google and Facebook logins were targeted first because they have the largest and most diverse base of users. Q: Two-part question: a) Can we confine a hub to a "private" ArcGIS Online organisation and b) is it in the roadmap to make ArcGIS Hub available for ArcGIS Enterprise? A: a) Yes, you can have a private Hub site populated with datasets only visible internally, and b) Yes, Hub for Enterprise is in the roadmap for mid 2018. Q: Will they add ability to download as geodatabase and if so, I'd recommend including metadata. A: Geodatabase downloads are not currently in the roadmap. Q: Also, how much does Hub cost. is it part of our agreement if we have an Enterprise ArcGIS Server and ELA and Org acct? A: The open data capabilities (creating sites, sharing data, making pages) are included with your ArcGIS Online license, but premium capabilities like the initiative builder and the community admin tools require additional licensing. The pricing scales according to the population of the community served. Q: Will you speak to integrating non-spatial data that lives in databases separate from our enterprise GIS geodatabases as open data to the Hub platform and using it to feed initiatives? A: Datasets need to be registered within ArcGIS Online and shared to an open data enabled group in order to be used within Hub. The most recent release of ArcGIS Online implemented cloud storage integration . More info available here: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/share-maps/add-items.htm Q: Can we use hub to collect data? A: Yes. One of the ways you can do this is by embedding a Survey123 app. Q: So how we can migrate Open Data to Hub? What are the requirements or restrictions? A: Open Data operates the same as it did, only with additional Hub capabilities. You shouldn't need to migrate anything.  Q: Are Hub pages mobile friendly, e.g. responsive? A: Yes, Hub sites are responsive. Q: Does the Hub team have any plans to support cache data sets in the future in open data site? A: The Hub currently caches datasets automatically, but you can control this manually through the admin. Q: If you want to track who is downloading your open data, is it possible to develop a form to capture user name, phone#, email, etc, prior to the download as opposed to forcing users to "follow" an initiative? A: Users can create surveys to collect information from users, but not as a prerequisite to download. Q: Does it use credits from ArcGIS Online? A: The only credit consumption comes from storage in ArcGIS Online. Q: Is ArcGIS Hub available on Portal or only ArcGIS Online? A: Hub is currently only available in ArcGIS Online, but Hub for Portal is on the roadmap for mid 2018. Q: Have you ever thought about collaborating with Colleges to be the "go to" platform for students to present presentations and their research?   A: Yes, we have! Q: What type of subscription i need to make an Arcgis Hub ? is the organization account enable me ? A: The open data capabilities (creating sites, sharing data, making pages) are included with your ArcGIS Online license, but premium capabilities like the initiative builder and the community admin tools require additional licensing. You need admin privileges to enable Hub for an ArcGIS Online organization. Q: I am a student and I need to learn more about creating initiative and developing in GIS, can the trial subscription enable me to create and manage Arcgis Hub page? A: You would need an organization account or organizational access in order to create Hub sites and pages. Q: I thought the Webinar was great. They did a good job of explaining the how and why's of the program. I tried going into ArcGIS Hub but, to be perfectly honest with you, I am struggling to understand how to navigate the program. I look forward to the webinar recording so I can review it. I am really new to this so the navigation difficulty is more than likely me and not how the page is set up! I will keep stumbling around and see what I can do. A: ArcGIS Hub | ArcGIS  -- End of Q&A -- If you missed the webinar and would like to see the "ArcGIS Hub" webinar in its entirety, please check it out (along with all of our past webinars) on http://go.esri.com/geodev. We will see you in January during our next webinar, "Extending Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS". ... View more

On Tuesday evening, the developer community gathered together at Cloudport and shared a great evening with the Esri R&D Center team in Portland, ME. With the goal of having the R&D Center meetups quarterly, we came from hosting our previous meetup in fall, so this was a great time to reconnect and see what everyone was working on at the close of the year. We had a great representation from the Esri R&D Center: Jeff Jackson, Annie Jackson, Brent Pierce, Joel Whitney, Aaron Pulver, Noah Sager, Dawit Elias, and Heather McCracken. With so many of the team present, this allowed for the attendees to ask questions about the R&D Center and also any ideas they had to share.   Cloudport proved to be such a great venue during our fall quarter meetup that we ventured to host it there again. It didn't fail. The space was conducive to enabling the community to gather outside of the presentation area, lean against the tall boy tables, and share a nice appetizer and beverage. After the happy hour, it was time to get started! Brent Pierce emceed the event and welcomed everyone to another productive meetup. He introduced a few new developer-driven projects and efforts: DevLabs, DevSummit, SDKs/APIs, and GeoDev Meetups and Webinars. With that, he introduced our speakers: Joel Whitney, "Dynamic Symbology with Arcade" Arcade is a new expression-based scripting language for controlling how features and labels are rendered using feature attributes and logical operators. Joel gave a demo showing how it can be fairly simple to use, and the results are consumable across the ArcGIS platform. Jeff Jackson, "Taking Maps Offline - A Prototype" For mobile applications, how an app performs with limited connectivity (or none altogether) is an essential part of its functional design. Jeff gave a demo showing how vector tile basemaps can be clipped out and packaged for offline use. Aaron Pulver, "Operations Dashboard - 1.0 Release" Operations Dashboard uses maps and charts to provide managers the status of their projects in the field in real time. Aaron gave a demo showing how it can be configured and put to use quickly and easily. Aaron Pulver, "Python API Jupyter Notebook" Jupyter Notebooks are a fast growing popular way to author and share documents that contain Python code, interactive widgets and components, graphs, images, video, and narrative text, presenting projects and results in a natural way. Aaron gave a demo showing some basic things you can do with the ArcGIS API for Python in a notebook, specifically, going from a downloaded raw CSV file and ending up with a fully published web map. Trivia was interwoven into the meetup, where we had a hot debate on whether there were two or three state planes in Maine (turns out two), and only one person was able to answer what Maine should start bracing themselves to see more of off of the coast....you know what? I'll let you guess what that might be in the comments below. How about that? Lastly, we were able to congratulate Ted Chapin, GIS Developer of SGC Engineering, LLC on his giveaway to the DevSummit in Palm Springs. Ted is a many time attender to the DevSummit, so we were very proud to be able to hand him a complimentary registration. We'll see you there, Ted! Stay tuned for our next GeoDev Meetup where we're heading to NYC at the Heartland Brewery and Chophouse on 12/12! We're very excited and looking forward to a great lineup of more lightning talks and making more developer connections within the New York area. Until then, develop on! ... View more