Latest Contributions by AmyNiessen

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

On Wednesday, October 18th Ben Ramseth and Atma Mani teamed up to present the webinar, "Explore the Power of the ArcGIS API for Python". This webinar is part of the newly established GeoDev Webinar Series started by the Developer Outreach at Esri. These webinars were designed to keep an on-going discussion within the developer community about developer-related products, ideas, and APIs available from Esri and ways to continue assisting the developer community in leveraging their own projects with the use of our tools. In this webinar, both Ben and Atma show attendees how the ArcGIS Python API can help in scripting and automating their tasks. They take the attendees on a tour of the API and demonstrate some of the powerful capabilities such as mapping, query, analysis, portal administration, and much more.  Throughout the webinar, attendees send in their questions to get answered. At the end, Atma was able to address a number of questions, but was not able to get to all of them within the hour. We have included the remaining questions that came up during the webinar below.  Q: Are tokens consumed differently if using the API for spatial analysis or geocoding? A: No, tokens are used the same way, as when a user uses the http://arcgis.com map viewer. Q: Are you going to share the notebook used in the webinar? A: Yes…we will make the notebooks available via Github. Q: Are you using Anaconda? Do you recommend using Anaconda Python? A: Yes, we recommend using Anaconda. It comes with a lot of useful 3rd party packages. For users that have ArcGIS Pro, Anaconda ships with Pro, so no need to download and install it separately. Q: Can I use it to geocode places in Africa like Sierra Leone? A: Yes, the world geocoder with your ArcGIS Online account can be used to geocode the whole world. Q: Can scripts use aspects of both ArcPy and Python API? For example, preprocess layers in desktop using ArcPy before uploading to portal using Python API all in one script.  A: Yes, to use both ArcPy and Python API, install the API using ArcGIS Pro as explained here: https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/install-and-set-up/#Install-using-ArcGIS-Pro Q: Can the ArcGIS API access an ArcGIS Server that is not part of a Portal? A: Yes, we added support for stand-alone ArcGIS Servers. Q: Can we set symbol renderer with ArcGIS API for Python? A: Yes, checkout this useful resource where you can select a symbol of your choice and get the code for that symbol: esri.github.io/arcgis-python-api/tools/symbol.html Q: Can we use a "Clip" tool in Python API? A: Yes, you can clip both raster and vector layers. For instance, see this help https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/raster-analysis-advanced-concepts/#Clipping-to-an-area-of-interest Q: Can we use Anaconda on Python 2.7? A: No, the minimum version of Python required is 3.5. Q: I am using ArcMap10.4.1 and Python 2.7. Then can I install Anaconda? A: Yes, you can install Anaconda separately on your computer and install Python API using that Anaconda. Q: Can we use for ArcGIS server map services? A: Yes, the MapImageLayer class in arcgis.mapping module allows you use map services http://esri.github.io/arcgis-python-api/apidoc/html/arcgis.mapping.html#mapimagelayer Q: Is it possible to consolidate both (ArcPy) and ArcGIS for Python into one? A: There are no plans as of now to consolidate both these libraries into one. Q: Do we need any ArcGIS licenses to use Python? A: No, the ArcGIS API for Python is free to use. Q: Can you please provide the link to the online documentation? A: ArcGIS API for Python | ArcGIS for Developers  Q: Can you talk a bit about building/updating web applications with ArcPy? A: Jupyter project has a nice feature called 'Jupyter Dashboards' which were used in the demo. Using this, you can quickly prototype your dashboard style application all in Python. You can then decide to use a web dev language like JavaScript to build it. TO learn more about dashboards, go to http://jupyter-dashboards-layout.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ Q: Can you use python to create groups/subgroups to publish layers in ArcGIS portal? A: Yes, checkout https://developers.arcgis.com/python/sample-notebooks/publishing-sd-shapefiles-and-csv/ and the rest of the publisher samples Q: Can you use the API to automate the downloading of data from AGOL? A: Yes you can. Check out this lab: https://developers.arcgis.com/labs/data/python/download-data/ Q: Can you use the Python API to update description sections in Story Maps? For instance, automate a nightly process to pull a description field text from a database row and overwrite an existing description section in a Story Map. A: No, this is currently beyond the scope of the API. However, you can read the story map data using Item.get_data() method and make updates. Then call Item.update() method to push the changes. Q: Can you use your custom created basemaps with the API? A: We are adding support for this feature. Q: Does analysis in Jupyter Notebook use credits? A: Yes, it uses the same amount of credits as when doing it using ArcGIS Online Q: Any Special instructions for installing the module with Conda behind a corporate proxy?  Is there a .tar file available instead? A: Yes, you can perform an offline install. Instructions and helper scripts are here: https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/install-and-set-up/#Offline-install Q: Hi all. Is possible to develop a spatial regression analysis (OLS, logistic regression) with this ArcGIS API for Python inside Jupyter?  A: Yes, Python API can be used to read data from feature layer. Then using third party libraries like Scikit-Learn Ordinary Least Square regression or any other regression can be preformed. The results can then be published back to the GIS using the Python API. Q: So I assume the dependent variable and independente variable can be set up in Sklearn through the columns of the attribute table of my feature layer. Right?I  have JSON files from a HTTP rest of a mobile app about destinations. Is possible to convert this JSON to GeoJSON with ArcGIS API for Python? And return this new GeoJSON to my HTTP rest and use this in ant webmapping with Web Appbuilder? A: That is correct. We are adding support for GeoJSON, so not possible now. Q: Can we define new widgets for Web Appbuilder with this API? A: No, that is beyond the scope of the API Q: What's the function we can use to copy Annotation feature class fastest with a where clause to a SDE database? A: We would recommend looking into using ArcPy to accomplish this. Q: If I have anaconda for Python 2.7, I have to install Anaconda for Python 3.6 for the ArcGIS API? A: That is correct. You will have to install Python 3.x to work with the API. Q:  I would like to bulk process a large number of landsat and sentinel images on the API without having to download them individually. Is there a way to invoke the respective Landsat and Sentinel libraries using the API? Also, if you have time, could you show a possible example of a "for loop" to process a certain number of images, perhaps looping a cropping process? A: The best way is to create a mosaic dataset using the images and publish them as image services. Then you can define masks using raster functions which are equivalent to clipping. We will plan to write a sample explaining the workflow in future.   Q: How do you import ArcPy into your Jupyter Notebook? A: You must install the Python API as explained here https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/install-and-set-up/#Install-using-ArcGIS-Pro. Then start the 'Python command prompt' app and type 'Jupyter Notebook'. Now you can import both ArcPy and the Python API. Q: How is python API different from Javascript API ? A: They are similar in that they both work with web GIS using the ArcGIS REST API. The difference comes in the purpose you would use each for. JS for building web app, Python for automating and managing your web GIS - users, groups, services, items, maps etc. And Python API allows you to make use of the rich data analysis ecosystem possible with Python. Q: Can Python work offline and can it work in Demo? A: Yes, it can. You would need an ArcGIS Enterprise in your disconnected network for the API to connect to and work offline. Q: I have ArcMap on my computer. How do I get the ArcGIS API in ArcMap? A: You need ArcGIS Pro to get Python API. Or you can install anaconda and install Python API. Instructiosn here: https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/install-and-set-up/. Q: Do I need ArcGIS Pro installed to use the ArcGIS API for Python? A: No, its optional. Q: If you export code to .py and run, will maps open similarly to the Jupyter environment? A: No, you need the Jupyter Notebook IDE to visualize the map widget. Q: In the demos, everything is typed in the Jupyter Notebook by the user. But how do you script this in a file and how do you schedule this script (like with a task scheduler)? A: You can use the API from a Python script instead of a Jupyter Notebook. But if you already have a notebook, you can download the notebook as a Python file from the File menu. Q: Is it possible to combine both ArcGIS Pro ArcPy and Python API into one Jupyter Notebook to make use of both ArcGIS Online data connection and ArcGIS Pro analysis capabilities? A: Yes you can. You need to install the API using ArcGIS Pro as explained here: https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/install-and-set-up/#Install-using-ArcGIS-Pro Then you can import both ArcPy and Python API into your scripts. Q: Not very related to ArcGIS API: In ArcMap i was able to create AddIn, in future will be possible create Python AddIn in ArcGIS Pro? A: Yes, you can make add-ins with Python; however, they are made with ArcPy, NOT the ArcGIS API for Python. Q: On your online Jupyter Notebook site do you have a sample of using an SDE source to update ArcGIS online data? A: No, we don’t have one. But, we will consider this for future. Q: So at this point (locating address) you're creating a new point layer and filling in attribute fields just by geocoding that address? A: Yes, thats correct. Q: What about SAML say with Okta?  A: Users with SAML are recommended to connect using Arcgis Pro. Help link is here: https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/working-with-different-authentication-schemes/#Connecting-through-ArcGIS-Pro Q: What is the module for accessing and adminstering ArcGIS Server directly? A: It is the 'server' module. Help doc here: http://esri.github.io/arcgis-python-api/apidoc/html/arcgis.gis.server.html# Q: When I do a process in ArcGIS, can I see the process the Python script? For example, let's say I do some step to get the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). If I do a process for getting it, can I see this process that I did in Python? A: If you used Python API, then yes, the Jupyter Notebook keeps a record of it Q: When you are using the "tools" like buffer or hotspot are you consuming credits? A: Yes you are consuming credits. Q: Where are the iPython Notebooks you mentioned in your introduction?  A: GitHub - Esri/arcgis-python-api: Documentation and samples for ArcGIS Python API  Q: You say the Python API can be installed using ArcGIS Pro, does it install this jupyter program too? A: Yes it does install Jupyter Notebook as well. Q: You showed shapefiles to publish, what's the best way to publish geodatabase content using the API to enterprise or online? A: You can zip your file geodatabase and publish that as a feature layer. Q: Can the ArcGIS API for Python easily do with geo-analysis/process, similar to the toolbox in ArcGIS Desktop? I see arcgis.geoprocessing module in the online Reference page. But I do not see the sample code and wonder if this module can connect with tools in ArcGIS Toolbox. The reason to ask the question is that we have some complicated geo-processes at the desktop level. I wonder if the complicated geoprocess can be moved to AGOL. A: The doc here explains how to use geoprocessing tools form Python API and contains sample code https://developers.arcgis.com/python/guide/an-introduction-to-geoprocessing/ Q: Can the ArcGIS API for Python connect with SQL Server? My organization only uses SQL Server. A: Python API cannot direclty connect to your SQL server. However you can use Pandas library to connect to it, read data then use Python API to publish that layer to your GIS and make it available for rest of the analysis or processing. If you do not see a question you have listed above, leave one in the comment section below, and we'll check it out and get you your answer! To view the recording of this webinar, or any of our past webinars, please be sure to check out go.esri.com/geodev. We look forward to seeing you at our next webinar! ... View more

Now, in our fifth annual Developer Summit Europe conference, as much as we have learned over the years, we have also grown and are better than ever. Here are some highlights from the event and all of the enriching sessions, activities, and networking opportunities that took place: Pre-Summit Hands-On Training While short tech sessions during a conference are a great way to spin up on the latest tools and capabilities within an API, sometimes nothing beats spending a day getting some hands-on training, to put your hands (and your code) directly onto an API, to build up skills that you can put to productive use right away in your work, apps, and projects and given that JavaScript is the most popular app development API among our user community, and Python is more and more the 'language of the ArcGIS platform', we figured those two would be most popular amongst those who chose to attend DevSummit.  ArcGIS Python API - Ben Ramseth introduced the ArcGIS Python API, which allows ArcGIS users to automate their workflows and perform repetitive tasks by writing Python scripts. With about a dozen attendees, Ben taught about automating the administration and management of an ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online Organization, cloning contents of one portal to another, analyzing GIS datasets, creating illustrative reports using Python notebooks, and creating new content or publishing the analysis results as web layers and web maps. ArcGIS API for JavaScript - Andy Gup leads attendees along the  journey of creating web apps featuring ArcGIS content and capabilities. ArcGIS API for JavaScript 4.x streamlines app development and capabilities to incorporate 2D and 3D content. Andy takes this workshop to introduce the API classes, components, and functionality to help users create web applications. Plenary The following format for the plenary this year was quite different from years passed. Instead of the usual ArcGIS theme, we chose to focus on more of the APIs and their features: Introduction to the DevSummit ArcGIS for Developers ArcGIS API for JavaScript ArcGIS Runtime SDKs The ArcGIS Developer Experience ArcGIS Pro .NET SDK ArcGIS API for Python Many of the attendees appreciated this format and felt that it really answered a lot of the questions they had about our upcoming features and available tools. We also enjoyed presenting in this format and will consider maintaining it in the future. Technical Sessions Over 45 unique technical sessions were offered at DevSummit. Some of the presentations included, but were not limited to, the following:  JavaScript ArcGIS API for JavaScript: Building Mobile Web Apps was presented by Andy Gup. This session helped users to learn about important design and implementation considerations for building mobile apps for JavaScript through the use of a Mobile First approach. App Design and CSS Styling with the ArcGIS API 4.x for JavaScript was presented by Allan Laframboise. This session covered how to work with CSS for the new ArcGIS API 4.x for JavaScript. It included how to perform the manual overrides, access to the SASS libraries, and how to re-build the CSS libraries to create custom versions. ArcGIS API for JavaScript: Tips and Tricks for Developing and Debugging was presented by Mark Jagt and Maarten van Hulten. This session helped users to learn quickly and easily how to find and fix problems in their web mapping applications. It helped to guide users how to set up their dev environment to write cleaner code. They showed users some debugging tools to debug, style, and optimize their apps.  Runtime  ArcGIS Runtime SDKs: An Introduction to the API and Architecture was presented by Euan Cameron and David Cardella. This session presented an introduction to the Runtime SDKs, the advantages of using them, and an overview of the API.  ArcGIS Runtime SDKs: Building 3D Applications was presented by Mark Baird and Luke Smallwood. This session provided details and inspirations for developers as they think of using 3D as they design and build their Runtime apps. ArcGIS Runtime SDKs for Qt, Android, and Java: Building Apps sessions were presented so users developing on Windows, Linux, Desktop, and smartphone/tablet applications could use Runtime to easily build interactive mapping applications. Python Administering ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online with Python was presented by Rohit Singh and Ben Ramseth. This session taught Web GIS administrators how to use the ArcGIS Python API to automate some of their most repetitive tasks and use scripts instead of the UI and clicking through.   Geospatial Data Science and Analysis using ArcGIS API for Python was presented by Rohit Singh and Matthias Schenker. This session covered how analysts and data scientists can use the ArcGIS platform in combination with data science libraries from Python for mapping, visualization, and geospatial data analysis.  Arcade ArcGIS API for JavaScript: Using Arcade with Your Apps was presented by Rene Rubalcava. This session provided an overview for users on how to navigate the Arcade documentation while highlighting some key functions available in Arcade. Rene demonstrated how the live Arcade editor in ArcGIS Online could be a powerful tool in helping attendees write, edit, and execute custom expressions.     Sponsor With sincere thanks and gratitude, we would like to take a moment to share how very important con terra is to us as an organization. Without their support, our event would not be the same. Their participation at our Esri DevSummit events has been invaluable, and we are overwhelmed with appreciation for all that they do in this #geo world. Many thanks to you, con terra! Tech Talk In between tech sessions and breaks, we had our Tech Talk areas: Desktop, Native, Web, and ArcGIS Online/Enterprise. These areas were housed with Esri staff so that at any time, a user could walk up and ask a question they may have related to those areas. Most users found this quite useful when they had remaining questions that they wanted to have answered that may have been a bit more specific about their use of our platform. Developer User Community Events SpeedGeeking This event is a great way to break the ice with some of our attendees by inviting them to listen to a new technology or feature of our technology that an Esri presenter shares within five minutes. Borrowing the concept of SpeedDating, we ask users to select one of our twelve stations to start, and we start the clock for our presenter to talk for five minutes. Within the hour, all of our attendees are able to learn about each new idea/concept/feature in a fast and unique way. Here were our speakers and what they covered: SpeedGeeker Title Andy Gup Using Angular with the ArcGIS API for JavaScript Ben Ramseth Using the ArcGIS API for Python Rene Rubalcava WebGL or Bust! Simon Haegler CityEngine and the Unreal Game Engine Niklas Koehn Extension of Standard Web AppBuilder Widgets by Inheritance via TypeScript Antti Kajanus Taking a Webmap Offline with ArcGIS Runtime Daniel Cronin World View - Building a Chrome Extension with Esri Leaflet Matt Jones Mapstyler - Styling Vector Tiles using Photos Javier Gutierrez 3D with the ArcGIS API for JavaScript Matthias Schenker Augmented Reality User Presentations Users were given the opportunity to present their own development projects and ways they've leveraged the ArcGIS platform.  Sven Aanesen from Geodata in Norway presented his talk, "Success with Custom Native Apps". In this talk, Sven discusses how Geodata is helping the Norwegian Environment Agency with mapping nature types in a classification system. They have developed an advanced and customized iPad app to do so. They have a unique user interface with focus on quick user input, ease of use, and advanced geometry sketching with a complex set of rules. The app has proven to become a much appreciated tools for the users. The collection of very detailed data is performed outdoors every summer and is using ArcGIS SDK for offline support. This user presentation was a great example of how our users are able to leverage the usage of ArcGIS to expand their product to their customers and other agencies. Lightning Talks  We had a few great lightning talks this year that covered routing, street level imagery, and the use of OpenStreetMap (OSM) on ArcGIS Online. Christopher Beddow from Mapillary covered using their API and integrations in general with the Esri JavaScript API, Web AppBuilder, ArcGIS Online, and also what they've been able to gain from their use of ArcGIS Pro. Simon Geigenberger presented his five minute lightning talk on the Python script he wrote that can be used to convert data from OpenStreetMap into Feature Services that can be hosted on ArcGIS Online. In his talk, he describes the main steps from OpenStreetMap to ArcGIS Online: Read and validate configuration data Get the data from OpenStreetMap Store the data in the pandas data frame Publish the data on ArcGIS Online Finally, he showed a feature service that is published using the script. Jans Wilkening presented a web-based 3D campus routing developed at the University of Applied Sciences in Würzburg that solves the problem of finding rooms throughout buildings on university campuses. The solution presented was based on ArcGIS Desktop, the JavaScript API, and a Network Service hosted on the ArcGIS Server.  The Party We returned to Hofbräu in Berlin for our Wednesday night party. With a nice selection of meat, potato soup, pretzel pieces, and beer, our attendees and staff were able to enjoy each other's company and introduce one another and what we do in a relaxed setting. It was a great time had by all, and we were able to make new friends and lasting work relationships. Closing While goodbyes are always difficult, the closing session at DevSummit is the greatest way to gather feedback and address questions that come up throughout the conference. We also get to share some pretty fun stats on how much food was consumed, how many attendees we had with us, and where the audience feels we should focus our attention for future developer conferences. We had a great time spending the week with the developer community throughout Europe in Berlin, and we look forward to what is in the plans for next year's DevSummit Europe! ... View more

We had so many great questions during our "Discovering the ArcGIS API 4.x for JavaScript" webinar, that we decided to share them all with you! We hope by answering some of these questions, we will open up a dialogue with you from the comments you leave below. Feel free to follow up and keep checking this page's comments section for more contribution. Q: Will Arcade expressions work inside TypeScript? If so how? A: Arcade is it's own expression language; it's not JavaScript or TypeScript. Q: I have been looking for a way to use the directions widget in the 4x. But I have not found the documentaion yet except in the 3x. I will be happy if the directions widget could be included in the 4x or could you show me how.  A: Directions widget is planned for 4x, but there is no timeline on when it will be ready. Q: If I'm using ArcGIS Online instead, could I do it? I mean, instantiating a web map created in ArcGIS Online and controlling it in JavaScript, because I couldn't find the portal item ID if I created it in the ArcGIS Online or make it public?  A: This is custom app development using ArcGIS Online services. Q: What software do we need for creating web GIS apps? A: An editor like Atom, Visual Studio Code. And just a free developer subscription for creating layer items and web maps. Q: Can I create one app that works on desktops and phones? A: You can create a web app that would be performant in both. You can read about Progressive Web Apps here (https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/). You may also want to look at Cordova (http://cordova.apache.org/). Q: If I have a 2D map with multiple layers, say I have two different layers but I want them to be both displayed on the same map, but only certain parts of each legend in each layer - can this be done? A: You can disable layers from showing in the legend if desired (https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/api-reference/esri-layers-FeatureLayer.html#legendEnabled). Q: What application are you using to write code and view those maps? A: We are using Reveal and CodePen. Q: I see a lot of good support for 2D Maps in JS API 4.4, so why we should use 3.21 to build 2D maps and 4.4 to build 3D maps? in other words, what does 3.21 provide that 4.4 does not provide? A: 4.x is our next generation JavaScript API that implements many of the latest JavaScript patterns and practices. 3.x uses patterns and practices that are now over seven years old. You can refer to the functionality matrix (https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/guide/functionality-matrix/index.html) to see if you need 3x capabilities or could get by with 4x until feature parity is complete. Q: Can you code the popup to be moved on the map? A: This is not a feature built into the popup, but you might be able to customize this yourself. We have no samples of this. Q: What if you don't have longitude and latitude, but you have X,Y coordinate? A: X,Y works with defined spatial reference when you create a layer. Q: Is there a book available to get started with tutorials? This is overwhelming. A: We recommend reading the topics under the Guide section of the API docs. You can also take a look at our DevLabs which are 10 - 15 minute step-by-step learning aid. Here are the links: https://developers.arcgis.com/labs/ and https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/guide/discover/index.html. If you are looking for getting started with JavaScript, then we recommend doing internet searchs until you find tutorials that match your expectations. There are so many we can't really determine which ones are best for each person. Q: Jumping the gun, I know, but I've been working with SceneViews, elevationInfo, and 3D renders a lot lately. Will the API eventually have support for either setting/modifying z values via Arcade expressions or/and setting elevationInfo.offset via Arcade expressions? We have a lot of "3D" data that is not 3D and use cases where we may not want to use actual elevations, for instance, exaggerating vertical distance between building floors to show all space owned by a department within a building.  A: The 4.5 release and documentation will have a property on elevationInfo called featureExpressionInfo that should meet your needs. Q: Will we ever be able to set elevationInfo.offset or set/modify Z values via Arcade expresssions? A: The 4.5 release and documentation will have a property on elevationInfo called featureExpressionInfo that should meet your needs. Q: Any documentation on "Best Practices when working with JS API for ArcGIS"? A: Yes, under the https://developer.arcgis.com/javascript home page. Q: Can we use 3D sketchup models directly into Portal/AGOL using JS API to view the models? A: You would need to export out of CityEngine or try to convert to multipatch in Pro and publish a scenelayer. This doc may help (http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/projects/styles.htm). Q: WIll the draw option work in 3D view as well? A: Not in the 4.5 release, but is on the roadmap for a future release. Q: Do you require anything other than the out-of-the-box portal to load an Excel sheet (e.g. a geoprocessing server / extension)? A: No, you just want to save the excel file as a CSV and upload it. Q: Is there any rest layers grouping option in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS JavaScript APIs? A: You may be looking for the GroupLayer (https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/api-reference/esri-layers-GroupLayer.html), but you can't group layers in Online at the moment. Q: Is there still no editing capabilities in JS API 4x? A: A widget with editing capabilities should be coming early- to mid-2018. However, in the meantime the 4.x API can programmatically add, update or delete features using FeatureLayer.applyEdits(). Q: Do vector tile layers sit on top of basemap layers or are they considred a basemap layer? A: Vector can be basemap Q: Do Arcade renderers show up in an updated legend? A: Arcade is not a renderer; it's used within an existing renderer to extend its capabilities. Q: Incompatible spatial reference? Does that mean non-web mercator? A: The map can be in any projection, but we can only reproject layers from mercator <-> web-mercator.  Q: Can it be used to build mobile web apps with HTML5 Web Storage support (i.e., offline)? A: It can, but a mobile offline experience is tricky with maps. A better option is our native Runtime SDKs https://developers.arcgis.com/arcgis-runtime/. Q: Is mapview compatible with other basemaps from Mapbox, CartoDB, etc.? A: If you can provide the schema of the tiles, you can use WebTileLayer (https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/api-reference/esri-layers-WebTileLayer.html), but we can't load the Mapbox vector tile. Q: Can you please recommend an Esri Virtual Course for a true beginner. That is, for the first time a student will be exposed to APIs and JavaScript? A: We recommend finding an online JavaScript course that fits your needs, W3 schools is a great introduction to the basics: https://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp.  Q: What are the main differences between using the ArcGIS API and using ESRI's open source esri-leaflet? A: The ArcGIS API for JavaScript fully supports the ArcGIS Platform. Esri-leaflet is a good soultion in some cases, but does not support all the features of the platform. Q: Can we create WebMap Applications using AGS JS API with Angular's latest version? If yes, then how, and can you help me to find resources and help for this? A: We have various resources on github (https://github.com/Esri/jsapi-resources/tree/master/frameworks/angular). Q: Streaming Layer, data has to come from geoevents server or we can have a custom service? A: You can use your own web socket server as long as it emits Esri JSON format. Q: I'm a beginner level in GIS; please give your valuable suggestions. A: Please checkout our online free and other paid training opportunities. If you got to the following link and type the word JavaScript into the catalog search you'll find many options: https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/search/. Q: What is this pricing of this API for commercial apps? A: Please see this pricing as a starting point: https://developers.arcgis.com/pricing/. Q: Do you have to use TypeScript when creating your own widgets? A: If you want to use the widget framework with the API, yes. But you can write widgets in any framework and use the ViewModels if you like. We hope this list of Q&A helps! Please leave comments below for any other questions you may have. There were also some questions asked during the webinar itself. If you missed it, here is the recording:  Discovering the ArcGIS API 4.x for JavaScript - YouTube  ... View more

We are counting down the days to DevSummit Europe in Berlin! We hope that you are too, and if you're still not sure if this is the event for you, check out our Top Five Reasons why we feel it is! 1... See what's new! Keep up with the latest tools and techniques that ArcGIS offers developers for making useful and powerful apps. The latest versions of APIs and SDKs are out, so come learn how you can improve your web and native apps with these new capabilities, whether you're just hacking together a prototype of an innovative idea, or building and testing apps that deploy across your enterprise.    2... See and hear about new tech trends, and how you can leverage those in ArcGIS. For example, you can take part in workshops on artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, augmented and virtual reality, visualizing and analyzing streaming data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and more.   3... ArcGIS is an open platform that supports open standards for maximum interoperability and collaboration. Come see and hear what's new in the ArcGIS community with open data, open specifications (like vector tiles, GeoServices, and the new I3S spec for 3D Scene layers), as well as open source software you can use, and projects you can contribute to.   4... Come learn about Arcade. It is a new expression-based scripting language for creating custom rendering, labeling, and data visualizations in ways not possible before. Write your script once and use it across the ArcGIS platform.   5... Berlin is a great destination to visit; there is so much to see and do, not to mention eat and drink. DevSummit offers social activities for professional networking and for having fun. And if you have a talk of your own, be a presenter! Hop up on stage and show everyone what you're working on by giving a five-minute Lightning Talk. Spots are still available! If so, let us know ASAP at LightningTalks@esri.com.  Was that enough to get your developer thoughts flowing?? We sure hope so! Register today and take part in one of the greatest developer conferences in the world! We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to include them in the comments section below!  ... View more

The Developer Outreach Team is proud to announce the solution to your DevSummit withdrawals! We listened and are excited to keep the greatest developer event going throughout the year via our GeoDev Webinar series.  This is no ordinary developer webinar series; it’s a webinar series produced by developers for developers. Looking to build web, mobile, and desktop apps for any device? Learn as Esri Developer Outreach advocates demonstrate how the ArcGIS APIs, SDKs, and analytic capabilities can help you to do this! Join us to learn about the latest geospatial tools on the ArcGIS platform. Our first webinar to kick off the series is "Discovering the ArcGIS JavaScript 4.x API", presented by Andy Gup and Rene Rubalcava. We understand how those of you who have been using 3.x and prior are interested in checking out how 4.x has improved and simplified the API. Its ability to work with map and layer web resources stored as items in the ArcGIS geoinformation model, and its support for building engaging and elegant user experiences is the draw for learning more. There are new capabilities that developers can use to make #webmapping #apps better than before. There is now native support for #vectortiles, and #widgets are extensible and more useful with #UI frameworks other than Dojo. There is also the capability to create local builds using our #Bower package on #GitHub. When it comes to apps that work with and edit features, improve the performance of your app using the #geometry #engine to do this work all on the client side, right in the browser.  Register for a webinar today! ... View more

Tomorrow the Developer Outreach Team is hosting a PubNub webinar: "Mapping and Tracking That Your Users Crave". Apps today are driven by realtime, interactive maps. What better way than to show you how to create these maps and use your data to give your users the experience they are craving in navigating? Presenters Andy Gup's Blog‌ and Geeknixta's Blog‌ share not only the ins-and-outs of realtime mapping, but they also show how to implement geo-tracking, route planning, and more using Esri BLOCKS.  Interested in attending the webinar? Register now to save your seat! ... View more

Last week, Esri's NYC office teamed up with The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center’s MAPSCorps team, which is comprised of college student leaders (the Field Coordinators) who manage teams of high school students (the Youth Mappers) who then serve as mobile data collectors to itemize and validate the locations, status, and attributes of various resources, in selected neighborhoods across NYC. The student teams then analyze the data collected against various health problems identified for those neighborhoods and communities as part of their summer symposium presentations. At the present moment, the MAPSCorps program are using ArcGIS to help them manage data collected in the field and map it, analyzing resource availability for these specific health issues and services. ArcGIS Story Maps will be used to present their observations, findings, and stories through flexible, interactive, and functional web application. This is where we came into the picture... On July 31st, staff from Esri’s NYC office conducted a workshop for the college student leaders. We needed to cover a lot of ground fast, and get them productive as soon as possible, so the workshop followed the Data > Design > Develop pattern. Hands-on examples were used to have the students practice with techniques for working with data: for searching, finding, converting, modifying, creating, editing, and verifying it all. The better the data, the better the solution. Luckily the City of New York is one of the more forward-moving cities in the U.S. when it comes to its support of transparent government and citizen engagement supported by open data. It was great to see how inspired the students were to apply our tools and make a difference. We look forward to following up with them in the month of August to see where their work on Story Maps takes them.  To be continued... ... View more