Latest Contributions by Bud

My organization is currently in the process of developing a GIS Strategic Plan. In my opinion, GIS automation has been overlooked in the strategy...I'd like to see us develop automation mechanisms as part of the strategy, such as: Scheduled jobs: mechanism to easily precompute GIS fields and tables. Not an "IT-only" solution, but something that power-users can use too. Scheduled reports: let all users set up conditional reports that would be emailed to recipients on a schedule. Other - there are likely other areas of automation that I haven't thought of yet. Automation mechanisms like that would help us achieve our corporate IT direction, which is "technology done right".  Question: Does anyone have any suggestions about automation areas to include in the strategy? Or can you recommend a GIS Strategy document from another organization who did well in terms of automation? Thanks! ... View more

I have an Arcade expression that outputs polyline paths as text: Dictionary(Text(Geometry($feature)))['paths']   That expression works as expected when the polyline doesn't have true curves: However, if I use a line that does have true curves, then it fails: Failed to create new feature(s). The row contains a bad value. Note: I don't have that problem with Pro 2.9.2. The expression works on a line with true curves, without issue. Question: Why does the paths expression fail for lines with true curves in Pro 2.6.8? Background info:  Attribute rule works in Pro 2.9.2, but not in Pro 2.6.8 Thanks! ... View more

What spatial type does Esri recommend for Oracle EGDBs? SDE.ST_GEOMETRY? SDO_GEOMETRY? The reason I ask: SDE.ST_GEOMETRY seems to have gone stagnant in the last 5-10 years. There haven’t been many enhancements made in recent memory, despite there being open ideas/requests submitted. Has Esri shifted focus away from SDE.ST_GEOMETRY, and are now recommending we use SDO_GEOMETRY instead? It would help if Esri could provide clarity in this area. Thanks. ... View more

It would help if Esri could add St_Geometry functions (in Oracle) for converting to and from JSON. Similar to what we have for SDO_GEOMETRY, ArcPy, Arcade, etc. Related:  Select SDE.ST_GEOMETRY as JSON text (using SQL) Select JSON text of SDO_GEOMETRY using SQL ... View more

There are times when we want to use preformatted text instead of code blocks: We can format preformatted text, unlike with code blocks. Code blocks are clunky to use (extra line breaks, awkward clicks when trying to edit). With that said, there is an issue with preformatted text. When I copy code from an IDE (such as SQL Developer), the indents get stripped out: --https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-enterprise-questions/pl-sql-code-review-set-polyline-m-values-to/td-p/1159398 with function pythagoras(x1 in number, y1 in number, x2 in number, y2 in number) return number is begin return round(sqrt( (x2 - x1) * (x2 - x1) + (y2 - y1) * (y2 - y1)), 2); -- Power is a slow function end; function m_as_length(shape in sde.st_geometry) return varchar2 is result varchar2(32767); vertex_set varchar2(32767); oldX number; oldY number; newX number; newY number; line_len number := 0; begin for vPartIndex in 1..sde.st_geometry_operators.st_numgeometries_f(shape) loop vertex_set := null; for vPointIndex in 1..sde.st_geometry_operators.st_numpoints_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.ST_GeometryN_f(shape,vPartIndex)) loop newX := sde.st_geometry_operators.st_x_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_pointn_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_geometryn_f(shape,vPartIndex),vPointIndex)); newY := sde.st_geometry_operators.st_y_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_pointn_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_geometryn_f(shape,vPartIndex),vPointIndex)); if vPointIndex <> 1 then line_len := line_len + pythagoras(oldX, oldY, newX, newY); end if; oldX := newX; oldY := newY; vertex_set := vertex_set || newX || ' ' || newY || ' ' || line_len || ', '; end loop; result := result || '(' || rtrim((vertex_set),', ') || '),'; end loop; return 'MULTILINESTRING M (' || rtrim((result),',') || ')'; end; select m_as_length(shape) from polyline (That happens, even though the indents are literal spaces in SQL Developer, not tabs.) That's not what we want. For example, if I were to copy my code elsewhere (such as Stack Overflow), and then paste it from S.O. as preformatted text, then the indents will be preserved: --https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-enterprise-questions/pl-sql-code-review-set-polyline-m-values-to/td-p/1159398 with function pythagoras(x1 in number, y1 in number, x2 in number, y2 in number) return number is begin return round(sqrt( (x2 - x1) * (x2 - x1) + (y2 - y1) * (y2 - y1)), 2); -- Power is a slow function end; function m_as_length(shape in sde.st_geometry) return varchar2 is result varchar2(32767); vertex_set varchar2(32767); oldX number; oldY number; newX number; newY number; line_len number := 0; begin for vPartIndex in 1..sde.st_geometry_operators.st_numgeometries_f(shape) loop vertex_set := null; for vPointIndex in 1..sde.st_geometry_operators.st_numpoints_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.ST_GeometryN_f(shape,vPartIndex)) loop newX := sde.st_geometry_operators.st_x_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_pointn_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_geometryn_f(shape,vPartIndex),vPointIndex)); newY := sde.st_geometry_operators.st_y_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_pointn_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_geometryn_f(shape,vPartIndex),vPointIndex)); if vPointIndex <> 1 then line_len := line_len + pythagoras(oldX, oldY, newX, newY); end if; oldX := newX; oldY := newY; vertex_set := vertex_set || newX || ' ' || newY || ' ' || line_len || ', '; end loop; result := result || '(' || rtrim((vertex_set),', ') || '),'; end loop; return 'MULTILINESTRING M (' || rtrim((result),',') || ')'; end; select m_as_length(shape) from polyline So, we can see that the preformatted text is capable of handling pasted indents, in some cases. Idea: Could preformatted text be enhanced so that pasted indents are always preserved? (even when pasting from IDEs like SQL Developer) ... View more

Function calls in PL/SQL are quite verbose. In a plain SQL query, we can do this… sde.st_geometryN_f(shape,1) …but in a custom PL/SQL function, we have to do this: sde.st_geometry_operators.st_geometryN_f(shape,1) Which makes the function calls hard to read when we string multiple functions together: -- startpoint X of a multi-part polyline sde.st_geometry_operators.st_x_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_startpoint_f(sde.st_geometry_operators.st_geometryN_f(shape,1))); More info: Use SDE.ST_GEOMETRY functions in a custom function Could Esri give us a shorter way to make SDE.ST_GEOMETRY function calls in PL/SQL? ... View more

With Oracle Spatial, we have the option of using sites like db<>fiddle and Oracle Live SQL to mock up SQL or data online...and share it...when troubleshooting code in forums (Esri Community, GIS SE, etc.). That works great when using native datatypes like SDO_GEOMETRY. But when it comes to datatypes like SDE.ST_GEOMETRY, we're out of luck. Could Esri provide an online playground that has the ST_GEOMETRY datatype (in Oracle)? Similar to what we have for Arcade, but also shareable.     ... View more

I have a calculation attribute rule that runs without errors, but doesn't work as expected: Attribute rule works in Pro 2.9.2, but not in Pro 2.6.8 I want to debug the code, to see what part of it is failing to update the geometry's vertices. The code doesn't produce any errors, so I can't use error messages to help me. And ArcGIS Pro 2.6.8 doesn't support outputting console messages (unlike Pro 2.9.2 +/-). Does anyone have any tips for debugging Arcade code in that scenario?   ... View more

I have a calculation attribute rule that works in Pro 2.9.2 (in a 2.9.2 FGDB). It updates the M-values of the polyline geometry: function pythagoras(x1, y1, x2, y2) { return sqrt(pow(x2 - x1, 2) + pow(y2 - y1, 2)); } var geom = Dictionary(Text(Geometry($feature))); var paths = geom['paths']; var oldX = paths[0][0][0]; var oldY = paths[0][0][1]; var line_length = 0; for (var path_idx in paths) { for (var point_idx in paths[path_idx]) { var newX = paths[path_idx][point_idx][0]; var newY = paths[path_idx][point_idx][1]; if (point_idx != 0) { line_length += pythagoras(oldX, oldY, newX, newY); } paths[path_idx][point_idx][-1] = line_length; oldX = newX; oldY = newY; } } return Polyline(geom); However, if I create that attribute rule in Pro 2.6.8 (in a separate 2.6.8 FGDB), it doesn't work as expected. It runs without errors, and it even densifies true curves (which tells me that the code is running), but it doesn't update the M-values of the vertices properly (it sets the M-values to Nan). Question: Is there something in that script that is not supported in older versions of ArcGIS Pro? I believe the Dictionary(), Text(), and Geometry() functions are working ok (since the script successfully returns a densified geometry). So I think it must be something else. Unfortunately, I can't upgrade Pro any further right now, since our version of license manager doesn't support later versions of Pro. Thanks!   ... View more