Serving customized data in a customized map viewer without ArcGIS Server

GarethMann · ‎10-03-2011

I just recieved a proposal from a consultant mentioning that it is now possible to upload one's own customized GIS data to ArcGIS Online for the purpose of serving it on a webpage, apparently the limit is 1,000 features. Once you get over 1,000 features you need to have ArcGIS Server. (This is what the consultant wrote in their proposal).

I had not heard of this before so I called ESRI Customer Service, the rep on the phone told me that the limit is not actually 1,000 features, it is 2 GB of data and that serving your own data will "usually" require ArcGIS Server. When I asked her to explain what "usually" means, she said that she was not a developer and suggested I try to find out online, so here I am.

My question is simply this: is it possible for someone who does not have ArcGIS Server to serve their own custom GIS data in a map viewer to users over the web without ArcGIS Server?

For example I was envisioning creating a shapefile under 1,000 features / 2 GB (or whatever the limit is), uploading it to ArcGIS Online, and then using something like the JavaScript API to create a map viewer on a web page with that data embedded within. Is this possible to do without the purchase of ArcGIS Server?

derekswingley1 · ‎10-03-2011

Yes, this is possible. If you're building an app for commercial use then there's still a licensing fee, see: http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/web-mapping/pricing.html

The data limitations you mentioned apply to two different things:
-shapefiles you upload to ArcGIS.com are limited to 1000 features: http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisonline/help/index.html#/Adding_features_from_a_file/010q000000600000...
-each ArcGIS.com account gets 2GB of storage: http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisonline/help/index.html#//010q0000003s000000

I recommend uploading some data and starting to play around with webmaps. Here's how to use an ArcGIS.com webmap in a JS API app: http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/javascript/arcgis/help/jssamples/ags_createwebmapid.html

GarethMann · ‎10-03-2011

Thanks for that detailed response swingley.

When you say there is a charge for "commercial use", does that mean that there is no charge for government use? Local government to be precise.

I have uploaded a test shapefile and I looked at the code you linked to for displaying it in the API. It says that it requires you to specify the unique ID of the file. Where can I find the unique ID of my shapefile that I uploaded to ArcGIS.com?

derekswingley1 · ‎10-03-2011

I'm not in sales so I'm not sure about a fee for a local government. My guess would be that you do have to pay but you should call this number for a definitive answer: 800-447-9778

The ID for createMap() comes from ArcGIS.com. When you create and save a webmap using the ArcGIS.com map viewer, ArcGIS.com creates an ID for your map. You can get the ID from the "My Content" section after clicking on one of your maps(it's in the URL).