JavaScript viewer or HTML5 viewer

[JoshWhite]

I'm not a developer but I've run into something recently.  I discovered that Adobe no longer supports Flash on mobile and therefore not Flex.  I've been working with the Flex Viewer but I discovered the viewer can not be seen on mobile devices.  So, that leads me to the next step.  I've read forums and blog posts that suggest everything is moving towards HTML5 and I guess JavaScript.  Are there any intentions to create a JavaScript Viewer or an HTML5 viewer similar to Flex and Silverlight?  I've tried out the ArcGIS for Android and while it gets the basic functions still leaves a lot to be desired. Does anyone have any suggestions or places to point to that would allow a fully functional web app on mobile and still be as easy to use as the Flex Viewer?

[JohnGravois]

the short answer is no.  the javascript team isn't working on one "end-all, be all" viewer, but rather suggest that the variety of app templates available on arcgis.com be used as a potential starting point for developers. 

this has been discussed pretty extensively, recently here, so its probably worth checking out existing posts.

[danbecker]

In my experience, the problem with the app builders, or 'viewers' is the limited capability. Don't get me wrong, the dev teams at esri have done a great job with the builders, but 9 out of 10 apps you create using them will leave you, or your client saying "i with i could____" or "can you add a____". This leads the developer to jump head-long in the silverlight or flex API and doing away with the app builder. Once you get the gist of it, it's pretty easy to wire a few JS API samples together to create a 100% customized app that your clients will be extremely happy with. An added bonus is no required flash player or silverlight install...which is problematic when clients do not have admin. privs. on their PC's.

Just my 0.2 cents.

[JoshWhite]

But the point is that I am not a developer and don't have a developer at my disposal.  I use the App Builder to set up the app and then do customizations afterwards.  I still require the compiled code.  If I am asked to do something more advanced I'd have to turn to a third party developer.  The viewers have saved me a lot of money and a lot of heartburn.  I just feel that Esri isn't doing enough for us non-developers that want to be able use mobile devices to share GIS data.

[danbecker]

i'm not a developer either, I just try to be. This day-in-age, when your boss wants to build an app, you step to the plate IMO. The labor pool is too large and employers are squeezing every skill out of workers or else. 2 yrs ago, I hadn't written a single line of code, and now I can say i'm somewhat proficient in PHP, JS, HTML & Python. Its fun, and not that difficult, like i said above, it's all in the samples and API reference. Esri has done a nice job putting the help ref's together, I don't think they should have to code our apps for us.

[KeG]

I agree. but there are some days where you just want to create a simple site and you want it to follow a set pattern.
if you are inexperienced then its tough to come up with a good pattern of your own.
i typically borrow from html5boilerplate.
but it would be nice if esri just threw together a simple site to get folks up and running.
the samples are great - but they all do one thing only

[KevinMacLeod1]

I agree. but there are some days where you just want to create a simple site and you want it to follow a set pattern.
if you are inexperienced then its tough to come up with a good pattern of your own.
i typically borrow from html5boilerplate.
but it would be nice if esri just threw together a simple site to get folks up and running.
the samples are great - but they all do one thing only

I agree with every post here.  There is no substitute for learning the syntax, particularly JavaScript and HTML/CSS.

However, I'd say one of the absolute BEST things ESRI's JavaScript team can do, that will have a huge impact and massively increase Javascript API adoption and take in all exodus of Flex site developers, would be to make a the Sample JavaScript Basic Viewer on the same level as Flex. At the moment the JS Sample Viewer works almost as well, except it relies on ArcGIS.com.

One key thing would be a Sample Viewer template ready to run on our own servers. I am still working on getting Kelly's example working to this end. For example, folks here that work on EOC projects have pointed out we need this capability.

I am just coming up to speed on coding and I may use Jeff Pace's website as a starting point. (See his very helpful posts in the accompanying thread). His website has the rich Flex experience that I'm seeking and could serve as an example to ESRI for what I believe many users are seeking to replicate in JavaScript, with a starting template to guide the way. So far for myself the ESRI JavaScript templates even to do simple things to cobble together are time intensive for a beginner and while a good learning exercise... we want a good "starting point" too, like the Flex builder website.

However the API documentation and JS examples (with comments!!) are excellent, and I will continue studying them. Thank you ESRI and to all posters!

[JoshWhite]

K M, I think I could live with what you are proposing.  It just seems insane to me that in order to do GIS you have to also at least have a grasp on the various programming languages.  I know just enough to get by on several languages but I don't know enough to do anything very interesting.  My very small amount of experience working with javascript has been quite painful and the various samples don't just simply combine.  For instance, when I first started, I found an example of using a basemap and then when I tried to overlay my operational (dynamic) layers nothing happened.  After more research I figured out what I had done incorrectly.  I have seen the example of a web app that looks like Flex but is actually Javascript and this is basically what I'd like to do.

[KevinMacLeod1]

K M, I think I could live with what you are proposing.  It just seems insane to me that in order to do GIS you have to also at least have a grasp on the various programming languages.  I know just enough to get by on several languages but I don't know enough to do anything very interesting.  My very small amount of experience working with javascript has been quite painful and the various samples don't just simply combine.  For instance, when I first started, I found an example of using a basemap and then when I tried to overlay my operational (dynamic) layers nothing happened.  After more research I figured out what I had done incorrectly.  I have seen the example of a web app that looks like Flex but is actually Javascript and this is basically what I'd like to do.

Josh I agree, sometimes the tiny amount of 'glue' for lack of a better word, the small amount of custom code needed to cobble together the Code Samples here, or add small things ("Widgets") to the Templates, appears to require in-depth understanding of HTML, CSS, web design (AJAX, DOM, REST, JSON, etc) as well as JavaScript, Dojo, Dijit, etc. At least it seems this way to me.. so far. However it is often that we are merely trying to add back in things that were already in the Flex samples. Thus a richer and more feature-complete JavaScript Sample Viewer would alleviate this for many users.

Time to learn some new skills! All in all it will be helpful for GIS analysts to learn programming as map delivery continues to become more interactive. Overall I think ESRI is doing a great job at taking maps to the "cloud", but continuing to enhance the Viewer templates will definitely help.