What’s New in ArcGIS Server 9.3.1

I just returned from the ESRI Petroleum User’s Group (PUG) conference in Texas. The buzz this year was a little lower than those of an anticipated major release. The featured release during this gathering was 9.3.1. As I mentioned in a previous post, nary a word was mentioned regarding Desktop, it was all about “Web GIS.” Given my professional interest in this platform, this was ok with me. While many of the demos highlighted the various development platforms including the JS and FLEX API’s, a few included new features in 9.3.1. Probably the most anticipated, at least for AGS users, is increased performance for dynamic map serving. As far as I could tell, implementation of this new feature is actually done via a tool designed to help optimize the map document. The demo illustrating this improvement included a side-by-side comparison of the same dynamically generated map service, one that had been “optimized” using the new optimization tool and one that hadn’t. Each map display included a timer depicting load times. Anecdotally, map services which had been “optimized” using the new tool loaded about 3 times as fast. The optimization tool, utilized in ArcMap during the demo, looked at characteristics of the map document including whether the projection of the data frame matched that of the data, whether any data links were missing, scale dependent rendering, symbol level drawing and a couple of others that I missed. The workflow for tool use included an iterative process of optimization and map service preview. The demo was good and even generated a fair amount of applause. However, if faster dynamic map generation centers on checking the characteristics I listed above, don’t hold your breath. It seems to me that most folks are already looking at these sorts of things.

Other features mentioned but not demoed in the 9.3.1 release included the ability to publish to AGS directly from ArcMap and integration of Virtual Earth base data (not Google) directly into the ESRI platform including ArcMap. There was also some discussion about the new sharing framework via ArcGIS Online. While some may say “not another one” this one features content sharing and discovery definitely designed for a GIS pro and not so much for general consumers. Other notable discussions included AGX build 900 and the notion of what ESRI is calling a layer package (not sure if this is 9.3.1 or 9.4). The layer package is simply of was of packages data and cartography for sharing purposes.

2009 ESRI Petroleum User Group (PUG) Conference

Today is day two of the 2009 Petroleum User's Group conference. Yesterday featured the standard PUG fair including the usual ESRI plenary "dog and pony" show followed by some really good user presentations. Lead by Clint Brown, the tone of the plenary talks centered on "Web GIS." Highlights included ArcGIS 9.3.1 discussion, demos of the JS and FLEX APIs as well as some discussion about yet another sharing framework being designed via ArcGIS Online. To the dismay of a typically traditional GIS audience, it is clear that the focus of ESRI's R & D/future direction is "Web GIS." I'm not even sure if Desktop was even mentioned. The term "consumable" in the context of data and services was mentioned at least a dozen times with emphasis is user experience oriented towards the Google and VE patterns.

JS vs Flex ArcGIS Server Sample Viewers

In recent weeks, ESRI has released 2 versions of a sample viewer application based on both their latest development platforms, the JS platform (released January 2009) and the Flex platform (released November 2008, updated February 2009). They both look and function similarly out of the box. Each features a icon oriented navigation bar based on various functional classes including maps, navigation, tools and resources. They both use REST based ArcGIS Server services both dynamically generated and cached very easily (although I was able to add ArcIMS Service Support to the Flex version without much hassle). Each features some pretty nice design patterns which allow developers to worry less about core functionality. Custom functions are implemented as "widgets" which function independently of the software core.

After tinkering with the Flex application for a few weeks and having a look at the JS version, I have a few impressions to share. First, they both use design patterns (Container Event Bus and Dependence Injection) that help decouple core functionality from custom functionality and really make it easy to extend. The flex viewer, based on Adobe's Opensource Flex 3.2 platform is very sexy and alleviates many cross-browser compatibility issues because of its required Flash plugin. Recently released as an opensource project, Flex offers a rich user experience with flashy graphical displays and fluid GUI performance. However, it requires an specific IDE based on the Eclipse IDE called Flex Builder which is rather pricey (ranging from $200.00 - $700.00). I have had the fortune of getting the IDE and have begun some "widget building" myself and have found it to be quite easy. I was able to construct a simple Map Navigation Widget in just a few days without any prior Flex development experience.While I haven't tinkered as much with the JS version, my initial impression is that it is also very slick and does not require a plugin. However, it's sex appeal is lacking a bit compared to the Flex version and it sounds as if (based on comments from the sample download blog) that it has some issues in IE 7.

Basic Networking

The following slides are part 2/unit 1 of the Introduction To Geospatial Web Technologies course I teach @ University of Colorado @ Denver, Master's of Engineering in GIS Program.

History of Internet Mapping

The following slides are part one of unit 1 of the Introduction To Geospatial Web Technologies course I teach @ University of Colorado @ Denver, Master's of Engineering in GIS Program.

Masters Degree in GIS -- MEng-GIS

As adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado @ Denver, I would like to give a plug for our Master's of Engineering in GIS program. This program is one of a kind and provides extensive flexibility for working professionals and those seeking distance learning. All courses are offered inclass and online! I have been a part-time instructor for several years now and have taught Introduction to GIS as well Introduction to Geospatial Web Technologies. My current focus is the later. Have a look at the course overview/syllabus. In the coming weeks, I will be sharing selected portions of the course curriculum and would entertain any feedback. You can use anything that you wish as long as you cite these materials appropriately.

Hey GIS Pros: Neogeography Isn't All That Bad.

That's right all of you oldschoolers out there. Neogeography isn't all that bad, in fact, it is actually really amazing. And for the uninitiated GIS luddites out there still banging away at there ArcInfo command line who are wondering what I mean by neogeography, you had better figure it out quickly.

It has taken me some time to admit this. I am an old school GIS pro myself. I too, remember the days of plotting maps using 1000's of lines of scripting code (AML), entering endless commands into a black consol screen, yielding mesmerizing screens of lines, nodes or vertices and transforming data coordinate systems -- manually (sorry neogeos, this only makes sense to us old folk)! People honestly thought us GIS folks were magicians, and we thought it too.

Then, it was finally possible to actually publish these complex, sophisticated, and elegant geographic products (maps, datasets, etc) on to the web while providing some kind of interactive capabilities as well. Sure it was slow and clunky but still pretty amazing. During this period, my career objective was to master this emerging technology. However, this meant a skill-set upgrade, even after graduating just a few years earlier. So off I went, emersing myself in web technology training and after a couple of years, I became pretty good at it. This was the start of my long lasting love/hate relationship with that ever popular Internet Mapping Server we all know and love . Providing GIS functionality online, now thats the Holy Grail. Wrong!

People don't care about GIS. Sure there is a niche for those of us who understand projections, geoprocessing functions, linear referencing, geometric networks, etc... but most don't. And now that the whole world is leveraging the geo portion of information and the web, we too must come to acknowledge this. And through this acknowledgment, an important epiphany, a least for me was not to discredit neogeos and their tools of choice but to embrace them. Think about it, what an advantage we old school GIS folks have if we only step back and realize that things are changing and it's not a bad thing. Don't think of it as a threat but an evolution of GIS into GIS 2.0 if there is such a thing. We can have the best of both worlds.