Those were the good ol' days

One thing to note is that the ArcView license level is now Basic, while the ArcEditor level is Standard. While this brings ArcGIS (for) Desktop in line with the terminology used to describe current ArcGIS Server licensing (Basic, Standard, Advanced), something about ArcEditor being Standard strikes me odd. Perhaps it’s part of being in academia too long, but it seems like ArcEditor isn’t a big seller for ESRI. To me, those looking for the additional functionality over what is offered with ArcView would opt for ArcInfo, completely bypassing Editor. Also, we have (almost) always had ArcInfo licenses for the computer labs, while the Educational Time-out discs provided to students would have the ArcView level license. This two-level mentality must resonate with more people than just me. A recent change is that the last time I requested discs for ArcGIS 9 at the beginning of 2011, ESRI sent us 9.3 ArcEditor-level educational discs. And the ArcGIS 10 education discs I recently received are ArcInfo level. So is ArcView going to be phased out as the “entry-level” ArcGIS? And is ArcEditor ArcGIS for Desktop Standard going to see a decrease in price?

While I personally will miss the quirkiness of ESRI’s licensing terminology, I can see why it is being done. The progression of Basic, Standard, Advanced is clear while View, Editor, Info is not. Especially with the fact that some people are still using ArcView 3 (uninstall, already!) which is completely distinct from the ArcMap program in ArcGIS (for Desktop) 8.x and later.

What’s still unanswered for me is what happens to some of the other “ArcGIS” products. ArcPad? ArcGIS Explorer? ArcReader? They don’t get fancy new names?

© John Reiser for new jersey geographer, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ArcGIS, ArcGIS Server, ArcPad, ESRI, James Fee, rebranding

© John Reiser for new jersey geographer, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ArcGIS, Development, DevSummit, ESRI, GIS, mobile, Software

It’s been a crazy few weeks, juggling several research projects, two classes and compiling everything needed for my recontracting at Rowan. The last two weeks have been especially tasking; even without the occasional curve ball, I still lacked the hours in the day to get everything done. I need a break, but before that can occur, I need all the boxes checked on my to-do list. Tomorrow and Friday are going to be a blur of activity in attempt to get everything wrapped up by the week’s end.

Next week, I’m fortunate to be heading out to Palm Springs for the ESRI DevSummit. I’m really looking forward to learning more about the latest web mapping technologies. When it comes to server-side GIS, the Windows/.Net-based “ESRI Stack” is still a little foreign to me and it’ll be good to see how I could incorporate some ArcGIS-based technologies into my open source-based map services.

I’m also hoping to meet up with a few GIS folks I’ve followed on Twitter. While individuals at ESRI have been incredibly helpful with specific issues, I’ve found their online documentation to be lacking. There are several ESRI staff and third-party developers whose blog posts about an issue or a technology have clarified things for me and I’d like to let them know that in person.

Also, the DevSummit is the week before Spring Break. I’m not one to cancel class, so I’ve put materials online for my students and will likely Skype back in during class time. The question is, do I video call from my hotel room or do I conduct class poolside under a clear blue sky? Decisions, decisions.

© John Reiser for new jersey geographer, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ArcGIS Server, DevSummit, ESRI, Teaching

Back in 2003, when I was learning GIS using ArcGIS 8, I wanted to put together a map of lottery winners in New Jersey by ZIP code. (I’ve since recreated the map as a set of interactive web maps.) I wrote a quick and dirty script in Perl that hit the State Lottery’s website and downloaded the number of winners in each ZIP code. After I came out of “the zone” and watched the script work away, I thought, “why can’t I do that with ArcGIS?” I wasn’t going to manually type in each ZIP code and insert my findings into a table. Considering it was a “let’s see if I can do it” project, I would have likely lost interest before getting all of my data. I knew better than to go the data-entry route and wrote a script to do it for me. Repetitive, mindless tasks are what computers do best – I was able to have it gather data (tedious, but necessary) to allow me to make the maps (the fun part) in an afternoon. Being able to automate some of the tedious aspects of GIS would be a blessing.

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Read the rest of Repetitive tasks are what computers do best. on my blog.

© John Reiser for new jersey geographer, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AML, ArcGIS, Avenue, ESRI, python, scripting

ArcGIS on the iPhone

ESRI has released ArcGIS for iPhone. It’s now available through the App Store. It’s an iPad/iPhone app, so it should work well on both. I just tried it out on my iPhone, and it’s pretty snappy. The data loads quickly and the interface is clean. There are many layers already available through the app, such as OpenStreetMap.

I like the support for ArcGIS Server, as we will be able to provide our local data to iPhone users. I hope that a later revision will also support WMS, as there are many more free and useful WMS-based services out there than ArcGIS services. Greater support for GPS would be useful. ArcGIS for iPhone can locate you using the embedded GPS, but I don’t believe you can use the GPS to record features. I believe these features will come. James Fee points out that ESRI’s response to the UC FAQ regarding iOS support is positive, claiming that updates will feature editing and geoprocessing. As much as I prefer to edit on a big, widescreen monitor, it would be nice to update my data on the go.

If you have an iPhone or iPad, download it for free from the App Store and check it out.

© John Reiser for new jersey geographer, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App Store, ArcGIS, ESRI, iPhone, OpenStreetMap

The application should be beefed up with additional information on the technology behind it. I assume that if you’re reading this blog, you have an understanding of how the various components come together to give you the map and gallon ranges. The average person, however, doesn’t understand how much more involved this application is compared to something mapped using Google’s My Maps. ESRI needs to capitalize on the fact that they’ve got an attractive – and more importantly, relevant – example of the importance of GIS in daily life.

© John Reiser for new jersey geographer, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ArcGIS Server, BusinessMap, ESRI, Web Mapping

Post your hopes and expectations of 9.3 in the comments below.

© John Reiser for new jersey geographer, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ArcGIS, ESRI, Updates