Sophia Parafina — Open Source Mapping in Windows

February 3, 2012 3 Comments

The real game changer is the release of TileMill for Windows.

She’s right, lots of great new options for Windows users.  As Brian Timoney says:

Those are universal skills no matter if you are on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux.  Cross platform apps gives you the ability to use your skills everywhere, rather than scripting VBA Microsoft Access “databases”.

 

 

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TileMill: Now Available in Windows

January 31, 2012 3 Comments

TileMill has been out for about a year, but Windows users have had to run it on a Virtual Machine. Until now!

We’re excited to bring you TileMill 0.9.0. The latest release of our map design studio adds native Windows support, a new plugin system, and key core improvements. Whether you’ve been meaning to try TileMill or are a longtime user, expect a more powerful, accessible map design experience starting today.

There is a whole lot more than just a Windows release, plugins, tons of performance issues and some slick new UI features. As always, it is available at tilemill.com

TileMill

And even more cool stuff from Development Seed, MapBox for iPad 1.8 is out.

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File Geodatabase API – To support both Windows/Linux and 32/64 bit

April 13, 2011 8 Comments

File Geodatabase API – 4 platform final release set for mid-May

… we’ve received a lot of feedback from everyone wanting 64-bit Linux and we’ve made faster progress than we’d expected on the 64-bit Linux port, so we’ve decided to delay the initial release a few weeks and have a single release that supports all 4 platforms. Bazaam!

Cool, now all I have to do is find a customer that actually wants data delivered in the File Geodatabase format.  Kablooey!

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Esri Releases the File Geodatabase API Beta 2

February 10, 2011 Leave a Comment

So things are moving quickly, well that is if you are on Windows. Those of us who are waiting for a Linux build (Fedora please) watch with anticipation.

Esri, do we need to haggle to get some Linux support?

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The File Geodatabase API is Available

January 20, 2011 14 Comments

So I guess there really is news at the Esri FedUC (was beginning to wonder if it was just more of the same from the last year). Esri has finally released their File Geodatabase API. Without having looked into it yet Esri says you can do the following:

  • Create, Open and Delete file geodatabases[ref]we be talking about little g, not big g – more GeoDesign jokes for no reason[/ref]
  • Read the schema of the geodatabase
    • All content within a geodatabase can be opened for read access
  • Create schema for objects within the simple feature model
    • Tables
    • Point, Line, and Polygon feature classes
    • Feature datasets
    • Domains
    • Subtypes
  • Read the contents of datasets in a geodatabase
    • All dataset content within a geodatabase can be read
  • Insert, Delete and Edit the contents of simple datasets:
    • Tables
    • Point, Line, Polygon, Multipoint, and Multipatch feature classes
  • Perform attribute and (limited) spatial queries on datasets
    • Spatial queries will be limited to the envelope-intersects operator

A couple points here. First off there is no raster support. Second you are totally on your own here. You have total control over screwing up your geodatabases here. Some may want to continue using ArcObjects as it gives you some framework to work within. Lastly this is a C++ API, while I don’t see the need for .NET or Java “versions” feel free to continue complaining about Esri ignoring you below.

I still can’t believe they finally released this thing.

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Depreciation plans for ArcGIS 9.3.1 with a little what’s coming in 9.4

September 14, 2009 27 Comments

ESRI has an updated FAQ which outlines depreciation plans for the 9.3.1 release and what is coming at 9.4.  Some key highlights:

ArcGIS Desktop 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 contains the last release of the Crystal Report Wizard in ArcGIS Desktop; we will no longer provide this technology in ArcGIS 9.4.  Much more here (http://www.spatiallyadjusted.com/2009/07/15/esri-arcgis-9-4-reports-updates/).
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting Microsoft Visual Basic 6 (VB6).  All I can say is move on guys…
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system for all ArcGIS products. Please anyone tell me they are still running Win2k.  I’d love to know.
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release to support Internet Explorer 6 (IE6); we will no longer support this browser with the release after ArcGIS 9.3.1.  w00t!
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release supporting Sun Solaris 9 for ArcReader and ArcGIS Engine.  We are all running Solaris 10, right?

ArcGIS Workstation 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3 was the last release of ArcInfo Workstation on AIX; we will no longer support this platform at ArcGIS 9.4. We are dropping this platform as we no longer see demand for it.  *side note: I don’t miss AIX at all!

ArcIMS 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release of the ArcMap Server Extension to ArcIMS; we will no longer provide it in ArcGIS 9.4 release.  So if you want to roll MXDs, you have to use ArcGIS Server 9.4.
  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release of ArcIMS on HP-UX; we no longer support it in ArcGIS 9.4. HP-UX is not a popular platform for ArcIMS and will be retired due to limited demand.  So you HP-UX users have no one to blame but yourselves for letting the rest of us abandon the platform.  But don’t feel too bad because ESRI will continue to support ArcSDE technology on HP-UX on the Itanium processor.

ArcGIS Server 9.3.1

  • ArcGIS 9.3.1 was the last release of ArcSDE for Oracle 9i. We no longer support it in ArcGIS 9.4 due to this platform no longer being actively supported by Oracle.  Sounds like fighting words to me…
  • Solaris 9 is dropped, but you can still roll ArcSDE on it.
  • See IE 6 note above.

The Tragic Prelude beyond ArcGIS 9.4

ArcGIS Desktop 9.4

  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA); we will no longer support VBA beyond the ArcGIS 9.4 release. Microsoft no longer promotes or updates VBA.   So unless you want to be like your VB6 friends, time to move on.
  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of Solaris support for ArcReader and ArcGIS Engine; we will no longer support the Solaris platform for this functionality beyond ArcGIS 9.4 due to limited demand for this platform.  So if you migrated from Solaris 9 to run 9.4, know that it was all a wasted effort because 9.4 drops Solaris support for ArcReader and ArcGIS Engine.

ArcGIS Workstation 9.4

  • At ArcGIS 9.4, ArcInfo Workstation will be decoupled from ArcGIS Desktop 9.4, so users will be able to upgrade to newer versions of ArcGIS Desktop without impacting ArcInfo Workstation.  See any writing on that wall?
  • At ArcGIS 9.4 ArcInfo Workstation will be supported on Windows 7 (this will be the last expected Windows platform upgrade). I see the end don’t you?
  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of ArcInfo Workstation on Solaris; we will no longer support this platform after ArcGIS 9.4.  So the abandonment of Solaris by ESRI users is just about complete.
  • The next major release after ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last planned release for ArcInfo Workstation on Windows, which will be the last supported platforms. Users will continue to be able to use their existing versions, but we will not release newer versions.  Ah there it is, the end of ArcInfo Workstation is here.

ArcIMS 9.4

  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last release of ArcIMS on Solaris; we will no longer support it after ArcGIS 9.4.
  • The next major release after ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last planned release for ArcIMS on Windows and Linux, which are the last supported platforms.  So there you go, more writing on the wall.  ArcIMS is near the end.  Time to move on folks.

ArcGIS Server 9.4

  • ArcGIS 9.4 will be the last ArcGIS Server release with support for Solaris (with the exception of the ArcSDE technology component); we will not support this platform after ArcGIS 9.4 due to limited demand for the Solaris server platform. We will continue to support the ArcSDE component of ArcGIS Server on the Solaris platform beyond the ArcGIS 9.4 release. So essentially after 9.4, only ArcSDE will be supported on Solaris.

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