Author: James

Is it just me or is the Plenary Session at the 2005 UC a little lite on the future road map of ArcGIS and ESRI? Sure we have Jack’s GIS vision leading off as usual, but then there is only 90 minutes after where Jack and the ESRI staff will be demoing ArcGIS and other ESRI products. Seems like only a couple years ago where they’d spend much more time showing the road map and those cool unrealistic products (anyone remember the wearable computer from a couple years ago). Now we have Jack’s vision and then a couple product demos. Maybe this stuff used to impress me more, but I used to get excited to see these Plenary sessions, maybe this one will be as good as some of the older one’s, but I’m just not feeling it this year. With 9.2 arriving this fall, I guess I was expecting more from ESRI as far as promoting. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Well that might be a big title for this post, but I was talking with some folks over the weekend about software you’ve used or software that has really influenced your life. I think many people say Google Earth has changed how they view data, but for me it really wasn’t that impressive since Google Earth is more of a validation of what we’ve done over the years than a life changer. So they pushed, what has changed your life if Google Earth isn’t it. I needed to think about it somewhat so you can consider this my reply to that question (in order of importance).

1. Apple HyperCard – I really wasn’t into programming when I was younger. I spent most of my time away from computers and out playing sports. That is until I found HyperCard. OK, HyperCard is more scripting than pure programming, but it got me interested. From there I moved into Pascal and down the line into VB/C++ and .NET. Actually if you think about HyperCard, it is sort of like how the world wide web became. Hyperlinks take you to new cards, scripts run in the background. Way before its time.
2. ArcInfo – Wow, you’d think it would be #1, but without HyperCard, I’m not sure I’d be where I am today. That said, I still remember the day I first saw someone create a map in ArcInfo and how quickly they were able to make changes vs my “traditional” methods. I love it all, from ArcEdit (no so much ArcPlot) to GRID and TIN. I’m sure I’d be a city planner right now (not that there is anything wrong with that) and not a GIS developer if I had not seen ArcInfo.
3. BBEdit – I graduated college really before web development took off (I was more of a Gopher/Veronica user), but once it did I quickly discovered BBEdit. I’m still a registered user even though I currently don’t have a Mac in my position. When that 17” MacBook Pro shows up, BBEdit will be the first program loaded up. We all have our favorite text editors and this is mine
4. Aldus/Macromedia Freehand – Before ArcInfo, I used to use Freehand for my cartography. I never was very into pen and paper cartography and I was much better as smudging my work than making it look good. With Freehand I could scan in maps and digitize, work to scale and pretty much everything I do these days with ArcMap (well of course there was no database on the back end). I stopped using Freehand around 1998 when the company I was working for forced us to start using Illustrator. I still use Adobe Illustrator to this day, but it was Freehand that got me thinking about digital mapping.
5. ArcView 3.x – I’m not sure GIS would have the penetration it has today if ArcView 3.x didn’t come along with Avenue. ArcView was installed anywhere and everywhere. It was used as an Internet Map Server, replacement for ArcInfo and just about everything in between. A good Avenue programmer could make ArcView 3.x do things that used to take programmers that cost 10 times as much to accomplish. Of course you have to wonder given its large install base, how many copies were actually purchased. Missed revenue perhaps? Maybe not considering how locked into ESRI software many companies and organizations are these days. Might not have happened without ArcView 3.x. Our company spent many years developing customized ArcView projects and extensions. It was a very good business to be in back then.

What about other important software? Well programs like WordStar, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase and others did affect me, but I’m not sure they were as “life changing” as the ones listed above. I’m sure I’m missing one or two that are just as important as those I’ve listed (I did spend a year of my life playing MacBolo in college).

A couple of you have emailed me asking how the heck to they figure out if they have Service Pack 2 installed. Most people seem to make a quick check of the program “About Box” to see what version they have:

Well anyone who has ever taken a look knows that ESRI software doesn’t report the service pack (though ArcView sort of reports that it has the 3.2a “update” installed). ESRI is nice enough to have a “Service Pack Finder” tool available on their support site that identifies what version you have installed and if there is an update.

Now as to why they do it this way, I’m not really sure. I suppose it is for customer support, but you’d think they could put the Service Pack number next to the build number.

I was taking a look at the list of sponsors and exhibitors at the UC and it appears that Oracle once again won’t be at the UC. Our clients are totally committed to Oracle and it isn’t like we aren’t doing well with it, but it kinda makes you wonder about the state of relations between ESRI and Oracle.

I’ve been checking up on the agenda for the ESRI User Conference 2006 (online, can’t find a PDF to print out) and I’ve been trying to figure out what I should go to. Since I went to all those “What’s new in ArcGIS 9.2” last year I won’t bother with them this year, so I’m going to focus on probably ArcIMS (our bread and butter) as well as some ArcWeb stuff. I was surprised to see that there isn’t any session called “Creating Mashups with ArcWeb Explorer”. You’d think ESRI would want to capitalize on this mashup phenomena with a session tied to creating quick mashups using Public ArcWeb Services. The sessions for ArcWeb have scary names such as “ArcWeb Services: Managing Medical Surge Capacity ‘ Integrating Web Services to Support Real-Time Decision Making for Patient Transport During Casualty Incidents”. The Dev Summit is where you can get nutty with development stuff, but the ESRI UC isn’t aimed at developers. Its not too late to add a “Mashup Camp” island to the floor where you can suck people up and teach them how they create mashups.

Is there anything else you think ESRI is missing on their agenda?

The date says it has been out a couple days, but I guess I missed all those annoucements (would be a great item to have an rss feed for) but it looks like ESRI has released ArcGIS 9.1 Service Pack 2 (includes ArcGIS Server SP2), ArcIMS 9.1 Service Pack 2 and ArcSDE 9.1 Service Pack 2. The list of fixes is also available on those pages so take a look and see if your favorite issue (cough bug) was fixed.

People seem to have really hit on this GIS for the masses and wondering why there is no real ESRI solution below ArcView. We all know there isn’t, but ESRI has given developers the tools to create one. Frankly I’m am amazed that no one has taken ArcGIS Engine and created their own “ArcView Lite”. Using the runtime you can pretty much do what probably 90% of people usually do with an ArcView license (you know, the masses).

Heck .NET or Java (I say Java, but I don’t know much about how good Java support is for Engine) take your pick.

Being nostalgic seems to be in vogue this week so I’ll continue with subject. Back in the old days of ArcInfo (you know like way back in the early 90s 😉 ) ESRI used to have a wonder set of printed manuals. These were in nice binders if I recall and were such a great reference (binders lay flat so you don’t have to fight them like the latest ArcGIS documentation). Well in time they have been replaced by PDF and online help, but I can’t help but begin to wonder if the days of even PDF documentation are over. We use the ArcXML reference so much, we paid to have it printed and bound.

I’d love to do the same with ArcDesktop help, but I’ve never found a PDF of the whole help to print. I’m guessing there isn’t one and the web help is supposed to be the primary method of getting documentation. I’m left wondering if we’ll be able to print out the AXL reference at 9.2 (I’m guessing not) which is too bad. I’d have no problem paying for printed documentation from ESRI for ArcGIS Desktop and extensions as well as their server products. I don’t expect ESRI to all of a sudden start making documentation, but there has to be a way they can hook up with a printing service where we could order such documentation. Maybe I’m the only one here who thinks like this anymore, but web-based or HTML help isn’t my cup of tea.

ESRI Salesman circa 1957

Yep, without ArcIMS 9.2 beta 2, I just can’t seem install it just yet. So it sits and awaits its brother to arrive sometime this month I guess.