Using Arcgis Explorer
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Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web Activity: Using ArcGIS Explorer Requirements You must have ArcGIS Explorer for this activity. Preparation: Download ArcGIS Explorer. The link below will bring you to the ESRI ArcGIS Explorer download page. Click on the Download ArcGIS Explorer icon. Save the file to your computer. Double-click on ArcGISExplorerDownload.exe. If you get a message asking about the security of the .exe file, select OK (it's coming from a reliable source). Run the file. A setup window will open. Accept all defaults (click Next) and the License Agreement. After the program has been installed, click Finish to close the setup window. http://resources.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/index.cfm?fa=download Activity 1. Open ArcExplorer In Windows, go to the Start Menu > Programs > ArcGIS > ArcGIS Explorer. If a File Association window opens, select NO. 2. Add a Map Service Click the File dropdown menu and select Open. An Open Content window will appear. There are a number of different data sources that can be added to ArcGIS Internet Map Services: ArcIMS; ArcGIS Server, Explorer. WMS, GeoRss Feed In this module, you will add an ArcIMS service (the CT Community Resource GIS data sources: ESRI Inventory), a shapefile, and a KML. geodatabase files, shapefiles, rasters KML/KMZ 1 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web Click on Servers on the left side of the Open Content window. Along the top of the window, you will see several different server applications listed. Click on ArcIMS. Server Applications An Add New Server Connection window will open. Type in http://clear.uconn.edu in the box next to Server: and click OK at the bottom of the window. A list of all of the ArcIMS services being hosted by CLEAR will be listed in the Open Content window. Double-click on the service titled cri. 2 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web A window titled Open Content: cri will open. This is a wizard-like interface that will allow you to establish properties associated with how the service functions within ArcGIS Explorer. On the first page, Raster Resolution, accept the default 1.00 meter minimum raster cell size. Check the box next to “Automatically zoom to the visible extent of the added data” at the bottom of the screen and click Next >. The next screen in the wizard lists all of the datasets within the CRI service. To improve the performance of the service, we’re only going to select a few layers to add to our map. Click the checkbox next to cri. This will uncheck all of the layers below it (you could also uncheck each layer one at a time). Click in the boxes next to Named Lakes, Major Roads, and Airports. All other layers will remain unchecked. Click the Next> button at the bottom of the window. On the next page of the wizard, click the radio button next to Vector, scanned, or thematic mapping. This option best describes the type of data we’re going to add to the application. Click Next >. On the last page of the wizard, accept the default disk cache option, “Save layer’s disk cache when saving map file”. Click Finish. 3 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web ArcGIS Explorer will add the map service and zoom to the geographic extent of the data. Use the geographic controls to zoom in and out, pan around, etc. The controls are very similar to the navigation tools in Google Earth. See the help section for more details about map navigation. ArcGIS Explorer also offers additional layers for Boundaries and Places and Transportation. You will see these listed in the Contents window below the cri. Try turning these layers on and off. Other tools available include tasks such as Find Place or Address, Get Driving Directions, Create Notes, and Measure features. Spend a few minutes exploring these tools. If you get lost, or are confused about the controls, refer to the Tips and Tricks section at the end of this exercise for more specific directions. 4 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web 3. Load Your Own Data in ArcGIS Explorer You can also add your own GIS layers into ArcExplorer. Go back to Open Content window by clicking File > Open from the Main Menu. Click on Shapefiles on the left side of the window. Browse to your C:\Data\ directory on your computer and select towns_index.shp. Click Open. The Open Content wizard will open again. Accept the defaults in the first three windows by clicking Next >. In the last window of the wizard, Select Symbol, click on the Black Outline option, check the box next to “Automatically zoom to the visible extent of the added data” and click Finish. The data layer will be added to your ArcGIS Explorer interface. Take a minute or two to explore the dataset. 4. Add a KML to ArcGIS Explorer Under the Contents window, uncheck the box next to towns_index and cri to turn the layers off in your map. Return to the Open Content window by clicking File > Open from the Main Menu. 5 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web Click on KML on the left side of the window. Browse to the C:\Data directory on your computer and select NEMO_University.kml. Click Open. The KML will be added to ArcGIS Explorer and your map will fly to the geographic extent described in the KML. Click on the KML NEMO_University under Contents. Expand the contents of NEMO_University by clicking on the + symbol to the left of it. This will show all of the placemarks contained in the KML along with the description of each. Double-click on one of them to fly to the placemark. Right-click on the placemark in the window and select Show Popup Window. This will display the description within a window in the display area. Spend a few minutes exploring the data. 6 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web 5. Explore and Learn! There are many other functions in ArcGIS Explorer. Poke around the application to familiarize yourself with some of the tools available in ArcGIS Explorer. Also check out the Help documentation available from the Help dropdown menu. ESRI has put together a pretty comprehensive online help document that is useful for answering any lingering questions as well as discovering hidden functions that may enhance your map! 7 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web Tips and Tricks – Content Supplied from ArcGIS Explorer Online Help Using the Navigation Control At the bottom left of the display by default, the Navigator provides various ways to move around the map and control your viewing position; in addition, it indicates the orientation of the map and the degree to which it has been tilted. The Navigator has two modes. It first appears on the display in its Indicator mode. Indicator mode displays the orientation of the map, it's a dynamic graphic that shows you which direction represents North and the degree to which the map has been tilted. Note that the control is transparent and so the No tilt Tilt indicated background you see on your map may be different. You can't interact with the Navigator when it is in Indicator mode; however when you move the mouse over its north arrow the control changes to display its Navigation mode; using the mouse you can interact with the Navigator in this mode to move around the map, change its orientation, and reset various aspects of the map to their original settings. Tooltips appear over each of the elements of the control when you are in this mode. You can disable the tooltips in the Options dialog box. To the left are the elements that make up the Navigator when in Navigation mode and the actions you can perform using them. Map Contents The Contents window provides you with a way to see what's on the map, including both data from a server and any local data you've added to the map with the Open Content dialog box. You can use it to turn layers on and off and change the visual characteristics of layers. You can add data to the map from several sources, including ArcGIS servers, ArcIMS servers, WMS servers, and KML. As you add this content it appears at the top of the Contents list and reflects the order in which layers are drawn, the bottommost layer draws first. You can use the Manage Layers dialog box to rearrange the drawing order of the map. 8 Putting Maps, Images and Data on the Web The Contents window lists all the layers of the map. Layers are grouped by whether they are within the current scale range (In Range) or outside the current extent (Out of View), in which case they are not visible. This information is dynamic, so as you move the pointer in or around the map, the Contents page will change to show you what you are looking at. If you want to hide a layer, simply uncheck it. To show a layer, click the empty check box next to the layer name. Here are the icons that appear next to the layers you'll see in the Contents window. They represent the current status of the layer: Layer that’s visible Layer that’s marked to not be visible Layer that’s marked as visible but is not in the current view Layer that’s marked as visible only at certain altitudes Broken layer whose data cannot be located and is not displayed The graphic directly below illustrates a typical scenario.