ArcGIS Server 10 Migration and WFS Services

December 20, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy Monn

As readers of Ashley Buzzeo’s latest blog post already know, Towson University’s Center for GIS (CGIS) has migrated its hosted ArcGIS Servers from ArcGIS Server 9.3 to ArcGIS Server 10.  As the migration took place all GIS services were reviewed to make sure they were functioning properly.  While most services were converted without issue a handful would not start post-migration.  After several hours of troubleshooting, the problem was identified as being related to a unique subset of WFS-enabled map services.

What was interesting about this problem was that several WFS-enabled map services worked properly after the migration while a few did not.  Knowing this, I knew that the problem’s solution existed in understanding how the functioning and malfunctioning WFS-enabled map services differed.   By comparing the information contained in the REST endpoints for a functioning and malfunctioning WFS-enabled map service I noticed one difference: the functioning WFS-enabled map service had unique field aliases while the malfunctioning WFS-enabled map service had two fields that had the same alias.  Making the malfunctioning map service’s field aliases unique solved the problem as I was able to start the service and confirm it worked properly.   All the other malfunctioning WFS-enabled map services were also explained by duplicate field aliases.

While this blog touched on only one issue related to ArcGIS Server 10 migration, there are many other issues that one may experience.  Visit ESRI’s Migration to ArcGIS Server 10 page as a starting point for answers to other migration-related questions you may have.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

What is the Center for GIS Doing for GIS Day 2011?

November 14, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy Monn

The Center for GIS (CGIS) will be taking part in GIS Day this Wednesday, November 16, 2011.  CGIS employees, along with Community College of Baltimore County students, will travel to Lutherville Laboratory Elementary School this year for GIS Day.  The event, organized by Eric Cromwell (Coordinator of Elementary Science for Baltimore County Public Schools), will involve approximately 120 fourth grade students.  The students will be divided into groups and each group will complete a Global Positioning System (GPS) quiz consisting of multiple choice questions that have numerical answers (e.g. Abraham Lincoln was the [fill in the blank] President of the United States.).  All of the possible answers will correspond to marked locations on a field at the school.  Once the groups have completed the quiz, each will be provided with a Garmin e-Trex GPS unit and asked to walk to the locations marked with their answers while the GPS unit tracks their route.  Each group will then map the routes using Google Earth and if the group answered the questions correctly their route will appear as a star.

In addition to the event at the Elementary School, CGIS staff will also attend two events. For the past several years, CGIS has attended the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) GIS Day event located at the SHA building in Baltimore.  At this event, CGIS staff will manage a booth and provide information on current projects and initiatives that CGIS is involved in.  If you will be attending SHA’s GIS Day event stop by CGIS’ booth and see what we are up to! Also, CGIS will attend Central Pennsylvania’s GIS Day celebration that will feature an exhibit hall, geo-challenge, genius bar, workshop, demonstrations and plenty of networking.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

Lessons Learned III: Creating a KML-Enabled ArcGIS Server Map Service

September 6, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy Monn

Apparently my favorite topic to blog about is creating a KML-enabled ArcGIS Server (AGS) map service, because I find myself writing about the same topic even though I have written about this topic in two previous blog posts.  The impetus for writing about this topic a third (and hopefully final) time is that I found myself troubleshooting a KML-related issue that I am sure other GIS practitioners have or will come across.   Provided below is a description of each issue and its solution.

ISSUE ONE

When panning to a new location in Google Earth, the data that the KML-enabled AGS map service references disappears.

Explanation

The problem here likely stems from how the KML file was configured when it was created from an AGS map service.   There are specific configuration settings that deal with when or how a refresh of the KML file occurs.  In this case, one should configure the KML file so that it refreshes once the user stops panning.

Solution

Open the KML file with a text editor and search for the <viewRefreshMode> tag.  Make sure the value inside this tag is set to “onStop”.  Additionally, if any <refreshMode> and <refreshInterval> tags exist remove them if you want the refresh to be solely triggered by a user panning.

ISSUE TWO

The KML-enabled AGS map service used returns a URL when a feature is identified in Google Earth, but the URL does not work.

Explanation

An obvious reason why this might occur is because the URL provided in the dataset’s attribute  table was entered incorrectly.  Another less obvious reason is that special characters in the URL are being replaced by other characters.  For example, the “&” character may be replaced by the “&amp” string.

Solution

Obviously if the data was entered incorrectly in the source data’s attribute table then one has to correct the mistake.  However, when one has an issue where the “&” character is being replaced    by the “&amp” string then one should find out what MXD is being used for the AGS service,      save it as a MSD file, and re-point the AGS service to the newly created MSD file.  Once the AGS service is refreshed, the URLs should be correct in the service’s KML file.

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Starting and Stopping AGS Services Using a Python Script

July 7, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy Monn

Updating datasets used by an ArcGIS Server (AGS) service can be tedious and time consuming. The major reason for this is that a dataset stored in a file geodatabase or SDE that is used by an AGS service is locked.  This means that it you want to replace the dataset with an updated dataset you first have to stop any AGS service using the dataset.  The time consumed increases if multiple AGS services use the same dataset or if there are several copies of a single AGS service using the dataset.  The tediousness of the task is apparent when one must navigate throughout ArcCatalog to 1) rename and import the updated dataset into the appropriate file geodatabase or SDE instance and 2) to start and stop the AGS service(s) using the dataset.  This blog entry focuses on a Python script I wrote that addresses the later by reducing the need to navigate throughout ArcCatalog to start, stop, and restart services that need updated.

My search for a solution began by perusing the ESRI ArcScripts page for a script that starts and stops services on an AGS server.  Luckily I came across the AGSSOM script, which not only allows one to start and stop services on one or more AGS instances, but it also allows one to restart and publish services.  If one wants to run the executable from Windows command line, the README documentation provides clear instructions.  However, my goal was to call the AGSSOM.exe from a model I built using Model Builder.  In order to do this, I wrote a Python script that stops, starts, or restarts a user-specified service on two AGS instances and incorporated the script into a model that the user runs from ArcToolbox.  The script is provided below with descriptive comments italicized.

# Import system modules

import sys, string, os, arcgisscripting, re

# Create the Geoprocessor object. 

gp = arcgisscripting.create()

# User of Geoprocessing Tool specifies the name of the service being updated (ServiceName) and whether the service is to be started, stopped, or restarted (OperationGUI)

ServiceName = gp.GetParameterAsText(0)

OperationGUI = gp.GetParameterAsText(1)

#The user’s choice for starting, stopping, or restarting the service is translated to the appropriate string used as an argument to run the AGSSOM.exe 

if OperationGUI == ‘Start’:

Operation = ‘-s ‘

if OperationGUI == ‘Stop’:

Operation = ‘-x ‘

if OperationGUI == ‘Restart’:

Operation = ‘-r ‘

# Execute the AGSSOM.exe in order to start, stop, or restart the user-specified service on two AGS instances (StagingAGS and PreReleaseAGS)

os.system(r”D:\AGS\AGSSOM.exe StagingAGS ” +Operation+MDiMapServiceName)

os.system(r”D: \AGS\AGSSOM.exe PreReleaseAGS ” +Operation+MDiMapServiceName)

It is important to note that the script above will only work properly if the user has administrative rights to the specified AGS instance(s).  Additionally, one must note that only the AGS instance names (StagingAGS and PreReleaseAGS) are specified above.  This means that the script will only work properly if the AGSSOM.exe is stored on a computer than is on the same network as the AGS instances.  Therefore, the script above must be tailored to the specific environment in which it is used.

Excluded from this blog post is a description of a second model I created that simplifies the renaming and importation of newly updated datasets used by an AGS service.  This model, employed with the model that utilizes the Python script described above, significantly reduces the time and tediousness of updating datasets used by an AGS service.  A description of the second model will be provided in a future blog post.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

Lessons Learned II: Creating a KML-Enabled and WFS-Enabled ArcGIS Server Map Service

May 26, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy Monn

A couple weeks ago I found myself trying to remember how to create a KML-enabled ArcGIS map service through ArcGIS Server Manager.  Luckily for me I wrote a blog on this topic about a year and a half ago.  Reading the blog helped me with the task at hand, but I felt an update would be valuable. Therefore, this month’s blog post focuses on returning attribute data from KML-enabled ArcGIS map services as well as things to watch out for when WFS-enabling ArcGIS map services.

Why doesn’t my KML-enabled map service display tabular data???
In my previous post, I described the steps involved in creating the map service’s KMZ file on an ArcGIS server.  However, I didn’t relay how one goes about ensuring that the tabular data tied to the features in that service will be returned when a user clicks on the feature in Google Earth.  In order to do this, one must enable the feature layer’s HTML Popup tool within the map service’s MXD.  For detailed instructions on how to complete this task, refer to the “How to set HTML properties for feature layers” section.

I can’t WFS-enable my ArcGIS Server map service, why???
If one is interested in providing users of their dynamic ArcGIS Server map service with the ability to use the data within the service in geospatial analysis scenarios, then one solution is to WFS enable the service.  Just like KML enabling, the process of actually WFS enabling the ArcGIS map service is quite simple.  However, there are two very important things to keep in mind when WFS enabling an ArcGIS map service.

1) If one’s ArcGIS map service is published using a MSD, as opposed to a MXD, then the map      service cannot be WFS enabled.  The solution is publishing the service from the service’s MXD.

2) If one’s ArcGIS map service consists of at least two layers that reference the same feature class then the map service cannot be WFS enabled.  A solution is to create a copy of the feature class and reference one of the layers to the copy.  NOTE: This solution can be painful from a  data management perspective, especially if one is working with large datasets that are   frequently updated.

Hopefully now that I have written these tasks in a blog I will not forget them.  However, it is nice to know that if I do I can always refer back to my blog for guidance.  I guess blogging can sometimes be viewed as a unique type of documentation.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

Questions and Concerns: How do I get my ESRI Certification?

March 30, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy

A discussion at MSGIC’s recent quarterly meeting held at UMBC provided me with this month’s blog material.  While presenting what was new in ArcGIS 10, ESRI representatives wrapped up their presentation by touching on ESRI’s new certification program.  This set off a slew of questions and comments by attendees, some of which I’ll touch on below.

ESRI certification – What is it?
If you are ESRI certified, this basically means that you know a given set of ESRI software products extremely well.  There are several types of certification, each tailored to a person’s experience with a set of ESRI software products.  For example, there is a certification targeted specifically for individuals experienced in developing ArcGIS web applications (ESRI Certified Web Application Developer Associate).  In the future, every certification will have an associate and professional level, with the professional level certification signifying more experience and a broader knowledge of what the software can do.  Currently, only the ArcGIS Desktop certification has both the associate and professional levels available.

For more information on all of the possible ESRI certifications, click here.

So, how do I get ESRI certified?
In order to get certified, you must take a 90-95 multiple choice question examination at a certified Pearson VUE testing center.  According to the ESRI representatives at the MSGIC quarterly meeting, approximately 80% of the questions cover GIS theory and best practices, while the remaining 20% test knowledge of where to go within a given ESRI software product in order to complete a task.

Each examination attempt costs $225 and the exam is given in English only.  Upon completion of the exam, the exam taker will be informed in approximately 5 business days whether they passed or failed.  However, the exam taker will not be notified of which and how many questions were answered incorrectly.

For more information regarding taking an ESRI certification examination, click here.

Attendee’s Concerns
Along with the questions regarding how one gets ESRI certified, several attendees provided valid concerns that I believe are worth mentioning.

CO$T – An obvious concern is the fact that one needs to spend $225 per examination attempt.  Additionally, if this certification program takes off and RFP reviewers see the certification as a must then organizations that do GIS work are in a bit of a bind from a training standpoint:  do they foot the bill to get all GIS professionals certified or only a few?  This is something I never considered until the topic was brought up.

Lack of Transparency – Many attendees expressed their frustration that exam takers only receive a pass / fail notification and no indication of how many questions were answered wrong and which ones were answered wrong.

Confusing Qualification Language – If one views the Overview tab of the ArcGIS Desktop Associate certification description, the language mentions that the certification is focused towards ArcGIS 10 Desktop users.  However, if one views the Qualifications tab on that same page, one will notice that a qualified candidate for the certification will likely have two years experience with ArcGIS software.  This left some attendees asking “If this certification is geared towards ArcGIS 10 users, how can anyone be qualified to take the exam if ArcGIS 10 has not been out for two years?”  While I believe the qualification description is focusing on the GIS theory portion of the exam, I think it’s a valid question considering 20% of the questions that make up the exam focus on knowing where to go within the software (presumably ArcGIS 10) in order to complete a given task.

ESRI Review of Certification – Attendees were informed that ESRI may periodically review ESRI certifications.  In other words, there is a chance that a person who has an ESRI certification may have to become re-certified in the future if ESRI feels the certification needs to be updated.

More Questions? Feedback?

User feedback is always important.  For questions or comments regarding ESRI’s certification process, contact ESRI at certification@esri.com.

If you have more questions, visit the ESRI certification page’s FAQ section.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

CGIS in the Classroom

March 1, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy Monn

Campuses across the region are coming back to life as the spring semester begins.  At Towson University, the campus has transitioned from the winter break’s relative dormancy to the normal rhythms of an active semester.  The sidewalks are again alive during class transitions as students and faculty move from one building to another, the parking garages and dining halls are filled to the brim, and the din of student conversations resonate in the buildings once again.

At CGIS, the commencement of a new semester means that several employees begin teaching as adjunct instructors at area colleges and universities.  The following CGIS employees are currently or have recently taught as adjunct instructors.

Ashley Buzzeo (Database Development Project Manager)
Since 2007, Ashley has taught several semesters of the Physical Geography course and the Advanced Geospatial Applications course offered at the Community College of Baltimore County’s (CCBC) Catonsville campus.  This semester she is teaching the Advanced Geospatial Applications course at CCBC’s Catonsville Campus and is teaching the Physical Geography course at Towson University via the Freshman Transition Program.  When asked why she enjoys teaching the GIS course, Ashley responded, “I enjoy teaching the course because I get to share with my students the knowledge of geography and GIS that I have gained over the past 10 years.  I also get to share my love and passion for GIS technology and help guide students on how to use GIS as a tool to solve problems.”

Tom Earp (Application Development Project Manager)
This spring will be the first time Tom has taught a college course.  Tom travels to Catonsville a couple times a week to teach a section of CCBC’s Geospatial Application Program’s Introduction to GIS course.  Tom sees teaching the course as a way to share the enjoyment and passion he has for GIS.

Sharyn Kuczka (Multimedia Supervisor)
From 2004 to 2010, Sharyn may have been your instructor if you took the Mass Media Graphics or Using Visual Information Effectively courses at Towson University.  Sharyn enjoyed developing an understanding of each student’s design perspective and inspiration by having students present to the class their analysis of newspaper and magazine designs.  She also enjoyed the challenge of helping students solve problems with the software used in the course.  Sharyn is currently taking a break from teaching.

Jeremy Monn (GIS Specialist)
Since the spring 2008 semester, I have taught two Physical Geography courses at the Essex Campus of CCBC and four Map Interpretation courses at Towson University. I will be teaching both courses this spring semester. I tend to describe myself as a nerd who probably reads and writes too much about Geography (if that’s possible).  So one of the reasons why I teach is because it provides me an outlet for sharing with students the knowledge I obtain through my readings, writings, and professional experiences.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

Collect Your GIS Data Marylanders: February is GIS Inventory Month

February 15, 2011
Jeremy

Jeremy

Earlier this month, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley proclaimed February 2011 as GIS Inventory Month in Maryland.  The proclamation describes the importance of GIS in government-related matters, such as resource conservation, emergency preparedness and mitigation, and decision-making transparency.  By doing so, the proclamation lays the foundation for a 3-week challenge focused on listing the state’s GIS inventory in Ramona, a nationwide GIS inventory tool created by the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) through funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The goal of the 3-week challenge is to list and document the state’s framework GIS layers in Ramona by March 1, 2011.  The layers are categorized and listed below.

Boundaries
Cities/Towns/Municipalities
Counties
State		 Location
Address Points
Geographic Place Names
Geodetic Control Points/Networks
Elevation
Contours
DEM		 Planning/Cadastral
Centroids
Vector Parcels
Imagery/Base Maps/Earth Cover
Orthoimagery/Digital Orthophotography
Land Cover		 Transportation
Roads/Street Centerlines
Mass Transit – Bus/Rail
Railroads
Airports & Airfields
Inland Waters
Hydrography
Watershed Boundaries

The basic premise of Ramona is to connect data producers and consumers by providing a single location where public and private GIS data can be documented by the producers and searched by the consumers.  In order to inventory data, one must visit the Ramona website and create a profile.  If one only wants to search the inventory, one does not need to create a profile.  So if you are interested in participating in the GIS Inventory Challenge, visit the Ramona website and create a profile to either search and/or document your GIS data.

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

Map Service Caching Issues: There’s Always More Than One Way to Fix a Problem

December 10, 2010
Jeremy

Jeremy

A couple weeks ago I was asked to troubleshoot the odd behavior of a cached map service in a FLEX web mapping application.  The application provides users with the ability to view the map at 11 different scales ranging from approximately 1:2300000 to approximately 1:2250.  The FLEX web mapping application uses several cached map services, but one disappeared when a user zoomed into the largest scale possible (1:2250).  This behavior was very odd because the cached tiles existed for the map service at the largest scale (1:2550).  So what was causing the odd behavior?

After comparing the cached services used in the application, I noticed that the cache level scales were all EXACTLY the same except for the largest scale.  (Up to this point I have referred to the largest scale as “approximately 1:2500”.  The true value for the largest scale is actually 1:2254.4677625.)  The cached map service that did not display correctly at the largest scale had its largest scale set to 1:2254.467763 not 1:2254.4677625.  In order for the service to display correctly in the application at the largest scale, I had to replace the cache tiles tied to the incorrect scale (1:2254.467763) with cache tiles created at the correct scale (1:2254.4677625).  So how did I do this?

Most GIS Specialists familiar with creating AGS map service caches would automatically think the solution is to simply delete the old cache level using ArcCatalog and add the new one.  Unfortunately this doesn’t always work.  When I tried this method, I noticed that even though I entered the correct scale (1:2254.4677625), the scale was rounded off to the wrong scale (1:2254.467763) once I applied the changes.  The workaround I used to solve the problem involved editing the service’s configuration file using Notepad ++.  The steps I used are provided below:

1) Open Windows Explorer

2) Navigate to the location of the map service’s cache folder

3) Locate the map service’s cache XML configuration file

4) Open the configuration file with a text editor (e.g. Notepad ++)

5) Manually correct the appropriate scale and save the configuration file

6) Open ArcCatalog, refresh the map service, and re-create the cache tiles for the corrected scale

Hopefully you found this helpful, I also published a blog post a while back on Lessons Learned: Creating a KML-Enabled ArcGIS Server Map Service that might be of use!

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

What Is CGIS Doing for GIS Day 2010?

November 2, 2010
Jeremy

Jeremy

After a weekend of attending Halloween parties and eating entirely too much candy it is a bit much to start thinking about the defining event of November for most Americans: Thanksgiving.  Luckily, as a GIS professional, I can focus on planning for GIS Day 2010 on November 17th. GIS Day is an annual event that occurs during Geography Awareness Week.  GIS professionals and organizations use GIS Day to educate others about GIS using a variety of methods including but not limited to open houses, workshops, and conferences.

Whether organizing events for elementary and middle schools or participating in GIS Day events hosted by other organizations, CGIS has been an active GIS Day participant for the past several years.  This trend will continue this year as CGIS returns to the Crossroads School in Baltimore.  Similar to last year, CGIS plans on working with a 7th grade class to map data they collected in Baltimore.  This year, the 7th graders are collecting information about several points of interest they selected in the Fells Point neighborhood.  They will use this information to create a guide titled “A Newcomer’s Guide to Fells Point”.  On GIS Day, CGIS employees will introduce the 7th graders to GIS and work with them to map their points of interest and walking tour routes using Google Earth.

Additionally, CGIS will be participating in the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) GIS Day event located at the SHA building in Baltimore.   SHA’s GIS Day event will actually take place on November 30th instead of November 17th.  SHA employees are invited to the event to learn more about what GIS is and how it can be utilized by an organization like SHA.  Along with making a presentation on transportation-related projects CGIS is currently working on, CGIS will be manning a booth at the event to provide general information about GIS and specific information about CGIS’s involvement in the GIS community.

Visit CGIS’ Web site to view detailed information about GIS Day activities for this year and previous years!

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Posted by Jeremy Monn

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