ArcGIS Server

What’s Interesting?

• Cartography

• Caching

• Geoprocessing

• Security

• Future

• ArcGIS Explorer (a side note)

Cartography

• 2 Types of Browser Display– Browser Blending

• Separate images are used for each object on the page and are blended in the browser. The browser does most of the work. Faster, and the default setting.

– Web Blending• All objects are combined into one image on the

server before being pushed to the browser. Puts most of the work on the server. Slower.

• Simplicity– No complex VB scripts for labeling

expressions– Create a new layer for data instead of using a

definition query– Use ESRI_Optimized symbol palette– Use shadows instead of text backgrounds or

halos– Use annotation instead of labels– Convert symbology to representation (store

symbology in the feature class)

– Show only relevant information– Use field visibility

• Only show necessary fields

– Use scale dependencies• Represent things differently at different scales

(simplify the cartography)

– Use simple character markers– Use integer fields for symbol values instead of

character fields– Avoid cartographic lines– Use indexed fields for queries

• Tuning– Use high isolation for everything

– Allow 2-4 instances per SOC

– Use JPG for images

– Use PNG for vectors

– Use 2GB of RAM per CPU core

– Try Microsoft’s Fiddler to check traffic• www.fiddlertool.com

Caching• Be consistent with the tiling scheme

• Use Firefox’s Tools>Page Info>Media dialog to check the tiled images

• You can update individual tiles with the Update Cache Geoprocessing Tool

• Set the map background to a gross color to avoid having your colors come out transparent– ESRI uses RGB 51,52,53 for their background

• Zooming is restricted to the cache levels

• Match scale dependencies to the cache level

• You can alter the cached images (they are just JPGs….) if you want

• Build a small area first and test it to make sure the levels are correct

• IE6 can not use PNG24 for blended caches– Their recommendation? Don’t use PNG24!

• You can change the “full extent” in ArcMap to the visual extent before publishing– Especially good if you “outliers”

• Google tiles their data at 256x256, but ESRI defaults to 512x512– Keep in mind if you want to use Google for a

background…

• If you can’t see the Server toolbox, ESRI doesn’t load it by default

• ArcMap dynamically interpolates between cache levels

• The ArcMap server cache is not automatically cleared so you have to do it manually (scheduled task anyone???)

• Check out blogs.esri.com for “casual” updates

• Check out webhelp.esri.com for more up to date help information

Geoprocessing

• 2 ways to use geoprocessing– Publish a map with a tool layer– Publish a tool or model by itself

• Be careful with temporary data– Use %ScratchWorkspace% to ensure there

will be a data store for you– ESRI guarantees there will be a scratch.gdb

in the server %ScratchWorkspace%

• Input can not be a feature class– Switch it to a feature set and click on the map– Feature class is a valid output type

• Use in_memory data when possible– In_memory can be used as a path variable

• Locks being caused by ArcGIS Server is a known bug and will be fixed at Service Pack 3 for 9.2

• All input AND output objects must be made into model parameters to run in Server

• You can not have “Results are Temporary as Default” clicked on

• Asynchronous settings process tasks in a background worker thread

• Synchronous settings process the task and give back control when done

• Asynchronous results are stored on the server in the scratch workspace, but synchronous results are temporary

• Tasks published through a .mxd keep all of their symbolization, standalone tasks leave symbolization up to the client

• Tool layers are good for sensitive data or large returns since they just send back an image and no real data

• Don’t ignore the maximum number of features returned setting

• There is a default 10 minute timeout period so if you have long running processes increase this

• Models that need to use layers in the TOC have to come from a .mxd

• The SOC has to have access to everything involved in a model

• Use relative or UNC paths for everything in the model

• The SOC has to be able to see the actual .sde connection file to use SDE data– It can’t get it from the layer

• 3 important things to remember– You have to create a script or model to

publish in Server– Do not publish system tools (out of Toolbox)

because they require extra parameters that Server can’t supply

– You will always have to make changes to existing models to get them to work with Server

Security

• 9.2 does not have specific security– It uses file and IIS security– 9.3 will have a built-in security console in the

ArcGIS Server Manager

• Authentication– Verifying who you are

• Authorization– Determining what you can access

• Local Connections– SOM controls access– Connect to SOM using DCOM– Uses TCP/IP– Access controlled by the OS– Have to handle access control for two groups

• Agusers• Agsadmin

• Internet Connections– IIS handles security

– Disable anonymous access– Add authorization to web.config

• IIS receives all requests, but routes .aspx pages through ASP.NET– ASP.NET handles security for .aspx pages– IIS always handles image security

• IIS handles windows authentication• ASP.NET handles forms authentication• Use Location Path in the global web.config

file to secure specific folders– Located on the ArcGIS/Services tab

Future• Lots of talk about integration to do

mashups with Google and Virtual Earth

• SLD– Can publish layers with thematic styles based

on attributes of layers without replicating the loaded layer

• WFS– Feature service– Non-locking versioned and non-versioned

data access

• WCS– Raster coverage support, not just image

snapshots

• Becoming much more Google-like

• Javascript and AJAX API support for mashups– Google and Virtual Earth will be able to

access ArcGIS Server via REST

• Caches can be built on demand

• Improved map tips

• Can setup ArcGIS Server to just publish services

• Support for Microsoft and Google base maps

• Check out esri.datadoors.net

• Check out the Gaia free viewer– www.thecarbonproject.com/gaia.php

ArcGIS Explorer

• Can only view 3D maps– They may change this in the future

• Have to download the ArcExplorer SDK separately to customize

• Produces a .nmf file– Really just xml so you can look at it in

Notepad if you like– Visual Studio will open the .nmf too

• Edit>Advanced>Formatdoc

• Tasks are designed to be lightweight– The server should do all the “work”

• You can only modify the Task Framework– Code can only produce tasks– No real modification of the app allowed

• ArcGIS Explorer is ESRI’s only multithreaded application– Task work is done in a background worker

thread

• Geometry classes are read only– No editing allowed in this one

• Deploy custom tasks by putting them in a .nmf and ship off the .nmf

• ArcGIS Explorer is on a different release cycle than other ESRI applications– They want to release a new version every 3

months