(be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2)

Larry Young continued to discuss the ArcGIS Explorer SDK, also free with ArcGIS Explorer. The SDK features a pure .NET managed code environment, and and easy yet powerful object model.

Larry explained that different types of add-ins can be created using a variety of supplied templates in the SDK. These are designed for use directly in Visual Studio. One of the templates allows you to quickly implement a dockable window. Larry showed and example that performs a drive time analysis and shows the demographic information within a 3 minute drive time within a dockable window.

Larry showed another example, this one targeted at sports fans and using the recent World Baseball Classic as its premise.  This customization uses another type of add-in - a button which in this case turns on the layers showing the teams that are participating in the classic and the location of their first round games.

Another type of add-in is a gallery.  This gallery shows all the teams that participated in the classic grouped by the site of their first round games.

Larry showed the Visual Studio code view and explained how the gallery was created. You create the individual items by providing a caption, image, and tool tip, then you have the option of grouping them together for easier access.

Larry concluded by saying that ArcGIS Explorer provides lots of opportunities for developers and non-developers alike, via configuring the user experience with application configurations and also by creating custom add-ins using the SDK.