Several classes in the API have been enhanced to support .on() style events, also referred to as evented. Specifically, esri/map as well as all classes in esri/layers and all esri/tasks now support class.on() style events. Classes in esri/dijit will have support for this style of event management at a future release.

Some samples have been updated to demonstrate the new .on() style event listening (as well as re-written to use AMD):

• Feature layer and a dgrid
• Feature layer from feature collection
• Gas price data
• Map with a popup
• Point clustering
• Show map properties

Please refer to the full What’s New in 3.5 for additional details on class.on() style events.

More samples that use Asynchronous Modules Definition(AMD)

Additional samples that have been re-written to use AMD:

• Customize navigation animation
• Manage multiple query results
• Non-Web Mercator tiled layer
• Popup with a chart
• Vector features in any projection
• Vector features with no basemap

The full What’s New in 3.5 also has a list of bug fixes and enhancements that we added at 3.5.

The download-able version of version of the ArcGIS API for JavaScript will be available soon.

The ArcGIS for Server team is offering a workspace on http://ideas.esri.com under the name “Using ArcGIS 10.1 for Server on Microsoft Windows Azure”. You can join this workspace to find documents on how to deploy ArcGIS for Server on Windows Azure virtual machines. The workspace is also a great place to provide information about your interest in Windows Azure, give feedback, ask questions, and learn about the latest updates.

Although Windows Azure is not currently an officially supported platform for ArcGIS 10.1 for Server, Esri Support can still take your calls and will attempt to duplicate any issues on a supported platform. If the issue can be duplicated on the supported platform it will be logged for further investigation. See the Esri Supported Environment Policy for more information. Esri is looking into offering more extended support for Windows Azure virtual machines in the future.

Contributed by Marwa Mabrouk of Esri Product Management

The following Python script demonstrates how to:

• Turn a map document into a sddraft.
• Modify the XML inside with the appropriate settings.
• Analyze the draft for errors.
• Stage the sddraft into a .sd (service definition) file.
• Upload the service to ArcGIS.com. Note that this code shares the feature service with everyone on ArcGIS.com.

To get started, copy and paste the code into a script file (.py) on your machine. Update the variables with your service name, path to the MXD and your ArcGIS.com account information. The script will create temporary drafts in the same location you saved the script to. Read the comments in line to customize the script to your needs. Once your script is configured, run it on any machine with Desktop, Engine or Server installed.

import arcpy, os, sys
import xml.dom.minidom as DOM

arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True

# Update these variables
# The tempPath variable is a relative path which is the same directory
# this script is saved to. You can modify this value to a path on your
# system to hold the temporary files.
serviceName = "importantPoints"
tempPath = sys.path[0]
path2MXD = r"C:\path2MXD\pts.mxd"
userName = " "
passWord = " "

# All paths are built by joining names to the tempPath
SDdraft = os.path.join(tempPath, "tempdraft.sddraft")
newSDdraft = os.path.join(tempPath, "updatedDraft.sddraft")
SD = os.path.join(tempPath, serviceName + ".sd")

arcpy.SignInToPortal_server(userName, passWord, "http://www.arcgis.com/")
mxd = arcpy.mapping.MapDocument(path2MXD)
arcpy.mapping.CreateMapSDDraft(mxd, SDdraft, serviceName, "MY_HOSTED_SERVICES")

# Read the contents of the original SDDraft into an xml parser
doc = DOM.parse(SDdraft)

# The follow 5 code pieces modify the SDDraft from a new MapService
# with caching capabilities to a FeatureService with Query,Create,
# Update,Delete,Uploads,Editing capabilities. The first two code
# pieces handle overwriting an existing service. The last three pieces
# change Map to Feature Service, disable caching and set appropriate
# capabilities. You can customize the capabilities by removing items.
# Note you cannot disable Query from a Feature Service.
tagsType = doc.getElementsByTagName('Type')
for tagType in tagsType:
    if tagType.parentNode.tagName == 'SVCManifest':
        if tagType.hasChildNodes():
            tagType.firstChild.data = "esriServiceDefinitionType_Replacement"

tagsState = doc.getElementsByTagName('State')
for tagState in tagsState:
    if tagState.parentNode.tagName == 'SVCManifest':
        if tagState.hasChildNodes():
            tagState.firstChild.data = "esriSDState_Published"

# Change service type from map service to feature service
typeNames = doc.getElementsByTagName('TypeName')
for typeName in typeNames:
    if typeName.firstChild.data == "MapServer":
        typeName.firstChild.data = "FeatureServer"

#Turn off caching
configProps = doc.getElementsByTagName('ConfigurationProperties')[0]
propArray = configProps.firstChild
propSets = propArray.childNodes
for propSet in propSets:
    keyValues = propSet.childNodes
    for keyValue in keyValues:
        if keyValue.tagName == 'Key':
            if keyValue.firstChild.data == "isCached":
                keyValue.nextSibling.firstChild.data = "false"

#Turn on feature access capabilities
configProps = doc.getElementsByTagName('Info')[0]
propArray = configProps.firstChild
propSets = propArray.childNodes
for propSet in propSets:
    keyValues = propSet.childNodes
    for keyValue in keyValues:
        if keyValue.tagName == 'Key':
            if keyValue.firstChild.data == "WebCapabilities":
                keyValue.nextSibling.firstChild.data = "Query,Create,Update,Delete,Uploads,Editing"

# Write the new draft to disk
f = open(newSDdraft, 'w')
doc.writexml( f )
f.close()

# Analyze the service
analysis = arcpy.mapping.AnalyzeForSD(newSDdraft)

if analysis['errors'] == {}:
    # Stage the service
    arcpy.StageService_server(newSDdraft, SD)

    # Upload the service. The OVERRIDE_DEFINITION parameter allows you to override the
    # sharing properties set in the service definition with new values. In this case,
    # the feature service will be shared to everyone on ArcGIS.com by specifying the
    # SHARE_ONLINE and PUBLIC parameters. Optionally you can share to specific groups
    # using the last parameter, in_groups.
    arcpy.UploadServiceDefinition_server(SD, "My Hosted Services", serviceName,
                                         "", "", "", "", "OVERRIDE_DEFINITION","SHARE_ONLINE",
                                         "PUBLIC","SHARE_ORGANIZATION", "")

    print "Uploaded and overwrote service"

else:
    # If the sddraft analysis contained errors, display them and quit.
    print analysis['errors']

You can take this one step further by creating a scheduled task to run the code nightly. By having an MXD which references geodatabase layers updated throughout the day, the automated task will push those changes up to ArcGIS.com when the task is run.

We will be updating the CreateMapSDDraft help topic with this example. Check it out for numerous other map publishing examples.

Directions widget

Allow users to calculate driving directions between two or more locations to your app with only a couple of lines of code. The widget defaults to the ArcGIS Online Route Service but can be customized to use any ArcGIS Server Network Analyst routing service. The widget not only takes care of talking to a routing service, but also builds a default user interface:

Map navigation methods return deferreds

Map navigation methods, such as setExtent and centerAt, return Deferreds. In previous releases map navigation methods did not return a value. Using deferreds makes it easier (requires less code) to be sure that a map navigation method has finished before executing additonal code.

Popup enhancements

The popup widget is now the default info window for the map. Most ArcGIS API for JavaScript users prefer the popup’s look and feel and, after some refactoring some internal dependencies, using the popup as the default makes sense. Additional changes to the popup include: easier to place the popup in a container outside the map, better support for right-to-left content and several new config options to control paging controls and how features are highlighted.

Asynchronous Module Definition(AMD)

All modules in the API are AMD compliant at 3.4. All modules are still compatible with dojo.require and no code changes are required when upgrading to 3.4. Additional documentation will be published outlining how to use the API’s modules in an AMD style.

Plus More…

As with every release, the latest version of the ArcGIS API for JavaScript includes additional functionality as well as several bug fixes. Please refer to the full What’s New in 3.4 document for the full re-cap of what we added.

For our users attending the Developer Summit this week, we have several great sessions and demo theaters you should attend:

• Getting Started with ArcGIS API for JavaScript
• What’s New in ArcGIS API for JavaScript
• Advanced Development with ArcGIS API for JavaScript
• Developing Custom JavaScript Applications with ArcGIS Online
• Working with Application Frameworks and ArcGIS API for JavaScript
• Debugging Applications Built with ArcGIS API for JavaScript
• Creating AMD Dijits for ArcGIS API for JavaScript

Also be sure to stop by the Web Island in the showcase to chat with members of the JS API team.

ArcGIS Online in Your Local Government

As Esri continues to increase functionality in the ArcGIS Online system, we want take a moment to talk about what that means for us as a local government community. First and foremost, we want to assure you that we are working towards enabling the ArcGIS for Local Government Solution (at all levels) within ArcGIS Online. What that means is, we will enrich the depth and capabilities of the solution so that the transition to ArcGIS Online will be seamless.  At a technical level, it means we will be making changes to each web and mobile application, and the mapping services they use, so they can utilize ArcGIS Online as a platform for your GIS deployment.

Initially, we want to lay the foundation for the local government solution in ArcGIS Online.  So the first offering we’ll provide is an ArcGIS Online Model Local Government Implementation.  This model implementation will help you set up an ArcGIS Online subscription for your city, county or local authority. At the same time, the model organization will provide a pattern you can follow to leverage this cloud-based GIS platform to manage your content and deliver focused information products.  The model local government implementation will show you how to:

• Configure ArcGIS Online as a mapping portal for your organization
• Create groups that support sharing and meet the functional needs of your organization
• Organize your map services and author relevant web maps and apps for users in your organization, and the citizens you serve
• Leverage the ArcGIS for Local Government solution to create useful information products in your organization
• Invite users into your organization to fill key roles in the online system

The initial release of the model organization will include Water Utilities, GIS / IT, Fire Service, Assessment / Taxation, Elections, Emergency Management and the Executive.  In subsequent releases we’ll add other agencies and functions within a local government.

The model organization isn’t the only thing we’re doing to make it easier for you to leverage ArcGIS Online.  We’re also developing a series of ArcGIS Online web application templates for our local government users.  These application templates will be available natively in ArcGIS Online. They will allow users to author a web map and select a local government application when they share that map.  We’re starting with an online version of the Tax Parcel Viewer.

Over time, we’ll continue to add web application templates to ArcGIS Online.  These application templates will complement the applications we already provide in the solution.  This means you’ll be able to maintain the applications you’ve already deployed with your authoritative content and leverage new ArcGIS Online applications in your organization.

This is just the beginning for the local government solution offering in the cloud.  As we incrementally roll out new ArcGIS Online applications, you’ll be able to leverage the cloud solution to configure new maps and apps that were previously only available on your local computing infrastructure.

New Maps and Apps

So that was a quick overview of how ArcGIS Online will play a large role in the local government solution in 2013.  And at the same time we’re providing new ArcGIS Online capabilities, we will also be enhancing the current portfolio of HTML5/JavaScript applications to make them more robust, configurable, and compatible with the ArcGIS Online platform. The enhancements include:

• Support for ArcGIS Online Hosted feature services
• Configurable Locators (locally hosted or from the newly launched geocode.arcgis.com)
• Support for the latest JavaScript APIs
• Standard code base for common components like search, share, etc.
• Additional code documentation

In all, we’ll be updating approximately twelve ArcGIS for Local Government apps in our next release.  In 2013, we will also be expanding the solution offering.  Let’s take a closer look at a few of the maps and apps we have planned.

Law Enforcement:

Data Management – A series of editing maps and tools used to manage fundamental law enforcement data, integrate data from external business systems (CAD, Records, AVL, etc.), and share it with other law enforcement professionals.

Cell Phone Analysis – A series of maps and tools used to estimate the location of a suspect’s and/or victim’s cell phone at a given time(s) of the day.

Pre-Incident Site Surveys – A series of maps that support the collection and inspection of pre-incident information for at-risk sites (ex. schools) in a community. This will be a coordinated with the Pre-Fire Planning and Special Event Planning Maps.

Crime Mapping – A series of operational management and reporting maps used in ComStat, daily resource allocation, neighborhood policing, and public information activities.

Fire Service:

Pre-Fire Planning 2.0 – A series of maps that support the collection, maintenance and inspection of pre-fire or pre-incident data.  This will be a major enhancement to the existing Pre-Fire Planning map and will be a coordinated with the Pre-Incident and Special Event Planning Maps.

Target Hazard Mapping – A series of tools used to assign hazard/risk ratings to buildings and properties and identify candidates for Pre-Fire Planning maps.

Hydrant Inspection – A series of maps that support the inspection and maintenance of hydrants for the fire service community.

Emergency Management:

Public Safety COP – The last release of the Flex-based Public Safety COP.  The final release will leverage work done on the National Guard Patriot Viewer and include a series of new widgets for the EM community.

Emergency Services – An adaption of the current My Government Services application that provides citizens evacuation, hazard and shelter information during an emergency.

Economic Development:

Development Showcase – An application that allows local governments to showcase properties in their community that are available for development.

General Data Management:

Data Reviewer for Basemaps – A series of ArcGIS Data Reviewer batch jobs that help local governments improve the quality of fundamental layers used in basemaps.

Data Reviewer for Parcel Management – A series of ArcGIS Data Reviewer batch jobs that help local governments improve the quality of parcel information managed with the ArcGIS parcel management solution.

In summary, this is going to be an exciting year for the ArcGIS for Local Government community.  Our releases will coincide with major releases of ArcGIS and each release will include newly developed maps and apps, updates to existing maps and apps, bug fixes reported by the community, and new ArcGIS Online functionality.

We’ll provide more details on each of these initiatives as we get closer to our actual release.  Please continue to use the Forums to contact us for help, provide feedback, and share your experiences with others.

In 2013, we’re excited to incorporate both your feedback from 2012 and the emerging functionality across the ArcGIS platform into the ArcGIS for Local Government solution. But, before we dive into 2013, let’s take a minute (or a few paragraphs) to recap what we’ve collectively accomplished as a community in 2012.  In the fall of 2012, we crossed the 100,000 download mark and more than 100 maps and apps are now being downloaded every day.  Strong user communities are emerging in each of the Local Government segments which provides us with a tremendous amount of feedback and really help us evolve the content in the solution.

In 2012, we continued to improve the existing maps and apps and we also worked to add new maps and apps to the ArcGIS for Local Government solution.  Here is a quick overview of just a few:

Executive Dashboard: An HTML 5 / JavaScript application used by local government leaders to view critical metrics, identify trends, raise questions, and proactively devise new management strategies.

My Government Services: An HTML 5 / JavaScript application that helps residents locate several different types of government facilities and obtain information about services provided by a government agency.

Pre-Fire Planning: An editing map and set of editing workflows and tools for collecting and managing pre-fire or pre-incident data.

Fire Run Book: A map document and set of tools that can be used to produce individual map pages, a street index, and a Fire Run Book.

Community Addressing:  A web application that allows the general public to contribute missing site address locations and provide citizen contact information for current addresses.

Tax Parcel Viewer: An HTML 5 / JavaScript application that provides the general public and other interested parties local government property tax and assessment information. Additionally, the application supplements tax and assessment information with lifestyle and internet broadband information for a given neighborhood.

Election Polling Place: An HTML 5 / JavaScript application that helps citizens locate their election polling place, provide feedback on conditions at the polling place, and obtain information about current elected officials.

Election Results: An HTML 5 / JavaScript application that provides election results information to the general public and other interested parties.

Flood Planning:  An editing map and set of editing workflows and tools for creating and managing flood response plans.

In addition to expanding the map and app offerings, we launched the 10.1 release of the ArcGIS for Local Government solution.  It included an update to each application and the local government information model that can be used with your ArcGIS 10.1 deployment.   The 10.1 release also marked the start of a consistent release schedule for the solution.

The ArcGIS for Local Government Online Help system was also released in 2012. The help system consolidated documentation previously provided in each download and provides a single destination for documentation you need to deploy the ArcGIS for Local Government solution.

In 2012, Esri Partner offerings played a much larger role in the ArcGIS for Local Government solution. Several Esri Partners have been working with Esri users across the country to implement ArcGIS for Local Government in their organization.  Furthermore, Partners have evolved their application offerings to take advantage of the ArcGIS for Local Government solution and their maps and apps are now a part of our growing ecosystem.

Finally, with a growing collection of applications, we wanted to make it easier for the developer community to access the code base for each application and participate in the development of Esri’s local government apps.  So, we launched a series of ArcGIS for Local Government GitHub repositories to share source code for our web, desktop, and mobile applications.  As a team, we’re using the GitHub platform to manage our development efforts and collaborate with developers inside Esri and across the local government community. We’ve started with eighteen applications and should have the rest of our applications available via GitHub in early 2013.  If you’re not a developer, don’t worry, we will continue to ship supported versions of the ArcGIS for Local Government maps and apps via ArcGIS.com along with this new channel for our developer community.

We are delighted that many of you took the time to download the ArcGIS for Local Government maps and apps, attend the sessions we had at the UC, and provide the team with feedback.   Please continue to use utilize Technical Support for help, use the Forums to provide feedback, and share your experiences with others.   Your contribution will ultimately make the solution more valuable for every local government user.

Well, now that 2012 is a wrap, we’d like to look ahead to 2013 and share our plans for the ArcGIS for Local Government solution in the coming year. Our primary goal for this year will be to continue to support the Community, embrace emerging technology, and to ensure that we continue to make it easier for you to deploy ArcGIS. We are very excited to roll ArcGIS Online into our solution and to show you how to incorporate the vast suite of capabilities that will improve and enhance the offerings you provide.  Keep an eye out for our next post that will focus on the work we are doing with ArcGIS Online.

New geocoder widget

Add a geographic search box to your app with a couple of lines of code. The widget defaults to the ArcGIS Online World Geocoding Service but can be customized to use one or more ArcGIS Server geocoding services.

New map constructor options

The map class has new constructor options that can help you get your map set up using less code.

• basemap: ArcGIS.com basemap, such as “streets”, “satellite”, “osm”, etc.
• center: Array of two coordinates (longitude, latitude) or an esri.geometry.Point.
• zoom: Starting zoom level for the map.
• minZoom: Smallest scale zoom level for the map.
• maxZoom: Largest scale zoom level for the map.

The map now auto-resizes so it is no longer necessary to set up an event listener for resize events on the map’s container to call map.resize when a map’s container resizes.

Below is a comparision of pre-3.3 code and equivalent 3.3 code.

New Samples

Check out the Latest Samples category for a list of the ten or so samples added to the SDK at this release.

Re-designed SDK Site

The site that hosts the conceptual help, API reference and samples has been given a facelift. It is now easier to link to individual help topics, API classes and samples. A specific tutorials section has been added as well.

Plus More…

As with every release, the latest version of the ArcGIS API for JavaScript includes several bug fixes. Please refer to the full What’s New in 3.3 document for the full list of updates and fixes.

Those of you closely following the SDK releases will notice that the version number of this release (10.1.1) is significantly different from the version numbers we’ve been using  in the past. This was done to synchronize the version numbers between various Runtime SDKs (Android, Java SE, WPF, Windows Phone) and the overall ArcGIS system.  This synchronization not only reflects a common path of evolution going forward for each of the SDKs, but also a commonality in terms of their functionality and architecture.

Speaking of architecture, we’ve had to make significant changes to the map control and display subsystem in order to take advantage of hardware acceleration and pave the way for functionality that just couldn’t have been possible earlier. As much as we’ve tried to shield you from these internal changes, some of them have bubbled up to the public API. These changes are listed in the Migration section of the What’s New document. We encourage you to refer to this document as you migrate your applications. As always, we will be monitoring the user forum for your feedback and to offer help along the way.

A portion of this fall’s Transform Your Organization seminar series described the steps to add ArcGIS for Server map services to ArcGIS Online. It was an “Aha!” moment for many attendees who were curious about the relationship between ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS for Server. Those attendees left the Seminar with clarity for what this relationship offers, specifically as it relates to web maps.

What if you did not attend the Seminar? You might be wondering how ArcGIS for Server and ArcGIS Online complement one another. To answer this question, let’s walk through a use case starting with what you know – the map service:

These are ArcGIS for Server map services published from your server. In this example, they represent voting districts, property boundaries, parks, service requests, and building permits. Instead of using these map services to build an application with Flex, JavaScript, Silverlight, or a mobile SDK (e.g. Apple iOS), we are going to register these services with ArcGIS Online.

Adding these services to ArcGIS Online makes them available as live, authoritative content for building web maps – the powerful new medium GIS pros (and non-GIS pros) are using to reach a new audience with online maps.

The steps to add ArcGIS Server services can be found in the Adding items from the web help topic. Note Step 4 – Choose the type of item:  ArcGIS Server web service

Imagine if your whole library of authoritative content were available to the ArcGIS Online users in your organization. It would only take a few minutes to build a web map for a city administrator we’ll name “Susan” showing voting districts and the status of building permits throughout the city. Susan could explore this web map from her desktop browser, or if security rules allow, she could study the web map from her smartphone while she’s out exploring the community.

ArcGIS for Server map services, like the ones in Susan’s web map, might have been less visible in the past. Now, by adding those map services to ArcGIS Online, they can be discovered and accessed by diverse groups of users in a very elegant, thought-provoking kind of way. I’ll bet Susan and her colleagues never imagined having such valuable and timely information on their smartphone (or tablet) as an interactive, GPS-enabled map!

ArcGIS Online offers many great ways to add content to a web map, each having its unique advantages. With these options, it remains true that a good map is delivered on time, with relevant and up-to-date information. One advantage of ArcGIS for Server map services is that they always represent the live information as its being managed on your server(s). This is why map services are an excellent way to empower ArcGIS Online users with the rich and up-to-date content they crave – and sometimes require – for great web maps.

For more information see:

• About ArcGIS Server web services
• Adding layers from the web
• About authoring web maps

Enjoy,

The ArcGIS for Server development team