ArcGIS for Windows Mobile Licensing

One common question when implementing and designing a full field collection solution is, what type of licensing do I need in order to use ArcGIS for Windows Mobile (AGM).

In the early versions of AGM you would only get authorization with an ArcGIS for Server (AGS) Advanced Enterprise license, and you could only synchronize your data, between field and office, with a service publish on AGS. But starting with 10.1 if you have ArcGIS for Desktop you will also get one AGM license and you are able to synchronize your data with local Geodatabases.

Having said that, you can install, collect and synchronize your field data with your office data having a Desktop Licence or a Server Licence. Conditions following.

ArcGIS for Desktop

• AGM is available with Basic, Standard and Advance licensing;
• You get one mobile deployment for each desktop license;
• If you need more mobile deployments you can purchase additional packs of 5 or 50 deployments;
• You will be able to synchronize your field data with local Geodatabases with your ArcGIS Desktop software. 

ArcGIS for Server

• With an Advanced Enterprise license you will get unlimited mobile deployments and you will be able to create mobile capable services. This services are responsible for the synchronization of your data between your mobile and server;
• With Advanced Workgroup and Standard Enterprise licensing you server is mobile ready but if you want to use AGM you will have to buy mobile deployment packs of 5 or 50;
• The remaining Server licensing do not allow the use of AGM.

It is my understanding that the mobile deployment is the equivalent of field workers you have deployed on the field at one specific time or project. As an example, if you have one ArcGIS for Desktop license, you can have only one member of your team collecting and synchronizing data. If you want to have a team of 8 field workers collecting data, you will have to buy two packs of 5 mobile deployments. 

ArcGIS Mobile 10.2 and the Windows Sensor and Location Platform

Starting from Windows 8 the connection to the GPS receiver is no longer supported by COM Ports. Instead Microsoft developed what they call 'Windows Sensor and Location Platform'. This platform eases the connection to the many location techniques that are available on the device like Wi-Fi triangulation, IP address or GPS device. This is a quite new platform and a some hardware vendors support both modes.

O ArcGIS Mobile 10.2 does no yet support this functionality which will only be available on the second quarter of 2014.

For now there are two workarounds for this problem:

1. Install ArcGIS Mobile 10.1 or 10.2 with Windows 7 and connect to the devices COM Port;
2. Install ArcGIS Mobile 10.1.1 with the ‘Location API Connection Extension for AGM 10.1.1’ provided by Esri.

I have tested option 2 on two devices and it works fine. This extension does not work with ArcGIS Mobile 10.2.

This extension comes with a readme file that states 'Copy files inside ReleaseAssemblies Folder into C:\ProgramData\ESRI\ArcGIS Mobile\Extensions. ArcGIS for Windows Mobile tablet application will use Location API instead of COM port.'

If you don't have this path on your device, just create it and copy the files. Don't forget to restart ArcGIS Mobile App. Then go the GPS Settings and Status and check the Windows Location API Settings.



Good Work!

ArcGIS Flex application on Adobe AIR

I have been doing some tests on how can one port an ArcGIS Flex Web Application to a desktop AIR App. To my surprise it was quite simple, fast and, most of all, everything worked on the first run.

This is what I did. My objective was to port ArcGIS Viewer for Flex to an ArcGIS AIR Application.

First of all I downloaded ArcGIS Viewer for Flex 3.1 source code, available on GitHub, and imported it to my Flash Builder workspace

Create a new Flex Project in File -> New -> Flex Project
Type a project name like ArcGISFlexDesktop and select Desktop (run in Adobe AIR)

For the next options go with the default.

Now that the project is created, expand folder src - (default package) and open the file ArcGISFlexDesktop.mxml. Also, on the FlexViewer Project, expand folder src - (default package) and open the file index.mxml

As you can see from the above image, the desktop application entry point is the s:WindowedApplication. As for the web application it’s the s:Application. So the first action is to copy the contents inside the s:Application tag, properties included, and paste them inside the s:WindowedApplication. 

Next, copy the selected  files (see image below) from the FlexViewer project to the ArcGISFlexDesktop project. The project structure must be the same for both projects.

    

The next step is to add all the modules to the project. Go to Project - Properties and then in the ArcGISFlexDesktop Properties dialog select Flex Modules and add the following mandatory widgets.

1. HeaderControllerWidget.mxml
2. InfoPopupWidget.mxml
3. WidgetContainerWidget.mxml
4. OverviewMapWidget.mxml
5. NavigationWidget.mxml
6. MapSwitcherWidget.mxml

I also added BookmarksWidget.mxml and QueryWidget.mxml but you can add all.

Finally you must copy the compiler arguments from the FlexViewer project to the ArcGISFlexDesktop project. Right click on the FlexViewer project and select Properties. Then go to the Flex Compiler tab and copy the text from the Addicional compiler arguments box. Paste this text into the same box on the ArcGISFlexDesktop project.

You’r all done! Press the run button and there you have it! An ArcGIS Flex AIR application.

To my surprise, porting a web Flex app to a Desktop AIR app was so easy that some questions came up. Why did Esri launch an ArcGIS runtime for Silverlight (WPF) and for Java but not for Flex. There are not even news or plans.

The ArcGIS runtime is intended to work in online and offline modes. For the offline mode map tile packages are used, so the app needs to access the local file system. Flex RIA has the capabilities to access local file system so I have no clue on why there are no plans on making an ArcGIS Runtime based on Flex.

Download the installer of ArcGIS Flex Viewer for Desktop