August Meeting – 8/22/2008

3:00 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.

County-City Public Works Building

Basement Conference Room C

201 N Stone AV

Attendees

Steve Whitney PC DOT, Bill Marum COT DSD, Bill Petroutson PC DEQ, Byrn Enright COT Water, Dave Hunter PC DOT, Dave Koss COT Real Estate, Jennifer Psillas PC NRPR, Johanna Kraus COT DSD, Peter Johnson COT DOT, Ray Brice PC DOT, Steve Moore OV, Tiernan Erickson, Booke Pope PAG, Kristen Zimmerman PAG, Cory Jones PC DOT, Kaoru Johansen PC DOT, Chris Mack MAR, Josh Pope COT UPD.

Agenda

Discussion Points

1. Steve Whitney chaired the meeting and introductions were made.

2. Presentation: 2008 ESRI User Conference panel discussion.

Steve Whitney moderated a panel discussion between User Conference attendees:

A) Focusing on ArcGIS Desktop products, i.e. ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and such, what new enhancements have been made at version 9.3?

Reverse geocoding, cartographic representations, WYSIWYG, version changes viewer, legend transparency, sort tables across multiple fields (advanced sorting), PDF enhancements, identity tool - copy/paste to editing window, error messages linked to help, send error reports to ESRI, more keyboard shortcuts for many functions, on-the-fly coordinate readout changes, convert graphics to features, joins will respect definition queries, bookmarks, view windows, geoprocessing framework has been re-engineered to be faster, new types of geoprocessing joins, geoprocessing progress meter, geoprocessing regression tools, system administration - easier to manage multiple installations and new ties to Active Directory, "ArcGIS Mobile" - new applications and not just an API anymore, label pausing, 3-D labels/objects.

How about at version 9.4?

Workflows, pallet of features, will focus on Desktop (as opposed to 9.3's focus on Server products), new graphics engine (probably not until version 10), 3-D GIS and better integration, Google-type search engine, on-line software updates.

B) Focusing on ArcGIS Server products, i.e. ArcGIS Server, Engine, Image Server, and such, what new enhancements have been made at version 9.3?

Backward compatibility, direct connect, easier authoring, mash-ups are easier to do and is looking more like cloud computing, ArcIMS on its way out, Javascript API, REST API for web maps and geoprocessing services, map caching, versioning tools for comparison, scalable symbology and labeling, style files from ESRI for sharing and standardization.

C) What's new in the development environment arena and programming? For example, new API's, improvements to existing API's, new programming languages, etc.

Javascript API with easy development tools, moved from using call-backs to partial post-backs - but need to choose one or the other, not as much Python being pushed probably due to the Server focus, Flex API (Flash-based), even more functionality in ModelBuilder - less need for Python, see resources.esri.com.

D) What else did you see that was cool?

Labeling - doubling up on labels to give a shadow effect and drop shadows, caching, MIT demo of 3-D building management including exterior and interior emergency response, using Network Analyst for fleet routing, ImageServer is better integrated with ArcGIS Server, HTMP pop-ups in ArcMap, improved map tips, 9.3 will be the last version to support MS SQL2000, touted spatial capabilities of MS SQL2008, integration with Pictometry, support for open source databases such as PostgreSQL at 9.3.

3. Road Rights-Of-Way (ROW) layer.

There is a new layer in the GIS Library for non-private road ROW polygons, PA_ROW. This layer is generated by extracting polygons from the GIS parcel Section coverages by selecting parcel taxcodes equal to "999999991" or "999999994", which is the code used to indicate a non-private road ROW, as researched from Assessor's Record Maps. Users must select taxcodes not equal to null to filter out island polygons. Known errors and qualifications include gaps in how road ROW parcels are taxcoded. A PowerPoint presentation on this layer is available from the GIS Co-op web site.

4. AGIC Report.

The Administrative and Legal Issues Committee is looking into ARS 39-121.03 - Request for copies, printouts or photographs; statement of purpose; commercial purpose as abuse of public record; determination by governor; civil penalty; definition. Currently this statute is interpreted to require public agencies to charge users for commercial use of government data, including geospatial data. The committee is seeking to eliminate the requirement for charging users. The point was raised that it would be okay to drop this requirement as long as whatever changes are made to the statute do not prevent agencies from being able to charge for commercial use of their data.

5. Open Floor.

There were no topics brought up during open floor.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.