ArcPad 10 Performance Tips

You might have seen a post that I did back in July (ArcPad Drawing Speed), which compared the drawing times of different datasets using ArcPad versions 7.1, 8.0 and 10.0. This research backed up the claims made by ESRI that version 10 has significantly improved performance over previous releases.

There are a few reasons for this. One of which is a new spatial index that is built in AXF files generated using the ArcPad Data Manager Tools for ArcGIS 10. Unfortunately, if you are still using ArcGIS 9.3, the Data Manager Tools have not been updated, and therefore, you will not receive the new indexing.

There is however a way around this:

1. Generate your AXF file using either the ArcPad Data Manager tools for ArcMap, or ArcToolbox tools
2. Open up the AXF file in ArcPad 10
3. Open the Table of Contents, and open the layer properties of the layer you want to index
4. Switch across to the Attributes page
5. You will notice that the check box next to the Geometry field will be unchecked. Click it to build the index.
6. Click OK on the Layer Properties, and OK on the Table of Contents dialog

The indexing will be applied to that layer, in that AXF from that point on (i.e. you do not need to repeat that process each time you start up ArcPad, unless you generate a new AXF file).

Some points to note are:

• The above is only applicable to line and polygon layers
• The indexing can only be read by ArcPad 10. It will not be used in 7.1 or 8.0

Field Naming Tips #2

Another tip when naming fields in a feature class, for use with ArcPad: Avoid using SQLCE reserved words.
You will find that if you do use any of these words, you will not be able to check any features in. When you select the AXF from the ArcPad Data Manager Toolbar, it will correctly list the number of features that you have created in the field (in the summary section), but then when you try to check it in, it says there are no edits in the selected layer. Unfortunately there are no error messages displayed telling you why the check in failed. I have lodged another request with ESRI, so we will see how we go in the future.
The complete list of SQLCE reserved words can be found here.

Subtype Field Names: Make them different to the feature class name

I recently had a call from a client using ArcPad 7.1, saying that their drop down lists (subtypes and coded value domains) were not appearing in ArcPad. I got a copy of their database, and performed my own check out to see what was happening.
First of all, I checked the feature class in ArcCatalog and ArcMap. All of the lists appeared as expected there.
Next I checked the .axf.xml check out log, which gets created in the same directory as the AXF file. Usually this reveals a lot about why check out was not successful, for things such as data and schema errors. Again, this was empty.
I then opened up the AXF file in ArcPad Studio, and it turned out that the Data Tables branch of the AXF structure was empty. This is where all of these tables are stored within the AXF.
After digging around for a while, I realised that the feature class was called Heritage, which was the same as the Subtype field. Turns out that this was the cause of the problem; if I renamed that field, it all worked as expected.
There are two reason for writing this blog:

1. To make you aware of the bug - I have logged this with ESRI so hopefully it will get fixed soon.
2. To outline the troubleshooting process that I went through.

Hopefully someone will find this of use. If nothing else, it should serve as a reminder for me!