Using GeoDatabases Training Course

RIA have just scheduled a 'Using GeoDatabases' Training Course

• Hobart - Using GeoDatabases (1 Day), 22 April 2010

To register your interest Download the Registration Form and send it back to us, or view access the information from the Support and Training page of our site.

Introduction to ArcGIS Training Course

We have just scheduled a couple of 'Introduction to ArcGIS' Training Courses.

• Hobart - 30 & 31 March 2010 (2 Days) - Register for the Hobart Course
• Melbourne - 21 & 22 April 2010 (2 Days) - Register for the Melbourne Course

To register your interest Download the Registration Form and send it back to us.

Information on all our courses can be found on the Support and Training page of our site. If you are interested in scheduling a course in your region, or are interested in organising an onsite course, please Contact Us.

Hyperlinking Photos in ArcPad and ArcGIS

Here are some quick and simple steps to allow you to view photos linked to features.

For this example, we will assume that we have a point feature class called "Trees", with a field called "Photo" which contains the file name of the photo linked to that feature. All of our photos are stored in c:\Photos.

ArcPad

1. Open ArcPad, and add the trees layer to your map
2. Open the Table of Contents
3. Open the Layer Properties for that layer
4. Go to the Hyperlink page
5. Set the Hyperlink field to Photo
   
6. Set the default hyperlink path to the folder that contains the photos
7. Click OK twice to close the dialogs
8. Use the Hyperlink tool from the Browse toolbar to select the tree on the map. If a photo is found, it will be opened for viewing.
   

ArcGIS: HTML Popups

1. Open ArcMap, and add your Trees feature class
2. Open the layer properties
3. Switch to the HTML Popup page
4. Check the "Show content for this layer using the HTML Popup tool" option
5. Select "As a URL"
6. In the prefix box, enter "C:\Photos" - the folder containing the photos.
7. Select Photo as the hyperlink field
8. Leave the suffix blank (supposing the file names already have the .jpg extension)
9. Click OK.
10. Use the HTML Popup tool
    to select features from the map. A small window will "pop up" from the point showing the photo for that feature.

ArcGIS: Hyperlinking

1. Open ArcMap, and add your Trees feature class
2. Open the layer properties
3. Switch to the Display page
4. Check "Support Hyperlink using field:"
5. Specify the hyperlink field to "Photo"
6. Click OK
7. Use the hyperlink tool to select features from the map.
   

Note: With hypperlinking, you will need either an absolute or relative path in the Photo field for this tool to work. An easy way to add these prefixes to the attribute is using these ArcMap field calculations.

Using ArcPad Training - Gold Coast Update

Early Bird Registrations Close Today!

Get in quick to receive your 25% discount on course registration.

ArcPad 8 - Service Pack 3 Released

ArcPad 8.0 Service Pack 3 is now available for download from the ESRI Support Website.

The service Pack addresses a number of issues, including Windows Vista/Windows 7 compatibility, foreign language support for ArcPad Studio and various performance enhancements. A full list of the issues addressed can be found in the ArcPad 8.0 SP3 Readme file.

Out of interest, we tested Service Packs 2 and 3 on a Trimble Nomad with an AXF file with a single feature class that had:

• 55 attributes
  
• 3 different subtypes
• 25 coded value domains

The time taken from when you digitised a point on the map to when the form displayed was 7 seconds with SP2, but only 2.5 seconds with SP3. General map navigation was also noticeably better.

GeoExplorer 2008 Firmware Update

Trimble has released a Firmware Update for the GeoExplorer 2008 Series.

This update is strongly recommended when using the GeoExplorer 2008 with ArcPad 8.
The update significantly improves the performance of the device with ArcPad 8.

The update can be downloaded from the Trimble.

(Please ensure that you follow all instructions when undertaking to upgrade your device).

Thanks to the MapTel Blog for the news.

Using ArcPad Training - Gold Coast Update

The venue for the upcoming 'Using ArcPad' course, to be held on 3 March 2010 has been finalised.

The course will be run at the Freshwater Point Resort, Broadbeach, Gold Coast, QLD (not far from the OZRI venue).

More information on the course can be found on the Support and Training page of our site. To register your interest, Download the Registration Form, and send it back to us.

ArcGIS 10!

Just a short note to let users know that the upcoming ArcGIS 9.4 release has been renamed ArcGIS 10!

Information about the release of ArcGIS 10 can be found here.

RIA ArcCatalog Tools

Ever needed to copy the names of the feature classes within a GeoDatabase to a text or MS Word Document. It is actually quite difficult to do. Never fear, we have written a simple but extremely useful tool which will make your life a lot easier: The RIA ArcCatalog Tools.
Version 1.0 of the RIA ArcCatalog Tools Toolbar has been uploaded to ArcScripts (yes Chris I know, finally!). You can download it from here.

Basically what the tool does is copies the names of any selected objects from the ArcCatalog Contents window to the clipboard. You are then free to paste those names wherever you like.

Let us know what you think of the tool. Any feedback is appreciated.

Using ArcPad Training - Gold Coast 3rd March 2010

With the upcoming OZRI/APUC Conference scheduled at the Gold Coast, March 4-5, RIA Mobile GIS are planning to run a Using ArcPad Training Course on the Gold Coast on Wednesday 3rd March.

To register your interest or to obtain further information about the course, please contact RIA on (03) 6223 4919 or email ContactUs@riamobilegis.com.au

Following the Training Course, attendees of the OZRI Conference can head along to OZRI welcome drinks at Conrad Jupiters from 6pm onwards.

Stay tuned for Course venue details.

Patches and Service Packs

I have recently been working on a project for a client where we have written some custom ArcPad check in tools, which firstly deposits all edits into a Staging File GeoDatabase. After a manaual verification has taken place, we then upload all edits to a Versioned SDE Master GeoDatabase. The tool is written using ArcGIS Geoprocessing tools and Python scripting.

In doing my testing, I found an issue with appending the edits to the Versioned SDE GeoDatabase. It worked fine to an unversioned database, but not the versioned one. An error was appearing telling me I could not edit the data outside of an edit session (which is not possible from the Geoporcessing script).

After doing a bit of research, I found that this was a bug with ArcGIS 9.3.1, and (thankfully) there was a patch available from the ESRI Support Center website.

This serves as a good reminder to keep your software up to date, and if you are having problems, check for patches and service packs. Also check the user forums - chances are someone else has experienced exactly the same problem you are facing.

New Rugged PDA from Getac

The Getac PS236 is a new release ruggedized PDA with a number of integrated features including GPS, 3MP camera, RFID, 1D Barcode Reader, compass, altimeter and optional HSDPA.

A review of this unit by RIA will be coming soon, stay tuned. In the meantime, independent product reviews can be found at:
http://ruggedpcreview.com/3_handhelds_getac_ps236.html
http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/18470/2/

Seasons Greetings

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our Business Partners, Clients and Friends!

Just a reminder that the RIA Office will be closed between 25th December - 3rd January.

We look forward to catching up with all of you in the new year!

Merry Christmas!

The RIA Team.

ArcPad 8 Service Pack 2 Released

Service Pack 2 for ArcPad 8.0 was released over the weekend. It is available from the ESRI website. Fixes include:

• the reduction of drawing flickering
• improvements to symbology and labelling
• a new developer sample
  

A full list of the issues addressed in this released can be found here.

FREE MONITORS

There are 2 computer monitors sitting outside 53 Slamanca Place in Hobart waiting to be taken home. If you want them, get in quick.