RIA Hardware Bundles

It's getting towards the end of the financial year again, one of the busiest times of the year for hardware and software purchases.

The RIA Mobile GIS website now lists some of the most popular hardware bundles available; this can be accessed via the Common Hardware Bundles link from the RIA homepage or see here

With the Australian Dollar starting to dip against foreign currencies, now could be the opportunity to make those purchases that have been sitting on the back burner. Contact us for the latest pricing and advice.

Contact RIA for all your Mobile GIS needs.

Removing hyperlinks from MS Word

Ever wanted to remove all hyperlinks from a MS Word Document? The easy way to do it is to select the text that you want, then press and hold ctrl and shift, then hit F9.

Nothing at all to do with mobile GIS I know, but it made me excited!!!

Remote Display for Windows Mobile

When using Windows Mobile Devices it can sometimes be extremely useful to display, and view, the Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) screen from your PC or Laptop.

Currently there are 2 alternate applications, that we're aware of, which provide you with this functionality:

1. Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys - This is a suite of tools designed to assist with the development and testing on a Windows Mobile device. Please note that the Power Tools are NOT a Microsoft Supported Product.
2. MyMobiler - Is a freeware application designed for Windows Mobile remote display.

Please ensure that you follow all instructions when setting up and using either of these applications.

RIA Mobile GIS cannot be held responsible for any damages, or issues, resulting from the implementation and/or use of these applications.

Listing Domains

Here is a handy little Python script which lists all the domains in a GeoDatabase, then exports each to a table within that GeoDatabase.

import arcgisscripting

gp = arcgisscripting.create(9.3)

ws = "c:\\temp\\test.gdb"

desc = gp.describe(ws)

print "Domains in '%s': " % ws

domains = desc.Domains

for domain in domains:

print domain

gp.DomainToTable(ws, domain, ws + "\\domain_" + domain , "CODE", "DESCRIPTION")

To run the script:

1. Open up a Python Editor, such as PyScripter or PythonWin
2. Copy the above code to a script file
3. Make sure there is a tab before the print domain, and gp.DomainToTable(... lines (it doesn't seemed to include tabs properly in the blog posts).
4. Update the ws variable to the GeoDatabase you wish to analyse
5. Click run

Notes:

• The output tables are named "domain_XXX" where XXX is the name of the domain
• Each of these tables have two fields: one called CODE, which lists the code and a second called DESCRIPTION which lists the description.

ArcPad and Application Builder Training

Time to put your learning hats on! RIA have just scheduled two more training courses for Melbourne in May:

• Using ArcPad (18 May)
• ArcPad Application Builder (19 May)

Note: Course dates have been rescheduled from the original dates.

For further details on the courses, as well as the other courses that we offer, please visit the Support and Training page of our website.

To register your interest, download the appropriate form below, and return to us ASAP.

• Using ArcPad Registration Form
• Application Builder Registration Form

Be Quick: Numbers are limited and early bird discounts apply!

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.