Getting Technical - January 2021

January 19, 2021

George Kouroupis

Happy 2021 everyone! There are lots of exciting new product releases, product updates, training courses and virtual events coming your way this year. To start off, what’s new in the ArcGIS Earth mobile app? How can you leverage your location-based data to monitor key vaccine distribution metrics using the new Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution Solutions? When is the 2021 Esri Partner Conference? Find out these and more in January’s Getting Technical blog post.

Features

ArcGIS API for Python Update Available
This release includes framework improvements, updates to the GIS Administration API, and content management updates. See the ArcGIS Blog and release notes for details.

Introducing smart forms in ArcGIS Field Maps
ArcGIS Field Maps is a mobile solution that fuses together the capabilities of map viewing, high accuracy GPS collection, smart form data entry, and location tracking into a single app experience that improves the accuracy of your data and boosts the efficiency of your mobile workforce. With Field Maps comes the introduction of smart forms in ArcGIS. GIS Analysts can use the Field Maps web app to build forms that mobile workers use to collect data and perform inspections using the Field Maps mobile app. If you’ve deployed maps for use with ArcGIS Collector or paired Collector with Survey123, you’ll want to read more about the how the new smart form capabilities in Field Maps can improve your field deployments.

ArcGIS Dashboards Beta 2 Now Available
Over the last year, more dashboards were created and shared publicly worldwide than ever before. Their uses ranged from public health, emergency management and disaster response, to public safety and public events. Dashboards change the way we explore relevant up-to-date information from a community or an authority and make data consumption easy and convenient. Publicly shared dashboards are just the tip of the iceberg. Many dashboards are created and shared within organizations beyond the public eye to help make decisions, visualize trends and monitor status in real-time.

What’s New in the ArcGIS Earth Mobile App (January 2021)
ArcGIS Earth is an interactive 3D experience to plan, visualize, and evaluate events on the globe. It’s a free and easy-to-use tool that provides situational awareness on desktop and mobile devices for improved decision-making. With the new year comes a new update to the ArcGIS Earth mobile app, with improvements to support collaborative workflows between mobile and desktop. We’re also very pleased to introduce new functionality for capturing GPS tracks and sharing them with your organization’s portal.

ArcGIS API for Flex and ArcGIS API for Silverlight Update
Esri is removing security policy files from ArcGIS Online that are used by the ArcGIS API for Flex on January 26, 2021, and for the ArcGIS API for Silverlight on October 12, 2021. After these dates, Flex and Silverlight apps can no longer access any content or services from ArcGIS Online. Due to security vulnerabilities associated with running Flash, Adobe no longer supports Flash as of December 31, 2020, and is taking steps to block Flash based apps from running altogether. For customers or partners that have a Flex- or Silverlight-based app in production, Esri highly encourages migration to a JavaScript-based app using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript. See the Technical Support site for details.

ArcGIS for Power BI: All the tools you need to create awesome maps
ArcGIS Maps for Power BI introduces a new way to access the map tools you’ll need to create compelling maps in Power BI. As a report designer, you can create and customize beautiful maps that let you tell your story without worrying about widgets hiding the map or report consumers changing the map’s default state. Consumers see the map exactly as you intended.

2021 Esri Partner Conference – Call for Images
Your GIS work has the power to inspire people. We would love for you to share your images for potential use in Jack Dangermond’s Plenary Session for the 2021 Esri Partner Conference and in Esri marketing materials.
Submission deadline: Wednesday, February 24, 2021

FAQ: How do you make a grayscale or monochrome basemap?
There are myriad reasons to choose to map atop a grayscale or monochrome basemap. Maybe you want your whole map to live within the visual constraints of various tones within a single hue, like this map of the Appalachian Trail. Daniel Huffman does go into detail on the aesthetic challenges and benefits of this approach. Or maybe you want your basemap to be more of a stage for your thematic data and going grayscale (or monochrome) helps reduce its visual prominence and best sets a spartan stage for the content you layer atop (Andy Skinner and John Nelson pivot a recurring presentation on choosing basemaps on this base-map vs base-map functional consideration, and it’s one of the main drivers behind Firefly cartography). Whatever the reason, the result can be beautifully restrained and useful in all sorts of ways. And it’s mega easy to do.

Hot tip: Creating animations using location tracking data
After an event, it can be very useful to see where personnel were during the course of the day. One interesting way to visualize this is by creating an animation over time using data recorded by ArcGIS Tracker or ArcGIS Field Maps.

Videos: New Brunswick DTI - Field Maintenance Survey

Follow @EsriCanada on Twitter and check out more technical videos using the hashtag #HowtoArcGIS

COVID-19 Resources

Visit the ArcGIS Solutions site to learn more about Esri’s suite of coronavirus recovery solutions.

COVID-19 Canada Resource Hub
Esri Canada’s resource hub includes bilingual maps, apps and other COVID-19 resources for the public, customers and media. The hub is constantly updated with case and vaccination data. It features dashboards on economic recovery, family structure, household dynamics and mental health, COVID-19 open datasets, additional GIS training videos and other resources. Check out our COVID-19 Recovery Solutions.

Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution Solutions Available Now
Achieving high coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination rates requires a robust and transparent public education campaign that provides accurate vaccine information, progress on the distribution plan, and guidance needed to access a vaccination. Today, a series of new ArcGIS Solutions designed to help communities communicate vaccine distribution plans and monitor the effectiveness of those plans are available for ArcGIS users. The new solutions align with recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), support plans developed by communities to execute the CDC recommendations, and leverage your location-based data to increase public confidence and monitor key vaccine distribution metrics.

Deploy Vaccine Solutions in Seconds
Esri has released two new solutions to assist your organization with COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution Dashboard can be used to tabulate, visualize, and monitor key vaccine distribution metrics and trends that support a phased COVID-19 vaccination plan. The Coronavirus Vaccine Outreach can be used to communicate vaccination plans, increase public confidence in vaccinations, and ensure the public knows when, and where, they can be vaccinated.

Announcements

Reveal demographic trends over time with American Community Survey layers in Living Atlas

What’s new in ArcGIS Business Analyst Pro 2.7

2020 ArcGIS Online year in review

What’s new in ArcGIS API for Python v1.8.3

What's New for Spatial Analyst in ArcGIS Pro 2.7

Dive into ArcGIS Pro 2.7

Improve Your Scripts with Linting and Automatic Code Formatting

What's New in the ArcGIS API for JavaScript (version 4.18)

Introducing direct content upload to ArcGIS Hub

What's New for ArcGIS Utility Network in ArcGIS Pro 2.7

Discover What's New in ArcGIS Pro 2.7

What's new in ArcGIS QuickCapture (December 2020)

What's new in ArcGIS Survey123 (December 2020)

Prerelease for ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9 Now Available

Update to ArcGIS Enterprise Product Lifecycle

View more announcements in the ArcGIS Blog | My Esri Blog on GeoNet

Service Packs, Patches & User Resources

ArcGIS Workflow Manager 10.8.1 Desktop Patch 1
This patch addresses an issue where exporting large datasets fails due to insufficient memory allocation in ArcGIS Workflow Manager Desktop.

ArcGIS Data Reviewer 10.8.1 Patch 1 for (Desktop | Server)
This patch is cumulative of all previously released Patches and Hot Fixes for ArcGIS Data Reviewer 10.8.1. Please download and install this patch at your earliest convenience.

ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) 10.8.1 Stability Patch
This patch resolves a critical issue with the ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) 10.8.1 where network requests may begin to fail with a HTTP 500 error code, resulting in ArcGIS Enterprise becoming unresponsive.

View more security patches

Web Watch –White Papers, Blogs and Useful Resources

App of the Month: Choose Newmarket
For January’s App of the Month, we take a look at how the Town of Newmarket chose a unique way to support their local businesses using ArcGIS Survey123 and ArcGIS Experience Builder. They launched Choose Newmarket, an application that supports local businesses during the pandemic by connecting them with residents.

Map of the Month - Surviving in the Arctic: A Look at Inuit Culture
This map by Jessica Rose from Fleming College highlights aspects of Inuit culture in Canada’s Arctic region. Explore the map and related content.

Geographical Thinking Podcast: Time for Deep Learning with GeoAI
How can Artificial Intelligence (AI) be applied to geospatial problem solving? Enter GeoAI. Join Guan Yue as she dives into the power of GeoAI with Esri Canada’s Higher Education Developer Tasos Dardas. Tasos shares his thoughts on how we’re just at the tip of the iceberg in applying GeoAI and explores its exciting possibilities.

Analyze climate impact on wine production using multidimensional analysis
Scientists warn climate change affects many parts of everyday life, including crops needed to sustain humanity. In higher latitudes, warmer temperatures can lead to longer growing seasons and an increase in potential agricultural land, while in other areas, the prolonged higher temperatures may cause a decrease in crop yield. California is famous for its grapes and wines, and you can see acres of vineyards when driving north to Napa Valley. Although grapes can grow in a wide range of climates, the highest-quality wines require a delicate balance of minimum, maximum, and extreme temperatures. To understand whether climate change will affect the quality and quantity of the grapes and wines that make it to consumers, you can do some analysis using the multidimensional analysis capabilities in ArcGIS.

ArcMap Continued Support
ArcGIS 10.8.1 is the current release of ArcMap and will continue to be supported until March 1, 2026, as established in the ArcGIS Desktop Product Life Cycle. We do not have plans to release an ArcMap 10.9 with the ArcGIS releases in 2021. We understand there may be questions as to what’s next for ArcMap inside ArcGIS Desktop. By viewing the ArcMap Continued Support page, you will be able to find the answers to most, if not all, of your questions regarding continued support of ArcMap as well as resources to help you transition your work moving forward into several Esri products such as ArcGIS Pro.

Reminder: Deprecation of Classic Locators in StreetMap Premium in 2021
We would like to remind you that starting in the first quarter of 2021, the classic locators will be phased out and no longer be included as part of ArcGIS StreetMap Premium. This will impact you if you use ArcMap, older versions of ArcGIS Enterprise, or have a custom workflow dependent on these locators. We are focusing our development efforts on the new locators that are designed to provide a better user experience and improved performance. If you are currently using the classic locators, we encourage you to start migrating to the new locators as soon as possible. Please read the New Geocoding Locators for StreetMap Premium blog post for more information on how you can start using the new locators.

Deprecation Notice for Explorer, Collector, and Tracker
ArcGIS Field Maps was launched in October 2020 and replaces the functionality of ArcGIS Collector, ArcGIS Explorer, and ArcGIS Tracker on the iOS and Android mobile platforms. These products (Collector, Explorer, Tracker) are currently available to download and are fully supported; however, they will be retired in December 2021.

View more articles in ArcUser | ArcNews | ArcWatch

Training

Migrating from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro
With faster tools and integrated 2D and 3D capabilities, ArcGIS Pro will streamline your GIS projects. This course prepares experienced ArcMap users to be productive right away. Learn essential ArcGIS Pro terminology and concepts and how to efficiently complete a variety of tasks related to mapping, editing, analyzing and sharing geospatial data and resources.

View training solutions