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Getting Technical - July 2022

What's new for Spatial Analyst in ArcGIS Pro 3.0? What’s new in ArcGIS API for Python 2.0.1? How to save feature layers in Map Viewer? How to make an 80s movie map? What's new in Esri vector basemaps ? How to upload your data in GIS Validator? Get answers to all these and more in this month’s edition of Getting Technical.

Features

ArcGIS Enterprise is being turned up to 11!
There are exciting new enhancements and functionality with this release as well as significant under-the-hood changes included a new way to introduce beta features.  To help plan your upgrade, we encourage you to review the Considerations for upgrading to 11.0 and later product documentation as well as the Consider ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9.1 until you’re ready to turn it up to 11 blog.

What's New for Spatial Analyst in ArcGIS Pro 3.0
ArcGIS Pro 3.0 makes some exciting new capabilities available to you for the Spatial Analyst extension. In the Suitability Modeler it is now easier to create more complex models, and there is an option to process large raster data more efficiently with Raster Analytics. If you do water flow modelling, there are some very powerful new tools for hydrology analysis. There is a new tool to calculate a spatial relative risk surface. You can now perform zonal analysis with circular statistics.  Read on for details on these changes, and more.

Introducing ArcGIS for Excel
This new component is part of the ArcGIS for Microsoft 365 product and enabled anyone with XY coordinate data to make a map in Excel, infusing your spreadsheet data with location intelligence.

How to Upload your Data to the GIS Validator
The NG9-1-1 GIS Validator performs over 600 tests against the layers and attributes required. This free app was developed in partnership with the Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) specifically for emergency services data providers like local government.

Have you seen the new OpenStreetMap 3D scene layers?
These 3D scene layers feature global buildings and trees, with trees presented in two styles (realistic and thematic). These scene layers can be used in Scene Viewer, ArcGIS Pro, and other ArcGIS apps that support 3D visualization.  Have questions about the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World…head on over this this blog for post-Esri UC 2022 FAQ round-up.

Saving Feature Layers in Map Viewer
With the June update, Map Viewer now supports the ability to save layer configurations directly to the feature layer. When saving a layer, the layer’s properties such as styling, pop-ups, effects, labels (and more!) are stored with the layer.

Considerations for working with threshold areas in Business Analyst Pro vs. Business Analyst Web App
In ArcGIS Business Analyst, the Threshold Areas workflow creates criteria-based trade areas that expand outward from a point location until the coverage meets a defined limit. For example, you can create a ring around a location that covers 10,000 housing units or a drive time that includes $100,000 of food & beverage store sales.

The All New Package & Environment Manager for ArcGIS Pro
ArcGIS 3.0 makes managing and upgrading your Python environment easier and more robust with a completely overhauled package and environment manager user interface.

Automate ArcGIS StoryMap Edits with ArcGIS API for Python
The ArcGIS API for Python, or Python API, as it’s also known, has now incorporated the latest version of ArcGIS StoryMaps. Using version 2.0.1 of the Python API, you can leverage classes and methods to create, edit, and update your ArcGIS stories. Let’s explore an example of how to use this module in a Notebook to make edits to a story.

Enabling the Hybrid Workspace with ArcGIS Indoors
There can be no denying that the workplace has changed dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many of us, working from home is very much the new normal and that seems unlikely to change any time soon. So how can we make the transition to this new working situation as seamless as possible?

Intuitively Access Geoenrichment Data With Python
Esri, through Business Analyst, provides access to over 15,000 demographic variables in over 130 countries around the world. The most recent update to the ArcGIS API for Python puts all this data at your fingertips, no matter how you access Business Analyst, and makes discovering available resources dramatically easier. These improvements enable the integration of Esri demographic data into workflows and pipelines to support data-driven decision-making.

Build a Campus Basemap Using the Community Maps Editor App
The Community Maps Editor App has attracted nearly 2,500 unique editors worldwide who have shared their local geographic knowledge with us by adding nearly half a million referential map features to Esri’s basemaps – it continues to grow!
In case you haven’t heard, the Community Maps Editor is a web-based application that enables you to edit Esri’s basemaps to add detailed features for universities, schools, parks, landmarks, and other special areas of interest.

Introducing Deep Learning Studio
With a greater number of users integrating deep learning into their imagery workflows, the traditional components of labeling, training and inferencing have become increasingly tedious. With ArcGIS Enterprise 11.0, releasing on July 21, 2022, ArcGIS Image Server will include Deep Learning Studio, a new web application that streamlines the entire deep learning workflow. This web app provides a multi-user, project-based collaborative environment for users to collect training samples, train deep learning models, and run inferencing at scale, all through a web browser. 

FAQ:  How to make an 80s movie map
Ah those 80s movies that made us squirm with the real threat of automation run amok but then heave a sigh of relief when the kid teaches the computer that the only way to win a global conflict is to not get into one. Those war rooms are always the best. Dark places with military brass shouting orders to techs who clack away at keyboards. Walls of maps shining with a nostalgic phosphorescent glow. Here’s how you can make maps that look like they’d be plausible as set dressing in a film like that. They’re terribly fun to make and surprisingly quick to crank out.

Hot Tip: Drag and Drop Catalog Items in ArcGIS Pro 3.0
Do you often need to copy or move items in your ArcGIS Pro project? Or from one project to another? If so, you’ll find it’s now a lot easier in ArcGIS Pro 3.0. You can access the Copy, Cut, and Paste commands from item context menus, or from the Clipboard group on the ribbon. (The Cut command was added at this release.) The keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V make these operations even more convenient. What could be better? Well, drag and drop. Drag and drop takes fewer clicks and is a preferred file handling method for many people. In this blog, we’ll describe how to use it in the Catalog pane and other catalog windows.

Announcements

What’s new in the ArcGIS Solutions July 2022 Release

What's New in Esri Vector Basemaps (July 2022)

ArcGIS Business Analyst now includes global Points of Interest data from Foursquare

What’s new in ArcGIS API for Python 2.0.1

Beginner's Guide to Esri Demographics

Connecting Multiple Datasets is Easier Than Ever with Multifile Feature Connections in ArcGIS Pro 3.0!

Three, Two, One: Updates to Countdown Instant App

Create an on-premises PostGIS only geodatabase in PostgreSQL

Introducing ArcGIS Urban API v1.0

What’s new in ArcGIS AppStudio Version 5.4 (June 2022)

What’s new in ArcGIS Urban (June 2022)

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

Service Packs, Patches & Product Support Updates

ArcGIS Pro 3.0 and Excel
Do you work with Microsoft Excel files within ArcGIS Pro?  Make sure to install the updated drivers prior to installing ArcGIS Pro 3.0.

Prepare for the retirement of ArcGIS Dashboards Classic
After several updates of ArcGIS Dashboards, the time has come for ArcGIS Dashboards Classic to retire. For ArcGIS Online users, ArcGIS Dashboards Classic is currently in mature support and with the Fall 2022 update, it will be officially retired. For ArcGIS Enterprise users, ArcGIS Dashboards Classic is set to be retired in ArcGIS Enterprise 11.0.

Several Legacy Boundary Layers to be Retired in 2022
In July 2022 and December 2022, several legacy Boundary Layers, which have been in mature support and not actively maintained, will be retired. Once these layers are retired, they will no longer be available to use. If you are using one of these layers, you should switch to the equivalent layer in General Availability. If you are not sure, keep reading.

Notification: Old Esri Vector Basemaps will be retired in 2022
Esri’s vector basemaps and styles are organized by version number. Currently, version 2 (v2) basemaps are updated on a regular cadence. Earlier versions are available but no longer updated. Find out which versions will be retired and will no longer be available to use in maps and apps.

Developers: Required update to ArcGIS location services
On January 27th, 2021, new ArcGIS location services and pricing were released. If you have developed an application that uses ArcGIS Online services other than the new ArcGIS location services, you may be required to update your applications before April 30th, 2022, or December 31st, 2022.

ArcMap Continued Support
ArcGIS 10.8.2 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. This was a maintenance release only and does not include new functionality. This update does not extend the ArcGIS 10.8.x product life cycle. Esri does not have plans to release an ArcMap 10.9. The ArcMap Continued Support page, will be able to answer your questions regarding continued support of ArcMap as well as contains resources to help you transition your work moving forward into several Esri products such as ArcGIS Pro.

ArcGIS Pro 2.6 Patch 10 (2.6.10) Announcement
The ArcGIS Pro 2.6 Patch 10 (2.6.10) is now available for download from My Esri. To download Esri software, go to the My Organizations tab, then click the Downloads sub tab. You must have Download software permission in order to access the Downloads sub tab. If you do not see this sub tab, you may need to request permissions.

ArcGIS Pro 2.7 Patch 7 (2.7.7) Announcement
The ArcGIS Pro 2.7 Patch 7 (2.7.7) is now available for download from My Esri. To download Esri software, go to the My Organizations tab, then click the Downloads sub tab. You must have Download software permission in order to access the Downloads sub tab. If you do not see this sub tab, you may need to request permissions.

ArcGIS GeoEvent Server 10.9.1 Patch 2 (Windows, Linux)

View more security patches

Web Watch – Blogs, Podcasts and Useful Resources

Map of the Month: Passe-croche Fire 395
This map shows the progression of the major blaze that started on June 16, 2020 to the north of Lac Saint-Jean, in the Chute-des-Passes area. It remained out of control for a few days and gained ground even overnight, which is rare. This fire reached a size of 50,891.5 hectares, making it the largest human-caused forest fire in Québec in the past 10 years. To fight it, a major fire management team was deployed. At the height of operations, the support of more than 325 people, including firefighters brought in from Ontario and Alberta, was needed. This major fire was officially declared as being out on August 17, 2020, after 63 days of firefighting.

Screenshot of Passe-croche Fire 395 Map

Community Map of Canada – Style of the Month: Here Be Dragons 
Arr... ye ready to take the high seas? Ward off the dragons and scuttle no ship. Find this creative July Community Map of Canada Style.

An artistic map of Canada, the United States and Mexico. There are tall ships and sea dragon tails scattered across the oceans surrounding the continents.

Geographical Thinking Podcast Season 2 | Episode 20: Drone project in Matawa First Nations
Matawa is a tribal council that looks after 9 First Nation communities in northern Ontario. Their land covers an area more than twice the size of New Brunswick and is difficult to navigate. But they need to study the land to make informed decisions about its’ future use. So they taught themselves drone technology and mapped all their communities at 1cm accuracy, in six months. It’s an extraordinary feat and Sarah Cockerton, manager of the Four Rivers Environmental Group explains how they did it.

View more articles in ArcUser | ArcNews | ArcWatch

Training

Stay in the Game with ArcGIS Arcade
ArcGIS Arcade is a new, powerful and flexible expression language that is used across the ArcGIS system. It is similar to scripting languages like Python but is more compact and lightweight. In this course, you’ll learn to write Arcade expressions that dynamically control symbolization, labels, pop-ups, field calculations and attribute rules. With this knowledge you’ll be able to extend these techniques to other types of functionalities throughout the ArcGIS system.

View training solutions

Esri Canada Seminars & Webinars

Esri Canada Summer School: Dive into ArcGIS Pro 3.0
August 04, 2022
School might be out for summer, but Esri Canada Summer School is still in session and we’re back with our second lesson this term! This time, we’ll be taking you through a major desktop software release: ArcGIS Pro 3.0. In this session, we will explore many enhancements that will help you achieve more in content management, map authoring, exploration, geoprocessing and analysis. Join us for this webinar as we show you everything your organization needs to know about this important ArcGIS Pro release.

Esri Canada Summer School: ArcGIS Insights 101
August 25,2022
Esri Canada Summer School keeps on rolling with our final lesson of the term! In our third session, we’ll show how you can use ArcGIS Insights to better understand your data by using geospatial analytics. Whether you work with spatial or tabular data, in this webinar you will learn how to leverage the advanced analytics and linked data visualization tools in Insights to make better decisions through the spatial lens.

View recorded seminars | View recorded webinars

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.

About the Author

Erica Morra is the Product Portfolio Manager for Esri Canada. She is passionate about promoting the value of location intelligence and communicating the capabilities of Esri's suite of ArcGIS products. Erica has worked as a GIS professional for over 17 years, helping organizations leverage Esri technology to meet their business needs of today and of the future.

Profile Photo of Erica Morra