ArcReader

What is it?

ArcReader is a Windows (and Linux) GIS application. It can also be used as a control to create custom applications.

• Create a map in ArcMap.
• Save it to a PMF (= "Portable Map Format") using the Publisher extension.

Now you can give PMF files to your friends and clients and they can view them in ArcReader, which is free. You have an up-front cost of $2500 Publisher extension (in addition to the ArcMap cost) but you can distribute as many copies of ArcReader or applications built on it at no additional cost.

Good part

You can just distribute it as "ArcReader" or you can use it as the basis for sophisticated applications. You can go a long way with this approach.

Bad part

You might not want to pay for the ArcPublisher extension.

Alternatives

You can build an application using ArcGIS Engine as the base.

What about free/open source software alternatives? I'd like something that runs on more platforms than just Windows. SharpMap is a Windows possibility.

I have only used the ArcReader control to create .Net Windows applications. It is supposed to be possible to create Linux/Java applications with it, too.

I've never even tried the Linux version of ArcReader out. I think it's limited to being supported only on the Suse and RedHat distributions and I am a Debian/Ubuntu fan.

What features does it have?

This giant feature matrix PDF tells you exactly what features can be found in each ESRI product.

Generally speaking though, ArcReader looks like ArcMap. TOC on the left, map on the right, toolbars at the top, and layers that can be turned off or on. But it's just a map viewer, not a GIS system.

There is a feature checklist to constrain some of these. That is, when you publish the map you can for example, switch off the TOC.

You can zoom in and out and pan around and you can print. You can do searches and you can use the identify tool.

All properties of a 'published' map are locked down; for example, you can't change Display transparency or Symbology or Labels.

If you want to publish a map from ArcMap therefore you might want to include several layers that have different settings. For example, a street layer might be included twice, once with and once without labels.

You can put a password onto the PMF file

Customizing ArcReader

Things start to take off when you create customized versions of ArcReader. There is a component in Publisher to allow creating customized ArcReaders. (That's what ESRI says, I have not found it yet.)

Using PMF files in other applications

You can open up the PMF file by unchecking the "ArcReader only" boxes in Publisher properties.

The file is in binary format. Like a PDF file, it might just be compressed text.

Managing data sources

The age-old problem of packaging the shapefiles / datasources with the map still exists. For example, my MXD project shapefiles are on a server, so my PMF (ArcReader) file still references the very same server files. If I hand you a copy of the PMF, it won't work for you unless I give you a copy of my server, too.

About the only property available for you to change is the data source location for each layer. So if you have the files, you can hook them up.

There does not appear to be any way for you to SAVE the new PMF file though! So you'd be forced to repeat the updates each time you open the PMF, probably cursing me all the while.

If the server is Internet-based and all the references in my ArcMap project are to those published Web services instead of to shapefiles tucked away on a file server, the PMF would work for you too. If your Internet connection is fast enough. Vector files, good. Raster files, bad.

Producing a good ArcReader Map

Who is the end user? Design the map for your user, not yourself.

Export only the layers needed by your user.

How will the map be distributed? You probably want to package all layers.

What comes through to ArcReader? Transparency? Fonts and symbols? Names of layers?

Labels cannot be switched off or on in an ArcReader layer, but layers can be. So if you want labels that can be switched on and off you must set up two layers, one with labels and one without.

If you look at the Publisher summary it will tell you which features are currently enabled for export.

Do scale range controls come through? (This could be used to switch off layers at small scale views.)

Do bookmarks work?

Do groups work? YES

Do maptips work? YES

Hyperlinks?

Publisher settings

Set a 'freshness' date. Make the map expire so that the user will download a newer copy when the data is old and stale.

Set the comments field. Promote yourself, not ESRI, by editing the comments field.