ArcGIS Engine 9.3 delivers a standard framework for developers to build focused custom GIS and mapping applications. With the new version, developers will find it easier than ever to find and use the code samples, documentation, and tools that are necessary to be successful. It enables developers to rapidly build GIS solutions that take full advantage of Esri's ArcGIS platform.

Snippet Finder for .NET ArcGIS Engine Software Developer Kit (SDK)

ArcGIS Engine 9.3 has improved dynamic display with better display caching.

To make it easier to search the code snippets available in ArcGIS Engine 9.3, a new ArcGIS Engine Snippet Finder tool has been created. This tool lets .NET developers choose how code will be inserted (e.g., fully qualified/using statements/comments). Previously, users could only browse the list of more than 250 code snippets. The new version also now supports the Visual Studio 2008 integrated development environment (IDE).

MXDEditor Tool and More Documentation for Java ArcGIS Engine SDK

Java developers can now take advantage of a new MXDEditor tool to inspect and fix broken layers in map documents (.mxd files). The tool is based on the Eclipse rich client platform (RCP) framework and leverages the ArcObjects components provided by ArcGIS Engine. ArcGIS Engine developers can also now use the integrated Eclipse 3.3 plug-in to inspect the state of ArcObjects. In addition, ArcGIS Engine 9.3 supports the Java Development Kit version 6 on the latest platforms, including SUSE Linux 10, 64-bit Red Hat Linux (32-bit JVM), and Windows Vista.

One of the most significant improvements for Java developers is the addition of three to four times more help topics and samples specifically for Java. Improvements have also been made to the ArcObjects library overview topics.

Additional Enhancements

ArcGIS Engine 9.3 includes the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express installation and the DBMS-based geodatabase postinstallation wizard, which allows ArcGIS Engine developers to use desktop geodatabases as a data source. Also included in ArcGIS Engine 9.3 is the Add Data dialog box that supports connections to the geodatabase. This dialog box allows developers to enable their ArcGIS Engine applications to facilitate connections to any DBMS-based geodatabase to access data.

Dynamic display capabilities have been considerably enhanced and can be configured by developers on all supported ArcGIS Engine development environments. Dynamic display in ArcGIS 9.3 has been further improved with better display caching. ArcGIS Engine 9.3 also supports feature selection, adds new continuous zoom/pan and roam tools, and has enhanced performance. A key focus was to improve the programmatic access to the editing environment. As a result, developers can now combine out-of-the-box editing commands in their applications with editing functionalities programmatically. There are also three new interfaces added to assist with managing the editing environment, as well as four new editing commands to improve vertex management while editing.

In addition to all the new features and enhancements in ArcGIS Engine 9.3, Esri is introducing a dedicated resource center for the software. ArcGIS Engine Resource Center is a Web site that centralizes all the various online resources for ArcGIS Engine in one easy-to-find location. This resource center includes code samples, blogs, best practices, and documentation. It also serves as a developer community for ArcGIS Engine.

More Information

ArcGIS Engine 9.3 is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2008. To learn more about ArcGIS Engine 9.3, visit www.esri.com/arcgisengine.