What's Coming in ArcGIS 9.3

ArcGIS 9.3 continues to expand the use of GIS throughout the enterprise. From GIS professionals to decision makers, clients, and the public, GIS information and analysis can be made available wherever it is needed.

ArcGIS 9.3 is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2008.

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ArcGIS Desktop

At ArcGIS Desktop 9.3, we've implemented many of your enhancement requests and addressed a significant number of common technical support issues to help make you more productive.

ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 is supported on Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2003, and Windows 2000.

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General Mapping Enhancements

• Bookmarks are now easier to access and use.

  Bookmarks are much easier to access. You can also re-order and sort them, and export and load them between different data frames, maps, and globes.

• The ability to pause labels increases performance while you assemble layers in your map or do analysis.
• A new convert graphics to features function allows you to create features by drawing graphics without using the editor.

  The new Convert Graphics to Features dialog at ArcGIS 9.3

• Attribute table improvements including, multiple field sorting and persisting field aliases.
• All legends now simulate layer transparency to more closely match your maps.

  Layer transparency synced with the legend at ArcGIS 9.3

• A new ArcGIS Desktop Resource Center makes it easy to add useful online data to your map.
• A new error reporting system automatically tracks errors and sends reports to ESRI.

Cartography

• Curved graticule support is improved.
• What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editing allows you to better see how an edit will impact your map.
• Automatic street address placement
• Multiple view windows
• Better contour labeling
• Disperse Markers has been added to allow you to spread representation markers apart which are coincident or nearly coincident

  The new representation marker dispersal tool reduces the complex one-to-many relationship to a simple dynamic map

Modeling & Analysis

• Refined iterative modeling
• Improved contouring
• Improved scatter plot graphics
• A new Geographically Weighted Regression tool helps you understand how processes vary over space

3D Visualization

• Improved KML support
• Better support for time series animation in 3D
• Collaborative Design Activity (COLLADA) support for the more realistic display of 3D models

ArcGIS Server

Here are just a few of the quality enhancements and new features you will see with ArcGIS Server 9.3.

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New REST and JavaScript APIs

These APIs will dramatically simplify your development experience and enable you to deliver fast and user-friendly mashup GIS Web applications.

The JavaScript libraries will also let you embed ArcGIS Server maps, geocoding, and geoprocessing services into Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth.

New Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Services Support

Additional support for OGC standards including Web Coverage Service (WCS), Transactional Web Feature Service (WFS-T), and Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) support for WMS provides you with open and more flexible solutions.

KML 2.2 support has also been greatly enhanced and will improve your ability to integrate with virtually all the commonly accepted GIS and IT standards.

New PostgreSQL Support

Giving you the ability to store and manage spatial information in this open source database system.

New Collaborative Design Activity (COLLADA) File Support

Furthering your ability to interoperate with industry standard 3D authoring tools for rich shading and texturing effects.

Improved Performance

On-demand caching and improved caching geoprocessing tools will allow you to create faster mapping services.

New image services will let you quickly publish imagery that is optimized for the Web.

Better Diagnostics

Precise logs will enable you to easily identify bottlenecks and points of failure and improve your installation and configuration experience.

Enhanced Security

New options, including Role-based security, in Manager will make it easier for you to secure Web services and Web applications.

More Documentation

Major additions have been made to the online help and SDK documentation.

A new ArcGIS Server Resource Center brings together the set of online resources to help make you successful including blogs, samples, and best practices information.

ArcGIS Engine

Here are just a few of the quality enhancements and new features you will see with ArcGIS Engine 9.3.

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New ArcGIS Snippet Finder

This new tool will make it easier to search and choose how code snippets will be inserted (e.g., fully qualified/using statements/commented). Previously, you could only browse the list of more than 250 code snippets.

New Configurations Supported

The ArcGIS Engine Java Developer Kit version 6 will include support configurations for SUSE Linux 10, 64-bit Red Hat Linux (must use 32-bit Java Virtual Machine [JVM]), and Windows Vista operating systems.

Improved IDE and Debugging Experience

Integrated with the Eclipse 3.3 plug-in, you can now inspect the state of ArcObjects under the Java platform.

New Topics and Samples

There are three or four times more help topics and samples to assist developers.

New MXD Editor Tool

MXD Editor is a tool that can be used to inspect and fix broken layers in map documents (.mxd files) on Windows, Linux, or Solaris machines that have ArcGIS Engine Java Developer Kit for the Java platform. The tool is based on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) framework and leverages the ArcObjects components provided by ArcGIS Engine.

The ArcGIS Engine Add Data Dialog Box Now Supports ArcSDE Geodatabases

The Add Data dialog box in ArcGIS Engine supports connections to ArcSDE geodatabases. This enables users of ArcGIS Engine applications to connect to any ArcSDE geodatabase (including personal, workgroup, and enterprise ArcSDE) to access data.

Improved Dynamic Display Capabilities

The dynamic display capabilities have been considerably enhanced in 9.3. Dynamic display can be used and configured using ArcObjects by developers on all supported ArcGIS Engine development environments.

At 9.3, dynamic display has been further improved with better display caching:

• Background tiles loading thread
• Reused during dynamic sessions (activate and deactivate)
• Reused between dynamic sessions (layer files and map documents)
• Generated before use
• Invalidated areas
• Tiles compression format
• Layer drawing characteristics

Version 9.3 also supports feature selection, adds new continuous zoom/pan and roam tools, and has enhanced performance.

Personal ArcSDE Included in ArcGIS Engine Developer Kit

ArcGIS Engine 9.3 includes the SQL Server 2005 Express installation and the ArcSDE personal geodatabase Post Installation wizard. This allows ArcGIS Engine developers to use personal ArcSDE geodatabases as a data source.

ArcGIS Mobile

ArcGIS Mobile extends the ArcGIS Server platform beyond the office with the addition of a new ArcGIS Mobile application and enhancements to the existing ArcGIS Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK).

New ArcGIS Mobile Application for Windows Mobile

At 9.3, the ArcGIS Mobile will be enhanced with the addition of a new ArcGIS Mobile application for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices. This includes out-of-the-box mobile GIS capabilities that integrate with ArcGIS Server to provide central management, configuration, and deployment of mobile GIS data, maps, tasks and projects from the ArcGIS Server Manager. The ArcGIS Server Manager is a Web-based portal that is optimized for mobile Internet Explorers and enables any organization to host the ArcGIS Mobile application and their ArcGIS Mobile projects for deployment to Windows Mobile-based devices. The ArcGIS Mobile application provides mobile workers with the ability to access their specific ArcGIS Mobile projects from a centralized server to:

• View and navigate mobile maps
• Collect new GIS features
• Edit existing GIS features
• Utilize the device rocker, stylus or Global Positioning System (GPS) to sketch
• Search for and manage a list of GIS features to perform future work

ArcGIS Mobile Software Development Kit Enhancements

ESRI released the ArcGIS Mobile Software Development Kit at 9.2 as part of ArcGIS Server Advanced Enterprise edition. This SDK currently supports customers and business partners developing custom mobile GIS applications.

The ArcGIS Mobile platform at 9.3 will include improvements to the software developer kit providing:

• New naming convention for mobile service map cache
• Enhanced map control rendering to support multiple data sources and graphic layers - Improved data storage capabilities
• Expanded projections covering both grid and non-grid based ArcGIS GIS projects
• Improved editing and new sketch tools for manipulating geometries
• Increased Global Positioning System (GPS) performance
• Signed cabinet file (CAB) including ArcGIS Mobile runtime components

Geodatabase

The geodatabase continues to be the common data storage and management framework for ArcGIS. At ArcGIS 9.3, the geodatabase offers improved spatial data management and enhanced capabilities for integration with enterprise systems.

ArcGIS 9.3 geodatabase enhancements include

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Raster data management

• New geoprocessing tools make the transfer of unmanaged raster catalogs (in Microsoft Access personal geodatabases and file geodatabases) from one location to another much easier.

Geodatabase replication

• Microsoft Access personal geodatabases and file geodatabases can participate in one-way replication as child geodatabases.
• ArcGIS 9.3 allows for more detailed logging of geodatabase replication activity.

Direct Connect backward compatibility

• ArcGIS 9.3 clients can make direct connections to pre-9.3 enterprise geodatabases (e.g., 9.2, 9.1, and 9.0).
• Backward compatibility allows easier implementation of phased migration strategies for new ArcGIS releases.

Versioned editing

• The Merge Geometries option enhances conflict and reconcile management.
• The Version Changes Viewer tool allows a version to be compared with an ancestor version without performing a reconcile operation.

Support for PostgreSQL (Open Source DBMS)

• Enterprise geodatabases can be implemented on PostgreSQL with full support of the geodatabase data model.
• Vector geometry is stored in the ESRI spatial type.
• PostGIS Open Source spatial type is supported.

Support for SQL Server 2008

ArcGIS 9.3 will support the two new spatial types in Microsoft SQL Server 2008. A geodatabase implemented on SQL Server 2008 will be able to store vector geometry in either spatial type (Geography or Geometry). Learn more

New 64-bit platform support

• Enterprise ArcSDE technology is now available as a native 64-bit application for Windows and Linux.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Can I participate in the ArcGIS 9.3 beta program?

The ArcGIS 9.3 beta program is only open to ESRI Developer Network (EDN) subscribers. An e-mail invitation was sent to the primary maintenance contact at each organization that subscribes to EDN. If you are interested in becoming an EDN subscriber, please visit www.esri.com/edn.

Will ArcGIS 9.3 run on Windows XP or Vista 64-bit operating systems?

ArcGIS Desktop is fully supported on 64-bit Windows at 9.2 Service Pack 3 and beyond. While ArcGIS is a 32-bit application, it has been tested and certified on the 64-bit versions of Windows. We have no immediate plans to release a native 64-bit version of ArcGIS Desktop, although we will continue to research this possibility.

At ArcGIS 9.2, we released 64-bit versions of the ArcSDE component of ArcGIS Server for some UNIX platforms. At 9.3, we will also release a native 64-bit version of ArcSDE technology for Windows and Linux.

Will ArcGIS 9.3 support Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 6.0?

ArcGIS 9.3 will support Visual Studio 2008 in ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Engine, and ArcGIS Server for customization and development. In addition, ArcGIS 9.3 will continue to support Visual Studio 2005. ArcGIS 9.3 will still have the Visual Basic (VB) 6 Software Developer Kit (SDK) for ArcGIS Engine and ArcGIS Desktop, but it will be the last release that will support VB 6. ArcGIS Server 9.3 will support .NET 3.5.

Will ArcGIS 9.3 support Visual C++ 6.0?

ArcGIS 9.3 will not support Visual C++ 6.0. In fact, ArcGIS 9.1 was the last release that supported it. However, if you want to do COM Visual C++ development at ArcGIS 9.2 and 9.3, ESRI will support that language via Visual Studio 2005 (not Visual Studio 6).

For additional information, please visit the system requirements page.

I heard a rumor that the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) interface and functionality will no longer be available in 9.3. Is this true?

This is not true. VBA will continue to be fully supported in ArcGIS 9.3, and we have no plans to retire VBA support in the near term. However, we do not recommend VBA for extensive application development or customization, and users should employ Visual Studio and ArcObjects to do more complex development.

What operating systems will be supported for ArcGIS Server 9.3?

ArcGIS Server 9.3 will support the following operating systems:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS/ES 4.0 Update 2
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
• Sun Solaris 10 (SPARC)
• Sun Solaris 9 (SPARC)
• Windows 2000 SP4 Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter
• Windows 2003 SP2 Server Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter
• Windows 2003 SP2 (64-bit) Server Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter
• Windows Vista SP1 Ultimate, Enterprise, and Business
• Windows XP SP2 Professional Edition

To what extent will KML support be provided?

At 9.3, ArcGIS Server support for KML has been greatly enhanced. At 9.3, when you publish a map service, the KML service option is automatically checked. At 9.2, you had to manually check the KML option.

Improvements to KML support in ArcGIS Server 9.3 include

• Automatic availability of KML through REST
• Use of KML Regions to display cached map services
• Availability of KML for image services
• Availability of KML footprints through REST
• Ability to select a label field
• Ability to turn labels off
• Ability to select lines and polygons
• Ability to view the legend for a service (This legend comes from the ArcMap Page Layout view.)

In ArcGIS Server Manager, under Applications, you can administer KML network links.

ArcGIS Server 9.3 map services can return the results of geoprocessing, geocoding, and query operations as KML. These services can be used in applications and can also be used directly by analysts typing in REST URLs. This is a good way to allow applications and users to selectively retrieve information from online geodatabases in KML format.

All map and image services expose a KML network link through REST. REST is a way of exposing information about your services through a series of navigable URLs. At 9.3, you will be able to discover the URL to the network link using what we are tentatively calling the ArcGIS Services Explorer, which is an application designed to help you navigate the REST endpoints on your server. If you're participating in the beta program, you can see examples of the Services Explorer. Essentially, it is like a metadata report for each of your services with links showing how that map service will appear in a variety of applications including ArcGIS Explorer, Google Earth, Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, and ArcGIS Desktop. The URL points to a .kmz file that you can add to Google Earth or any other client that supports KML network links.

Still have questions about what's coming in ArcGIS 9.3? Please ask.