An ArcGIS Engine application being developed for the Navy's Base Realignment and Closure Program (courtesy of Geographic Information Services, Inc.).

ArcGIS Engine, a new developer product for creating custom GIS desktop applications, is now available. ArcGIS Engine includes the core set of components from which ArcGIS products, including ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo, and ArcGIS Server, are built. With ArcGIS Engine, users can build stand-alone applications or extend existing applications to provide focused spatial solutions to both GIS and non-GIS users.

ArcGIS Engine was created in response to requests that ArcObjects, the component framework of ArcGIS, and supporting developer resources be packaged for fast, comprehensive, and cost-effective delivery of industry-focused applications that can serve the GIS community and also reach beyond the traditional GIS user in all types of organizations.

Product Overview

ArcGIS Engine contains everything developers need to build and deploy applications that deliver custom GIS solutions. With ArcGIS Engine, developers can add dynamic mapping and GIS capabilities to existing applications, build their own unique mapping programs, and embed GIS capabilities in commercially available applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

ArcGIS Engine comprises two products. The ArcGIS Engine Developer Kit contains the components and tools for developers to build solutions. Developers can choose from COM, .NET, Java, and C++ application program interfaces and many popular interactive development environments when building ArcGIS Engine applications. ArcGIS Engine's visual developer controls help simplify prototyping and programming. ArcGIS Engine Runtime contains the required infrastructure that will be installed on the target computer to run ArcGIS Engine applications. Developers can package ArcGIS Engine Runtime with their applications or can allow end users to purchase the runtime directly from Esri. The runtime software is activated via a license key. If the end user has a valid ArcGIS Desktop license on the target computer, no additional runtime license need be purchased to run the ArcGIS Engine application.

With ArcGIS Engine, users can

• Efficiently build and deploy custom desktop ArcGIS applications.
• Deploy cost-effectively applications requiring only an ArcGIS Engine Runtime or ArcGIS Desktop license per computer.
• Embed GIS logic in non-GIS centric applications.
• Build focused GIS data editing applications that take full advantage of the capabilities of a multiuser geodatabase using the Geodatabase Update option.
• Build visualization applications that expose spatial and 3D analysis using the Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst options.
• Build geocoding and routing applications based on a nationwide U.S. data set using the StreetMap options.

Who Uses ArcGIS Engine?

ArcGIS Engine allows users to use GIS and mapping technology to solve problems beyond the traditional GIS-centric community. ArcGIS Engine is of particular interest to

• Technically sophisticated, GIS-focused firms
• Large organizations that need to develop enterprise GIS and mapping solutions
• Developers of third party solutions for sale to the GIS community and vertical industries
• Developers of non-GIS-centric applications who want to implement spatial functionality

With ArcGIS Engine, software developers can leverage the power of ArcGIS to quickly build the right GIS applications for their end users.

For more information, visit www.esri.com/arcgisengine. Outside the United States, contact your local distributor; see www.esri.com/international.