ArcUser
Spring 2012 Edition
Ready-to-Deploy Viewers for Flex and Silverlight
This article as a PDF.
Esri provides GIS web client mapping applications for ArcGIS for Server built using Adobe Flex and Microsoft Silverlight technologies. Both are designed to meet the business needs of organizations for easily configurable web mapping apps that require no programming skills to deploy. The ArcGIS Resource Center supplies extensive support for both viewers: explanations of concepts, samples, forums, API reference, and code gallery.
ArcGIS Viewer for Flex sample integrating a GeoRSS with the map
ArcGIS Viewer for Flex
Along with ArcGIS API for Flex 2.5, Esri also released ArcGIS Viewer for Flex. It is available in uncompiled and compiled packages. The uncompiled package is targeted at developers who intend to create custom widgets and/or extend the core viewer application. The compiled version is for users who intend to create custom web mapping applications by configuring the viewer's XML configuration files. The 2.5 release also includes an application builder that employs a three-stage process that helps novice users learn about the viewer's configuration properities while creating and deploying a new application.
Viewer functionality is defined by widgets. Many core widgets are included, and new functionality can be defined with custom widgets developed using ArcGIS API for Flex. ArcGIS Viewer for Flex 2.5 can be downloaded from the ArcGIS Resource Center.
ArcGIS Viewer for Silverlight sample with the OpenStreetMap basemap
ArcGIS Viewer for Silverlight
ArcGIS Viewer for Silverlight 1.0 includes a configurable viewer, an application builder, and an extensibility kit. The viewer is a ready-to-deploy configurable rich Internet application (RIA) built on ArcGIS API for Silverlight. This web client works with ArcGIS for Server services and data content from ArcGIS Online. Configuring the viewer with the application builder is easy and does not require either editing configuration files or programming. The extensibility kit lets developers extend the core viewer framework using add-ins that leverage Silverlight libraries including ArcGIS API for Silverlight and the native Silverlight API.
This release includes an updated Application Builder user interface; more intuitive editing workflows; default enabled on-click pop-up windows; the ability to use web maps from ArcGIS Online and support for accessing an organization's web maps maintained in ArcGIS Online; and localization for Arabic, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), and Russian. The viewer can also show the results of geoprocessing operations using the map service (when applicable).
