Update: ArcGIS for AutoCAD Available

Update: Don Kuehne (of ESRI, but posting as himself) offers his take and a link to an ArcNews article on the product.

—original post—-

I wrote about this “new product” from ESRI after seeing a demo at Fed UC in January. It’s available for download now; I expected to wait longer, but perhaps there was significant “demand” after the preview?

The product, as I noted in the earlier post delivers ArcGIS results “in the form of map service images.” The product is free, but to use it you need AutoCAD 2007 and ArcGIS Server 9.2. The key features listed on the ESRI site:

View one or more georeferenced ArcGIS Server map service(s) in AutoCAD.
Dynamically refresh the map services(s) with AutoCAD Pan/Zoom tools.
Identify features in the map service by picking locations on the map service image in AutoCAD.
Cut and Paste values from Identify dialog to Windows clipboard.
Toggle dynamic refresh of the map service On/Off.
Toggle visibility of map service On/Off.

That sure sounds like WMS sort of funcationality to me. (screen shot) Is based on WMS? Why not just use WMS? Why has Autodesk not put WMS support into AutoCAD? I guess because they want folks to buy Map 3D. (I’m ready to drop the 3D now, how about you?)  WMS support is in Autodesk Map 2007. I was “grabbed” at Autodesk World Press Day by a rep, so they were sure I’d seen it. Third parties have offered WMS support for AutoCAD and Map in the past including IME and GlobeXplorer, now owned by DigitalGlobe.

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Update: Who can download ArcGIS Explorer now?

Update 1/9/07: I blew this. Instead of contacting ESRI to get the answer to the question, I took the easy way out and believed something I read on the Internet that said that ESRI was somehow checking to see if those trying to download the software were up-to-date on maintenance. Every time I tried to download the software I was unable to do so, so I believed what I read. It is not, however, true, per Bernie Szukalski, with whom I spoke today at the ESRI Federal User Conference.

After our conversation, I tried one more time to download the software today, thinking that maybe my pop up blocker was getting in the way. I failed. Then, on a whim,  I tried a different browser (I was using Internet Explorer, then tried Firefox) and it worked. I was able to download the software.

To be clear, ESRI has only invited its users to download ArcGIS Explorer. Why? Szukalski offered these reasons:

1) Opening downloads to all invites further comparison with Google Earth and suggests ArcGIS is aimed at the same user base. It’s not; it’s for a different population.
2) A large number of users would challenge ESRI’s ArcGIS Online servers, those that provide the data for ArcGIS Explorer.
3) The current data available via ArcGIS Online is limited and includes for example 15 meter imagery.

In February ESRI will move ArcGIS Online into beta 2; it will include 1 meter imagery. At that point, the company will invite more people to download the software, with a public download page.

ArcGIS Online is another part of the ArcGIS family. That family includes software (ArcGIS desktop, server, the free ArcGIS Explorer) and ArcGIS Online (the content and capabilities, aka data and services). Some of the data will be freely available, some will require subscriptions, and if you want to republish data in a value-added service or internally, there’ll be a fee. And, there are some new additions to ArcGIS Online in the works. There’ll be a free online sharing program, where data creators can submit data to ESRI to host in its globe. If ESRI wants it, it will host it for free. It it’s not a fit, data creators can pay a fee to have ESRI host the data. ESRI will also provide hosting for applications.

Szukalski also shared another offering related to ArcGIS Online: it’s the core data all cooked, tiled and rendered for users to host on their own server. He describes it as “Globe in a box.” When I asked how ArcGIS Online relates to ArcWeb Services I was reminded that the former is for users, the latter for developers.

—-original post from 11/19/06 follows———

Not me, as I don’t fit any of the categories. ESRI has always said that ArcGIS Explorer would be free to anyone to download, and I’m sure that will be the case, in time. For now, we can all read about it on blogs from Stefan, James (on ArcGIS Online), and Scrappad.

ESRI has made ArcGIS Explorer available first to customer sites with current maintenance on ESRI’s server products (ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, and ArcSDE). As a result, ESRI has e-mailed download instructions to the maintenance contacts at those customer sites. Shortly, we will also e-mail download instructions to the maintenance contacts at sites with current subscriptions to the ESRI Developer Network (EDN). In addition, we will ship ArcGIS Explorer on DVD to sites with server products and EDN subscriptions.

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