Part I: ArcGIS API for Flex -...

GEOG677 – Internet GIS University of Maryland at College Park

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Lab Assignment 7 – ArcGIS Server

Due Date: 02/10/2012

Overview

Adobe Flex is a software development kit (SDK) released by Adobe Systems for the

development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications (RIA) based on the

Adobe Flash platform. Flex applications can be written using Adobe Flash Builder or by using

the freely available Flex compiler from Adobe. About the basics of Flex and Flash Builder,

please take a video tutorial at http://learn.adobe.com/wiki/display/Flex/Getting+Started.

Flex is becoming very popular in Web application development due to its superior user

experience. ArcGIS API for Flex enables you to build dynamic RIAs on top of ArcGIS Server.

The interactive and expressive Web applications leverage ArcGIS Server resources—such as

maps, locators, feature services and geoprocessing models—and Flex components—such as

grids, trees and charts.

This lab assignment is designed to help you become familiar with different options for

developing Web GIS applications based on Flex.

Specifically, this assignment is divided into three parts:

Part I: ArcGIS API for Flex

Part II: ArcGIS Viewer for Flex

Part III: ArcGIS Viewer for Flex Application Builder

Part I: ArcGIS API for Flex

The ArcGIS API for Flex is built on the Adobe Flex framework, which allows the use of rich

Flex components such as data grids, trees, panels, and charts. You will be able to use maps and

tasks from ArcGIS Server in your Web applications. For example:

Display an interactive map containing your own data.

Execute a GIS model on the server and display the results.

Display your data on an ArcGIS Online basemap.

Search for features or attributes in your GIS data and display the results.

Locate addresses and display the results.

Edit your data (if published as a feature service)

Create mashups (information combined from multiple Web sources).

The latest version is 2.5 - http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/ which is based on Flex 4 and

Flash Builder 4, and works great with the Adobe Flex 4.6 (and 4.1, 4.5, 4.5.1.) SDK.

http://learn.adobe.com/wiki/display/Flex/Getting+Started

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/


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The general steps of building a Web application of ArcGIS API for Flex include:

1. Download and install Adobe Flash Builder

a. http://www.adobe.com/products/flashbuilder/

b. The current version is 4.6.

c. FB is not freeware, but trial version is free for 60 days.

d. The download needs login.

2. Download and unzip the ArcGIS API for Flex ZIP file.

a. http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-flex-api-how-to-download

3. Using Flash Builder to create a Web application

4. Copy/paste/modify the sample codes from ESRI Web site

a. http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/samples/index.html

5. Compile the code

6. Test/modify the code

7. Export release build

8. Publish the Web application to a server

For more information about how to work with the ArcGIS API for Flex, visit

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/help/index.html#getting_started.htm#.

To demonstrate the specific procedures of creating an ArcGIS API for Flex, I will use an

example (see below) to explain the details, especially to point out some better practices. (If you

are already familiar with ArcGIS API for Flex, you can jump to the end of this section on Page

#11 to look for the requirements/tasks for this exercise.)

The example -

http://www.terpconnect.umd.edu/~jma3/GEOG677/Demo_Flex/Felx_demo_query.html

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashbuilder/

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-flex-api-how-to-download

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/samples/index.html

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/help/index.html#getting_started.htm





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Step 1: Downloading, Installing, and Configuring Flash Builder

First, go to this Web site - http://www.adobe.com/products/flashbuilder/ to download Adobe

Flash Builder 4.6. You will need to register first to be able to download.

Unzip and install Flash Builder. This software will take a lot of space on the hard drive (~1.9

GB). So, make sure there is enough storage space on your computer.

Once you finished the installation, you can create a new Flex project.(There are different types of

projects that can be created. So, make sure you choose the right type of project.)

In the New Flex Project dialog, assign your project a name and choose a folder for the project. It

is a good practice that you organize your project files in a specific folder that you have created.

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashbuilder/


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For improved performance, adjust your Adobe Flash Builder settings as following:

Click Project > Properties > Flex Compiler, then uncheck the Enable integration with

browser navigation check box.

Click Project > Properties > Flex Build Path > Library Path and set Framework

linkage to Runtime Shared Library (RSL).


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Step 2: Downloading ArcGIS API for Flex Zip File

First, go to this Web site - http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-flex-api-how-to-download

to download ArcGIS API for Flex which is a zipped file package.

Unzip the files in an appropraite folder.

This file contains the ArcGIS API for Flex library (.swc), a samples directory, and a readme file.

Be sure to either store the .swc file in the libs folder in your project or specify the library path in

Adobe Flash Builder. To specify the path in Flash Builder, take the following steps:

1. Right-click the project and click Properties. Alternatively, on the file menu, go to Project

> Properties. 2. Click Flex Build Path.

3. Click the Library Path tab.

4. Click the Add SWC button.

5. Browse to the .swc file you unzipped earlier. (This file can be found within the unzipped

folder - \arcgis_api_for_flex_2_5\ArcGIS_Flex\libs)

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-flex-api-how-to-download


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Step 3: Writing, Compiling, Testing, and Modifying Code

Open the default mxml (named after your project) in the default package. Now, you are in the

Flex environment.

You can create an application by writing code to access the ArcGIS Server resources. For

example, you can write the following source code to access the map service that you created in

Lab 5.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"

xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"

xmlns:esri="http://www.esri.com/2008/ags"

pageTitle="Example #1">

<esri:Map>

<esri:ArcGISDynamicMapServiceLayer url=" http://129.2.24.163/ArcGIS/rest/services/Geog677_W12/Lab5_jma3/MapServer" />

</esri:Map>

</s:Application>


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The code is in XML format. Tag <esri:Map> defines a map display component, in which Esri is

a namespace. For detailed API definitions, please refer to online reference at

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/apiref/index.html.

Now, you can click on the Run button to “preview” the result displayed in a Web browser. See

below.

Note:

Depending on the programs installed on your computer, you may be required to install

the latest Flash Player.

Obviously, this Web GIS application is very simple in terms of functionality, features or tools.

To improve it, you can go to the ESRI Web site to find the samples-


http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/apiref/index.html



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Suppose you are interested in the sample below:

You can copy/paste the source code to replace the code in Flash Builder environment.

Note:

The map service in this new source code is different from the map service you used

earlier.

In this case, you can simply copy/paste the source code without making any changes yet.


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Now, you can cick the Run button to see how the result displays in a Web browser.


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Obviously, you can add more code from other samples to create a much more complex and

interactive Web appplication. Especially, you might want to add those common tools such as

Query, Find & Identify, Navigation, etc.

You will need to constantly test and modify the code in order to make it work perfectly.

Step 4: Deploying the Application

After you have compiled and run the code, a bin-debug folder will be generated within your

project folder. The HTML file generated by Flash Builder is ready to display your flex app in

browser. However, it is in debug version. To optimize the deployment, you need to take more

steps below.

For more information, you can refer to this link:

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/help/index.html#deploy_application.htm#

Now, you're ready to deploy an application, use the Adobe Flex Export Release Build process to

create an optimized release-quality version of the SWF file as following:

1. In Flash Builder 4, click Project > Export Release Build from the main menu.

2. Click Finish.

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapi/flex/help/index.html#deploy_application.htm


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Step 5: Publishing to the Web Server

The last step will be to upload the files to the Web server and publish the Web application.

You can use WinSCP to upload the files from the “bin-release” folder to a folder on the

Terpconnect server.

Your tasks: You need to create a Web GIS application using ArcGIS API for Flex by practicing those

steps described earlier. You can use this example as a reference even though your own

application will be different -


Your application should have at least two features/tools. Especially, you might want to

add those common tools such as Query, Find & Identify, Navigation, Geocoding, etc.

Again, you can refer to the example above.

You can upload the files to Terpconnect server.

Be creative!

Part II: ArcGIS Viewer for Flex

The ArcGIS Viewer for Flex is a ready-to-deploy configurable client application built with the

ArcGIS API for Flex. Essentially it is a template for ArcGIS API for Flex. The idea to reduce as

much programming as possible so that users can develop great Flex applications without

involving much coding. It is designed so users can configure and deploy a web mapping

application easily and quickly.

However, you can also extend its functionality with custom widgets available from the Esri

community, or create custom widgets yourself with the ArcGIS API for Flex.

The ArcGIS Viewer for Flex is ideal if you want more control over the look and feel of your

application. It is also a good solution if you want to host your own Web mapping applications.

The general steps of using ArcGIS Viewer for Flex include:

Step 1: Downloading

Go to this Web site to download ArcGIS Viewer for Flex V2.5 -

http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcgis-flex-viewer-download

Step 2: Unzipping





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Step 3: Copying the folder - “flexviewer” into this folder - "C:\inetpub\wwwroot” on your own

computer.

Note:

Don’t perform this task on the Hyperion server because I have already saved the

folder there.

Depending on the configurations on your computer, you may need to enable Internet

Information Services (IIS) on your computer or the Web server

Guide on how to install IIS: http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/28/installing-iis-on-

windows-vista-and-windows-7/

When trying to save a file under C:\inetpub\wwwroot, you might get the following error,

especially on Windows 7 and Windows Vista: "You don't have permissions to save in this

folder". This happens even though you are an administrator on the machine. This is due to

increased access control (aka UAC or User Access/Account Control) on Windows 7 (and Vista)

when trying to save files in protected folders (like C:\inetpub\wwwroot).

Right-click on the folder and select Permissions.

Go to the Security tab.

Note that Users have only read rights. Change this to Full access and then the warning

message will disappear.

Step 4: Testing the ArcGIS Viewer for Flex application

The generic URL should be something like this:

http://<machinename>/flexviewer/index.html

Example: http://129.2.24.163/flexviewer/index.html

When testing on your own computer, the URL is - http://localhost/flexviewer/index.html

Step 5: Configuring the ArcGIS Viewer for Flex

This step is the most important part. This is where you need to modify or customize the default

ArcGIS Viewer for Flex. For example, you can use your own map services or add new

features/tools.

Navigate to the flexviewer folder location on your machine – “C:\inetpub\wwwroot\flexviewer”.

Expand the folder to view its contents.

Open the file – “config.xml” in a text editor such as Notepad.

Now, you modify and change the titles, logo, style, initial extent, operational layer, and add a

widget, etc. For more details, you may refer to this Web page -

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/01m3/01m300000021000000.htm

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/28/installing-iis-on-windows-vista-and-windows-7/




http://129.2.24.163/flexviewer/index.html

http://129.2.24.163/flexviewer/index.html

http://localhost/flexviewer/index.html



http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/01m3/01m300000021000000.htm

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To illustrate how to configure and modify the ArcGIS Viewer for Flex, I will use this example -

http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jma3/Waste2Energy/

First, based on the default configure file, I will customize the title, logo, etc.

Notice that I also customized the operational layer using my own map service. See the codes

highlighted in yellow color.

Then, I will select a group of Widgets that fit my project’s specific needs.

See the source code below.

<?xml version="1.0" ?>



<configuration>

<title>Turning Waste into Energy in New York State</title>

<subtitle>a spatial decision support system</subtitle>

<logo>assets/images/logo.png</logo>

<style>

<colors>0xCEE7F4,0x39628C,0x355D89,0x294867,0xCEE7F4</colors>

<alpha>0.8</alpha>

</style>



<widget left="5" bottom="5" config="widgets/Coordinate/CoordinateWidget.xml"

url="widgets/Coordinate/CoordinateWidget.swf"/>

<widget left="10" top="50" config="widgets/Navigation/NavigationWidget.xml"

url="widgets/Navigation/NavigationWidget.swf"/>

<widget right="-2" bottom="-2" config="widgets/OverviewMap/OverviewMapWidget.xml"

url="widgets/OverviewMap/OverviewMapWidget.swf"/>

<widget right="20" top="55" config="widgets/MapSwitcher/MapSwitcherWidget.xml"

url="widgets/MapSwitcher/MapSwitcherWidget.swf"/>

<widget left="0" top="0" config="widgets/HeaderController/HeaderControllerWidget.xml"

url="widgets/HeaderController/HeaderControllerWidget.swf"/>

<map initialextent="-9091000 4991000 -7828000 5656000" top="40">

<basemaps>

<layer label="Streets" type="tiled" visible="true" alpha="1"

url="http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Street_Map/MapServer"/>

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<layer label="Aerial" type="tiled" visible="false" alpha="1"

url="http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer"/>

<layer label="Topo" type="tiled" visible="false" alpha="1"

url="http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Topo_Map/MapServer"/>

</basemaps>

<operationallayers>



<layer label="Other Information" type="dynamic" visible="true"

url="http://129.2.24.163/ArcGIS/rest/services/Services/Other_Info/MapServer"/>

<layer label="Organic Waste Sources" type="dynamic" visible="true" alpha="1"

info="widgets/InfoTemplates/SimpleInfoWinWidget.swf"

infoconfig="widgets/InfoTemplates/IWT_Fires.xml"

url="http://129.2.24.163/ArcGIS/rest/services/Services/Waste_Sources/MapServer"/>

</operationallayers>

</map>





<widgetcontainer layout="float">

<widget label="Bookmarks" left="430" top="90"

icon="assets/images/i_bookmark.png"

config="widgets/Bookmark/BookmarkWidget.xml"

url="widgets/Bookmark/BookmarkWidget.swf"/>

<widget label="Find an address" left="100" top="90"

icon="assets/images/i_target.png"

config="widgets/Locate/LocateWidget_US.xml"

url="widgets/Locate/LocateWidget.swf"/>

<widget label="Search" left="80" top="280"

icon="assets/images/i_search.png"

config="widgets/Search/SearchWidget_WasteSources.xml"

url="widgets/Search/SearchWidget.swf"/>

<widget label="Draw and Measure" left="60" top="400"

icon="assets/images/i_draw2.png"

config="widgets/Draw/DrawWidget.xml"

url="widgets/Draw/DrawWidget.swf"/>

<widget label="Print" left="390" top="400"

icon="assets/images/i_print.png"

config="widgets/Print/PrintWidget.xml"

url="widgets/Print/PrintWidget.swf"/>

</widgetcontainer>

</configuration>

Note:

It is a good practice to save a copy of the original config file as a backup.

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Every time you make modification to this config file, make sure you save it.

Then, I need to configure those widgets.

For example, I will find the config file for the widget – Bookmark from this folder –

“\Flex_Viewer\Waste2Energy\widgets\Bookmark”.

Note:

If you are working from your computer, it is likely the path will be –

“C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Flex_Viewer\widgets\Bookmark”. It may vary depending on

whether you have created extra folders for your project or not.

To learn more about the Bookmark widget, go to this link -

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/index.html#/Bookmark_widget_tags/01m300

00000m000000/GUID-7BE52CDD-C9CB-435C-BC07-B4DD00E326CF/

The original config file for the Bookmark widget is like this:


<configuration label="Bookmarks (example)">

<bookmarks>

<bookmark name="Contiguous USA">-13934000 2699500 -8034300

6710900</bookmark>

<bookmark name="San Francisco">-13638000 4541000 -13632000 4551000</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Louisville, Kentucky">-9559973 4601704 -9529513

4621654</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Los Angeles">-13211400 3993400 -13119200 4056100</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Japan">13917200 3452300 16908700 5477600</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Lisbon">-1039800 4665500 -993700 4696800</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Chile">-8732266 -8111526 -6810170 -1859588</bookmark>

</bookmarks>

</configuration>



If your operational layer is one of your map services, obviously those bookmarks in the original

code do not make sense. You will need to create your own bookmarks for those extents or scales

of your interest.

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/index.html#/Bookmark_widget_tags/01m30000000m000000/GUID-7BE52CDD-C9CB-435C-BC07-B4DD00E326CF/

http://help.arcgis.com/en/webapps/flexviewer/help/index.html#/Bookmark_widget_tags/01m30000000m000000/GUID-7BE52CDD-C9CB-435C-BC07-B4DD00E326CF/


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So, you will need to do some test in the map document when opened in ArcMap by zoon-in and

–out to different scales. Write down those appropriate extents (coordinates of the corners).

Then, I replaced the source code with my own bookmarks. See below.


<configuration>

<bookmarks>

<bookmark name="Contiguous USA">-13934000 2699500 -8034300

6710900</bookmark>

<bookmark name="New York State">-9079000 5054000 -7816000 5720000</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Western New York">-8870000 5176000 -8554000

5343000</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Central New York">-8675000 5175000 -8359000

5341000</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Eastern New York">-8608000 5233000 -7977000

5566000</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Thompkins County, NY">-8551300 5204800 -8472300

5246400</bookmark>

<bookmark name="Cornell University">-8515170 5227620 -8512710

5228920</bookmark>

</bookmarks>

</configuration>

Save the config file.

Now, test the result using this URL - http://localhost/flexviewer/index.html

Note:

It is likely the map does not show any update even after you refresh the Web browser.

This may be caused by the memory cache.

You can clear or remove the cache by clearing recent history from the Web browser. This

step will vary depending on which Web browser you are using. You can refer to this link

for help - http://www.refreshyourcache.com/en/home/

Your tasks: You need to create a Web GIS application based on ArcGIS Viewer for Flex.

You must customize at least two of these elements such as title, subtitle, logo, initial

extent, and background color.

You must add an operational layer using your own map service.

You must customize at least one widget. Or, you can add new widget that is not shown

on the default Flex Viewer.


Refer to this demo as the example - http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jma3/Waste2Energy/

Make sure everything works.


http://www.refreshyourcache.com/en/home/



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Part III: ArcGIS Viewer for Flex Application Builder

The ArcGIS API for Flex Application Builder allows users to create new Web mapping

applications and also view/modify existing applications. You can easily configure and deploy a

new web mapping application without programming or configuration file editing. It has been

designed to be user friendly and makes the process of creating and deploying a new Flex-based

web application very easy. In the application builder, you specify the data content, functionality,

and look and feel of the web app, then deploy it.

This is an example - http://129.2.24.163/flexviewers/Feb1_demo/

The general steps of using ArcGIS Viewer for Flex Application Builder:

Step 1: Downloading

Go to this Web site to download ArcGIS Viewer for Flex Application Builder V2.5 -


The application builder requires Adobe AIR which can be installed from Adobe AIR download

page - http://get.adobe.com/air/ . So, if you don’t have it on your computer, you will need to

download and install it.

Normally, you should have already had Adobe AIR installed if you have installed Flex Viewer.

Step 2: Installing

Step 3: Configuring

The first time the application builder is run, it requires two parameters to be set:

Web Server Base Folder

o The installation location of the Viewer software. Default value for Windows is

C:\inetpub\wwwroot\flexviewers.

Web Server Base Folder URL

o The URL base address to access your viewer applications in a web browser.

Default value for Windows is http://localhost/flexviewers/

Note:

It is important that you write the file path exactly as shown below. A typical mistake

is that you might write the folder – “flexviewers” as “flexviwer”. The latter is for

ArcGIS Viewer for Flex. So, don’t get confused.

Click the Save button to save your settings. Next the Application List panel appears and shows

all the applications associated with the ArcGIS Viewer for Flex application builder. Since this is

the first time running the application, no applications have been created.

http://129.2.24.163/flexviewers/Feb1_demo/



http://get.adobe.com/air/


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Click the Create a New application button to start the process. First, you will need to specify a

name for your new application. Notice that the Application URL address parameter

autocompletes to match the application name.

The rest is very straight forward. You should be able to easily figure out how to do it. You can

also refer to my Lecture on 2/1/2012 when I did a demonstration about Flex Viewer Application

Builder.

Your tasks: You need to create a Web GIS application using ArcGIS Viewer for Flex Application

Builder.

You must use an operational layer from your own map services.

Refer to this demo as the example - http://129.2.24.163/flexviewers/Feb1_demo/


Make sure everything works.

Create a Word document with the URLs and also screen shots of your Web GIS

applications (include all Part I, II and III results).

Be creative!

----- THE END -----

http://129.2.24.163/flexviewers/Feb1_demo/

Part I: ArcGIS API for Flex -...

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