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Geoinformatics_01-2009
review a review of arcgis desktop 9.3 do we still need a desktop gis? the release 9.3 of esri s arcgis has a multitude of new features and improvements. this article will take a look at some of the improvements and will address the question of why we still need arcgis desktop in the age of the geoweb and its service-based geospatial applications. by florian fischer answer is simple: because we still need gis professionals to create, manage and analyse content and to design the workflows! or as esri puts it, a powerful desktop gis is still the basis for working with spatial data. arcgis 9.3 desktop what s new? esri has integrated a multitude of improvements into the new release, arcgis 9.3 desktop. a quick glimpse at what s new in arcgis 9.3 immediately discloses some dozens of improvements. it is clear that i can present only some of them here. but after a second look at what s new in arcgis 9.3 it becomes evident that arcgis desktop is not considered a stand-alone product but one brick in esri s service-based gis infrastructure. today geospatial technology is one component in common it architectures but not the only component. and while we are moving toward server-based infrastructures, desktop components are essential parts of the overall architecture: because of performance issues due to increasing amounts of data, as design machines for complex workflows, and as high-end analysis or processing systems. cartography cartography is definitely a highlight in the 9.3 release of arcgis desktop. a new feature in release 9.2 was the introduction of cartographic representations. that is, a cartographic model could be designed to create a true cartographic workflow which is integrated into arcgis desktop but still a component separated from the geo database. before, the common workflow was different. data capturing, data management and analysis was done with arcgis. the cartographic production was then carried out by a piece of software more specialized in symbolization and cartography. troublesome data transfer was necessary which placed a break line in the workflow. jan./feb. 2009 application message in a bottle using the arcgis javascript api the revenge of the gis professionals the concept of spatial data infrastructures (sdi) resounds throughout the land. in the age of the internet, gis systems are dissolving as monolithic pieces of software, hardware and geo data dissolved into interoperable, service-based spatial data infrastructures (sdi) that continuously provide geo data and geo functionality over the web. whereas gis systems were efficient only in the hands of gis experts, sdis allow the deployment of geo web services by non gis experts within organizations and enterprises. a multitude of regional, national and international sdi initiatives will make the handling of geo data easier than ever before and grant almost everyone access to geo web services. when every workflow can be server based, why do we still need a desktop gis like the new arcgis desktop? the 12
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