Talk:ArcGIS

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 3 September 2021 and 16 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Joshwalsh36.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 14:38, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

What does it do?
I came here after I looked at the ArcGIS website, where I was astounded that the description seemed to assume that you already knew what the product was for. I had only the vaguest idea (something to do with maps), but if there was a general description of what I could do with ArcGIS products, it was buried somewhere. So I came here, hoping for enlightenment--only to find that while there was a wealth of info on different products (although the linked-to pages are pretty bare bones), product history, criticisms, sales, external refs etc. etc., there was virtually nothing to tell me what I could do with this software if I had it! The closest to what I was looking for was a screen shot, but that doesn't really tell me anything (there are sources, which appear to be data files, but it's unclear what they are--maybe spreadsheets??). The next closest thing to an explanation was the link to the article on "geographic information system", but that is rather general.

So my suggestion is to add a section describing some of the typical tasks one can do with this tool, and perhaps what advantages it would have over doing something with google maps or even Microsoft Paint. I imagine there are *lots* of advantages, but at the moment imagine is all I can do. Mcswell (talk) 14:49, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The article Geographic Information System is over 7,000 words long and describes what a GIS is quite thoroughly. This article is not supposed to be a guide or list of capabilities.  If you don't know what ArcGIS does you probably don't need it, but there are plenty of resources on both Wikipedia and elsewhere for learning more.--Simonmetcalf (talk) 10:47, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

From http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis

People are using ArcGIS in all types of organizations to improve their workflows and solve their most challenging issues.

ArcGIS is a system for people who rely on accurate geographic information to make decisions. It facilitates collaboration and lets you easily author data, maps, globes, and models on the desktop and serve them out for use on a desktop, in a browser, or in the field, depending on the needs of your organization. If you are a developer, ArcGIS gives you tools for building your own applications.

ArcGIS helps you with:


 * Asset/data management including systems integration, claims/case management, service/territory area management, and constituent/customer management
 * Planning and analysis such as forecasting and risk analysis
 * Business operations such as call center/dispatching; monitoring and tracking; field data collection; inspections, maintenance and operations; and routing
 * Situational awareness including decision support and customer/public access —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.175.211.125 (talk) 18:21, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

Article needs to stay
I saw that this article was speedily deleted. All application in the ArcGIS suite deserve an article, because ArcGIS is the standard suite that people use in the professional GIS world. Deleting this is like deleting Microsoft Access in the Microsoft Office Suite.

I don't know much about this stuff myself - I am in the process of learning about the suite, and this will take time, but I know enough to say that this deserves an article. This is what I started with in writing this article: NittyG (talk) 02:01, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Rather than even discussing whether this should be deleted, we should invite people who know about this subject to help with the article. I have done enough for now in simply starting the article, and some collaboration with me in getting this article completed would be much appreciated. NittyG (talk) 02:05, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

I appreciate the support in removing the hangon tag, but should we wait, since this was deleted only yesterday? Perhaps one should just leave a note here If you really feel strongly about it, go ahead, and I won't revert it again. Thanks again. NittyG (talk) 02:42, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

To merge or not ...
I agree that there should perhaps be a section devoted to this on ArcGIS, but I suspect that it needs a separate article to go into more detail. I am not personally qualified to answer this fully, but I think that it is a good educated guess. In general, the articles on GIS applications are pretty poor. They are not comprehensive nor easy to understand. We need to do a complete job with this subject, expanding them and covering them comprehensively, and for someone who does not know anything about them. NittyG (talk) 04:00, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

As to the idea of merging ArcCatalog with ArcGIS, that would seem to imply a need to merge ArcMap in there too. I disagree with the merge proposal either way. ArcGIS should give a good overview. It should sketch out what ArcCatalog is, and ArcMap. It should also explain about the licensing levels (ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo). This can all be done concisely in a single page ... unless you want to get into detail about the levels. Detail about 'Catalog and 'Map should be avoided on this page. ;Bear (talk) 23:50, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

ArcGIS as an upgrade for ArcView 3.2?
How much does ArcGIS exactly cost? i believe it just states that it is expensive.


 * Exact pricing is difficult to quantify as it varies by country, by volume, and sometimes by industry. Jschek (talk) 15:47, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Rcc105 is correct about ArcGIS 8.1, as the first true version. ArcMap 8.0 wasn't the complete suite of ArcGIS components.

As for ArcView 3.2, it is still supported. But ArcGIS Desktop 9.1 is the latest Desktop GIS package offered by ESRI. It is considered an 'upgrade', with expanded capabilities. ArcGIS Desktop is available at "three functional levels: (1) ArcView (2) ArcEditor (3) ArcInfo. But, it's not ArcView 3.2 that you get &mdash; you get ArcView 9.1. --Aude 21:04, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

I still contend ArcGIS 8.1+ with a ArcView license should not be presented as the upgrade or replacement for ArcView GIS 3.3. Many functions of ArcView GIS 3.3 are not available in any level of the ArcGIS product line and many third party programs (extensions and scripts) are only available for the 3.x product line. ArcView GIS 3.3 is still for sale and I have heard rumors that a 3.4 version is coming out. --Rcc105 21:42 10 November 2005 (UTC)


 * You make good points, that ArcGIS 8.1 isn't backwards compatible; thus, renders ArcView 3.2 scripts and extentions incompatible with ArcGIS 8.1+. I have updated the article to try to explain these important points. --Aude 23:56, 10 November 2005 (UTC)


 * 12 Years later and I still agree with my statement. I will edit the 8.X section to more clearly state that 8.0 is not really part of the ArcGIS Desktop family --Raymo853 15:49, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

If you've shelled out for Spatial Analyst, there's a function that imports Arc3 models, allegedly.

Do you think adding something about Model Builder is worthwhile? It more or less dovetails with the mention of Python and the other COM scripting, and I found it to be one of the best additions in Arc 9. The ability to "flowchart" a set of procedures (and optionally dump it out to s script and code in the ability to iterate) was a major improvement, especially for folks who don't have the knowledge to sit down and code up something from scratch. -- JoelCFC25 21:51, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Does something need adding to mention "ArcMap", as I have added to the ESRI page, this is the name on the application that users open to get their desktop mapping, and the name on the splash screen. It is confusing to say the least. I have 5 ArcEditor licences, but they came in a box that said ArcGIS and create icons that say ArcMap - I have got my head round it, but when intriducing a new package to my users, I have had to be very careful which term to use - they see ArcMap and nothing eles (I'm mean and I don't give them ArcCat unless really needed))--C Hawke 19:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:ArcMap.jpg
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BetacommandBot 20:36, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Market Share - is this appropriately referenced?
The article says: "The ARC Advisory Group estimated in 2010 that ESRI's market share now exceeds 40%" Is there a reference for this? It also says that the market share is 36%, but this is just based on an assertion from an ESRI white paper, which gives no details of how they know this (or even what it means i.e. share by number of licenses, or revenue, or what). Seems pretty dodgy to me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.27.124.5 (talk) 23:34, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Price
In the criticism section, high price is mentioned. "High" is very subjective, so I went to the company's home-page to find out what the prices might be. After more than five minutes of being circled around: "pricing" leads to products leads to "pricing." I gave up. If they're that murky, either they're hiding the prices or they're too obscure/confused for me to use the products (I'm not interested in a free trial, which was findable). Anyway, could some concrete figure be given to reduce the subjective nature of the listed complaint?211.225.33.104 (talk) 11:52, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
 * It is easy to find the price: From the home page select "Plans". Then is says "To purchase or if you have any questions, please contact your local Esri office". Select this, phone up your local office and after a discussion of your needs etc you will be told the price. The citations for this are very old, 2005-7. From when Google Maps had only just started, and it was free to use. Google now charges high prices as well, (it is free below a certain threshold). Google Drive also charges for storing data for the maps. It is similarly obscure about the pricing (https://developers.google.com/maps/licensing), "For more information about OEM licensing, contact a Google Maps API for Work Sales Manager." QuentinUK (talk) 11:35, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

Proposed merge with ArcGIS Engine
ArcGIS Engine could easily be merged into ArcGIS--there's nothing in the Engine article that wouldn't fit in the main ArcGIS article with regards to either content or space. Fisheriesmgmt (talk) 19:47, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

Support ArcGIS Engine isn't independently notable. As no one has objected within two weeks, I'll merge it. Boleyn (talk) 19:55, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080515193704/http://esri.com/events/uc/07_workshops/whats_new_geodb_arcsde.pdf to http://esri.com/events/uc/07_workshops/whats_new_geodb_arcsde.pdf

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Page Reorganization
The page as it stands is very Desktop-centric. It's more of an ArcView/ArcDesktop entry than an overall ArcGIS entry. I think part of it has to do with the layout of the page. It kind of assumes that the subject is Desktop unless specefied differently. Most everything else is stuffed in 1 paragraph under "Other products"

Here is a quick layout of how I think #3 Components and product levels should look

ArcGIS is a Suite of products made by ESRI which include the following:

ArcGIS for Desktop ArcMap ArcGIS Pro ArcCatalog ArcExplorer Desktop ArcReader (No longer updated?) ArcGlobe ArcGIS for Server ArcGIS for Server ArcGIS for Portal ArcGIS Web Adaptor ArcIMS ArcGIS for Developers ArcGIS Viewer for Silverlight (deprecated) ArcGIS Viewer for Flex (open sourced, deprecated) ArcGIS API for Javascript ArcGIS Engine ArcGIS Runtime AppStudio for ArcGIS Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS ArcGIS Online ArcGIS for Mobile ArcGIS for Windows Mobile ArcPad Explorer for ArcGIS Collector for ArcGIS

There should probably be a heading for "Features" which include Address locator and geodatabase. Currently geodatabase is at the top level. It should be under some category like

Common data formats Raster (jpg, tif, etc...) Vector Shapefile Geodatabase Personal File Enterprise Jason P Tipton (talk) 19:44, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160308072649/http://downloads.esri.com/support/product%20life%20cycle/arcgis_desktop/ArcGIS_PLC.pdf to http://downloads.esri.com/support/product%20life%20cycle/arcgis_desktop/ArcGIS_PLC.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160308072649/http://downloads.esri.com/support/product%20life%20cycle/arcgis_desktop/ArcGIS_PLC.pdf to http://downloads.esri.com/support/product%20life%20cycle/arcgis_desktop/ArcGIS_PLC.pdf

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ArcGIS Pro
ArcGIS Pro redirects to this article, but it is a separate product from the traditional ArcGIS suite (ArcMap, etc) of products. –Zfish118⋉talk 12:52, 20 August 2019 (UTC)
 * This was initially a separate article, but incorrectly redirected here. I've re-established it as a separate stub article. I suggest some of the content related to ArcGIS Pro should be moved from this article. + m t  00:07, 9 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Disagree. There is not enough for its own page, and the phrase "ArcGIS" is often used to mean "ArcGIS Pro". peterl (talk) 22:54, 9 December 2020 (UTC)
 * The official website for this article (http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis) does not specify any particular software product. A webpage from June 2001 "ArcGIS Overview" says "ArcGIS is a family of software products that form a complete GIS", which is still an accurate definition today. I'm not convinced that "ArcGIS Pro" is synonymous with "ArcGIS", however ArcGIS Pro is the successor software suite to ArcGIS Desktop, which is my rationale that it should be a stub article to expand further. Redirecting it to an article that describes a family of software products is confusing and not helpful to the reader. + m t  02:54, 10 December 2020 (UTC)
 * There are many places where people say "use ArcGIS", rather than "use ArcGIS Pro", for example (You "Learn ArcGIS" not "Learn ArcGIS Pro"). But ESRI are very clear with their names. In wikipedia, ArcGIS Desktop doesn't have its own article; it just redirects to ArcGIS. On a similar note ArcEditor has almost nothing in it and could be merged in too. ArcObjects is not well written, but a cleanup would show there's hardly any content there either. I just don't think there's enough useful content to make these viable articles by themselves. As a side note, the ArcInfo article is woefully out of date and a bit of a mess. peterl (talk) 07:00, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

ArcMap history
There is no reference or information about how ArcMap 8.1 is a totally new product. Seems to me 8.0 had most of the ArcMap framework in place: WMF-based canvas, ArcObjects built in OLE/COM (at least a primordial version, the geodatabase (.mdb). Suggest delete this. -- curtvprice 15:30, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

Manager-like speech
Have you ever walked up to a normal human-being on the street, and had them speak to you the way the very first paragraph in this article does? I doubt it, because it would probably annoy you to the point of violence. 139.138.6.121 (talk) 10:46, 21 June 2021 (UTC)
 * You're right, the article's lede was atrocious. I've trimmed down some of the worst bits, but this could do with more work. – Uanfala (talk) 21:22, 21 June 2021 (UTC)
 * The sections about the various maps still read like manager speak: ArcGIS Real Estate Maps, ArcGIS Story Maps, Arcgis Fire Map, and Arcgis Base Maps.
 * These sections are probably better replaced by a single section that summarizes them. Rightfold (talk) 20:15, 23 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I went ahead and removed the sections entirely, as they were introduced alongside a spam link and therefore probably bogus. Rightfold (talk) 20:30, 23 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I rewrote the lead a bit ago and it's good that you're removing some of this cruft. –  I s o chrone (T) 21:44, 23 September 2023 (UTC)

Split into ArcGIS Desktop
This article is a strange mix of the ArcGIS family and ArcGIS desktop. I might boldly split it off into it's own article. — Berrely  • Talk∕Contribs 05:49, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

ArcGIS Pro Functionality
I added information on the new feature in ArcGIS pro 2.6. I thought this is a software that many people use and knowing more about what some of the features are could help.Joshwalsh36 (talk) 00:06, 19 November 2021 (UTC)