The Collector App has already created a lot of interest and has shown itself to be an effective part of the ArcGIS platform. It has, however, been limited to use in areas with 3G by its need to be connected. I’m sure you are all aware of how limited the 3G coverage in the UK is but I’ve also recently noticed dead spots in urban areas that otherwise have good 3G.
The need to support disconnected editing has been recognised from the begining and has been keeping our colleagues in Redlands busy. Euan Cameron showed a mature version at the European Dev Summit and I’ve been waiting to get my hands on it with all the patience of a four year old. Drum roll… it’s coming soon and you can read about how it’s going to work in a series of blog postings from the mobile team.
I’ll let you read the article for yourselves but the comments are also worth reading. I’ve picked out some key things below, but the discussion also gave a sense of some of the workflow challenges that are being addressed as the Collector takes this step forward.
- As well as ArcGIS hosted feature services it will also work with ArcGIS for Server feature services, provided the server is upgraded to v10.2.2.
- The disconnected basemap will support the scale range set during the download process described.
- To manage basemap data volumes there will be an alternative mechanism to use a tile package loaded to the device, this will be the subject of one of the blog articles.
Being able to create and edit points, lines and polygons with the Collector and take it offline is going to give us a great mobile tool.