The new version of ArcGIS Explorer, a free geographic information system (GIS) viewer, opens more avenues for users to share geographic information. It also has many new interoperability updates that help integrate it with ArcGIS 10, including direct support for image services, improved support for ArcGIS 10 layer packages and geodatabases, and more ways to leverage ArcGIS Online.
ArcGIS Online, which is deeply integrated into the ArcGIS Explorer experience, provides an easy way to find and share geographic information and form online communities. With the new ArcGIS Explorer release, users can search for and add content directly from ArcGIS Online, as well as add map items immediately to their online accounts. All maps, data, and groups can be accessed from ArcGIS Explorer.
The latest release of ArcGIS Explorer offers a number of new features that support enhanced interoperability, both with the ArcGIS system and via KML. The free GIS viewer now allows users to export to layer packages and KML, as well as create notes from KML. Also, data can be directly accessed from Excel spreadsheets. Additionally, KML handling has been improved in both 2D and 3D mode, and region-based KML is supported in 2D mode.
ArcGIS Explorer users will now be able to directly use and optimize image services. New tools and properties for image services include gamma, brightness, contrast, compression, resample method, and mosaic method and operator. Image services can also be added as elevation layers.
In addition to the free download of ArcGIS Explorer, Esri offers a free ArcGIS Explorer Software Developer Kit (SDK). This SDK has been updated to support Visual Studio 2010, including templates for the new add-in types and an updated add-in wizard. The reference and conceptual help have also been updated, and new samples are included.
ArcGIS Explorer is supported in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. To learn more about ArcGIS Explorer, visit www.esri.com/explorer.
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