Improves Productivity of Working with Spatial Data in the Field 

Redlands, California—ESRI’s newest versions of its world-leading software package for

mobile geographic information system (GIS) and field-mapping applications, ArcPad 7 and ArcPad Application Builder 7, are now shipping. This release expands the capabilities of mobile GIS applications with new features that dramatically improve the productivity of working with spatial data in the field. 

ArcPad provides field-based personnel with the ability to capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display geographic information. This enables users to perform reliable, accurate, and validated field data collection including the use of data input from GPS receivers, rangefinders, and digital cameras.

ArcPad 7 features many enhancements in the areas of performance, ease of use, productivity, enterprise GIS integration, and customization. “Our close relationship with ArcPad users allows us to get feedback on what is most important to them,” says Shane Clarke, product manager for ArcPad at ESRI. “We have been able to incorporate countless improvements and additions into ArcPad 7. It is a highly effective tool for any data collection effort.”

New features in ArcPad 7 include

·   Quicker access and loading of spatial data

·   Support for ArcGIS symbology and style sheets

·   Advanced editing tools including offsets, repeated attributes, segmented line features, snapping, and undo

·   Integrated support for rangefinders and digital cameras

·   Support for freehand marking and taking notes on maps

·   Usability enhancements that streamline connecting a GPS

·   Support for new raster data formats: JPEG 2000, TIFF, MrSID MG3, and GIF

·   Simple form customization within ArcPad

ArcPad Application Builder, the development framework for building custom ArcPad applications for mobile GIS, is sold separately and has also been updated.  It is easier to use and offers many more customization options at version 7.

Some new features in ArcPad Application Builder 7 include

·   A wizard for creating forms

·   Improved script and XML editing tools

·   Compile tool for customization projects and ability to download compiled projects directly to device

·   Support for JScript

·   Expanded ArcPad Object Model: new rangefinder, FTP, archive, and multimedia objects

·   Expanded extensions API: new interfaces for cameras, rangefinders, projections, and datum transformations

Both ArcPad products will allow fieldworkers to collect data faster and more accurately, even in areas they cannot reach.  Douglas Scott from Avalanche Mapping used a previous version of ArcPad and upgraded to ArcPad 7 when the download became available in November. He feels that ArcPad 7 has already greatly enhanced his ability to collect avalanche observation data and snow characteristics.

“Being able to use a rangefinder and connect it easily through Bluetooth has been phenomenal,” said Scott. “It allows us to take more accurate GPS points of dangerous areas we cannot access.” Scott also noted the advantages of creating simple forms based on new or existing shapefiles, the option to make layers transparent, and the ability to attach a photo to a GPS point. “All the new features in ArcPad 7 will definitely help us do our work better, but many other industries will significantly benefit from these tools as well.”

For more information on ArcPad 7 and ArcPad Application Builder 7, visit the ESRI Web site at www.esri.com/arcpad or call ESRI directly at 1-800-447-9778.  You may also contact your local ESRI reseller or ESRI regional office.  Outside the United States, contact your local ESRI distributor; see www.esri.com/international for a current distributor list. 

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 About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 5,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.

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