00:01Next up, Map Automation.

00:02You saw how we make the maps; we keep them current.

00:04But what if you need to do this over and over again every day?

00:08With ArcGIS 10, we've extended Python beyond analysis and geoprocessing into the realm and the work of map automation.

00:18You can use these tools to automate changing data sources...

00:21...changing your cartography and your symbology to the complete workflow from start to finish of how you produce maps.

00:28In order to show you a little bit about this, we've invited a very special guest. This is one of you.

00:33This is one of our users from the Early Adopter Program, Clark County, Washington's very own GIS manager, Bob Poole.

00:41Thank you, John. Good morning.

00:47I remember my first Esri conference.

00:49It was about 25 years ago, when they first introduced AML.

00:52AML was an exciting addition to ARC/INFO because it allowed us to automate our GIS analysis and our map production.

01:00I'm just as excited to be up here today to introduce a new approach to map automation.

01:06Clark County, Washington, has a number of GIS products that can be ordered online and generated automatically.

01:12Any of these jobs are automated using AML.

01:15We've been working with Esri as part of the Early Adopter Program to migrate these AMLs into the new map scripting environment.

01:22The first product that we migrated is our GIS developer's packet.

01:27Developer's packet is a 16-page report and thematic map series that provides useful information to land developers and county planners...

01:35...so they can make informed decisions about property development in Clark County.

01:40I'm going to open up our developer's packet MXD, and you can see that I have some selected parcels.

01:47Because this is page 3 of the developer's packet, it also shows the elevation contours.

01:52If I want to convert this to page 4 of the developer's packet, which is our orthophotography map...

01:57...I'd need to turn off the contour layers, add the orthophotography layer...

02:02...change my title, and then export the result out to PDF.

02:06But I no longer have to do that manually; I can now automate that.

02:10One of the ways you can work with this new map scripting environment...

02:13...is with the new Python window they've incorporated into ArcMap.

02:18You can use this Python window to execute Python commands, geoprocessing commands, or the map scripting commands.

02:24Rather than demonstrate my typing ability in front of 12,000 people, I'm going to load a script that I wrote earlier.

02:33One of the things I really like about this new map scripting environment is you can get a lot of work done with just a few lines of code.

02:39These 8 lines of code will add the orthophotography layer to my map, update the title, and export the result out to PDF.

02:46Another thing I like about this environment is that the commands syntax is really easy to use and understand.

02:52For example, to add a layer to my map, I would use the Add Layer command.

02:56To export the map to PDF, I would use the Export To PDF function.

03:00If you've ever tried to print a map using ArcObjects, you know it's going to take many more lines of code...

03:06...and none of those lines of code is going to be as straightforward as Export To PDF.

03:11Now I'm going to execute this code, and you'll notice that my map updates in real time.

03:17This Python window provides a really fun, easy way to develop and debug your map scripts.

03:23In some ways, I think it kind of reminds me of developing AMLs in ArcPlot.

03:30Now, we spent a lot of time and effort trying to migrate our developer's packet to ArcObjects...

03:34...and we never quite got there or got it to work.

03:37We've been working with Esri and we have migrated it to Python using this new map scripting environment.

03:43Since it's a Python script, we can publish it as a Web service using ArcGIS Server. Let me show you how that works.

03:50This is our GIS developer's packet order form.

03:53You can see I've put in the e-mail address where I want the product delivered.

03:56There's a property account here that I want to have the developer's packet created for.

04:01There's also a Java scripting mapping application here that lets me verify that account, and add additional parcels if I'd like.

04:09Now I want to add this parcel, and you can see it updated the form.

04:13Here's information that ends up on the front of the developer's packet, then I say place order.

04:19This is where we collect the credit card information for the developer's packet.

04:22You can see we charge 50 dollars for our developer's packet, and we sell about a thousand of these every year.

04:27So this is a substantial revenue stream for our GIS program. The developers love this packet.

04:34They don't see it as paying us 50 dollars.

04:36They see it as saving the hundreds or thousands of dollars they used to spend to collect and compile this information.

04:42Even more important is that they know when they submit a developer's packet...

04:46...it will satisfy the county's requirements for submitting this information.

04:51When I press the Submit Order, and the account's approved, it submits the job to ArcGIS Server for processing.

04:59Just a few minutes later, the developer receives an e-mail with a link to the PDF file.

05:04Let me show you what that looks like.

05:07This is our developers' packet. You can see the information here that I put in on the order form. Here's one of the maps.

05:14All the maps in the developer's packets were run just like the script I showed you.

05:18We had the one MXD file, and we have a script that just goes through and changes the layers and the titles and the legend...

05:24...and then exports the map to this multipage PDF.

05:29The developer's packet's not just about thematic maps. It also includes some GIS analysis.

05:34The property information fact sheet shows the results of overlaying those selected properties...

05:39...with over 30 different layers in ArcGIS and then posting the results to this page.

05:45The rest of the maps in the packet support the information on that fact sheet.

05:49This is especially important when you're dealing with environmental layers that may cover just a portion of the parcel...

05:56...or they may be open to interpretation.

05:58In those cases, the developer's packet provides a common point of reference for the developers...

06:03...and the county planners to discuss those issues.

06:07In summary, the new Python map scripting environment is exactly what we needed to automate our reporting and map production.

06:13It's the final piece of the puzzle that we need to migrate our AMLs into the ArcGIS environment. Thank you.

06:27Thanks, Bob. Before you leave, though, we gotta work out a little bit of this math.

06:31You said 50 dollars per developer packet times a thousand packets per year...

06:36...so that's 50,000 dollars of revenue that you generate each year for your department.

06:42But I think what you're really trying to tell us is, the bigger message is that you can save the taxpayers millions of dollars...

06:50...by leveraging government information and sharing that and packaging that out as intelligent maps.

06:57Not just raw data, but intelligent maps, intelligent map packages, to help improve and create a better open, transparent government.

07:05So I think that's what Bob really deserves credit for, is achieving that goal.

07:09Thanks, Bob. Thanks for joining us today.