Tech Update | 01/01/20 | #WeTalkTech

ArcGIS Pro 2.5 Release

I’ve been saying this for a while now, but if you want a high quality, high performance and highly functional GIS experience, ArcGIS Pro is the way to go. I know that not all of you have switched yet, but I also know from our metrication services that percentage adoption of Pro in Ireland is increasing and as you can see from the graph below rose from the early 20%’s in January 2019 to just under 50% in December 2019.

Table showing monthly raster basemap requests for both ArcGIS Pro and ArcMap.

Figure 1 - ArcGIS Pro (Blue) vs ArcMap (Red) raster basemap requests

There really are very few reasons to continue using ArcMap, if you think you have one please discuss it with us and we will evaluate your options. At the 2.5 Release we have added some 50 or so ‘equivalency items’ to make it more functionally equivalent to ArcMap and we also now have Training Courses to help you migrate from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro.

Some significant new features in ArcGIS Pro 2.5 include.

Greatly improved performance when browsing file based data sources in the Catalog Pane.
Images from Attachments now appear in PopUp’s, in fact the whole PopUp experience is greatly improved. For example, PopUp’s can now show related table information that is not even on the Map.

Image showing attachment pop-ups in ArcGIS 2.5

Figure 2 - Attachments now show in Pop-ups

Reporting, have you checked out ArcGIS Pro Reporting yet? It was introduced at 2.4 but gets much better at 2.5. For example, you can now include image attachments at a per feature level in your Reports so a Property Report could include pictures of a building for example.
Python Notebooks are now available via Pro.
If you have a dual monitor setup, you can now specify on which monitor your Tables open up on.

Image showing how you can specify which monitor you want Table View to open on

Figure 3 - Specify where you want Table View to open

Table View now includes a Find and Replace function so that you can make mass updates quickly.

Image showing the Find and Replace function in Table View

Figure 4 - Find & Replace in Table View

You can now export a Map or Layout from Pro to Adobe Illustrator.
Straight from ArcMap, you can now match Layer Symbology to a style using a Style File. This is really important for complex maps, such as geological or land cover maps, where styles are often defined by standards.

Image showing the new tool for matching layer symbology to a style

Figure 5 - New Match Symbology Layer to a Style Tool

If you are creating published maps, colour management has been greatly enhanced by the addition of spot colours and overprint capabilities as well as nested symbol editing to create richer symbol graphics.
There have been a host of new Sharing improvements. In case you missed it at 2.4 we introduced Sharing directly to ArcGIS Server for those of you not using Enterprise. At 2.5 we are adding publication of standalone Tables from your ArcGIS Pro to ArcGIS Enterprise or Online. And for ArcGIS Enterprise Users the ability to Publish a Map Image Layer (aka Dynamic Map Service) from a Feature Layer. This is very useful where you have complex polygons or advanced symbology such as Chart Symbology that needs to be rendered server side. For example, if you wish you could now have two Layers in your webmap with different representations of the same data e.g. choropleth symbology and chart symbology.
Oh yes, that reminds me, we’ve also added Chart Symbology so that you can symbolise features using Charts of their attribute values.

Image showing the new chart symbology style added to ArcGIS Pro 2.5

Figure 6 - New Chart Symbology Style added to ArcGIS Pro

The Utility Network is Esri’s new method for storing and analysing connected utility data in the water, gas, electric and telecoms industries. Previously only supported on Enterprise Geodatabases the Utility Network is now supported in the File Geodatabase. This is useful for small Utility Customers that do not have ArcGIS Enterprise but also for ArcGIS Enterprise Customers that need to prototype utilities schemas before implementing on their Enterprise Geodatabase.

Image showing how the Utility Network is now support in the File Geodatabase

Figure 7 - Utility Network is now supported in the File Geodatabase

At 2.4 we introduced integration with Revit for our BIM oriented Customers. We held a BIM workshop with Pentagon Solutions Ltd. in Belfast and Dublin both of which were well attended. At 2.5 we have greatly improved the level of integration with Revit. It is now possible to take multiple Revit input files, most AEC firms work with one for each discipline, and import into a consolidated Geodatabase to construct a Building Layer. Once the Building Layer in in the GIS it can now be augmented with data from other sources such as IFC and Sketchup. When the Building Layer is complete it is now possible to create a Building Scene Layer Package that consolidates multiple buildings and that can handle the disciplines individually rather than on a per building basis.

Figure 8 - Slicing through multiple buildings in Building Explorer

Author

Eamonn Doyle

Eamonn Doyle is Chief Technology Officer with Esri Ireland. A Geographer by profession and a self-confessed “Geo-Geek”, Eamonn believes that every organisation has a certain “geography” to its operations and that this geography can often be exploited for business, social or environmental benefit.