Configuring VS Code for ArcPy/ArcGIS Pro development

I have been using Esri's ArcGIS Pro and its companion Python package, ArcPy, more and more often as of late, and have really been enjoying developing with Python. For the unfamiliar, ArcGIS is geographic information system (GIS) software, primarily used to visualize and analyze geographic data. Python is commonly used to automate these analysis tasks … Continue reading Configuring VS Code for ArcPy/ArcGIS Pro development

Vintage GIS: Expert Maps by Expert Software

Continuing with the vintage GIS theme, today I took "Expert Maps," released in 1990, for a test drive. I came across this title when browsing WinWorld, a site dedicated to preserving and sharing old software. I was looking for lesser-known GIS or map making software to explore, and Expert Maps is definitely that. The WinWorld … Continue reading Vintage GIS: Expert Maps by Expert Software

Using GDAL in Windows Terminal

A recent project at work required the use of the ogr2ogr program found found in GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library), a popular open source library for working with various geospatial data formats. My requirement was simply a command line utility for the purpose manipulating some data; I didn't need a GDAL library for a language … Continue reading Using GDAL in Windows Terminal

Photos from the 2022 Esri User Conference

This summer I was fortunate enough to attend Esri's annual User Conference (known commonly as the “UC”), held from July 11 - 15, 2022 in San Diego, California. I have attended this conference several times in the past, and this year's User Conference was this first in-person since 2019 due to COVID-19 precautions. The event … Continue reading Photos from the 2022 Esri User Conference

Vintage GIS: Rand McNally TripMaker 1996

The history of computing has always been a fascinating topic for me, and as I have gotten older (and more nostalgic), I have found a hobby in vintage computing. Virtual machines running ancient operating systems and software have allowed me to revisit the days of exploring computers as a kid and young adult. Recently, my … Continue reading Vintage GIS: Rand McNally TripMaker 1996

Angular + ArcGIS API for JavaScript: A unit testing strategy using dependency injection and the facade pattern

Visit this repository for a complete working example of the code referenced in this post:https://github.com/mfcallahan/angular-cli-esri-map-unit-testing The working application is deployed here:https://mfcallahan.github.io/angular-cli-esri-map-unit-testing If you have used the ArcGIS API for JavaScript, you may recall that it is built on top of the Dojo Toolkit, using their Asynchronous Module Definition (AMD) format to load the various modules … Continue reading Angular + ArcGIS API for JavaScript: A unit testing strategy using dependency injection and the facade pattern

“Industry on Parade: On the Map” (1959)

I came across this great documentary on map making from 1959 on reddit, but I want to share here as well. This is a really interesting film, showing how topographic maps, globes, and aerial photographs were created 50 years ago: https://archive.org/details/industry-on-parade-434-on-the-map