Book Image

Learning ArcGIS Runtime SDK for .NET

By : Ron Vincent
Book Image

Learning ArcGIS Runtime SDK for .NET

By: Ron Vincent

Overview of this book

ArcGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) that enables you to work with maps and geographic information. It can be used to create and utilize maps, compile geographic data, analyze mapped information, share and discover geographic information and manage geographic information in a database. This book starts by showing you where ArcGIS Runtime fits within Esri’s overall platform strategy. You'll create an initial map using the SDK, then use it to get an understanding of the MVVM model. You'll find out about the different kinds of layers and start adding layers, and you'll learn to transform maps into a 3D scene. The next chapters will help you comprehend and extract information contained in the maps using co-ordinates and layer objects. Towards the end, you will learn to set the symbology, decide whether to use 2D or 3D, see how to implement 2D or 3D, and learn to search and find objects. You'll also get to grips with many other standard features of the Application Programming Interface (API), including create applications and finally testing, licensing, and deploying them. Once completed, you will be able to meet most of the common requirements of any mapping application for desktop or mobile platforms.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Learning ArcGIS Runtime SDK for .NET
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
3
Maps and Layers
12
Configuring, Licensing, and Deploying
Index

Why 3D?


Before we discuss how to change from 2D to 3D, it's important to understand why 3D is necessary. There are many reasons:

  • Our world is of course 3D, so humans naturally are able to interact with a map in 3D in a more natural way than in 2D. 3D is more realistic than 2D, so it makes understanding a design or analytical output easier.

  • For some applications of GIS, a 2D map is simply insufficient. If you're a military mission planner, 3D is just not a nice feature, it's a must. Imagine if you were trying to determine if an inbound flight had enough clearance to pass over some buildings. Without 3D, this would be impossible, so lives would be at risk.

  • 3D allows urban planners to try out different designs before ever building anything. Using 3D allows the planner to see different possibilities to ensure other views aren't blocked or that a new building's shadow won't be cast on the other buildings using an artificial light source, which can be determined at different times of the year.

  • 3D...