When you connect to an ArcGIS, ArcIMS, or WMS server, you can browse the services available on that server. These servers let you add data to your maps using the Internet. For example, if you add an ArcIMS service to ArcGIS Explorer as a layer, it will automatically retrieve the data from the service over the Internet each time that layer is drawn. This saves you from having to store and manage the data yourself. You'll see a dialog box that provides a means of connecting to or accessing the data source. It's important to know the URL of the data source. The data provider, your system administrator, or the responsible organization may have provided it to you. Once you've connected, you'll see a list of layers to add in the Open Content dialog box:

Some services may be password protected. To access secure ArcGIS, ArcIMS, or WMS services, you have to provide a user name and password when you make the connection to the server. This is how you access services that are provided on a subscription-only basis. To establish a server connection for the first time, click the appropriate button at the top of the Servers panel. You'll see a dialog box appropriate to the connection type. Here is an example of the dialog box you'll see when you add a new ArcGIS Server connection:

When a connection to a geographic information system (GIS) server hasn't been established, you'll see a small red x on the GIS server's icon. When you start ArcGIS Explorer and look in the GIS Server's folder, all connections will be disconnected; ArcGIS Explorer won't automatically establish connections to those servers. Double-click the GIS server you want to work with to reestablish the connection. Here is a list of servers that are not connected:

Once you connect to a server, you'll see a list of services and folders containing services that you can add to your map. Note that when you select a service and click Open, you'll add all its layers; for example, in the graphic below, selecting PremiumServices2 will add all the layers of the service. The graphic below illustrates the typical elements you'll see:

Note    By default, the Servers content type displays ArcGIS Server instances that provide both map and globe services, as well as IMS and WMS services. If you want to display globe services from ArcGIS Server only, choose Globe Services in the Show of type combo box at the bottom of the dialog box.

1. GeoRSS supported feed types
• RSS 2.0
• Atom 1.0


2. GeoRSS supported formats
• W3C Geo
• GeoRSS-Simple
• GML

When you select Geodatabases in the list of content types, you'll be able to browse for a file geodatabase or create and connect to an SDE database to access its contents.

File Geodatabases

• Provide a widely available, simple, and scalable geodatabase solution for all users.
• Provide a portable geodatabase that works across operating systems.
• Scale up to handle very large datasets.
• Provide excellent performance and scalability; for example, to support individual datasets containing more than 300 million features and datasets that can scale beyond 500 GB per file— all with very fast performance.
• Use efficient data structure that is optimized for performance and storage. File geodatabases use about one third of the feature geometry storage required by shapefiles and personal geodatabases.
• Outperform shapefiles for operations involving attributes and scale the data size limits way beyond shapefile limits.

The graphic below is a conceptual illustration of the folder structure of a File Geodatabase; note, however, that you navigate the structure by opening each successive level:

Note:  In the current version of ArcGIS Explorer, you can add both vector and raster content stored in a file geodatabase.

Once you add a dataset the Open Data Wizard appears.

ArcSDE Geodatabases

ArcSDE is ESRI's technology for accessing and managing geospatial data within relational databases. ArcSDE technology supports reading and writing of multiple standards, including (among other data storage options) Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) standards for simple features, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard for spatial types, and the Oracle Spatial format.

This release of ArcGIS Explorer supports vector data and raster dataset data types in three tier connection types; however two tier connections, Direct Connect, are not.

Connecting to an ArcSDE geodatabase

The following steps provide a generic overview of creating a Database Connection and connecting to it, once it's been established. Your system administrator may have already created a Database Connection for you and in many cases, may have already created a map file (.nmf) that has all the necessary connection information in it.

1. In the File menu click Open...
2. In the dialog that appears click Geodatabases.
3. At the top of the dialog click the dropdown list and select Database Connections:
   
   
   
   
4. If there are any existing connections you'll see them listed below the dropdown list:
   
   
   
   
   
5. If there are no connections available or you want to create a new connection, click the Create Database Connection button at the upper right of the dialog:
   
   
   
   
6. You'll see the Spatial Database Connection dialog. Use it to supply the parameters for connecting to a database on your server.
   
   
   
   

When you choose Shapefiles in the list of content types, you'll be able to browse your local machine and network for shapefiles. They'll appear as in the illustration below:

Once you add a shapefile, the Open Data Wizard appears.

When you choose Rasters in the list of content types, you'll be able to browse your local machine and network for all the supported raster types. Note that they must be georeferenced. They'll appear as in the illustration below:

Once you add a raster file, the Open Data Wizard appears.

When you choose KML in the list of content types, you'll be able to browse your local machine and network for .kml or .kmz files. They'll appear as in the illustration below:

In addition, you can specify the URL of a .kml or .kmz file in the Dataset text box, for example:

Tip  Adding a KML file to the current map by specifying an URL in the Open Content dialog and then saving the map will retain the path to the location of the KML file should you copy or e-mail the .nmf to someone else. This is not the case if you add a KML file by clicking a link on a Web page to add the file to ArcGIS Explorer. If you plan on saving the map you're working with and are browsing for KML files on the Web, select the link to the KML/KMZ file on the Web page and then, in Internet Explorer, use Copy Shortcut, in Firefox, use Copy Link Location, and in Safari use Copy Link; then paste the URL of the KML that's on the Clipboard into the Open Content dialog.

If you see this symbol next to a KML file, it signifies that the KML file contains invalid KML or non-supported KML features. Its associated contents window may be empty.

Choosing ArcGIS Explorer Files provides you with a way to browse for .nmf files and select the content types you want to add to the map. For example, a .nmf map may contain one or more kinds of content types. These .nmf files are available either from a server or your local machine or network. For each of these content types, the appropriate information is included in the .nmf; for example, results that have been exported by you or someone else for use in other maps or to share with others contain all the information needed to reexecute the original task that created the results. ArcGIS Explorer places the newly derived result in the Result window of the current map.

You can create your own content types and save them as .nmf files by right-clicking layers in the Contents window and choosing Export Layer, selecting tasks on the Manage Tasks dialog box and clicking Export Task, or right-clicking results in the Results window and selecting Export Result.

If you add a .nmf file containing a result derived from a Custom Task to a new map, make sure to rerun the task that created the result by right-clicking the result and choosing Rerun Task. To display the full context menu for the result, add the task that created the result to the map.

When you choose ArcGIS Explorer Files in the list of content types, you'll be able to browse your local machine and network for .nmf files. They'll appear as in the illustration below:

To learn more about .nmf files and their schema, see Creating ArcGIS Explorer .nmf files.