You can change the order in which layers are drawn using the Manage Layers dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.
You can control various aspects of the application by indicating your preferences using the Options dialog box. To display the options, choose Options from the Tools menu. Among the aspects of the application you can modify are the means by which the application displays flight; the amount of disk and memory cache to use; how the mouse scroll wheel behaves; what your proxy server settings are; what you'll see when the application starts up; what setting values the application should use when you add content; and what units are used to report distance, elevation, altitude, and measurements.
Each setting is prefaced with a detailed description in the dialog box itself; for additional notes and explanations, see below.
When you start ArcGIS Explorer by running its executable file on your client machine, it displays the default map of your home server. You set the home server by choosing Set Home Server on the File menu or by a dialog box that appears the first time you run the application. Another scenario you might encounter is that your system administrator may have configured your machine and application. You can choose to open the last map you saved, your home server's default map, or a specific map that you've saved locally. You can set the specific map by typing an URL to the map location or browsing for a map on your local machine or network. Opening the last saved map is the default action the application takes. Note that no last saved map exists, ArcGIS Explorer opens the home server map. Your own home server may have far less activity than the public ESRI default server.
These settings control whether the Swipe and Transparency actions, accessible when you right-click a layer in the Contents window, work on the selected layer or the selected layer and all layers above it. This diagram indicates which layers are swiped away (rendered in this diagram as light gray):
You can change the order in which layers are drawn using the Manage Layers dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.
A proxy server is a computer on your LAN that connects to the Internet without compromising the security of your internal network. If your organization uses a proxy server to connect to the Internet, you need to configure ArcGIS Explorer so that it can connect to GIS servers on the Internet through the proxy server. When configuring a proxy server, all Internet connections to GIS servers (both ArcGIS and ArcIMS servers) will utilize this proxy server. Learn more about proxy server settings.
Changing this setting controls the time allowed to make a connection to a server to download tasks. If the specified time runs out, the application will cancel the download. Time is in seconds.
When you use the Open Content dialog box to select content to add to the map you make use of its Open Data wizard to specify parameters appropriate to the data type added. To streamline this process for yourself or if you are a site administrator, for your users, you can store the information for specific data types that you or they routinely add by changing the Open Content Settings options to determine how the application will handle all or specific content types. With the option enabled, once you establish settings for a supported content type, such as a shapefile, the most recently set parameter values will be used the next time you add content of that type and the relevant dialog boxes will not appear.
There are several controls that appear on the map to help orient you and navigate. These include the Navigator, the status bar which includes a readout of the current coordinates at the center of the map display, the altitude from which the display is seen, crosshairs that indicate the target or center of the map display, and the name of the nearest location within 10 miles of the display. Toggling on or off the checkbox associated with each element controls whether or not it is visible.
The Navigator has two modes: Indicator mode (a dynamic north arrow and angle of tilt indicator) and Navigation mode (a control you can manipulate directly to move to places, change your viewing angle and orientation, and zoom in and out). Selecting Auto-Toggle Navigator allows you to use Navigation mode by hovering the mouse over the Navigator, whereas Hide Navigation mode disables that capability. The Position on Display setting allows you to set where on the display ArcGIS Explorer sets the Navigator. You can select either the bottom or top of the left side of the display. Finally, toggling the check mark of the Show Tooltips checkbox controls the appearance of onscreen hints about the elements of the control.
An example of flying point to point is when you double-click one Find Place result and double-click another. Liftoff distance occurs at the start of flight.
Control the speed and height that ArcGIS Explorer uses when flying from (zooming) one location to another. You can also control the observer position and speed that is used for flying routes.
Using these settings, you can control the cache location and amount of disk space to use. The application uses a local cache for data it accesses. Using this cache improves performance. Note that using Refresh Statistics may take some time. If you are certain you aren't going to use certain caches again, use the unused caches option when using Delete Caches to clean up for more disk space. Learn more about cache management in ArcGIS Explorer
Depending on the map content, you can fine-tune memory usage to optimize performance on your computer. For example, if you know your map will have many 3D objects (for example, extruded buildings), you can increase the limit on the appropriate item. Learn more about cache management in ArcGIS Explorer
Use these settings to choose which method of mouse pan to use and also to determine zoom direction for the mouse wheel.
Polar pan rotates the globe around the polar axis whereas the trackball pan is completely free in its rotation. The main differences are that polar pan preserves your current compass bearing, but is difficult to control near the poles, whereas trackball pan is easy to control near the poles but doesn’t preserve the current bearing. You only really see these effects when zoomed out from the globe to near full extent.
Use these settings to turn on the ability to set drifting over the globe in motion by gesturing. In this case, a gesture constitutes a rapid throw-like movement of the mouse in the desired direction of flight. You can also set the sensitivity of the gesture by controlling the distance you need to throw the mouse to initiate drifting.
This panel also controls the speed with which you fly when navigating with the right mouse button pressed. The path of flight follows the mouse pointer movement.
If you hold the Shift button down while gesturing, the path of flight will be a polar spin – that is, rotation about a line of latitude.
The Coordinates setting controls the units that are displayed on the position text readout as well as the Go to Location dialog box. Learn more about the Military Grid Reference System or the US National Grid
The Distance, Elevation, Altitude, and Measurements setting controls the units reported by the Measure Task, the printable Driving Directions, and the Status Area's altitude of the observer position.