Plant Picker Addin

ArcGIS Addins (one for 10.x and one for Pro) developed for Carl Roland (Denali Plant Ecologist) to support creating map layers on the fly from selections in pick lists presented by the Addin. The items in the picklists, and the data for the layers is in a file geodatabase on the GIS server on the NPS network.

Picklists

The following pick lists are available in the toolbar:

Species Occurrence

Create a layer of plant occurrences by selecting the species name

Species Observation

Create a layer of plant observations by selecting the species name

Species Coverage

Create a layer of plant coverage by selecting the species name

SpeciesRank

Create a layer of plant species with the selected state rank

Build

ArcGIS 10.x

• Install ArcObjects SDK (comes with ArcGIS Desktop 10.x).
• Open 10.x\PlantPickerAddin.sln in the version Visual Studio supported by your version of ArcGIS.
• Ensure Release and not Debug is selected on the Visual Studio toolbar.
• Select Build -> Build Solution from the Visual Studio menu.

ArcGIS Pro

• Install the Visual Studio extension ArcGIS Pro SDK for .Net (from the Visual Studio menu Extensions -> Manage Extensions) that matches your version of ArcGIS Pro.
• Open Pro\PlantPickerAddin.sln in the version Visual Studio supported by your version of ArcGIS.
• Ensure Release and not Debug is selected on the Visual Studio toolbar.
• Select Build -> Build Solution from the Visual Studio menu.

Deploy

After building a release version, copy 10.x/bin/x86/release/DenaPlantPicker.esriAddin to X:\GIS\Addins\10.X and copy Pro/bin/release/PlantPickerAddin.esriAddinX to X:\GIS\Addins\Pro. Alaska GIS users should be configured to automatically load Add-Ins from these folders. Users without network access can get a copy from someone who does, and then double click the Addin file to launch the esri Addin install tool.

The tool requires a file geodatabase and layer files to be deployed to a GIS data server available to all tool users. The path to the database and layer files is hardcoded as X:\AKR\DENA\biologic\Plants in SpeciesLayerFactory.cs (10.x, Pro). . The layer files are also in the Data folder of this repo. The file geodatabase is created from a MS Access database maintained by Carl. See the folder Scripts for instructions and scripts for creating a new geodatabase if Carl provides an updated plants database.

The database can be update independent of the Addin provided there are no schema changes. If schema changes are needed code changes may be required. The file SpeciesLayerFactory.cs assumes a table named taxonPicklist with a field named Taxon_txtLocalAcceptedName. If this changes in the database, the code will need to be updated and a new version deployed. Other database changes may require changes to the layer files deployed with the database. The network location and layer and database filenames should not need to be changed, code changes will be required if they are.

Using

You need to be on the NPS network with your X drive mapped to the GIS data server.

• If you need to use the tool off the NPS network, you will need a copy of the GIS network server on an external drive mounted as your X drive. The external drive will need at least the X:\GIS\Addins and X:\AKR\DENA\biologic\Plants folders.

ArcGIS 10.x

1. Open a new or existing ArcMap document.

2. Use the Customize -> Toolbars menu to select the Denali Plant Species Selector toolbar.

   • If the toolbar is not available, see step 1 and make sure that X:\GIS\ADDINS\10.x is in the addin folder list in the AddIn Manager.

3. Select a species or state rank from one of the picklist in the toolbar to add that layer to your map.

4. Adjust the layer properties as desired for aesthetic visual presentation.

5. Repeat.

ArcGIS Pro

1. Open a new or existing ArcGIS Pro document.

2. Click on the Add-In tab in the Ribbon.

   • If there is no group called Denali Plant Picker in the Add-In ribbon, then see step 1 above and make sure that X:\GIS\ADDINS\Pro is in the box titled Search for additional Add-Ins in these folders in the Options tab in the Add-In Manager on the Project properties tab.

3. Select a species or state rank from one of the pick lists in the Denali Plant Picker group to add that layer to your map.

4. Adjust the layer properties as desired for aesthetic visual presentation.

5. Repeat.