Getting the most out of ArcGIS™ with Fulcrum
Fulcrum already has a great import tool. Whether you’ve got shapefiles or CSV’s we’ve got you covered. We thought it would be nice to import data directly from an ArcGIS™ Server instance so we built fulcrum-ags-import.
You can install fulcrum-ags-import using the npm command which is included when you install Node.js.
npm install -g fulcrum-ags-import
Once installed you’ll be able to execute fulcrum-ags-import from the command line. There is a single required parameter – The map service layer url. This url represents a single layer in an ArcGIS Server map service. In the example below, the map service layer url represents a fire hydrants layer.
fulcrum-ags-import http://gis-web.co.union.nc.us/arcgis/rest/services/PWGIS_Web/Operational_Layers/MapServer/5
This command will fetch the layer schema from ArcGIS Server and create a Fulcrum app with appropriate field mappings and import records. This means that date fields in ArcGIS Server are represented as date fields in Fulcrum. The same is true with String, Integer, Float fields, etc.
It’s common to have numerous fields in GIS databases, often times more than you need. You can skip importing specific fields with the –skip-fields parameter.
fulcrum-ags-import http://gis-web.co.union.nc.us/arcgis/rest/services/PWGIS_Web/Operational_Layers/MapServer/5 –skip-fields=Northing,Easting
If you’re only interested in a subset of data in your map service layer you can pass an SQL statement in the –where parameter. Below we’ll only import hydrants that were manufactured after the year 2000.
fulcrum-ags-import http://gis-web.co.union.nc.us/arcgis/rest/services/PWGIS_Web/Operational_Layers/MapServer/5 –where ‘YEAR_MANUF>2000’
This package should work for both MapServer and FeatureServer service types for ArcGIS server versions > 10. If you’d like any features added or find any bugs, please let us know.
Update 2023:
Great news! Fulcrum has entered a definitive Commercial Provider agreement with Esri™ to build on the Esri technology stack. What does that mean? Let’s break it down.
You already know that Fulcrum is the leading solution for field inspections and data collection, particularly when location capabilities are critical. And Esri is the leading geographic information systems (GIS) platform, with clients in virtually every industry that requires location-related data, mapping, and analysis.
These two types of systems are like beans and rice, chocolate and peanut butter… or, you know, field inspection management and geospatial analysis. As great as each is independently, bringing them together will make great things even better.
We’ve started to actualize that potential by entering into a definitive agreement with Esri to use its runtime software development kit (SDK) to integrate Fulcrum with Esri’s flagship ArcGIS™ product line. That means we’ll be providing a richer mapping experience across the Fulcrum platform and a stronger data exchange capability with Esri products.
Our first delivery on the Esri SDK for mobile, anticipated for early 2023, will add customer-defined labeling on pins, as well as clustering of pins, to make large datasets easier to work with – particularly on mobile devices. When you’re tasked with dozens of field inspections in a single day, using Fulcrum to increase productivity and data accuracy is great. But seeing the data immediately, on your mobile device, without requiring drill-down? That’s even better. It saves time on every inspection, and accumulating these time savings across dozens of inspections can make the difference between a successful day and missing your quota.
And if you’d like to see a demonstration of Fulcrum’s integration with Esri’s ArcGIS Online, we’ve got just the thing with a webinar from the Fulcrum product team previewing some soon-to-be-released integration features.