We have a WPF application, intended to be used in the field on laptops, that needs a mapping component. Currently, we're using Telerik's WPF controls, and specifically, their mapping control, which is displaying maps based on data retrieved from BING or from Open Street Map, depending upon the configuration.
We have two new requirements:
- Some of our customers are ESRI customers, who want to be able to display their ArcGIS maps.
- Some of our customers need the ability to view maps when they do not have an internet connection.
- The two groups overlap, so we have some ESRI customers who need offline mapping, and we have some non-ESRI customers who need offline mapping.
ESRI has an ArcGIS Runtime SDK for WPF that has offline capabilities - it can render maps installed as local services on the mobile. So we will definitely be exploring that approach.
The question for now, though, is can we use the ArcGIS Runtime SDK for WPF controls and local services to provide offline maps for our non-ESRI customers.
We have an ESRI license. Our customers do not.
What licenses would our customers need to obtain in order to:
- Run our application with its embedded ArcGIS mapping control?
- Can we run the embedded ArcGIS mapping control against mapping sources other than ESRI? Against local WMS services, OSM, etc.?
- Run our application against ESRI local services map data that we included in our install?
- Update ESRI local services map data for themselves?
In our ideal world, we'd just need to put a map file on the mobile (ESRI shapefile, GeoJSON, GML, XML, whatever) and have it be available to the mapping control in our application, and if the customer wanted to update the maps, they'd just generate the file with whatever software they used, and copy it into place.
I don't expect the world to be that simple.
We're considering alternatives. Copying tile cache directories, installing OSM in a box, etc. Running ESRI local services.
ESRI will have to be part of our answer, because we have some customers who insist upon it, Whether it can be all of our answer depends upon how much cost that imposes upon the customer.
Any idea where I can find out?
