Latest Contributions by KristenCarroll

Greetings posters.  This issue has been fixed.  NIM079055 - An AccessViolationException occurs when the IGraphicTracker::Add method is used to add many Graphic Tracker Symbols based on a Picture Marker Symbol - has been addressed in ArcGIS 10.2.1.  This download is available via download from our Customer Care Portal: https://customers.esri.com/index.cfm?event=login.show, or by calling your Customer Support Representative at 888-377-4575 X5. If you continue to have issues with this, please call our Support Services line and have an incident created at 888-377-4575 X2. Best Regards, Kristen Barry Esri Support Services ... View more

Based on the "2010 Methodology Statement: Esri Data�??Business Locations and Business Summary" whitepaper, I believe the "Employees" variable (G01_TotEmp) in the 2010/2015 ESRI Demographic data is an aggregation or "roll-up" by geographies of the "Employee Count"  (NUMBER_EMP) field in the InfoGroup business points.  Likewise with the Number of Businesses variables.  [INDENT]"Esri uses the geographic codes to report business data for summary areas such as states, counties, census tracts, and block groups. Aggregations by ZIP Codes are created from the business database. ZIP Codes from Infogroup may differ from the residential ZIP Codes in the Esri® demographic databases because Infogroup includes business-only ZIP Codes that are unique to a particular establishment and include no residential area. The coordinates of each business are used to assign it to a user-defined polygon"[/INDENT] I'm very disappointed that these Business Summary variables were excluded from ESRI's 2011/2016 demographic data.  Supposedly they will be included in the 2012/2017 data. Paul Vastag Hi Paul, Until you do get your 2012/2017 updates, you can access this variable (and a wealth of others) via the online option.  I've created a short video showing the steps to do this:  http://screencast.com/t/PUuv0rr5i4D. As well, Lucy Guerra had put together a blog and video some time back showing these same steps: Blog:  http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2011/12/19/how-to-get-the-20112016-esri-updates-in-business-analyst-desktop/  Video: http://video.arcgis.com/watch/322/online-access-in-business-analyst If your Global Username isn't yet connected to BA Desktop, you'll need to first email ba_onlineaccess@esri.com with your customer number, requesting that this be configured.  Once done, you can access 1990, 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, ACS as well as *MPI and *CEX data, (*depending on your license level). Best Regards, Kristen C. Esri Support Services 888-377-4575 ... View more

Hi nosecondcity, Social media is definitely becoming more and more a part of our lives, business decisions included.  I believe you mentioned that you have a Standard copy of BA: (http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/extensions/businessanalyst/subscription-comparison).  If so, this includes the Target Marketing functions.  Assuming you have POS data, the Developing Marketing Strategies report will help you determine which media to focus on in order to reach your target market.  As an example, I ran a report for the San Francisco tutorial data, found in C:\ArcGIS\Business Analyst\US\Datasets\Tutoria\ (version 10.1).  Looking at the attached sample report, you can see that you would do well to advertise in airline magazines, because this group of customers scored a 270 for the core group, which is almost three times higher than the national average of 100.  And/or to advertise on public radio because they listen to public radio three times more than the national average.  I'm including a link to the help on this topic Segmentation Reports Charts and Reports:  http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//000z000000n7000000.  And, to the general topic of Target Marketing:  http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#/Target_marketing/000z000000r0000000/ Best Regards, Kristen C. Esri Support Services 888-377-4575 X2 ... View more

Hi, On using the locator report tool under business analyst for calculating the drive time and drive distance between two point feature classes we are facing a series of issues as follows. 1) After the tool is initiated, it aborts itself after 5 seconds stating that the user has aborted the process. 2) While trying to execute the same tool with the help of python snippet, I am getting the   Error executing function. Failed to execute (LocatorReport) 3) Pure virtual function call(Run time error) Please try to help us in solving the error as we have tried all possibe solutions including uninstalling and re installing business analyst desktop. Thanks in advance. Regards Hari Hi Hari, I have a few suggestions:  Make sure that there is a viable store assignment between the customers and their store(s).  The analyses you are doing is basically a join.  The column headers can be different, but the data has to be the same between the two layers, e.g. text to text or numeric to numeric.  So between the store layer and customer layer, the common assignment might be called ST_ID for Store ID.  Also make sure both layers are in the same projection; typically the Business Analyst's Web Mercatur.  I had answered a previous poster's questions about this analyses that you may find helpful:  http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/19166-Analysis-Desire-Lines-failure?highlight=kjbcarroll Below is the help documentation in case you find it helpful, but essentially you need a few key elements:  A formal store layer where each store has a unique ID.  A formal customer layer where each record has a store assignment that was either set up when the customer layer was created, or afterwards via Create Customer Assignment.  If you have these elements, the analyses should work.  The only reason it might not is if you are expecting to do drive times over a very large area.  But at BA 10.1 it should still do quite a large area without issue. http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//000z00000043000000 One other thing to check is that you have write permissions to your output directory.  As a test, try outputting to C:\Temp. Best Regards, Kristen C. Support Services 888-377-4575 X2 ... View more

Hi nosecondcity, Proximity/location-based marketing could be a few different things, but Business Analyst is capable of a wide range of very powerful analytical tools.  One tool that comes to mind is Location Allocation, the goal of which is to help locate new facilities in a way that supplies the existing demand points most efficiently.  It maximizes attendance, market share, and target market share.  If this sounds like something you would like to learn more about as it relates to Business Analyst, here's a video:  http://video.arcgis.com/watch/1891/smart-market-planning-with-location_dash_allocation And in case you find it helpful, I'm including the 'What's New in Business Analyst 10.1' to see what other tools you might find useful: http://downloads.esri.com/support/whitepapers/other_/W23986_Whats_New_In_Business_Analyst_10.1.pdf Or, if you're on version 10.0, here's the what's New in Business Analyst 10.0: http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/whitepapers/view/productid/153/metaid/1862 Please let me know if I've not answered your question; I'm happy to continue helping you find a suitable answer. Best Regards, Kristen C. Support Services 888-377-4575 X2 ... View more

I have only been using BA for a couple months now, but there seems to be an issue with hand drawn trade areas.  When I use this tool it takes really long time to draw a trade area.  For example, I can begin the polygon with the first point, but placing the second point and waiting for the line to be drawn on the screen lags behind a great deal.  This process is continued until I'm finished.  Drawing a trade area can take almost a minute to complete.  Is anyone else having similiar issues?  Is there a solution to fix it? Hi hrudy, You don't say which version of BA you're on, but I've not seen this before. I just tested this on BA 10.1 and it functioned as expected.  That is, the second, subsequent, and final vertices were immediate when clicking on the map.  Did you try this on a new mxd?  Here were my steps:  Activate the Draw tool.  From the New Polygon tool, click on the map at least three times, double clicking on the last vertice to complete the polygon.  This process took seconds.  Once done, from the BA toolbar choose Study Area > Create New Study Area > By currently selected shapes > confirm the Summary of selected shapes window to make sure no other objects are selected > name the layer and choose Finish.  If you are using an alternate work flow, let us know and I'll test it.  Please let me know which version of BA you're workig with. Best Regards, Kristen C. Esri Support Services 888-377-4575 X2 ... View more

Hi,       We have ArcObjects 10 SDK for Microsoft .Net framework for extending and customizing ArcGIS Desktop applications. In a similar way, is that possible to customize the commands present in Business Analyst toolbar using BA objects and .Net. If any, could you please share us the link..       Our actual requirement is: We are creating custom bds layer using Custom BDS data setup wizard in Business Analyst toolbar. Everytime we are creating it manually. We would like to automate the custom bds layer creation process keeping the required fields and calculations in configuration xml files or dbf templates.       How to automate this custom bds creation process using BA objects / .Net / or through any other API's/approaches. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Hi Alagappan, Have you checked out the new flexibility of BA 10.1's Custom Data Setup tool?  http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#/Custom_data_setup_tool/000z000000tm000000/. You may find that it precludes the necessity for customization altogether. Best Regards, Kristen C. Esri Support Services ... View more

Household Income data for 2010 does not seem to be included in in the 10.1 dataset?  Was Household Income included in the 2010 Census, or is it only availble through ACS?  If not included in the Census, does ESRI estimate a benchmark for 2010 (based on ACS) for trending purposes? Hi Debbie, The following answer comes from Cathy Spisszak, our Data Product Manager: [INDENT]Household Income was not included in Census 2010 due to the elimination of the long form.  Income information now comes from the ACS: http://resources.arcgis.com/content/acs. Esri supplies annual estimates of Income.  However, there currently isn�??t a good benchmark for income for trending purposes due to the changes made to the decennial Census. From our 2011 Methodology statement: Data users like time series. They like to know what has happened since the last update. Has the housing market stabilized yet? Has the local economy improved? Has there been any growth, or are the residents simply one year older? Unfortunately, the 2011 updates are only comparable to corresponding Census 2010 counts. Each decennial census effectively restarts demographic time series for the next decade. �?�  Esri's 2010/2015 demographic updates were based on Census 2000, reported in 2000 geography and released several months before Census 2010 data. Updated sample variables, like income and employment, are also not comparable to current sample data (i.e., ACS data). �?�  Census 2000 geography is not comparable to Census 2010 areas. The Census Bureau revised or realigned boundaries from the county level to blocks. �?�  Geographic incompatibility also precludes the comparison of trade areas, which are built from different blocks and block groups in Census 2010. �?�  ACS is not comparable to Census 2000 as a base. For example, ACS household income is averaged over different surveys spanning 12�??60 months, and each respondent's income is adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Census 2000 collected income for the previous year (1999) at one point in time. ACS may also include seasonal residents for an area, unlike Census 2000. �?�  2011 updates are not comparable to 2010 updates. The 2011 updates are also not comparable to ACS data. The only data for all levels of geography is the five-year ACS data. First, a five-year average is hardly comparable to a single point in time. Second, the 2006�??2010 ACS data was released after the 2011 updates. Finally, current forecast models, especially for sample items like income, differ from the models that were used from 2000 to 2010. All models are being revised to incorporate Census 2010 as a base to accommodate the change in ACS sample data and to introduce new data sources.[/INDENT] Best Regards, Kristen C. Esri Support Services ... View more

In the Network Analyst Extension, I calculated routes using the 'Closest Facility Solver' from block centroids to the nearest farmer's market. I used the network dataset that comes with the Business Analyst. Since the network dataset is not projected, I cannot get the length of the routes in feet/meter units. I can project the routes and get the length in linear units. Is this the right way to calculate the length of the routes? Thanks, Mengyao Hi Menyao, You can export out your network dataset using the option to 'Use the same coordinate system as: 'the data frame' and choose yes to add the layer back to the table of contents.  This should put your network dataset into WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere.  The block centroid layer should already be in this projection, but you can double check to be sure.  Once you have both layers in the same projection, you should be able to calculate the length in linear units. Best Regards, Kristen C. Esri Support Services ... View more

Hello Everyone, I am having trouble with running a Threshold Trade Area analysis utilizing custom .bds files in Business Analyst 10. I am creating the .bds files by inputting my custom block group data from a shapefile. I am not having trouble actually creating the .bds files as the files do include all of our custom block group data in the Attribute Table, but when I try to utilize those files to run a Threshold Trade Area Analysis using Threshold Drive Times the program either freezes and goes �??Not Responding�?? or I receive the error 080256 (everything works when running the analysis using Standard Threshold Rings). My first question is if there are currently any issues/bugs with the utilization of custom .bds files when running analyses? Also could this issue be a license agreement problem between BA and ArcGIS? Business Analyst is updated to SP3 and ArcGIS is updated to SP4. Is there a certain Service Patch which ArcGIS needs to be set too for Business Analyst to work properly? Another issue I am having is that my custom .bds files which I have previously created in BA9.3.1 running on Windows XP are not visible in ArcCatalog when viewing in BA10 running on Windows 7. Would the difference in operating system have anything to do with the visibility of the .bds files? I ask this because prior to updating to BA 10 we were running BA9.3.1 on Windows 7 and the .bds files created then are visible. Thanks, Phillip Hi Phillip, So the first issue is that your custom bds layer creates without error, but cannot be used for further analysis, correct?  I've not seen the error message you reference, but some things to check are: Make sure you aren't adding varibles you're not licensed for.  Here's a link to see the variable list:  http://resources.arcgis.com/content/esri-business-analyst-desktop/10.0/about.  In the second paragraph you'll find a link to the 2011 BA variable list.  If you are including variables for which you're not licensed, you'll encounter an error message.  Another possibility is that you're including too many variables. Try running the analysis with just one or two variables. Also, it's possible that your bds was created with the aggregation method set incorrectly, e.g. custom variables needed to have been set to "calculation".  Another possibility is that the custom calcs in the bds were created using a float structure instead of long.  To answer your second question, it's unlikely to be a conflict between BA and ArcMap.  And, it sounds like you have the latest service packs for both BA and ArcMap.  To answer your question about not being able to see your bds in ArcCatalog, this may be a permissions issue.  Did you just copy over the bds from one machine to another?  Try having your ADMINISTRATOR log on to see if they can view the bds in ArcCatalog.  However, sometimes it's best to just recreate the bds.  Sincerely, Kristen C. Esri Support Services ... View more

Oh sorry, I meant I wanted to export my geocoded points from community analyst (either in a table or layer) so that I could put them into ArcMap. Basically I'm just trying to avoid downloading a bunch of street files for different counties. Hi Teresamaria, At this point it is not possible to export out geocoded points (in table or layer form) from Community Analyst.  Kristen C. Esri Support Services 888-377-4575 ... View more

Hi Aaron, I've sent Gareth the script, and we will be testing the script in house. Please contact me when you have a chance. Thank you! Kristen C. Esri Support Services ... View more

Hi ddbradshaw I'm going through old posts and addressing issues, where possible.  Your request is one that the Developers would like to submit as an enhancement: That is, there is currently no existing service or code example within the APIs to take a thematic map and print it to PDF.  They agree that it would be convenient for users to be able to simply select a map extent, along with a variable and generate a PDF thematic map by clicking on a button.  They've asked me to get your name if possible to add to the enhancement request. Thank you for the suggestion! Kristen C. Esri Support Services 888-377-4575 X2 ... View more