Latest Contributions by NickHardcastle

When Microsoft released Windows Server 2012, they disabled the creation of a "short name" in the NTFS file system by default. These were used back in the days when long names and spaces within names weren't allowed. However, certain tools in ArcGIS (e.g. ACSCII to Raster) generate a GRID file which is an ArcInfo Workstation format. An ArcInfo Workspace cannot contain spaces in the path - this goes back to the days of Unix which it was orignally written for, but ESRI didn't rewrite the procedures when it was migrated to Windows. The upshot of this is that tools that generate a GRID file as part of their process do not run by default on machines connecting to folders on Windows 2012 Server (if the path contains a space - which inevitably it does in the 21st Century). It has never been a problem before because Windows Server 2008 and earlier did create the short name, therefore ArcGIS was happy. Having logged a call, I have now been told that a bug won't be created and it is the user's responsibility to appreciate the limitations of certain tools. But this is as a result of Microsoft changing something and ESRI not keeping up - not user's fault in my view. These tools that generate a GRID file need re-writing so they work on Windows Server 2012 by default (something which they are "not planning to do", apparently). ... View more

At Arc 10.1, "Add Spatial Database Connection" has been replaced with a more generic "Add Database Connection". Whilst I appreciate this is better for connnecting directly to different types of databases, it means users can no longer easily create a new connection to an ArcSDE service. To quote the 10.1 help: "If you have connection files that were created prior to 10.1, they will still work. However, if you need to create a new connection to your geodatabase using an ArcSDE service, use the Create ArcSDE Connection File geoprocessing tool." This is a much more long-winded process - some this simple should not require the use of a tool. Moreover, you cannot "Test Connection" like you used to be able to. Alternatively, "ArcSDE" could be added to the list of possible options in the "Add Database Connection" drop-down. ... View more