Dynamic Display and Graphics Tracker

[MelodyMeinhardt]

I am not clear on why you would use GraphicTracker to track gps data, for instance moving units.  I thought that was one of the reasons for using DynamicDisplay. Could someone clarify, please?  Thanks!

[RalfGottschalk]

Meinmel,

The GraphicTracker is a simpler API that allows you to more easily display graphics (moving or stationary) in your map without having to worry about the nuances of each display technology.  So, it�??s the same code in Standard 2d display, Globe, and dynamic display.  It�??s not a replacement for dynamic display, but it can be use to display moving objects in dynamic display mode or in the standard display mode that just work without changing the code.

People have been successful at getting moving data to work in standard display, but it�??s complicated and writing the code correctly can be a challenge.  Dynamic display is extremely powerful, but it is even more complicated and you have to do a lot of data processing to get your underlying data to perform well. 

We found that many customers go to dynamic display for application that standard display could actually handle.  The problem is they are just having trouble implementing the standard display solution properly, and their performance suffers.  The GraphicTracker takes care of all the complexities of the display technology and it�??s the same code no matter what the technology.

For an application that requires moving data, try building it with the GraphicTracker and using basemap layers for you background data.  Depending on your needs this might be more than enough for you.  If this is not enough, you can just use the GraphicTracker in dynamic display mode, or implement your own custom dynamic layer like you always could have done.

[JonHall]

Melody-
I found at a recent regional user conference that ESRI now uses the term "Dynamic", in the ArcGIS 10 context, to refer to displaying features on the map that are actively changing, which is the intent of the IGraphicsTracker interface.

This is completely contradictory to how ESRI used the term "dynamic" display, in the ArcGIS 9 context, to refer to using the IDynamicDisplay interface to display relatively static, unchanging layers, by pre-rendering and cacheing JPEG or PNG image tiles of the base map for faster performance in ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Engine applications.  You would NOT want to use IDynamicDisplay to pre-render any feature on the map that was actively changing, as you would have to invalidate and rebuild your cached images of the map.

ESRI's differing use of the term "dynamic" confused me initially, hope that sheds some light on your question
-Jon

[AndreaFlesca]

Hi,
I use the IDynamicDisplay interface in my job since its introduction in the ArcObjects set.
Now I'm searching for an example in order to start to deal with the GraphicsTracker component. But up to now I did not found nothing.
In the Samples set included in my distribution (of the ArcGIS Engine SDK) there is nothing about the GraphicsTracker.
I'm using ArcGIS Engine SDK for C++ and Qt, and I am on Linux too.
Any help would be appreciated.

Andrea

[DavidClarke1]

You can find a sample when you install the EDN in the following location (Windows 7 64-bit)

C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\DeveloperKit10.0\Samples\ArcObjectsNet\GraphicTrackerMap

I assume the 32-bit path would be:

C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\DeveloperKit10.0\Samples\ArcObjectsNet\GraphicTrackerMap

See the following link for limitations regarding Dynamic Display.

http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/arcobjects-net/conceptualhelp/index.html#//00010000004t000000