Arc9 Migration: January 4, 2005 Update - Roll Out

The REGIS ArcGIS: ArcView 9 application has been officially rolled out to the first wave of REGIS users today. In order to roll out the new ArcGIS 9 environment to all REGIS users in an orderly and efficient manner, REGIS Agency staff will be working with coordinators from each Participant to roll out the applications to the remainder of the users over the next few weeks. Watch this space for more information in the days to come!

The following message was sent to the first two-dozen REGIS ArcView 9 users on January 4th:

Good Afternoon,

As promised last month, as of today the REGIS Agency is beginning the deployment of the ArcView 9 level of the ArcGIS environment to users in various communities across the REGIS Consortium. You are one of approximately two dozen users who are able to access ArcGIS: ArcView 9 immediately. We will be bringing additional users into the new environment over the coming weeks.

What this means for you

The next time you log onto the REGIS applications web page (or hit the "Application Refresh" button on your icon window), an additional icon will appear labeled as "ArcView 9" alongside your existing REGIS icons. To access ArcView 9, simply click ONE TIME on the new icon. The application will launch automatically, much the same way as ArcView 3.3 does.

Initial Items

A few loose ends are still being wrapped up in the new environment, however. These include:

Orthophotography - The new 2003 Digital Orthophotography should be available in ArcView 9 likely by the end of this week (if not sooner).
Some Layers - the final few layers will be added to the new environment over the course of the next week. If you have any specific questions about layers not yet available in ArcView 9, such as the Census Geography, feel free to give the REGIS Help Desk a call at 776-7744.
Layer Manager - the latest incarnation of the old "Theme Manager" from the 3.3 days is back and in the ArcGIS environment is available by choosing the button immediately to the left of the "PPN" search field in the REGIS toolbar. Simply choose the category, then the specific layer and hit add. Repeat the process until all the desired layers have been added.
PPN & Taxpayer Search - are not functional at this moment, although we anticipate these fields will be fully operational later this week or, at latest, first thing next week. We will keep you posted as to the availability of these search tools.

Documentation

ArcView 9 help files are currently being finalized and will be made available to all REGIS ArcGIS 9 users via the REGIS website soon. One benefit of not overly customizing the REGIS ArcView 9 interface is that nearly all of the tools and menu items are standard, out-of-the-box functionality. The few REGIS customizations will be fully documented and that literature distributed soon.

Wider ArcView 9 Roll-Out

As noted above, wider roll-out of the new ArcGIS 9 environment will be occurring over the next several weeks. We will be working with coordinators from each community to determine the best method for rolling out the new application other users.

Stay tuned, as additional information about REGIS ArcView 9 and the roll-out will be forthcoming over the next few days!

REGIS Help Desk staff are available for any questions you might have. Call (616) 776-7744 with any questions or problems you might have!

Thanks much,
Chris