Jumbled Structure

Ramblings about technology, programming, IT, food, whatever comes to mind...

[mtodd4530]

KML, IIS, Google Maps, and ArcCatalog

Trying to add a KML layer to a Google map should not be this hard. Firstly, it would be nice if the Google Maps API didn't just silently fail when trying to load the layer. There was no indication in the network traffic that anything was amiss, mainly because loading the layer happens on the Google side, not the client side. Secondly, if you're running IIS you need to add KMZ and KML MIME types. IIS will return a 404 if an unknown MIME type is requested. KMZ uses 'application/vnd.google-earth.kmz' and KML uses 'application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml'. Thirdly, [validate your KML](http://www.kmlvalidator.com/home.htm). Invalid KML just causes Google Maps to silently fail to load the KML layer. Finally, if using the Layer To KML tool in ArcCatalog, make sure to turn OFF the 'Clamped features to ground' option. Turning it on will create an invalid KML file for Google Maps.

[mtodd4530]

Excellent Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Got the recipe off of a jar of Jif, then folded in white chocolate chips at the end. Man, they're good. 3/4 cup peanut butter 1/2 shortening or butter 1 1/4 cup of light brown sugar 3 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 egg 1 cup white flour 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 cup white chocolate chips Preheat oven to 375 F. 1. Cream peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Add the egg and stir until mixed. 2. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients, then mix them in with the wet ingredients. 3. Grab a small amount of dough and roll into a ball, then place onto a tray somewhat apart (they'll flatten a bit during baking). 4. Bake for 8-10 minutes until set and just starting to brown. Cool for a few minutes and enjoy. Makes 24-30.

[mtodd4530]

SQL Server Reporting Services Permissions Error

When setting up SSRS in SQL Server, make sure that you provide folder level access permission to each user that needs it. If you don't, you'll get the following error: "User ‘Domain\User’ does not have required permissions. Verify that sufficient permissions have been granted and Windows User Account Control (UAC) restrictions have been addressed." Despite the wording of the error message this was not a UAC issue. The same error will be displayed if you have forgotten to allow the user access to the root (or other) folder that contains the report. Assistance from the folowing sites is gratefully acknowledged: [UAC Error in SSRS](http://www.soheib.com/technical-knowledge/sql-server-2012-reporting-services-uac-user-access-control/) [UAC and Folder Permissions](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3389040/reporting-services-permissions-on-sql-server-r2-ssrs/9839125#comment16821627_9839125)

[mtodd4530]

SQL Server Connection via SdeWorkspaceFactoryClass

We were having problems trying to connect to ArcSDE 10.1 when using SdeWorkspaceFactoryClass. We had no problems attaching to ArcSDE 10.0 but kept getting a "SDE not running on server" error when trying to connect to 10.1. After some searching we were able to determine that we had to add two properties to the IPropertySet to gain access to 10.1 that we did not need against prior versions. They are DB_CONNECTION_PROPERTIES and DBCLIENT. (These properties are used when performing a direct connection to SDE. Previously we were not using direct connect but were establishing a connection to an SDE instance. ArcSDE 10.1 does NOT use instances so we have had to change to using the direct connect method.) For example, we would use the following code to fill the property set: public static IPropertySet GetPropertySetClass() { IPropertySet props; props = new PropertySetClass(); props.SetProperty("DB_CONNECTION_PROPERTIES", "sde_server_name"); props.SetProperty("DBCLIENT", "SQLServer"); props.SetProperty("DATABASE", "db_name"); props.SetProperty("USER", "staff"); props.SetProperty("PASSWORD", "XXXXXX"); props.SetProperty("VERSION", "sde.DEFAULT"); return props; } Then, to open the connection, use the following: public static IFeatureClass OpenFeatureClassFromSde(string LayerName) { IWorkspace ws; IWorkspaceFactory wsf; IFeatureWorkspace fws; IPropertySet props; props = Helper.GetPropertySetClass(); wsf = new ESRI.ArcGIS.DataSourcesGDB.SdeWorkspaceFactoryClass(); ws = wsf.Open(props, 0); fws = ws as IFeatureWorkspace; return fws.OpenFeatureClass(LayerName); }

[mtodd4530]

ArcSDE 10.1 Connection via ArcGIS Engine

If you have SQL Server (2008 or 2012) and are used to loading layers (pre 10.1) via an MXD and you were NOT using direct connect, you're going to be extremely disgruntled and perplexed when switching to SDE 10.1; your layers won't load any longer. The layers will load correctly in ArcMap as they've always done but if you try to use them in your ArcGIS Engine application, they won't load. You'll get a red exclamation mark next to each SDE layer. The solution is to install the SQL Server Native Client onto the computer where you're trying to run your application. For example, we're running SQL Server 2012, so we downloaded the native client part of the SQL Server 2012 Feature Pack from here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29065 and installed it on the client. After that, everything worked.

[mtodd4530]

ArcGIS Proxy Server and Layer Queries

If you are using ArcGIS Server and need to set up a proxy server for large (i.e. greater than 2k) layer queries, you need to make sure that you install the proxy server on the application server as opposed to the ArcGIS Server. If you don't, you'll get no features returned even when it is patently obvious that features should be returned for that query.

One of the odd symptoms was an OPTION command in firebug for the query request instead of a POST as one would expect. It turns out that this indicated a cross-domain AJAX query (the request was made to see what options were available from the server but, since it was a cross-domain request, it never got there) which is a no-no.

I spent several wasted hours trying to figure this out. Thanks to the hints at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1478622/firebug-net-monitor-options I was able to resolve this issue and move on.

[mtodd4530]

Autocad 2013 Civil 3D Network Install Hanging

We ran into a problem trying to do a network install of Autocad 2013 Civil 3D. Everything appeared to be set up correctly on the server and we were able to start the installation but we were never able to get beyond the "Initializing" step during the install.

This is a workaround (so I'd still like to see if someone has an actual solution) but it worked for us.

To install the application, look for the "SMS_SCCM scripts" directory where the network install was created (other directories there will be "AdminImage" and "Tools"). Inside the "SMS_SCCM scripts" is a txt file called "installname_SCCM", where installname is the name you gave the image when you created the network installation. Extract the first uncommented line (comments are denoted by a ":"), open a command prompt, change to the network install image directoy, and then execute that line. In our case, the line was

.\AdminImage\setup.exe /W /q /I AdminImage\AC2013_64.ini

Again, this is a workaround as it's actually treating what would normally be an SCCM install as a regular command line install. The setup executable runs all of the module installations quietly, i.e. there's no visual feedback during the installation (task manager will give you an idea of how things are going, though), but once it's done you'll have Autocad 13 installed including icons and Start Menu entries.

If anyone has other ideas to actually solve this issue, I'd love to hear them.