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One of the "exciting" things about developing products and services for a major software vendor like ESRI is the fact that our product release schedule is often heavily influenced by the release dates (and events) of ESRI.
The recent release of ArcGIS 9.3 (most importantly for us, ArcGIS Server 9.3 and ArcIMS 9.3) came with it the need to upgrade all products in the Geocortex suite to ensure compatibility.
In reply to today's Geocortex IMF release announcement email, Steve Tharp at Chesapeake Energy wrote, "Man you guys are cranking it out before the esri UC".
He's right... although I suppose its no surprise since ESRI has been doing some "cranking out" of their own.
Earlier this month (on the 10th of July) we released Geocortex Essentials 1.4 Beta (for ArcGIS Server 9.3) and we're releasing the final at the end of this week.
Last week (on the 23rd), we released Geocortex Uptime 1.2.2 which is compatible with ArcIMS 9.3.
On Monday we released the ArcGIS Server Connector for Geocortex IMF to ensure compatibility with ArcGIS Server 9.3.
Yesterday we released Geocortex Statistics 1.3 which is compatible with ArcIMS 9.3.
Today, we announced the release of Geocortex IMF 5.2.2 which is compatible with ArcIMS 9.3 (and contains some fixes to ensure compatibility with Mozilla Firefox 3).
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Every time I’m being briefed on the latest report designs for Geocortex Optimizer, I can’t help but get a little thrill when I see a Popular Extents map amongst all the important tables, graphs, and charts.
We’ve mostly (and I think rightly) invested in aspects of the product that extract and present all kinds of metrics relevant to the ArcGIS Server stack. As CEO, I know this should get me most excited because these types of metrics represent the core value prop of the product. But as a geography geek, if you hooked me up to machines that measure my physiological level of interest, I’d undoubtedly get most excited when I see the map.
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Well, I'm happy to blog that two weeks after the release of ArcGIS Server 9.3, we're offering full Geocortex Essentials compatibility. I must concede that this work didn't take two weeks; it took a couple months (we were very busy during the Beta program during which we made some educated guesses that proved correct).
We're actually releasing two new versions of Geocortex Essentials: Geocortex Essentials 1.3.1 Beta, and Geocortex Essentials 1.4 Beta. 1.3.1 is a maintenance release in the ArcGIS Server 9.2 edition of Geocortex Essentials. It contains updated language resources and bug fixes for customers who've built apps on 9.2. 1.4 is the big release that supports ArcGIS Server 9.3.
It has been a pleasure to start using the new features in Web ADF 9.3. Most notably (for developers):
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The new Web ADF JavaScript object model (not to be confused with the JavaScript API released in tandem with ArcGIS Server 9.3, which is also cool and we're doing lots of work with)
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Support for MS AJAX partial postbacks which will streamline future development (thankfully, adding full support for partial postbacks wasn't as arduous as we thought it might be)
Maybe we've been staring at it too long, but it appears the long-awaited 9.3 performance improvements are quite noticeable (we'll be able to quantify these improvements once we start playing with the Geocortex Optimizer Alpha in a couple weeks). Cool.
Next, maximizing the performance of Essentials (which has never received that much attention because we didn't really worry that much about our stuff being a bottleneck with 9.2) will be a core focus during the next couple 3-week iterations.
But first, I think the team is going to enjoy Latitude's annual "4th of July" picnic this afternoon/evening up at Shawnigan Lake.
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I came across a cool new language feature in C# 3.0 called Automatic Properties. A C# property looks like a member variable but behind the scenes are 2 related methods: a getter and a setter. The idea is that when you retrieve the value of a property, the getter is called and when you set the value of a property, the corresponding setter is called. Properties are used all over the place and are frequently used when implementing server-side ASP.NET controls where setting a value such as the text field of a text box control causes the UI to be updated.
Declaring a property in C# looks like
string myPropertyValue;
string MyProperty
{
get { return myPropertyValue; }
set { myPropertyValue = value; }
}
Most properties do not have side effects and as you can imagine, declaring a lot of properties can quickly become tedious. To alleviate this pain, C# 3 has a new construct called Automatic Properties. In C# 3, the declaration of MyProperty becomes
string MyProperty { get; set; }
... a bit more concise and very similar to the syntax used to declare a property in a C# interface. If you wish to implement a more involved getter or setter in the future you are free to do so, without affecting the users of the class.
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Speaking of the "Latitude Library", I just finished reading an interesting book recently added to our inventory, "The Monk and the Riddle". Written by Randy Komisar, self-described virtual-CEO and technology entrepeneur, the book is quick to reveal the roots of its unusual title (no clues here though!), but slow to reach its point: its the journey that matters, not the destination. Set within the context of new technology ventures, Randy presents the central premise of his book (and the driving force behind new arrivals to Silicon Valley and the so called SPDs at Bear Stearns) as the "Deferred Life Plan"; dedicate every waking hour to work today in order to enjoy life later with all the commensurate toys. Having lived the Silicon Valley lifestyle for several years, I could immediately relate.
Overall, I found the book largely readable due to its intriguing anecdotes about Randy's numerous technolgy ventures - I'm a sucker for business non-fiction. Dissecting the successes and failures for technology ventures is infinitely more interesting than anything fiction writers could come up with! Conversely, I felt the premise of the book missed its mark - the "Deferred Life Plan" is a well worn cliche. Or is it? For those reading the book, perhaps it will beg the question: "Am I doing what I'm truly passionate about?" Regardless, I recommend checking it out.
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Yongzhi and I are just wrapping up a week in Beijing as part of the Canadian Geomatics Science & Technology Partnering Mission to China 2008 delegation.
It has been an interesting week full of meetings and site visits. Being part of the delegation seems to have really opened doors for us at a number of agencies.
Yongzhi is heading to Chengdu (his hometown) for some R&R tomorrow, and I've now got a few days to explore before I fly back to Canada. I travel to Xi'an tomorrow to see the Terracotta Army, after which I return to Beijing. I still can't get over the size of Beijing--I feel like it would take weeks to do justice to the city.
Between the giant new architecture projects I've seen in Dubai and Beijing the last few months, Victoria is starting to feel like a tiny fishing village.