The geoprocessing Model and Script tool gallery is a great resource for beginners and experts alike. By submitting your geoprocessing tools to this gallery, you'll be helping thousands of users solve everyday workflows. We've heard many stories of users who have downloaded tools that have saved them critical hours and days.

If you are considering making a submission to the gallery, please take a few minutes to read these guidelines. By following these guidelines, you greatly increase the likelihood that your submission will be found, downloaded, and used with great success.

There is a companion checklist to help you create your submittal.

To add an entry to the Model and Script Tool Gallery, go to the gallery and click "Add an Entry". You'll then be asked to supply, among other things:

  • Version
  • Description
  • Tags
  • Zip file

The guidelines that follow are suggestions for:

  • Structure and contents of your zip file
  • Choosing the correct version
  • Contents of the description
  • Title of your submission
  • Name of your toolbox
  • Tags to use for your submission

Zip file structure and content

The root folder

The root folder contains your toolbox and all supporting resources used by your tools, such as scripts, data, and map documents. All resources must reside in the root folder or its subfolders, as illustrated below.

The content of the subfolders is listed below. For more information, see the Desktop help topic A structure for sharing tools.

  • ToolData: Contains all data used by your tools. Typically contains file geodatabases, rasters, and layer files (.lyr).
  • Scripts: Contains the scripts (such as .py files) for any script tools that you submit. 
  • Scratch: This subfolder can be used for writing intermediate data in models and temporary data in scripts. It typically contains a file geodatabase named scratch.
  • Doc: Contains everything that helps the recipient of your tools to understand your tools, such as .pdf, .docx, .chm, and .pptx files. It also contains any images used in model diagrams.

When you create your zip file, add the root folder, not the individual contents of the root folder, as illustrated below.

 

Set relative paths

If your submission contains data, you must set relative paths in your map documents and tools as described in the Desktop help topic Paths explained: Absolute, relative, UNC, and URL.

Test your zip file

Before you upload your zip file to the gallery, give it to a colleague and have them unzip your file onto their computer and review and test your tools.

Choose the correct version

When submitting a tool from the 9.3 resource center, make sure that the 9.3 checkbox is checked. If you created your tools in version 9.3.1, check the box next to 9.3. Tools created in 9.3 will work in 10.0 so, in theory, you could check both 9.3 and 10.0 when submitting a 9.3 toolbox. However, we suggest that you just check one box.

If you created your tools in version 10.0, check the 10.0 box and make sure that 9.3 is unchecked. This is especially important because version 9.3 cannot open version 10.0 toolboxes. The last thing you want is for a 9.3 user to download your 10.0 toolbox only to discover they cannot open it.

Description

If your tools require particular licenses (product or extension) or third-party software, be sure to mention these in the description so that gallery visitors can decide whether to download your entry. What you want to avoid is having someone download your entry only to discover they cannot use it due to licensing issues.

Title and tag based on category of submission

To help gallery visitors understand what they are about to download, you need to supply a descriptive title and appropriate tags for your submittal. Over the years, we've identified three basic categories of submissions: Case Study, Generic Tools, and Service Examples. By including the category in your title and tags, you'll add a lot of information about your submission with just a couple of words. 

Case Study

A case study uses data to demonstrate a workflow. A case study submission contains data (such as feature classes and rasters) used by your models and scripts. Map documents are typically included to display the data. Unlike generic tools (below), gallery visitors who download your submission are expected to study your models and scripts, perhaps running them several times with the data you include, and then modify the models and substitute their own data. Case studies are the most common type of submission.

Model and script tools found in this type of submission usually have default values for data variables. For example, in the model below, all input data parameters have values and the model is ready-to-run. In order to run the model, all data must be included in the submission, or else the model won’t validate or run.

Generic Tools

A generic tools submission contains tools that, when opened, look like ESRI system tools. That is, input and output data parameters are empty and your user needs to enter all values for the parameters before the tool can execute. Unlike case study tools, people that download your submission expect to be able to use the tools on their data without having to modify your models or scripts. The model below is generic because the user supplies all values for data parameters. You can learn more about creating a generic tool in the Desktop help topic A quick tour of creating tools with ModelBuilder. (Note: this topic is part of the version 10.0 Web help, but it applies to 9.3 as well.)

Service Example

This type of submission contains tools that can be published as an ArcGIS Server geoprocessing service. In many ways, these submissions are similar to a case study in that they contain data and map documents. The difference is that the models and scripts adhere to the requirements of a geoprocessing service, using only certain input and output data types and writing data to the scratch workspace provided by ArcGIS Server. Like case studies, the user studies the models and scripts and substitutes their own data before publishing to ArcGIS Server. For examples, see Guide to the geoprocessing service examples in the Desktop help.

Name your toolbox and entry based on the submission category

To help visitors to the Model and Script tool gallery, label your entry with the submission category, such as "Biodiversity tools - Case Study". You should also label your toolbox in a similar manner, as illustrated below:

Give your toolbox an alias

The alias of a toolbox is used to uniquely identify the toolbox and the tools within, and is used when running tools in the Python window or in scripts. For more information about aliases, see the Desktop help topic Toolbox aliasing.

Tag your entry with submission category

When you add an entry to the Model and Script tool gallery, you can add one or more tags to your entry. Include one of the following tags to your entry:

  • Case study
  • Generic tools
  • Service example

 What if my submission includes more than one category?

It's not uncommon to make a submission that contains both generic tools and a case study. That is, you show how you use your generic tools with some actual test data, most likely in models. We suggest that you make one submittal and use Generic Tools in the title. That way, the gallery visitor knows they will get generic tools that they can use with their own data. In your description, you can note that you are including a case study as well. If possible, your submission should have two toolboxes, one containing the generic tools and the other containing the case study, with each toolbox labeled appropriately. For your tags, you can include both submission categories.

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