What's new in ArcGIS 10.1 service packs

ArcGIS 10.1 service packs include stability enhancements and improved functionality throughout the ArcGIS product line. For specific stability enhancements, see the ArcGIS 10.1 service pack software download pages on the Esri support site. For a summary of functionality changes in the software, see the following sections:

Service Pack 1

Geoprocessing and ArcPy

In brief, here are the highlights for geoprocessing and ArcPy at Service Pack 1. Follow the link below for more details.

• Background Geoprocessing (64-bit)
• Geoprocessing tools will honor time-enabled layers by acting on and processing only those features within the specified time period set by the time slider
• New Parallel Processing Factor environment
• Four new tools for generating and managing tile caches
• New Above Ground Layer (AGL) output raster for Observer Points and Viewshed tools in the Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst extensions
• New ArcPy methods for managing geoprocessing services and your server's data store
• New arcpy.da (data access) methods for handling JSON representations of geometry

Learn more about what's new in geoprocessing and ArcPy at Service Pack 1

Geodata

Geodatabases and databases

PostgreSQL 9.1 has been certified for use with ArcGIS 10.1 SP1. To create a geodatabase or the ST_Geometry type in a PostgreSQL 9.1 database, you must place the appropriate st_geometry library in the PostgreSQL lib directory. A folder named 9.1 has been added to the DatabaseSupport folder found in the ArcGIS client installation directory. The 9.1 folder contains the st_geometry library required to create a geodatabase or install the ST_Geometry type in a PostgreSQL 9.1 database, or upgrade an existing geodatabase to 10.1 SP1.

Editing

Pressing the TAB key while tracing with an offset distance allows you to switch to the other side of an edge. Previously, TAB also displayed the Feature Construction toolbar, making it difficult to see what you were tracing. With SP1, the toolbar appears only when you press TAB and are not in an active trace.

Parcel editing

Parcel fabric datasets can be enabled with the Local Government Information Model (a model for local governments in the USA).

When the Local Government Information Model is enabled on a parcel fabric, parcel types, attributes, and domains that reflect the editing requirements of Local Government parcel maintenance are added to parcel fabric tables. The parcel fabric layer is displayed and symbolized using the Local Government configuration, and the parcel fabric can be used in efficient and automated parcel editing workflows.

Rasters and images

The Tile Cache toolset is a new toolset that contains four new tools. The Tile Cache toolset contains tools for creating, managing, importing, exporting tile cache, and generating tile cache tiling scheme. These tools are capable of generating tile caches from a raster dataset or a mosaic dataset locally on your desktop. These tile caches can then be shared as tile packages on ArcGIS Online.

The ML Classify function performs a maximum likelihood classification on a raster dataset or mosaic dataset. This allows you to classify your raster data with your signature file.

Metadata

Improvements have been made to the validation rules in all of the metadata styles that support complete metadata content. In particular, the updates to the FGDC CSDGM Metadata style will help guide people through the process of creating FGDC CSDGM-compliant metadata content in ArcGIS. Also, for all metadata styles, you can now provide a URL identifying the location of any related resource for which a citation has been provided in ArcGIS metadata.

The Illustrated guide to complete FGDC metadata topic has been updated to reflect these changes. Also, a new topic is available that summarizes the key points you should be aware of when creating FGDC CSDGM-compliant metadata in ArcGIS: Differences between ArcGIS metadata and FGDC metadata.

ArcMap

The geographic (datum) transformation, NAD_1927_To_NAD_1983_NADCON, will no longer be added automatically to the list of active transformations when creating a new map document. If you are using NAD 1927 and NAD 1983 data in the lower 48 states, you will now need to set this transformation by opening the Data Frame Properties dialog box, clicking the Coordinate System tab, and clicking Transformations. If the transformation is not set, NAD 1927 and NAD 1983 data may be offset by up to 200 meters. Existing map documents are not affected.

The ArcGIS Connection utility was added to centralize information on connection status to ArcGIS Online or an ArcGIS Portal. All ArcGIS for Desktop clients use the ArcGIS Connection utility to determine their connection status. You can alter the frequency with which ArcGIS checks for a connection by right-clicking the globe icon in the task bar, clicking Properties, and increasing or decreasing the number of seconds between connection checks. (The globe icon appears on the task bar when an ArcGIS for Desktop client is open.)

You can also configure the ArcGIS Connection utility to connect to a specific ArcGIS Portal. By default, it connects to ArcGIS.com, but you can specify a different URL. Open the ArcGIS Administrator and click Advanced. Click Manage Portal Connections on the Advanced Configuration dialog box. You can add portal connections by clicking Add and typing a new URL. You must have at least one portal in the list.

If you do not want ArcGIS for Desktop clients to connect to an ArcGIS portal, uncheck Enable ArcGIS Connection on the ArcGIS Connection Properties dialog box, which is accessed from the globe icon on the task bar.

Services

ArcGIS Server Manager enhancements

ArcGIS Server Manager includes a number of improvements that can help you administer your ArcGIS Server site:

• You can configure the number of services displayed per page in the Services gallery. To learn more, see Editing service gallery settings in Manager.
• If you've registered an ArcGIS Web Adaptor with your site, you can use Manager to view its properties or, optionally, unregister it from your site. For more information, see Viewing Web Adaptor properties in Manager.

ArcGIS Web Adaptor enhancements

The ArcGIS Web Adaptor includes a few new enhancements that can help you install and configure the software:

• The ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) includes an enhanced prerequisite checker that gives you the option to have the setup automatically install missing components on IIS 7.0, 7.5, and 8.0. Prior to SP1, you have to manually install the missing components. For more information, see IIS requirements verification.
• The ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS), ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform), and ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) on Linux include a utility that allows you to configure the Web Adaptor from the command line. This is particularly advantageous if your operating system does not have a graphical user interface (GUI). For full instructions, see Configuring the Web Adaptor after installation.

Netezza support in ArcGIS for Server (Linux)

ArcGIS for Server (Linux) now supports the Netezza data warehouse appliance as a database client. To use ArcGIS with Netezza, you must install a supported version of the Netezza Spatial Package in the database management system, and install and configure the Netezza ODBC driver on the ArcGIS client machine from which you will make a database connection. To get started, see Configuring a connection to a database in ArcGIS Server.

Map draws and queries can be restricted based on feature owners

Another ownership-based access control option has been added for feature services, in which you can choose to allow only the creator of a feature to query that feature. When users issue a query, they will only be returned features that they created. These restrictions also apply to methods on the parent map service such as draw requests, queries, and identify operations. For example, images drawn by the map service will display only the features created by the user requesting the map. See Ownership-based access control for feature services for more information.

New ArcPy functions for registering folders and databases with the ArcGIS Server site

Some new functions have been added to the ArcPy site package to help you manage the folders and databases registered with your ArcGIS Server site. If you're scripting ArcGIS Server administration tasks with Python, you might find these functions easier to use than the native operations in the ArcGIS Server Administrator API. The functions are:

• AddDataStoreItem
• RemoveDataStoreItem
• ListDataStoreItems
• ValidateDataStoreItem

New ArcPy functions for publishing image and geoprocessing services

The ArcPy site package offers two new functions to help you automate the publishing of image services and geoprocessing services using Python. These functions are CreateImageSDDraft and CreateGPSDDraft, respectively. They complement existing functions in the arcpy.mapping module that allow for automated publishing of map services. See An overview of the Publishing toolset to learn about constructing these scripts.

New OGC Web Map Service (WMS) options

ArcGIS for Server supports three new parameters that you can use to enhance the way you communicate with OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) WMS services:

• Layer Definitions provide a more lightweight way for the client to filter the features of individual layers in the exported map by specifying definition expressions for those layers. To learn more, see Filtering features using the layerDefs parameter in WMS requests.
• The Pixel Tolerance property allows you to define a tolerance (in pixels) in which the GetFeatureInfo operation will return feature information to the client when the map is clicked. For more information about this property, see Available WMS service properties.
• The list custom coordinate reference system property allows you to define a custom projection or well-known text (WKT) representation of a projection in a WMS service. This is particularly useful if your custom spatial reference systems are not associated with an official EPSG ID. For more information, see Defining a custom projection for a WMS service.

Cache tiles can be overwritten on import and export

When importing or exporting tiles into a map cache, you can now allow the tiles in the originating cache to overwrite the tiles in the destination cache. Previously, a blended image was created in all cases.

This enhancement is possible through a new parameter Overwrite Tiles in the Export Map Server Cache and Import Map Server Cache geoprocessing tools. If you have an existing model that uses one of these tools, you must open the model and validate it before you can use the model with Service Pack 1. See Automating cache creation and updates with geoprocessing for instructions.

Administrators can disable data copying to the server

If you're an ArcGIS Server administrator and you want to prevent publishers from automatically copying data to the server when they publish, you can disable data copying using the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory. For full instructions, see Disabling automatic data copying when publishing to the server.

Defense and intelligence

The data in Esri military feature unit layers distributed through ArcGIS Online are symbolized using representations, with the symbology defined by the representation rule stored in the symbolrule field.