What is a location sensor?

A location sensor is a general term for hardware that can provide your computer with information about your computer's location. A GPS (or more generically, a GNSS) receiver is an example of a location sensor.

Using location sensors with Esri software

GPS receivers are the most commonly used location sensor. Esri software typically supports GPS receivers that communicate via COM ports. For more information on using GPS receivers, see the following

Location sensors that are built-in to some Windows 7 and 8 tablets and communicate to software via an API (instead of a COM port) can also be used in ArcPad. Your computer may have one or more of these location sensors such as GPS, WiFi, or other mobile telephony location sensors. Although the communication method is different, the location information is displayed in a similar way to how GPS information is displayed.

In ArcPad the GPS Status Bar shows the longitude, latitude, and optionally, altitude. The GPS Position Window shows the longitude, latitude, altitude (optionally), and the estimated error.

Only a limited number of parameters are returned by the Location API. Common GPS receiver parameters that you might be familiar with, such as PDOP, are not provided through the API. This is why many of the parameters in the GPS Position Window appear blank.

In ArcPad 10.2 support for the Windows Location API was included so that the broadest range of location sensors could be supported.

Identifying what type of location sensor is in your device

It's important to understand the type of location sensors that are built-in to your device when planning your mobile GIS project. Some require WiFi or a mobile data connection to work, while others will appear similar to a GPS (that is, present as a COM port) when in fact they need to communicate with your software via an API.

The most authoritative source of information for this will be the manufacturer of your device. Look for information that describes

To determine if your sensor communicates via an API, use the Find GPS tool on the ArcPad GPS Preferences dialog box. If this tool reports that no GPS device is detected, and you can clearly identify a sensor in the Windows Device Manager, then you need to follow the setting preferences information below.

Setting GPS preferences to use location sensors

Before you can activate your location sensor, you need to set the communication parameters in ArcPad. Open the GPS Preferences dialog box. On the GPS tab, choose Location Sensor from the protocol drop-down list, then choose LOC1:Location Sensor Port from the Port drop-down list.

NoteNote:

Some location sensors may appear in the Port drop-down list as a COM port. If the Find GPS tool does not recognize this port, you must manually choose LOC1:Location Sensor for data to display in ArcPad.

9/23/2019