Creating a tile package or tiled dataset

A basemap stored on a device not only gives better map drawing performance but also allows your field workers to work in a disconnected environment. You can use either a tiled dataset or StreetMap for Windows Mobile as a basemap. For details on using a StreetMap for Windows Mobile, see StreetMap for Windows Mobile.

Before you can use a tile package or tiled dataset in your projects, you need to create them using either ArcGIS for Desktop or ArcGIS for Server.

To create a tiled dataset, you can either:

• Create a tile package from a map document with ArcGIS for Desktop, then use Mobile Project Center to extract the tiled dataset from the tile package, or
• Publish a map service with the tiling option enabled to ArcGIS for Server, then use either ArcGIS for Server or a built-in geoprocessing tool to generate a tiled dataset from the map service. You can skip the map service publishing step if you already have a map service available.

Mobile Project Center is capable of using both tile packages and tiled datasets when you add them as a basemap to a mobile project; however, they are treated slightly different. With a tile package, Mobile Project Center automatically extracts tiled dataset from the tile package and copies the dataset to your project folder (by value). With a tiled dataset, you can add it by reference (only add reference to the tiled dataset) or by value (copy to the project).

Note:

When using a basemap in mobile projects with other basemaps or operational layers, make sure the spatial reference of your basemap and operational layers match each other. You can use a custom tiling schema or an ArcGIS Online, Bing Maps, or Google Maps tiling schema (WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere). With a custom tiling schema, you can use the Generate_Map_Server_Cache_Tiling_Scheme geoprocessing tool. If you're using ArcGIS Online, Bing Maps, or Google Maps for your basemap, make sure you also use the same WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere as the spatial reference for your operational layers (set for data frame in ArcMap).

For more information on tile packages and tiled datasets, see Tile package/Tiled datasets.

Creating a tile package

To create a tile package from an ArcMap document, follow the procedure at How to create a tile package. The extent of the tile package will be based on the full map extent you specify in map. For additional information, seeAbout tile packages.

Tip:

If you create a tile package using ArcGIS for Desktop, the Tile Format dialog box shows all available options when you click the Tiling Schema drop-down arrow during tile package creation.

After you have successfully created a tile package (a .tpk file), you can add it directly to your project using Mobile Project Center. Mobile Project Center will automatically extract the tiled dataset from the tile package and put the tiled dataset as a by-value content for your project. If you want your project to only reference your basemap, rather than copying the tiled dataset, extract the tiled dataset from your tile package using the Tools > Extract Tile Package menu item, as described below.

Creating a tiled dataset

Extracting a tiled dataset from a tile package

To use a tile package by reference in your mobile project instead of copying the data over, complete the following steps to extract the tiled dataset from the tile package using Mobile Project Center, then add the dataset to your project by reference.

Steps:

1. Open Mobile Project Center.
2. Click Tools > Extract Tile Package.
3. In the Browse for Basemaps window, browse to the location of the tile package you want to extract, then click Open..
4. The Browse for Folder window appears. Browse to an existing folder or create a folder as the destination location for the tiled dataset, then click OK.

   When the operation completes, the extracted tiled dataset (including subfolders) appears in the folder with the name of the tile package created in the destination folder you specified in the last step.

Note:

The ArcGIS for Windows Mobile applications recognize the tiled dataset by its root folder's name. You can rename this folder in a way that can better describe the tiled dataset (such as "EsriCampusBasemapJPG"). However, other than the root folder name, do not rename any folder or file inside of it.

Creating a tiled dataset from a tiled service

If you have an on-premises ArcGIS for Server, you can build a tiled dataset from a map service with the scale levels you want. You can specify that tiled datasets be created automatically when you publish map services with the tiling option enabled, or you can manually create tiled datasets from existing map services.

If you have a map service that has been cached, you can directly use the dataset from the service directory.

For details on how to create a tiled service, see Tutorial: Creating a cached map service. For a walkthrough of how to build a cache from an existing map service, see Ways to add tiles to a cache.

After you have your map service published and tiles created, the tiled dataset should be available from C:\arcgisserver\directories\arcgiscache\<YourMapServiceName>\ folder in the server machine. Copy the whole tiled dataset folder to a different location on your computer, and make sure the root folder name for your tiled dataset is meaningful. This name is used by Mobile Project Center as the basemap layer name after you add it to a mobile project. By default, it uses the map document's data frame name, which would be "Layers" unless you change it in your map. You can change it to a more descriptive name, such as "EsriCampusBasemapJPG".

Using a tile package or tiled dataset

Both tile packages and tiled datasets are meant to be used first by geographic information system (GIS) analysts when mobile projects are authored, and later by field workers with the mobile project (and all offline basemaps) deployed to their field devices.

For details about adding a tile package or tiled dataset to your mobile projects, see Adding offline basemaps.