Frequently Asked Questions
When talking to our clients and partners about ArcSquirrel, we find the same questions come up again and again! Some think ArcSquirrel is too good to be true, others just want to know more about how it works. We have tried to answer these questions below.
Reasons to use ArcSquirrel
| Q | What benefits does ArcSquirrel bring? |
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| A | You are probably holding your spatial data in shapefiles and personal/file geodatabases. ArcSquirrel stores the same data in SQL Server databases. This brings...
- Better performance over networks.
- Multi-user editing with an ArcView licence.
- Easier integration of GIS with other database applications.
- Ability to use other GIS clients on the same data (e.g. for web publishing).
- Adherence to OGC standards.
- More secure and sophisticated backup and restore facilities.
- Better organization of your data.
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| Q | Will my data be safe and accessible after loading into ArcSquirrel? |
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| A | ArcSquirrel uses OGC standard formats for the storage of your geometry data, so it can be viewed/edited/exported with a wide range of software. And storing your important data in a server-based RDBMS provides much better security and scalability than file-based datasets. |
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| Q | How does ArcSquirrel compare with ArcSDE or ArcGIS Server? |
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| A | ArcSquirrel can be compared to ArcGIS Server Basic (formerly known as ArcSDE) - it gives you enterprise multiuser geodatabase capabilities. ArcSquirrel brings several advantages, especially in user-friendliness, flexibility, interoperability and cost. ArcSquirrel enables server-side (database) geoprocessing as well as client-side mapping and editing, and does all this very effectively at minimum cost. However, note that ArcSquirrel does not manage raster data or provide web development tools. |
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| Q | We hear that ArcGIS 10 can connect to SQL Server 2008 anyway - why do we need ArcSquirrel? |
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| A | ArcSquirrel provides tools for loading data into SQL Server, and for editing the data in ArcMap (even using an ArcView licence). It allows feature classes to be based on views as well as tables, and provides powerful tools for managing these feature classes from ArcMap. It manages metadata about your feature classes in the database, including metadata entered through ArcCatalog. And ArcSquirrel supports SQL Server 2000 and 2005, so you do not need to upgrade until you are ready. ArcView 10 (without ArcSquirrel) provides view-only access to SQL 2008, including data you create and edit with ArcSquirrel. |
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| Q | What kind of performance can I expect with ArcSquirrel? |
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| A | This depends on a variety of network/server conditions, but we generally find that an ArcSquirrel layer from a shared SQL Server performs better than a shapefile/geodatabase on a shared fileserver. The performance benefits increase the more users you have. |
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| Q | Why is it called ArcSquirrel? |
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| A | Because it runs in Arc, connects to SQL databases, and it is lightweight, fast and friendly! |
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| Q | Can ArcSquirrel data be used with other GIS products? |
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| A | Yes! If you are using SQL Server 2008, data created with ArcGIS and ArcSquirrel can be used with any GIS client that reads SQL Server geometry data (such as GeoServer, Pitney Bowes MapInfo v10, Manifold, MapServer, etc). If you are using SQL Server 2000/2005, ArcSquirrel data can be used with any software that can read WKB directly (such as MapServer with OGR). |
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Functionality
| Q | How is the data stored? |
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| A | This depends on the version of SQL Server you are using. In SQL Server 2008, it is stored in a "geometry" field (a native SQL Server data type). In 2000/2005 the geometry is stored in binary field as Well Known Binary ("WKB") format, with supporting numeric fields storing the bounding box of the geometry. This is a published OGC standard, compatible with many GIS applications. |
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| Q | Can I export my data to shapefiles or other ESRI formats? |
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| A | Yes! Just right-click on the layer in ArcMap and you get the usual export options. |
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| Q | Can I load raster data into ArcSquirrel? |
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| A | No - ArcSquirrel is designed for use with vector datasets (point, line, polygon, multipoint). |
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| Q | Is there a limit on the size of ArcSquirrel layers? |
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| A | In theory no, only the limits of your database server. In practice of course there may be limits on the size of tables that will perform acceptably, depending on many factors including server/network/PC specifications. If you are using the free SQL Server Express edition, each database is limited to 4GB. |
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| Q | Does ArcSquirrel support M or Z values? |
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| A | Not in this release, but we hope to implement this in future. |
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| Q | Can my ArcSquirrel data be stored on a PC or laptop? |
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| A | Yes, if you run a local instance of SQL Server, including the free "express" editions. |
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Editing
| Q | Does ArcSquirrel support multi-user editing? |
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| A | Yes. |
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| Q | How does ArcSquirrel resolve conflicts if two users edit the same feature? |
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| A | It prevents this situation arising by locking features as soon as they are being edited by any user. |
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| Q | What editing tools I can use? |
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| A | You can use all the usual ArcMap editing tools. |
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| Q | Can I load data from shapefiles and personal geodatabases? |
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| A | Yes, in fact you can import data from any vector layer that you can add to your map. |
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Purchasing and licensing
| Q | What are the limitations of the evaluation licence? |
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| A | The evaluation licence will only import or draw up to 10,000 features per layer. It will display reminders that you are using an evaluation copy. It will stop working after 20 minutes of use, requiring a re-start of ArcMap. |
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| Q | Do I need one licence per machine? |
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| A | Yes, ArcSquirrel is licensed per seat, or per named user if running on an application server (e.g. Citrix). |
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| Q | Do I need ArcEditor or ArcInfo to view or edit ArcSquirrel data? |
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| A | No, all ArcSquirrel functionality works with an ArcView licence. |
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| Q | Can I buy an unlimited site licence? |
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| A | Not at the moment. We think you'll agree the per-seat price is so good that ArcSquirrel will be a beneficial purchase for all your GIS users. |
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| Q | Is there a discount for multiple seat purchases? |
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| A | No - to keep life simple for everyone we have kept the price per seat fixed. |
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| Q | Can I add extra seats in future? |
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| A | Yes - just make sure you use the same licensee name when you purchase extra seats. |
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| Q | How do I get technical support? |
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| A | We provide technical support free of charge to registered licence holders on a "best-endeavours" basis; please submit any questions through the support page. If you have any questions while evaluating ArcSquirrel, please do not hesitate to contact us. |
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| Q | Will I be entitled to patches? Is there a maintenance fee? |
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| A | Arcquirrel patches are available free of charge to all users; simply download the latest version from the download page, uninstall the old version, and install the new one on each PC. Your licensing registration details will still be valid. |
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Platform and pre-requisites
| Q | What databases does ArcSquirrel support? |
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| A | In this release ArcSquirrel works with Microsoft SQL Server (2000/2005/2008, including the free Express editions). If you use SQL Server 2008, please make sure you install Service Pack 1, available from here. In future upgrades we will add support for other widely used RDBMS, including Oracle and PostgreSQL/PostGIS. |
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| Q | What versions of ArcGIS are supported? |
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| A | ArcGIS 9.2 or later. We recommend downloading and installing all service packs. |
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| Q | What operating systems can run ArcSquirrel? |
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| A | Any operating system that can run ArcGIS and the .Net framework 3.5. Please refer to the ESRI web site for the system requirements for ArcView. |
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