CREATING ARCGIS DESKTOP ADD-INS USING PYTHON AND RELATED PACKAGES/MODULES 2016 AGIC Education and Training Symposium September 22, 2016 Erik Glenn ● Pima County ITD-GIS

Presentation Outline  Overview  20 minutes + 5 mins for questions  Types of add-ins  Creating add-ins  Testing, sharing, and extending add-ins  Simple example  Additional resources  Summary/Questions

What are Add-ins?  Desktop application customization  User interface  All Desktop products (ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcGlobe, ArcScene)  Introduced at Desktop version 10.0  Very simple to distribute, install and use

When Should You Use Add-ins?  Limitations of toolboxes (custom & Python)  Increasing complexity:  Toolboxes => Desktop add-ins => Extending add-ins  What are you trying to accomplish?  Geoprocessing (ONLY FOR TRIGGERING…)  Rearranging existing tools or putting them in custom toolbar (NO)  Interacting with user interface (YES!)  Running code based on response to a Desktop event (YES!)

Benefits of Add-ins  Easy to build, install and share  Don’t need to build installation programs  Don’t require COM registration  Can build with three different development environments: .NET  Java  Python, too!

Python Add-ins vs..NET/Java  Python Add-ins introduced at version 10.1  Even easier!  No DLLs  Can use ArcPy rather than ArcObjects  Fewer lines of code  Less development time

Limitations of Python Add-ins  Can’t use in ArcGIS Pro  Have to import a toolbox to Pro, or  use ArcGIS Pro SDK for.NET  Not backward-compatible  Can’t use full functionality of ArcObjects  No officially-supported module for custom user interface components  Tool license level requirements still apply

Types of Python Add-ins  Toolbars are now dockable!  Python and.NET tools can reside on the same toolbar!  Buttons can also be generated through Customize Mode

Add-in Manager, Extensions, and Toolbars

Creating Python Add-ins  Python Add-in Wizard  Downloadable from Esri  Extract files  Use addin_assistant.exe located in bin folder  All related files needed to create add-ins are included  Creates project folder with three main components:  config.xml  Install folder (contains Python script with business logic)  Images folder  Next, use makeaddin.py to create archive  The resulting *.esriaddin file can be used to install the add-in

Creating Python Add-ins (Cont’d)  Can add additional folders and files  Benefits of.esriaddin method .esriaddin file is really just a compressed file  Well-known folders

Config.xml  Describes the add-in and its customizations  Created by Add-in Wizard  Shouldn’t need to be edited

Images Folder  Contains all graphics associated with the add-in  Images that show up for tools, Add-In Manager, etc.  Graphics copied into this folder automatically by Add-In Wizard

 Holds the Python script for the add-in  The script defines the behavior of the customizations described in config.xml  Classes created by Add-In Wizard  All pertinent functions for each class also created  Only need to keep those you will use  Additional folders and files can also be placed in this folder  e.g. toolboxes, tools, data  These will be compressed and included when the add-in is created Install Folder

Pythonaddins Module  Separate Python module  Like arcpy  Includes functions for supporting Python add-ins  Can only be used within a Python add-in, not in scripts or script tools  Functions like OpenDialog(), MessageBox(), GetSelectedTOCLayerorDataFrame(), ProgressDialog()

Final Steps  Edit the Python script as needed  Don’t rename classes as class names are created by / referenced in config.xml  Update functions  Delete all functions not implemented  For clarity  To ensure they’re never called by the application  Re-save the script  Create add-in by running makeaddin.py  Install the add-in by double-clicking the *.esriaddin file

Testing/Debugging/Editing  Take advantage of your Python IDE  Use Print statements and review Exception Errors  Use Add-In Wizard to made edits to existing add-ins (can also edit config.xml directly)

Sharing Add-ins  One small file makes it easy to share  Place in well-known location to install; remove to uninstall  Add-in can be updated with new version by merely overwriting the old file  Add-ins can be digitally signed for security  Linked to standard ITU X.509 digital certificate  Use ESRISignAddIn.exe utility that comes with Python Add-in Wizard  Administrative setting in Desktop to control security for all add-ins

Sharing Add-ins (Cont’d)  attachment  Placing in shared directory that’s added to list of well-known folder locations  ArcGIS Online

Extending Python Add-ins  Additional functionality, graphics, interfaces  Thousands of 3 rd -party libraries => Python Package Index  Is a GIS category (browse under “Scientific/Engineering”)  Examples:  wxPython  Plotly  ReportLab  R, Pandas, SciPy, GDAL, Numpy, Shapely, Pysal…

wxPython  A GUI toolkit for Python  Is Python extension module that wraps around wxWidgets library (C++)  Can use wxGlade, a GUI designer that creates wxPython code  Eric Pimpler (GeoSpatial Training Services) has created a great Add-in using wxPython

ReportLab  A PDF toolkit for Python  Can be used to create data-driven PDF documents and custom vector graphics  Three layers:  A graphics canvas API that renders PDF pages  A charts and widgets library for creating data graphics  A page layout engine that builds documents from elements

Simple Example: StreetView Add-In

Acknowledgements / Additional Resources  Ian Broad, Thinking Spatially ianbroad.com)  GeoSpatial Training Services  Several Python training courses  Eric Pimpler’s books:  Programming ArcGIS with Python Cookbook  ArcGIS Blueprints  ArcGIS Desktop help docs  Downloadable ArcGIS Desktop Python Add-ins on ArcGIS Online (search for tools and ArcGIS Desktop Content)

Acknowledgements / Additional Resources  Python add-in class properties and functions: desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/analyze/python- addins/button-class.htm, …/combobox-class.htm, …/tool-class.htm, …/extension.class.htm  wxpython.org  blog.pythonlibrary.org/category/wxpython  reportlab.com/opensource  plot.ly  pypi.python.org  packaging.python.org

Summary  Python add-ins are a great way to customize the user interface for any of the ArcGIS Desktop products  Yes, there are limitations…  Regardless, they’re fairly easy to create, edit, distribute and use  Until Desktop is deprecated (?) and Pro takes over, they will continue to be forward-compatible with future versions

Questions? Erik Glenn Senior GIS Analyst Pima County ITD-GIS 33 N Stone Ave, 15 th Floor Tucson, AZ (520) Erik Glenn Senior GIS Analyst Pima County ITD-GIS 33 N Stone Ave, 15 th Floor Tucson, AZ (520)