Introduction
GeoCat is working on a follow-up of Bridge for ArcMap, geared towards Esri® ArcGIS Pro™ users.
Pre-Releases
In the case of Bridge however, each pre-release up till the release candidate will (re)introduce a couple of new or migrated features. Only the release candidate will actually be "feature complete".
We will announce each pre-release to our customers. Please let us know if you are interested in trying out the software.
ArcGIS Pro Compatibility
Esri has recently released ArcGIS Pro 3.0, which features some breaking changes compared to 2.x.
Because a lot of Esri users have not migrated to the latest version yet, GeoCat will provide Bridge for ArcGIS Pro installation files (.esriAddinX) for the following ArcGIS Pro versions:
- ArcGIS Pro 2.8 (also compatible with 2.9).
- ArcGIS Pro 3.0 and up.
This means that GeoCat will not support ArcGIS Pro 2.7 or older.
Software Features
Migrated Features
- GeoServer support:
- PostGIS and file-based datastores
- Vector (GeoPackage, Shapefile, PostGIS) and raster (GeoTIFF) layer publishing
- SLD/SE 1.1 map styles with symbols and/or fonts
- GeoNetwork support:
- Publication of metadata records in all ArcGIS Pro-supported standards
- GeoCat Live support
- Other features:
- Offline publishing (exporting) of (meta)data and styles
- Proxy server support
- Basic authentication and/or JSESSIONID support
New Features
- GeoServer support:
- Workspace viewer/explorer (see and manage what has been published)
- Easier access to published web service layers (add to map)
- Vector Tile layer publishing (MapBox/MapLibre)
- Other features:
- Publish layers from TOC (context menu)
- Redesigned user experience (UI/UX)
- OAuth2/OIDC authentication support
Postponed/Deprecated Features
- MapServer support will be added back in a future release of Bridge for ArcGIS Pro (to be announced).
- Metadata contact and data license management: ArcGIS Pro has a powerful albeit somewhat hidden metadata editor that is very flexible, and which will already be adopted by Bridge for ArcGIS Pro in the first release. However, GeoCat still needs to determine the best approach to improve and extend the usability of the existing ArcGIS Pro metadata editor for its users.
- Oracle support will be dropped, unless one of our Enterprise customers requires it. Please let us know if you happen to be one of those customers.
- The Bridge Command Line Interface (CLI) will not be migrated. For automation purposes however, GeoCat would like to include a Bridge geoprocessing tool in the future as part of the add in that can be used in an ArcGIS ModelBuilder workflow for example.
Release Schedule
Alpha Release: December 2022
- GeoServer support:
- PostGIS by reference publishing
- Raster publishing to file-based datastores (GeoTIFF)
- SLD/SE style support for all common ArcGIS Pro styles and supported geometries
- Workspace viewer/explorer
- GeoNetwork support:
- Publication of metadata records in all ArcGIS Pro-supported standards
- GeoCat Live support (Basic Auth)
- Other features:
- Redesigned user experience (UI/UX)
- Offline publishing (exporting) of SLD styles
- Basic authentication and/or JSESSIONID support
Beta Release: February/March 2023
- GeoServer support:
- Vector publishing to file-based datastores (GeoPackage, Shapefile)
- SLD/SE style support for more advanced ArcGIS Pro styles
- GeoCat Live support (OAuth, SSO)
- Other features:
- Offline publishing (exporting) of (meta)data
- Publish layers from TOC (context menu)
- OAuth2/OIDC authentication support
Release Candidate: May/June 2023
- GeoServer support:
- Vector publishing to PostGIS (using Importer extension)
- Easier access to published web service layers (i.e. add to map)
- Vector Tile layer publishing (MapBox/MapLibre)
- Other features:
- Offline publishing (exporting) of (meta)data and styles
- Proxy server support
Stable Release: Q3 2023 (to be announced)
Depending on the feedback we receive for the Release Candidate, we expect to deliver the first stable release of Bridge for ArcGIS Pro in the third quarter of 2023.