{"id":1456072,"date":"2022-01-13T15:00:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T23:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=1456072"},"modified":"2022-01-19T11:11:47","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T19:11:47","slug":"arcgis-pro-extensibility-2021-in-review-and-whats-coming","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro-net\/developers\/arcgis-pro-extensibility-2021-in-review-and-whats-coming","title":{"rendered":"ArcGIS Pro Extensibility \u2013 2021 in Review and What’s Coming"},"author":6271,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[738191,22941],"tags":[23641,42181,559352,42651],"industry":[],"product":[36561,36851,36601],"class_list":["post-1456072","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-developers","category-mapping","tag-net","tag-arcgis-pro","tag-arcgis-pro-extensibility","tag-arcgis-pro-sdk","product-arcgis-pro","product-arcgis-pro-net","product-developers"],"acf":{"short_description":"Looking back, 2021 was a strong year of advancements in ArcGIS Pro and in Pro extensibility.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Looking back, 2021 was another exciting year of advancements in ArcGIS Pro and in Pro extensibility.<\/p>\n

We again saw more organizations moving to ArcGIS Pro and developing new custom add-ins built with the ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET<\/a>.\u00a0 Add-ins allow organizations to extend Pro to meet\u00a0 specific user needs.\u00a0 Developers can create new tools and workflows, tailor the Pro UI, and build custom routines and solutions.<\/p>\n

Also in 2021, we saw many Partner organizations releasing exciting Pro add-ins as new solutions and products. This is great news as these new add-ins continue to help make migrations to Pro possible for many organizations, and allow users to leverage even more of Pro\u2019s extensive functionality.<\/p>\n

So let’s look back at 2021, and then take a look ahead this year to see what’s coming for Pro developers with ArcGIS Pro 3.0<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pro SDK Advances in 2021<\/h1>\n

Throughout the year, ArcGIS Pro development teams released new Pro SDK functionality, and again grew the Pro APIs and SDK in general.<\/p>\n

Looking back, we saw the Pro 2.8 release in May, and Pro 2.9 in November.\u00a0 Each release of Pro has brought expanded capabilities to the Pro SDK and the many Pro APIs. These can be leveraged by organizations looking to tailor workflows around these features.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at some of the key updates from last year:<\/p>\n

Pro 2.8 SDK Updates<\/h2>\n

Geodatabase DDL API<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Data Definition Language (DDL) API was released with Pro 2.8 and provides capabilities for geodatabase schema management.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, developers have created geodatabase schema such as feature classes and standalone tables with the SDK by calling geoprocessing tools.\u00a0 Developers are able to use the new API to directly create, modify and delete geodatabase schema such as feature classes, tables and their attributes, and feature datasets and file geodatabases.<\/p>\n

You can learn more in the\u00a0ProConcepts DDL<\/a>\u00a0document to help you get started on the concepts, and review code\u00a0snippets<\/a>\u00a0of some of the common patterns.<\/p>\n

Stepping through DDL API code in debug mode with the Perimeter Tools add-in demo<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1456102,"id":1456102,"title":"ArcGIS Pro SDK - Perimeter Tools Clip","filename":"ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","filesize":4596823,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro-net\/developers\/arcgis-pro-extensibility-2021-in-review-and-whats-coming\/arcgis-pro-sdk-perimeter-tools-clip","alt":"","author":"6271","description":"","caption":"","name":"arcgis-pro-sdk-perimeter-tools-clip","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1456072,"date":"2022-01-12 01:58:34","modified":"2022-01-12 01:58:34","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/gif","type":"image","subtype":"gif","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":720,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip-213x200.gif","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","medium-width":392,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","medium_large-width":720,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","large-width":720,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","1536x1536-width":720,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","2048x2048-width":720,"2048x2048-height":480,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip-698x465.gif","card_image-width":698,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Pro-SDK-Perimeter-Tools-Clip.gif","wide_image-width":720,"wide_image-height":480}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

API Enhancements<\/h2>\n

As with each release, there were updates to many other Pro APIs and capabilities at 2.8.<\/p>\n

Content API<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was new support added for project favorites with 2.8.\u00a0 Favorites are a collection of frequently used connections to folders, databases, toolboxes, servers, custom styles and statistical data collections.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0FavoritesManager<\/a>\u00a0class allows developers to programmatically customize the favorites collection which is accessible in the UI via the Catalog pane or Catalog view.\u00a0 See the new section in the\u00a0ProConcepts Content<\/a>\u00a0document for using favorites.\u00a0 Also, there are new code \u00a0snippets<\/a>\u00a0available for using favorites.<\/p>\n

Map Authoring API<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was new support added for downloading and managing offline maps.\u00a0 Maps in Pro containing sync-enabled feature service content can be taken \u201coffline\u201d.\u00a0 The offline content refers to content that can be accessed in the map even in the absence of a network connection.<\/p>\n

You can learn more about generating and managing offline maps in a new section in the\u00a0ProConcepts Map Authoring<\/a>\u00a0document.<\/p>\n

For further code samples, see the new Offline Map\u00a0snippets<\/a>\u00a0section.<\/p>\n

Map Exploration API<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Reports API received several updates including events to help manage how reports are used, such as datasource changes.<\/p>\n

You can find more in the new\u00a0Report Events<\/a>\u00a0section, as well as in the API Reference.<\/p>\n

Also, at 2.8 there have been performance improvements made for use of the\u00a0TableControl<\/a>.\u00a0 For further information, see the\u00a0ProGuide TableControl<\/a>\u00a0document and community samples.<\/p>\n

For further details on the 2.8 release, see this earlier post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pro 2.9 SDK Updates<\/h2>\n

New Item Templates<\/h3>\n

Layout Tool<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new\u00a0Layout Tool<\/em> item template included at 2.9 allows developers to create a layout tool for adding\/editing graphics in layout and map views and elements in layout. The Layout tool also provides virtual methods that can be overridden to perform actions when keyboard and mouse events occur in the map view and layout view. It also provides properties that can be set to configure the behavior of the tool, as well as methods that wrap common functions when interacting with the view.<\/p>\n

Using a sample Layout Tool in debug mode with a map and layout:<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1398532,"id":1398532,"title":"ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool","filename":"ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","filesize":9487941,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro-net\/developers\/whats-new-in-the-arcgis-pro-sdk-2-9\/arcgisprosdk29_layouttool","alt":"","author":"6271","description":"","caption":"","name":"arcgisprosdk29_layouttool","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1398442,"date":"2021-11-12 02:59:08","modified":"2021-11-12 02:59:08","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/gif","type":"image","subtype":"gif","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":720,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool-213x200.gif","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","medium-width":392,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","medium_large-width":720,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","large-width":720,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","1536x1536-width":720,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","2048x2048-width":720,"2048x2048-height":480,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool-698x465.gif","card_image-width":698,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_LayoutTool.gif","wide_image-width":720,"wide_image-height":480}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

For more information, see the new\u00a0LayoutTool section<\/a>\u00a0in the ProConcepts Layout document.\u00a0 You can also try the new\u00a0GraphicElementSymbolPicker community sample<\/a>\u00a0which demonstrates a complete workflow using the LayoutTool.<\/p>\n

Table Construction Tool<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another new item template for Visual Studio is the\u00a0Table Construction Tool<\/em>.\u00a0 The template creates a table construction tool which provides the foundation for creating rows in standalone tables.\u00a0 It\u2019s also possible for Table construction tools to be modified to become sketching construction tools. In this sketching scenario, you can build a construction tool that will obtain certain attributes from features on the map and have them be populated in your table row.<\/p>\n

More information on table construction tool implementations can be found in the new\u00a0Table Construction Tools\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0section of the ProConcepts Editing document.\u00a0 Also, see the new\u00a0TableConstructionTool<\/a>\u00a0sample which provides examples of table construction tools including two sketching construction tools.\u00a0 For further background on the Table control, see the\u00a0TableControl<\/a>\u00a0section of the ProConcepts Map Exploration document.\u00a0 Also, the\u00a0ProGuide TableControl<\/a>\u00a0provides a walk-through on the control and discusses the\u00a0sample<\/a>.<\/p>\n

API Enhancements<\/h3>\n

There were also many updates to the Pro APIs at 2.9, and the following are just a few of the many areas.<\/p>\n

Content API<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Content API there were new enhancements at 2.9 for accessing Geodatabase content, files and CAD data, allowing developers to work directly with these items from the Catalog pane.\u00a0 To support this, a number of methods have been added to the ItemFactory<\/a>\u00a0class to facilitate retrieval of dataset and data definition \u2013\u00a0GetDatasetType<\/a>,\u00a0GetDataset<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0GetDefinition<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0You can find out more in the\u00a0Geodatabase Content<\/a>\u00a0section of the ProConcepts Content document<\/p>\n

Also at 2.9, a subset of Pro application options are now available via the ApplicationOptions\u00a0class<\/a>.\u00a0 The class allows developers to get and set the option settings for use in workflows, to save time and ensure consistency.\u00a0\u00a0You can find out more about\u00a0Application Options here<\/a>\u00a0in the doc, explore the API reference\u00a0here<\/a>, and review new code snippets\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Editing API<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Pro 2.9, you can now manage sketch symbology customization.\u00a0 You can change the symbology of the vertices and segments of the sketch feedback in your custom MapTool. There are 4 different types of vertices \u2013 unselected vertex, selected vertex, unselected current vertex, and selected current vertex.\u00a0 See the Sketch Feedback and Sketch Symbology<\/a>\u00a0section of the ProConcepts Editing doc for more information.\u00a0 Also, see the new\u00a0CustomToolSketchSymbology<\/a>\u00a0community sample to see this new capability in action.<\/p>\n

Coordinate Geometry (COGO) is a feature editing technique used primarily in the land records industry and is characterized by the capturing of the dimensions depicted on land record documents as attributes for line features. At 2.9, there\u2019s a new\u00a0ProConcepts COGO<\/a>\u00a0document available which covers the API detailing the classes and methods used to query and edit COGO-enabled line feature classes.<\/p>\n

Map Exploration API<\/strong><\/p>\n

At 2.9 there are new TableControl enhancements like GoTo and Find with respective UI updates.\u00a0 You can display the GoTo UI using the\u00a0CanGoTo<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0GoTo<\/a>\u00a0methods, and similarly the Find UI can be displayed via\u00a0CanFind<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Find<\/a>\u00a0methods in code.<\/p>\n

A TableControl sample demonstrating the Find and GoTo methods:<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1398572,"id":1398572,"title":"ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl","filename":"ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","filesize":9189689,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro-net\/developers\/whats-new-in-the-arcgis-pro-sdk-2-9\/arcgisprosdk29_tablecontrol","alt":"","author":"6271","description":"","caption":"","name":"arcgisprosdk29_tablecontrol","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1398442,"date":"2021-11-12 03:25:56","modified":"2021-11-12 03:25:56","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/gif","type":"image","subtype":"gif","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":720,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl-213x200.gif","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","medium-width":392,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","medium_large-width":720,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","large-width":720,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","1536x1536-width":720,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","2048x2048-width":720,"2048x2048-height":480,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl-698x465.gif","card_image-width":698,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ArcGISProSDK29_TableControl.gif","wide_image-width":720,"wide_image-height":480}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

For further details on the 2.9 SDK release, see this earlier post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other Opportunities<\/h3>\n

Also last year, developers took advantage of the many SDK online resources, such as the Concept and Guide documentation<\/a>, building on the free sample code available in the extensive\u00a0community samples<\/a>\u00a0with ready-to-run solutions such as those seen in some of the images above, as well as getting started with the\u00a0available tutorials<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also, many developers were able to attend the 2021 Developer Summit online and take advantage of the many Pro SDK sessions<\/a> and get updates directly from the SDK team and many other ArcGIS Pro teams.\u00a0 Pro developers also took advantage of the collaboration in the growing Esri Community Pro SDK Group<\/a>, as more developers are finding their way to the group to collaborate, find resources and ask technical questions.<\/p>\n

New Partner Add-Ins<\/h2>\n

In 2021, Esri Business Partners continued to make great progress with ArcGIS Pro and released many exciting new Pro add-in products and solutions.\u00a0 Some of these were updated versions of established ArcMap-based products, and some were brand new products leveraging new capabilities found only in Pro.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1458602,"id":1458602,"title":"ArcGIS Marketplace","filename":"ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","filesize":320885,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro-net\/developers\/arcgis-pro-extensibility-2021-in-review-and-whats-coming\/arcgis-marketplace-2","alt":"","author":"6271","description":"","caption":"","name":"arcgis-marketplace-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1456072,"date":"2022-01-13 19:57:08","modified":"2022-01-13 19:57:08","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1057,"height":243,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":107,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":177,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","large-width":1057,"large-height":243,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","1536x1536-width":1057,"1536x1536-height":243,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","2048x2048-width":1057,"2048x2048-height":243,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace-826x190.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":190,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/01\/ArcGIS-Marketplace.png","wide_image-width":1057,"wide_image-height":243}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/arcgis-marketplace\/products?product=ArcGISProAdd-In"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

The following Partners have new product listings for their add-ins on the ArcGIS Marketplace<\/a>, where some of the add-ins can be directly downloaded.\u00a0 These are just some of the new partner add-ins added this past year, with links to more information:<\/p>\n