{"id":2978718,"date":"2026-09-18T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2978718"},"modified":"2026-09-25T17:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T00:32:36","slug":"enhanced-real-time-situational-awareness-in-dsa-3-0-an-open-source-reference-app-for-qt","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/sdk-qt\/developers\/enhanced-real-time-situational-awareness-in-dsa-3-0-an-open-source-reference-app-for-qt","title":{"rendered":"Enhanced Real-Time Situational Awareness in DSA 3.0, An Open-Source Reference App for Qt"},"author":465825,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[24641,738191,37121],"tags":[769092,781248,24631,23331],"industry":[],"product":[769152],"class_list":["post-2978718","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense","category-developers","category-real-time","tag-arcgis-maps-sdk-for-qt","tag-dynamic-entities","tag-qt","tag-situational-awareness","product-sdk-qt"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":465825,"user_firstname":"Harini","user_lastname":"Chaganti","nickname":"Harini Chaganti","user_nicename":"hchaganti","display_name":"Harini Chaganti","user_email":"hchaganti@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2026-07-16 16:45:37","user_description":"Harini Chaganti is a Product Engineer II at Esri, working on the ArcGIS Maps SDK for Qt. She has three years of experience at Esri, including two years working with the release team.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"Enhancements in DSA 3.0, an open-source Qt reference app: support for geospatial PDFs, multi-grids, easier setup, & improved real-time feeds","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Dynamic Situational Awareness (DSA) version 3.0 brings major improvements for real-time situational awareness workflows. The app now uses Dynamic Entities<\/a> for real-time feeds, which reduce custom app-side logic for working with streaming data and bring many other benefits. Other new features added in this release include easier in-app demo data downloads, easier custom configurations, and support for geospatial PDFs and multiple grid formats.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_25vjlfpk","time":false,"start":0},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

DSA is an open-source reference app that uses ArcGIS Maps SDK for Qt 300.1<\/a>, an Esri SDK built on Qt 6.8.2. Designed for developers building sophisticated situational awareness solutions for teams working in challenging, disconnected, and rapidly changing environments, DSA demonstrates how field personnel, vehicles, and command teams can maintain a shared operational picture using peer-to-peer communications and on-device GIS capabilities.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

While Qt Maps SDK provides a toolkit<\/a> and samples<\/a> to help you build your own app, DSA brings these pieces together for you and demonstrates: best practices for offline app use, shared operational pictures in fast-changing environments, cross-platform deployment, and much more. In addition to jump-starting your development, the app also helps onboard new developers quickly.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Built on the Qt framework, DSA is designed for true cross-platform deployment and demonstrates how a single codebase can support multiple platforms.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Built to illustrate real-world mission workflows<\/h2>\n

Qt Maps SDK combines 2D and 3D mapping for large local datasets, real-time data integration, client-side spatial analysis, military symbology, and offline-first workflows within a single native application framework. These capabilities are essential for applications operating in dynamic environments where users need to understand what is happening, where it is happening, and how conditions are changing over time.<\/p>\n

Rather than demonstrating individual APIs in isolation, DSA brings these capabilities together into realistic operational workflows. DSA illustrates how Qt Maps SDK can be used to build applications that improve operational visibility, support tracking and monitoring, and strengthen field coordination.<\/p>\n

Developers can also implement these capabilities using any of the ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

What\u2019s new in the latest update?<\/h2>\n

DSA 3.0 introduces improvements that simplify development while expanding what the application can do.<\/p>\n

Real-time feeds now powered by dynamic entities<\/h3>\n

DSA now uses the Dynamic Entities API to implement the real-time feeds. This change significantly reduces custom app-side logic for working with streaming data updates while continuing to support dictionary renderer workflows for military symbology standards, including MIL-STD-2525 and APP-6. This improvement means less plumbing code and more built-in capability out of the box.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Track display options and interaction<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A new track display settings panel has been added to choose how to visualize track history for message feeds. Users can interact with moving entities, including improved follow workflows.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2982006,"id":2982006,"title":"Track display options","filename":"Track-display-1.png","filesize":2945139,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/sdk-qt\/developers\/enhanced-real-time-situational-awareness-in-dsa-3-0-an-open-source-reference-app-for-qt\/track-display-2","alt":"Map displaying a track of the feed in the Dynamic Situational Awareness app","author":"465825","description":"","caption":"Use the new track display panel to set the track length as well as the size and color for previous observations and the track line","name":"track-display-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2978718,"date":"2026-09-10 19:06:59","modified":"2026-09-18 05:57:10","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":1914,"height":1071,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":430,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1.png","large-width":1914,"large-height":1071,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1-1536x859.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":859,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1.png","2048x2048-width":1914,"2048x2048-height":1071,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1-826x462.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":462,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Track-display-1.png","wide_image-width":1914,"wide_image-height":1071}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Dynamic popups<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When identifying a moving entity, the popup information is dynamic and updates as new observations for that entity are received by the application.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2982185,"id":2982185,"title":"Friendly Dynamic Popup","filename":"friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","filesize":40379,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/sdk-qt\/developers\/enhanced-real-time-situational-awareness-in-dsa-3-0-an-open-source-reference-app-for-qt\/friendly","alt":"Dynamic Situational Awareness app showing a dynamic track popup","author":"372342","description":"","caption":"Popup information for a track is dynamic and updates as new observations for that entity are received","name":"friendly","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2978718,"date":"2026-09-15 00:22:25","modified":"2026-09-18 16:00:45","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":467,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","thumbnail-width":187,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","medium-width":244,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","medium_large-width":467,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","large-width":467,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","1536x1536-width":467,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","2048x2048-width":467,"2048x2048-height":500,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","card_image-width":434,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly-e1789708509606.jpg","wide_image-width":467,"wide_image-height":500}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Find tracks<\/strong><\/h4>\n

You can now search for entities in a message feed by entering the track ID, then zoom to, follow, or perform a line-of-sight operation on any of the results.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2982003,"id":2982003,"title":"Find track","filename":"Find-feed-1.png","filesize":1002821,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/sdk-qt\/developers\/enhanced-real-time-situational-awareness-in-dsa-3-0-an-open-source-reference-app-for-qt\/find-feed-2","alt":"Dynamic Situational Awareness app, searching for a track","author":"465825","description":"","caption":"As you type a track ID in the search box, all entities that match are listed and highlighted on the map","name":"find-feed-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2978718,"date":"2026-09-10 19:05:20","modified":"2026-09-18 05:58:14","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":1296,"height":811,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1.png","medium-width":417,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":481,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1.png","large-width":1296,"large-height":811,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1.png","1536x1536-width":1296,"1536x1536-height":811,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1.png","2048x2048-width":1296,"2048x2048-height":811,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1-743x465.png","card_image-width":743,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Find-feed-1.png","wide_image-width":1296,"wide_image-height":811}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Support for grids<\/h3>\n

DSA now supports grids in the scene with a dedicated control for toggling grid display, including MGRS, USNG, UTM and Lat Long.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2982005,"id":2982005,"title":"Grid display","filename":"Grid-display.png","filesize":1469807,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/sdk-qt\/developers\/enhanced-real-time-situational-awareness-in-dsa-3-0-an-open-source-reference-app-for-qt\/grid-display-2","alt":"Dynamic Situational Awareness app displaying a grid","author":"465825","description":"","caption":"Toggle on and off grids for different coordinate notations, such as MGRS","name":"grid-display-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2978718,"date":"2026-09-10 19:06:54","modified":"2026-09-18 06:17:19","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":1298,"height":812,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display.png","medium-width":417,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display.png","large-width":1298,"large-height":812,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display.png","1536x1536-width":1298,"1536x1536-height":812,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display.png","2048x2048-width":1298,"2048x2048-height":812,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display-743x465.png","card_image-width":743,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-display.png","wide_image-width":1298,"wide_image-height":812}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Support for geospatial PDF<\/h3>\n

DSA now supports geospatial PDFs, allowing users to work with another commonly used geospatial document format in disconnected and field-based workflows.<\/p>\n

This capability expands the range of operational content that can be loaded directly into the application.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2982004,"id":2982004,"title":"analysis pdf","filename":"analysis-pdf.png","filesize":1214493,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/sdk-qt\/developers\/enhanced-real-time-situational-awareness-in-dsa-3-0-an-open-source-reference-app-for-qt\/analysis-pdf-2","alt":"Dynamic Situational Awareness app displaying a geospatial PDF","author":"465825","description":"","caption":"Add a geospatial PDF as an overlay","name":"analysis-pdf-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2978718,"date":"2026-09-10 19:06:51","modified":"2026-09-18 05:59:44","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":1295,"height":813,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf.png","medium-width":416,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":482,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf.png","large-width":1295,"large-height":813,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf.png","1536x1536-width":1295,"1536x1536-height":813,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf.png","2048x2048-width":1295,"2048x2048-height":813,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf-741x465.png","card_image-width":741,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/09\/analysis-pdf.png","wide_image-width":1295,"wide_image-height":813}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Deployment & portability enhancements<\/h3>\n

Getting started with DSA is easier with these new enhancements.<\/p>\n

Download demo data directly in the app<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Users can now download demo datasets via custom configuration ZIP files directly from the application, reducing setup time and making it faster to explore the app’s capabilities without manually provisioning data. This is particularly useful for deploying demo data to Android or iOS devices.<\/p>\n

Deploy the app with the data<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Desktop deployments of the app can now use a local <\/span>DsaAppConfig.json<\/span><\/code> file placed directly alongside the executable and use relative links to data files. This allows users to more easily deploy the app with the data, and not be tied to a specific location on disk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Support for custom configurations<\/strong><\/h4>\n

DSA also makes it easier to package and manage custom configurations. Developers can work with custom configuration ZIP files, manage multiple datasets or app setups, and switch between the datasets from within the app.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

What’s next for DSA?<\/h2>\n

Here’s a preview of what we are working on next:<\/p>\n