New Year, New Release! Introducing ArcGIS Pro 3.2 Q&A – Part 2

We’re answering your questions from our “New Year, New Release: Introducing ArcGIS Pro 3.2” webinar in a two-part series. The first post covered topics in ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro migration, oriented imagery, generating schema reports and radio group layers. This second post covers topics such as field data types, administration settings, surface profile charts, 3D basemaps and keyboard shortcuts. 

Earlier this year, to kick off our year of technical webinars, Maggie Samson and I introduced the latest release of the Esri core software, ArcGIS Pro 3.2. In our webinar, "New Year New Release: Introducing ArcGIS Pro 3.2," we counted down our ten favourite new features and functionalities. Whether you're a seasoned GIS pro or just starting your geospatial adventure, ArcGIS Pro 3.2 brings some noteworthy enhancements; if you couldn't make it to the live session, worry not! Please sit back, relax and catch up on all the action with our webinar recording. 

Our New Year resolution was to take our GIS to the next level with this latest release and with March upon us, we are sticking to our goals by continuing to answer your top questions. Join us in making 2024 the year of GIS triumphs with ArcGIS Pro 3.2! 

Field Data Types: 

With ArcGIS Pro 3.2, there are 4 new field data types that are available to use with your data. These options are as follows; Big integer, Timestamp offset, Date only and Time only. With these new field data types that have now been added, you will now have more room for customization when using your data in ArcGIS Pro.  

Q: How does the Big Integer differ from the Double Field Data type? 

A: Big Integer and Double field data types may seem to be similar from a general perspective, although there are some differences to note in both which differentiate the two. The first thing that is important to note is that both use 64 bits as their size when saving the data to your computer.  

Where the differences start to come into play is with the Storable range that each can hold. Big Integer has a ‘storable range’ of -9,007,199,254,740,991 to 9,007,199,254,740,991 meaning that you can use any value up to and in between this range in your data when using this data type. The Double field data type has a storable range of approximately -2.2E308 to 1.8E308.  

The final notable difference between the two is that Big integer considers numerical values without decimals, whereas Double will take numerical values with decimals. For more information, you can view the field data types in the ArcGIS Pro documentation.  

Q: What are the different ways to add to these data types when creating new fields? 

A: There are several ways to go about this process. If you are creating a new field or have a currently existing field and need to change the data type, we can take two different methods to accomplish this. We can create a new field directly in the attribute table and assign a new data type to it or we can create a new field for a specific feature class using the ‘Add Field’ geoprocessing tool. Both methods will allow a new field and data type to be assigned to your feature class of choice.  

There are also two ways to change the data type of an existing field. The first method is to use the calculate field geoprocessing tool which will allow you to populate the attribute data from an existing field. The second method is to use the feature class to feature class geoprocessing tool to create a new feature class with the desired data type. 

This is a simple process; depending on the desired output, it will just require a different series of steps to accomplish what you would like.  

Administration Settings: 

There are settings in ArcGIS Pro that either you or your administrator have to manage. Environment extent was one of the major noteworthy changes that occurred in this update. We now have the option to set environment extents so that your data can be managed more easily and help prevent excessive load times in your map by selecting the extent you would like your data and map to load within. 

Q: What is the purpose of using environment extents in your project and can these be changed at a later time? 

A: Environment extents are used to help define the features that will be processed by tools. Without extents applied to layers or within your project, it is common to see longer loading times depending on the size and quantity of your data. It can be beneficial to use environmental extents on a project level to help manage all your layers without having to do each one individually. If you only want to look at a specific area on your map, I highly recommend doing this especially if you have various data sources within this extent.  

It is important to remember, when this is set, that this will assume all the coordinate systems have already been set to what is necessary for each layer. If no coordinate system is specified in the environment pane, then the first dataset to enter your map will define the coordinate system for this extent. A thing to note is that you can always change the environment extents and coordinate system at any time after this.  

In other words, use extents and coordinate system application at an environment level to help simplify doing this for every layer individually. 

Surface Profile Charts: 

Surface profile charts allow you to visualize changes in elevation, surface temperature or temperature over a specified distance. You start by selecting the raster image you would like to use from your project and draw a line over a set distance. From here, the surface profile chart will create a chart based on the specific bands in your image. This means that we can analyze all the bands within the image for this specific line segment. This tool will be useful to quickly create and export charts to showcase information about raster imagery. 

Q: Can we use more than one line when creating a surface profile chart? 

A: Multiple line segments can be drawn and visualized using this chart. When drawing multiple lines, it is important to utilize your axes symbolization. This may become more valuable to see what lines correspond to what bands, especially if comparing different line segments. The more lines you have, you also have the option to visualize only the bands that you would like to see for each corresponding raster. It is also important to remember that you do not have to analyze different lines in the same vicinity. As long as they are within your raster boundaries, these lines can be drawn and analyzed accordingly.  

Q: What version do I need in order to be able to use the surface profile chart? 

A:  To use the new surface profile chart, you must be on ArcGIS Pro 3.2. This was something new that was introduced specifically in this version meaning you will only be able to access it in this version or a higher version moving forward. If you are on a version that is currently lower than this, then you will notice that this functionality will unfortunately not yet be available to you. 

Q: Does the surface profile chart option allow us to see elevation profiles? More specifically, how does this work? 

A: The surface profile chart allows us to visualize changes such as elevation, surface temperature or temperature over a specified distance. Does it allow us to look specifically at things like elevation profiles? Yes, but to an extent. This functionality allows us to see a general change in these key areas over a sample distance by using the spatial resolution of the raster layer. Note that this is calculated using bilinear interpolation according to the pixel values assigned over the selected line segment.  

It is important to keep in mind here that to calculate things like change in elevation, you will want your raster to already have this analysis completed. This means that it is better to have the input raster being used for your chart to be a DEM you created as this will give a much more accurate representation as to what the change in elevation is in comparison to a raster with no analysis yet done on it.  

Since the chart is calculated using the pixel values, having your analysis done on your corresponding layer(s) will be key as the main goal of this chart is to compare the values of the pixels after your layers have already been prepped and converted to the way you would like to visualize them.  

3D Basemaps: 

3D Basemaps allow you to leverage your pre-existing data to visualize it in 3D.  With ArcGIS Pro 3.2, 3D Basemaps can now be used with your data by simply selecting them in the basemap dropdown menu. 

Q: How do I get started with using 3D Basemaps and is there a specific portal I need to be connected to in order to use them?  

A: To use the 3D basemaps, all you have to do is ensure that your active portal is set to ArcGIS Online. It is also important to remember that to use these 3D basemaps, you must have a local or global scene created in you ArcGIS Pro project before trying to use them. If you were to try to use a 3D basemap in a regular map that is not a scene, then these options will not appear.   

To accomplish this task is simple. Login to your portal in ArcGIS Pro and select the option to open a preexisting scene or create a new one with your 3D Data. The option to switch your basemap to a 3D one will now be available. 

Q: How can I ensure accuracy of these basemaps? How often are the 3D basemaps updated? 

A: These basemaps will always be accurate as there are assembled and curated by Esri. Approximately every three weeks, both vector and imagery- based basemaps are updated with any new data provided by authoritative services. 

Keyboard Shortcuts: 

Keyboard shortcuts are useful in many applications to help speed up repetitive tasks as well as save you some clicking time. With the newest update to ArcGIS Pro, we now have the option to access a menu to view all our shortcuts and customize them all in one space. 

Q: Is there another location to access to shortcut catalogue menu other than going to the help tab on the ribbon? 

A: Yes there is another location to access the shortcut dialogue menu. There are multiple ways that this can be done. The method of navigating to the help tab on the ribbon was highlighted in the webinar. Additionally, there are three other ways that this can be achieved. 

1. Press the F12 key anywhere in the application  

2. Customize your ribbon in ArcGIS Pro to have the keyboard shortcuts menu option available on your custom ribbon 

3. Type up shortcuts in the command search box and press enter 

All these methods will return the same dialogue menu with the exact same options. Using any of the methods mentioned above, you will have the option to view and customize your shortcuts to suit your preferences. 

This concludes the second half of your questions about the updates to ArcGIS Pro 3.2. If anybody has any further feedback or thoughts on any of these features, please feel free to use Esri Community to share your ideas.