ArcGIS® is a family of software
products that form a complete GIS built on industry standards
that provide exceptional, yet easy to use, capabilities right
out of the box. ArcGIS is a complete, single, integrated system
for geographic data creation, management, integration, and analysis.
Much more than a specialized offering for a small niche of specialists,
ArcGIS is designed as a scalable system that can be deployed
in every organization, from an individual desktop to a globally
distributed network of people.
ArcGIS features a modern design that embraces the current
standards pervasive throughout the information technology
(IT) arena.
* ESRI Interoperability and StandardsThe desktop software
is built with an intuitive Windows user interface that
makes GIS accessible to all. ArcGIS embraces other standards
including
* Geographic metadata standards (Federal Geographic Data
Commission [FGDC])
* Web standards (Extensible Markup Language [XML])
* Networking standards (TCP/IP)
* Standard notation for the modeling of real-world objects
(Unified Modeling Language [UML])
ArcSDE operates with commercial database management systems
(DBMS), and it supports a variety of formats, including
those from standards bodies such as
* the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC)
* International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
* Oracle Spatial
* Informix Spatial DataBlade
* IBM Spatial Extender formats
The open programming environment is significant enough
to warrant special attention. While other companies provide
a programming interface to access functionality, the full
capability of ArcGIS is exposed at a fine granularity.
The collection of software components that comprise ArcGIS
is known as ArcObjects. More than 1,100 individual COM-based
components are provided in a well-documented data model.
Customization is performed using the built-in Microsoft
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) scripting capabilities
or a COM-compliant programming language such as Visual
Basic, Visual C++, or Delphi.
Because of this reliance on industry standards, ArcGIS
is IT compliant and open. As a result, it is easily integrated
into an organization.
