Overview
To create, serve, access, and use an INSPIRE View Service, you will use a variety of ArcGIS for INSPIRE tools. The high-level steps for creating the INSPIRE View Service is to first create an INSPIRE View Service map document in ArcMap, and publish, set up, and configure an ArcGIS for Server map service for it. After setting up the INSPIRE View Service, see the topic on using the INSPIRE View Service.
Note:
Setting up the INSPIRE View Service map document and service does not require a geodatabase based on the INSPIRE geodatabase schema, as the software supports running INSPIRE View Services on different data types. However, the usage of the INSPIRE tools ArcMap add-in requires an Enterprise GDB or geodatabase file with the INSPIRE schema to be present. For information on this schema, see ArcGIS for INSPIRE Geodatabase.
Create the INSPIRE View Service map document
The first step in creating an INSPIRE View Service is to create an INSPIRE View Service map document. To do this, add your INSPIRE tools to the toolbar, add layers to your map based on the INSPIRE geodatabase, then add any non-INSPIRE data. Details about each of these steps are discussed in this topic.
If you are going to create a map document based on data not related to the INSPIRE geodatabase template structure, use the standard ArcMap tools for configuring your map document. It is recommended that the data frame of the map uses GCS_ETRS_89 as projection system. Also see the section Add non-INSPIRE data to the map.
Add INSPIRE tools to ArcMap
The INSPIRE tools add-in help you to easily create map documents that meet INSPIRE specifications. Once you have installed the INSPIRE desktop extension, add the INSPIRE tools to ArcMap. Do this by starting ArcMap and opening the Customize menu. Hover over the Toolbars option and select INSPIRE Tools from the submenu that appears. Now you should see a dockable toolbar that reads INSPIRE Tools and has an Add INSPIRE Layer button in your ArcMap environment. This button opens a wizard that helps you add an INSPIRE layer to your map document.
Use the INSPIRE Layer wizard
The INSPIRE Layer wizard guides you through selecting a geodatabase and selecting an INSPIRE layer to add to your map document. When you click the Add INSPIRE Layer button, the wizard appears.
The first screen prompts you to select a spatial database connection to an INSPIRE geodatabase. If there is no database connection established, you can create a connection through the file browser window that appears. Remember that only valid INSPIRE geodatabases can be used.
After a spatial database connection is selected or defined, an analysis of the tables and feature classes available from the selected database occurs. You are now able to select a layer from the INSPIRE layers field. The loaded INSPIRE layers are sorted alphabetically based on the INSPIRE themes and show as groups according to the INSPIRE Annex themes. The INSPIRE layers are selectable one by one, or with the button Select all layers. After you have selected one or more INSPIRE layers and clicked Create, you see the layers shown in the ArcMap Table of Contents.
When you have added all the data you want to add, save the map document.
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If you have selected complex INSPIRE layers, you see that the group layers are stored in the Table of Contents, or that more layer objects represent one single INSPIRE layer. Within the INSPIRE layer, there is no difference between the types of geometry that are part of the INSPIRE data model. A more common scenario is that point, line, and polygon objects display in an INSPIRE layer. On the other hand, ArcGIS feature classes only support one type of geometry per feature class, so a selection of an INSPIRE layer could result in different layers, representing different geometry types, within the Table of Contents in ArcMap. This characteristic of ArcGIS is handled in the representation of the INSPIRE layer through the INSPIRE View Service Capabilities. The structure of the Table of Contents created by the Add INSPIRE layer add-in should not be altered (for example deleting group layers, adjusting layers, and so on).
Add non-INSPIRE data to the map
It is possible to add further data (for example, a file geodatabase's feature classes) into the map document. Remember that for those additional datasets, the INSPIRE-based properties of the INSPIRE View Service (inspire_common:DEFAULT-Style, INSPIRE-metadata-Extension) are not available. This means that if you publish the map document with non-INSPIRE data as an INSPIRE View Service, it is possible that your INSPIRE View Service may not completely conform to INSPIRE specifications.
Note:
- When using the as-is data types mode, it is expected that the a4icommon.xml workspace has been loaded in the gdb and that the features are using the EPSG:4258 coordinate system.
- When creating the map document, the .mxd file can reference only one geodatabase.