NEARC 2001 

Title: Accessing existing ArcView applications through the Internet using thin-client technology.

Name: Douglas Morrill
Title: Communications Director
Organization: MARIN GIS
Address: 7 Island Dock Road
Haddam, CT
Phone: 860 345-4578 (Haddam CT) or 508 764-8755 (Southbridge MA) Fax508 764-4054
Email: dmorrill@marinenv.com

Delivering GIS applications directly to the Internet has become a possibility though using ESRI’s ArcIMS application. Using ArcIMS as a method for developing Internet applications for a general audience without any previous experience in GIS is certainly one of its best uses. There are other options available however when an application is to be made available over the internet, particularly in those instances where a more complex set of GIS tools are to be made available.

Thin-client technology has improved dramatically in its capabilities and offers a completely different method for achieving the desired result. Instead of running an ArcIMS enabled java or vbscript GIS application on a web server, existing “Avenue” based applications can be published “as is” to a web server. The server executes the application locally and delivers only the screen image to the user and receives from the user only keyboard and mouse information. The ArcView application can be embedded in an HTML page or may be launched separately creating a seamless user environment. These technologies are also capable of delivering Windows based ArcView applications over older networks to DOS, Mac, UNIX or OS2 clients without any customization or performance degradation.