Accessing PDC ArcGIS Server Data Services

PDC publishes several map services using ArcGIS Server from ESRI. There are two principal modes of connecting to ArcGIS Server: the web services URL and the REST services website. More information on these is provided below. Regardless of which one you use, ArcGIS Server supports the concept of folders to organize map services and determine security, so a given map service will be inside a folder (which is listed on the map service metadata).

The web services URL for PDC's ArcGIS Server is http://ags.pdc.org/arcgis.

• Use this URL for connections to ArcGIS Server from desktop mapping software such as ArcGIS Desktop (ArcCatalog/ArcMap) or the free ArcGIS Explorer.
• Note that ESRI's software often provides sample URLs that end in "/services". Specify the URL as shown above, and do not include "/services".
• This URL is a web service, so it is not intended to show anything meaninful in a web browser.
• This is sometimes described in the ESRI documentation as the "SOAP URL".

The REST services website is available at http://ags.pdc.org/rest.

• This website has information on how to connect to both map and data services. It has a simple interface for viewing via a web browser.
• The REST website contains hyperlinks to connect via the WMS, WFS, and WCS protocols. All of those protocols begin with a request to a capabilities file, which describes the supported projections, layers, data formats, and other details.
  • IMPORTANT: All connections URLs to PDC's ArcGIS Server should begin with "ags.pdc.org". If you see a link to something else (e.g. agsprod.pdc.org or agstest.pdc.org) on the REST website, just change it to "ags.pdc.org". Read more... PDC has multiple servers that can be used for production services, and the ags.pdc.org URL ensures a connection to the correct one. The REST website will occasionally create links to itself that only work on one server, which may have maintenance down-time.
• REST is a methodology of providing data services via simple request-response URL end-points. This website has forms that demonstrate how to create REST requests to ArcGIS Server. A programmer could use these to automate data connections to ArcGIS Server.
• ArcGIS Server supports an "optimized" map service that offers improved performance for ArcGIS Server, WMS, and KML connections. Where WFS/WCS are available, a separate mapservice has been published (in the same folder) with a "_WFS" suffix. Note that WFS services only support vector data and WCS services only support raster data.
• KML/Google Earth: There are several links to open the mapservices in Google Earth.
  • The most useful one is generally found at the bottom of a map service's web page (if KML is supported for the service). Look for a header "Supported Operations", with a "Generate KML" hyperlink. That link opens a form to create a KML document.
  • The document name is optional; this will be the title of folder when it opens in Google Earth.
  • Check the checkboxes for one or more layers.
  • For the "Layer Options" radio buttons, choose the last one, "Vector layers as vectors and raster layers as images" and click the submit button. Be wary when making vector layer requests, however, since some layers can have a large amount of content. In those cases, one of the image options would be best.
  • Your browser will likely prompt you to save or open the KML file. If you want to retrieve the URL of the request (e.g. to send to someone else), you can find it in Internet Explorer's history view or Firefox's downloads window.