2025 WA GIS Conference

One of the most challenging things about using Python in GIS is, it's hard to know if you're really getting better. Or rather, knowing how to get better is hard. In the same way that many of us spent a lot of time, ""wanting to learn Python"" but not knowing where to start. Or ""learning Python"" and not knowing how to apply the language at work.

This presentation is the presentation that I wished I would have had when starting my geospatial Python journey. It is a brief review of the developer practices that I've picked up along the way. We'll cover the following:

• Conda & Using ArcPy in an IDE
• Formatters & Linters
• Logging
• Version Control
• Functions & Type Hinting
• Secrets Management

Esri’s support for Python offers a number of opportunities for automating everyday tasks and generating reports. From reporting to pushing data around, generating ID values in ArcGIS Online or making calls to web APIs, this presentation is intended to introduce you to some of the tools and approaches to automating common (and not so common) tasks. Using lots of examples, the presenter will walk you through resources, how you can get started, things to watch out for, and how to run your automation tools effectively.

In this presentation, I'll share how I developed an automated workflow using ArcGIS Pro ModelBuilder and Python scripting to tackle the challenge of integrating and spatially aligning sewer tap data for the City of Kent. I aimed to create a robust solution that seamlessly merges tabular data from external sources with our existing spatial datasets, ensuring accuracy and consistency across our databases. My process started by importing and processing the tabular sewer tap information, which includes details such as asset IDs, measurement values, and timestamps. I then joined this data with the spatial sewer main features, enabling me to calculate precise tap locations along the sewer lines. I incorporated data filtering and statistical analysis to determine maximum distances, and I established a linear referencing system to accurately position tap points. I utilized custom Python scripts and Arcade expressions to derive attributes such as the directionality of the tap point from the line (DownLRC – left, right, or center) and identifying the most recent tap record (IsLatest). I focused on achieving accurate spatial alignment by generating route event layers, accounting for both on-line and offset tap locations. Finally, this process is scheduled to run on a weekly basis using VisualCron, where the newly processed tap data is appended to the existing sewer tap point feature class, effectively updating our geodatabase. This automated solution has significantly reduced manual data entry and processing time, minimized errors, and enhanced the spatial accuracy of Kent’s sewer infrastructure data. By integrating external data sources and implementing rigorous spatial analysis, I've created a reliable and efficient method for displaying up-to-date and accurate sewer tap information, thus assisting our field crews with regular pipeline inspections and maintenance.

This presentation is intended for anyone interested in using or learning more about Field Maps for ArcGIS for field data collection. The topics to be covered include:
• Database design including the creation of join tables and domains.
• Important considerations in web map creation.
• How the underlying database and web map design influence how Field Maps interacts with the data.
• How to write and implement Arcade expressions.
• How to create layer filters.
• Offline use.
• Exporting photo attachments stored in the database to a file folder.

Don’t have AVL on your snowplows but wish you could provide near-real-time updates to internal staff and your residents? One method for accomplishing this will be discussed. The solution utilizes ArcGIS Enterprise, QuickCapture, a SQL Server-based enterprise geodatabase and Dashboards.

The King County IT GIS Center supports thousands of GIS users across 17 different county departments. To help track Esri user licenses, understand user activity, and support the transition from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro, the GIS Center built the GIS License Manager application. This custom application was built using some code and does neat stuff, ties into users’ Microsoft Entra ID accounts, and reports usage for individual users down to the minute.

In addition to granular reporting, the data from this application has been aggregated into a hosted table in ArcGIS Online and used to display platform usage over time in two ArcGIS Online dashboards. These insights help the GIS Center leadership, GIS managers, and users understand what platforms are in use, and what teams might need additional help transitioning from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro.

Join us as we discuss the technical details behind building the GIS License Manager application and obtaining usage minutes from ArcMap, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, and ArcGIS Enterprise. We’ll also go into detail about the creation of the aggregated data dashboards using ArcGIS Online Dashboards, Arcade data expressions, and Experience Builder for display on our King County State of GIS Hub Site. https://state-of-gis.kingcounty.gov/pages/gislm

The Forest Practices Division of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources issue permits for forest practices on private and state forest land. Our office staff, who process permits on a tight deadline and report out stats, needed a way to quickly and easily query our Oracle database data when they had no direct access and no SQL experience. They also had no ArcGIS Online access or experience. We pursued using Power BI to create a user-friendly dashboard with user-controlled filters, but hit a brick wall when it was discovered that our agency had no budget for a data gateway. In other words, we had no way to connect our behind-the-firewall Oracle data to the cloud where Power BI could ingest it. What we did have was an SDE/ArcGIS Enterprise, allowing us to access our Oracle data in ArcGIS Portal. So, after learning a little about m-code and a lot about pagination, we were able to connect our Portal feature services to Power BI via REST API, allowing us to create custom dashboards and reports that we could then embed in Microsoft Teams for easy viewing and access for all staff members at no additional cost to our divison.