As part of this morning’s segment of the Plenary Session at the ESRI User Conference was a well received (at least judging by the level of applause after each item on the list was announced), “top ten” improvements for ArcGIS 9.3.  As a precursor to the list being unveiled, Jack Dangermond stressed that the foundation of ArcGIS is the Geodatabase for organizing and managing data.  He stressed that the Geodatabase is “more performing” than shapefiles and can leverage more of ArcGIS.   John Caulkins, ESRI’s Corporate Technical Evangelist, presented the list in reverse order and noted that 9.3 introduced more desktop capabilities in ArcMap.

10.  Bookmarks

It’s now easier to manage bookmarks especially to order bookmarks in your own preferred order and to share bookmarks between map documents (.mxd).

9.  Pause Labels

It’s now possible to suspend the drawing of labels.  This helps to increase performance and speed when working within ArcMap.

8.  Group Layers

ArcGIS 9.3 includes a keyboard shortcut (holding down the ALT key while turning on a layer within a group) that allows for the sequential stepping through layers within the group.

7.  Clip Raster to a Graphic Shape

Now rasters can be easily clipped using the Export Raster Data feature that clips the raster to the extent of a graphic.

6.  Transparent Legends

In the past, transparent layers were still represented on the layer in their opaque form.  Now there is a new data frame property that allows for legends to simulate the transparencies as shown on the map.

5.  Table Sorting and Joins

It’s now possible to sort tables based on multiple fields.  Toggling between fields names and aliases is now possible.  Aliases also now persist even after joining to another table.

4.  Reverse Geocoding

Using the address inspector users can now easier add address points and labels to a map as a graphic.  Addresses are highlighted as the mouse is hovered over the map.  Clicking on the map generates the address point and label.

3.  Graphics to Features

Graphic symbology and their labels can now be converted to features with the label being converted to attribute data.

2.  Identify Tool

The identify tool has two important right-click capabilities added to it.  The first is the ability to right-click on a layer and select the properties to update symbology.  Second, a HTML pop-up tool has been added to allow for the viewing of HTML pages on a feature.

1.  Error Reporting

The number one improvement received the loudest applause.  John Caulkin reported that thousands of bugs were fixed with the release of ArcGIS 9.3.  To help ESRI developers continue to improve ArcGIS and fix bugs, an Error reporting system was included with 9.3.  When ArcGIS crashes, a dialogue will pop-up to request permission from the user to send a report on the error to ESRI.  Reports received will be scanned for known issues and fixes will be rolled into future service patches.  The error reporting will also be used to help developers understand where their product is conflicting with ArcGIS.

The list presented at the Plenary Session was only the top ten user requests.  Many additional features were released in ArcGIS 9.3.  What new features appeal to you?  What features are you still waiting for in future ArcGIS releases?