Our Response to Esri’s Recent Announcement re: Flex and Silverlight
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Thank you for the info. We appreciate the direction you took already at the partners' meeting in september, and now you are still confirming it.
If I can point to a couple of things with high priority for migration to html5 these would be:
- support for editing tools (snapping, cut, split, union, etc...): we are trying to sell some solutions to utility companies based on those functionalities and they are really fundamental
- support for saving project
Ciao
Guido Sitta
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Full support to all workflow components and a better documentation for developers to create new custom workflows that works in the HTML5 viewer.
Sebastian
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We are going to prepare a list of silvelight feature we would like in html5. without those functions, it will be difficult to transition out of silverlight. we will list them on the forum!
Jeff
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Some might find it interesting to know that Silverlight support in (http://blog.chromium.org/2014/11/the-final-countdown-for-npapi.html) Chrome willl cease in September 2015.
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Thanks @Berend, others may also find interest in the Geoocortex Blog posting from a year ago that first discussed the end of Silverlight support in Chrome:
http://blog.geocortex.com/2013/10/11/silverlight-support-in-chrome-and-other-browers/
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@Pascual, I just read that post from a year ago. Clearly highlights the support in chrome awareness and dissemination of that info, but there was one user-submitted comment there that still resonates with me today. His question remains unanswered. Jeff wrote,
"I think this is a concern to folks who are using the silverlight api and viewer for geocortex. The central problem i see for our org, is that the html viewer does not offer (yet) all of the cool stuff available in silverlight. So whats the prognosis for having most of the silverlight functionality and workflow activities available in the html5 viewer?
I dont mind porting software, if the port leads to the same or better functionality."The viewer feature comparison of HTML5 to Silverlight isn't really close yet.
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I also share Jamie's concerns here. We have built up a large and loyal user base that expects at least the current level of functionality delivered by the Silverlight viewer. If we were to force everyone to move at the current level of HTML5 functionality we would have significant problems accross our organisation.
I really worry that Geocortex do in fact assume that "the majority of our customers have either transitioned to Geocortex Viewer for HTML5 or are in the process of enacting transition plans" as stated on their current link: http://www.geocortex.com/silverlight-to-HTML5. This is not the case that I have seen and until the HTML5 viewer is brought up to at least "on-par" with the current Silverlight viewer there are a lot of organisations that will not be able to migrate their current sites accross.
I'm really hoping the upcoming webinar will prove that my fears are unfounded. I'm not banking on it yet though.
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I agree with the concerns raised here. As it currently stands I feel there is a significant lag between the Silverlight and HTML5 viewer functionality. We are currently redevoloping our Geocortex viewers to move off of WebADF and our user base will expect a certain level of functionality which is still not there in HTML5. This means that, in the short term at least, and depending what functionality is released in the next update we will need to continue out redevelopment in Silverlight.
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Hi Everyone, Just in case you missed it (and since it's somewhat related), we've (http://blog.geocortex.com/2014/12/05/google-chrome-silverlight-and-the-move-to-html5/) recently posted on the Geocortex Blog about Silverlight support in Chrome. This follows our original post about the subject in October, 2013. I can completely appreciate concerns surrounding the move from Silverlight to HTML5 without having feature parity. It's something we'll definitely address in the upcoming webinar in January. In the meantime, I thought it might be helpful to share a few comments. I can't help but be reminded of the transition many of our customers made from Geocortex Essentials Web ADF technology to Geocortex Essentials REST technology. Then, Esri's deprecation of Web ADF urged customers to make a speedy transition, and like now the next-generation technology hadn't matured to the point of feature parity. Back then, to help the migration we ensured that reports, print templates and data links could be preserved. In your migration from Silverlight to HTML5 you can preserve all of those things, and also search settings, site configurations (including things like layer display settings and feature hyperlinks) and most importantly workflows. In fact, many features that represent the functional gap between Silverlight and HTML5 can be automated with workflows (for example buffer tools or entering and zooming to coordinates). I'm not going to say that all of this means that the functional gap between Silverlight and HTML5 is irrelevant - but it's worth highlighting that technology change can often require brand new applications developed from scratch. Hopefully it is comforting to know that when you do make a transition from Silverlight to HTML5, you'll be preserving a lot of the investment you made. Now let's address the functional gap concretely: upon the release of the Geocortex Viewer for HTML5 version 2.4 (targeting late Feb/early March 2015) a feature-by-feature comparison will show that 85% of the functionality in the Geocortex Viewer for Silverlight is available in the Geocortex Viewer for HTML5 (for the exact listing of features I've used in this comparison, consult the appendix of the Geocortex Essentials Product Guide here: [edit: Essentials 4.2 Product Guide originally linked can be found (http://data.latitudegeo.com/community/Geocortex Essentials Product Guide v4.2 20141120-1.pdf) here . The latest feature matrix (https://support.geocortex.com/SharedFiles/Download.aspx?pageid=222&mid=466&fileid=771) i s available (https://www.geocortex.com/downloads/marketing/essentials-feature-matrix.pdf) here .]. Now, you might say that's not a fair comparison, and it isn't because not all features are equal. To truly compare products you would want to evaluate each feature on its richness, adaptability, importance, ease-of-use and other factors. The fact remains that even after 2.4 there will still be features in the Geocortex Viewer for Silverlight that aren't yet implemented in HTML5. To that end, our commitment is to continue developing capabilities in the Geocortex Viewer for HTML5 through 2015 and beyond. I am optimistic that HTML5 is going to stick around for a while, and we're putting a huge development investment towards it. I think it's important to keep in mind that while there may be some frustration associated with technology change, it can also represent an opportunity. This is a great chance to evaluate your existing applications, and determine what is appropriate for a new version. In many cases, we find that when our customers talk to their users they discover that some of the features they planned on porting were only used by a small group of folks, or by nobody. It's also a chance to step back and evaluate your application delivery strategy - perhaps developing more purposeful, targeted applications alongside a general-purpose viewers. Some organizations might build new applications in HTML5 while slowly transitioning users away from Silverlight to 'soften the blow', and others might look towards flicking the switch once a replacement app is in production. It varies from organization to organization, and we want to help, so please don't hesitate to contact your account manager when making your plans. I hope this helps and I look forward to your follow-up questions and comments on this thread. Drew. 0 -
Is it safe to assume that Latitude is planning for the transition of extensions to use the HTML5 viewer as well?
We use the Amanda extension, currently integrated with the Silverlight viewer. Our internal users with Amanda software are not likely to be using Chrome as their browser at this point, but may be able to with future versions of that software.
Perhaps the webinar next year can mention the topic of extensions (Amanda and others), with estimated / hoped-for timeframes?
Thanks,
Chris Jacob
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The worrying thing is that there are still things that ArcIMS and WebADF could do very easily out-of-the-box 10 years ago that the current applications cannot do. And this is something that is annoying all my users who seem to remind me of this almost every week. Then every time we upgrade we seem to be losing more functionality.
I am all for using the latest technology but there is a really worrying trend that we are providing less and less functionality as the technology is "improving". Then we have to build the functionality that has always existed from scratch in new technologies every few years.
I hope this is a trend that will reverse with HTML5. I look forward to hearing the approach Geocortex are taking to counter this trend.
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Correction: The 85% statistic I used mistakenly includes features that are exclusively offered in Geocortex Viewer for HTML5. Looking only at features that are implemented in Geocortex Viewer for Silverlight, a more accurate percentage of parity is 79%. The 20 features available only in Geocortex Viewer for HTML5 contribute to this discrepancy.
@Chris Jacob: Good point - we will address product extensions in the upcoming webinar.
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It sounds like there's a lot of effort being put into this migration; I appreciate that and am willing to give it some time.
That last 20% will be important. Those features in that percentage are things we use daily: Right-click context, Launch page, storing/working with selection sets, locate/project coordinates, Save/Open, Help, Upload files, dynamic print preview, verify hyperlinks, etc. I guess I put those extra features into a category that separates free viewer solutions (ArcGIS Web AppBuilder) from paid viewers.
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I see that the issue here is simple. All what we need is to enjoy having all the capabilities\functionalities that are already available in the GVS to be developed in GVS.
How much time does this take the Geocortex team to accomplish it?
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Sorry. The second GVS is meant to be GVH
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@jamie peterson, Also included in that last 20% is the ability to change drawing graphics without those silly preset styles that have to be set by the administrator. Our users need to be able to choose their own colours and border thicknesses etc, just like silverlight viewer
The biggest let down for me with html viewer is how datalink data is displayed. The list on the left when you have 100 related features is useless. It only shows one field for the related feature, and to see the full details the user has to click on each related feaure individually. Users are not going to want to click through each individual related feature to see the details. It needs to open a floating window the same as silverlight. It needs to be in a table with all related features and all fields visible in one easy to view window , just like silverlight viewer.
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Hi Mark,
We are struggling with our application that is built in the HTML5 due to weak functions in comparison to Silverlight. Our users are shouting and need to enjoy all the functionalities are available in the Silverlight to be there in the HTML5.
The examples for missing capabilities in the HTML5 you have already highlighted are really extremely necessary for all users and we can’t live without them. HTML5 needs to be developed to have such features.
Best
Jamal
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Hi Everyone,
It's great to see all the activity on this thread and all of the feedback surrounding the features that compose the functional gap for your Silverlight to HTML5 migration plans... Please know we're doing everything possible to close this gap as soon as possible - it's our #1 priority.
@Mark Hoyland: You might be pleased to know that the display of related data is drastically improving in the upcoming 2.4 release of the Geocortex Viewer for HTML5. The "feature details" view will more closely resemble what you see in the Geocortex Viewer for Silverlight with related records and data links tabulated in tabs alongside the spatial feature details. In my opinion, it's actually huge improvement over what we've delivered in Silverlight. We'll likely focus on this feature (among many other upcoming features) in (https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/200000000028749039) this month's road-ahead webinar on December 18th.
--Drew
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Thanks Drew, That is awesome news. Identifying data with a one to many datalink, is probably the most important feature for our organisation.
I am looking forward to see whats coming with html5. It will be great when I can finally say "Yes you can use it on an ipad"!
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