Lesson 2: Intro to Programming ArcObjects (PART 1)

Lesson 2: Intro to Programming ArcObjects (Part 1)

Jim Kompanek

Reflection on Lesson 2

Lesson 2 was a true eye opener for the world of programming, and at times, I felt like I was in over my head with much of it. The primary goal of this lesson was to learn a basic understanding of the ArcObjects Object Model Diagram (ODM) as well as gain a degree of familiarity with the Developer Help files. When I first opened up the ODM file (Figure 1), I must admit, I was completely overwhelmed with the over 80 (40-x-40”) pages of an elaborate hierarchy of relationships. It wasn’t until I had a chance to plot the ArcMapUI and Carto diagram on a plotter, as well as view the ODM on a large monitor at work, did it all start to sink in. It was virtually impossible to navigate the ODM on my small, 15.4" laptop at home, let alone get a sense of how it was put together.

Printing out a separate copy of the Class Key Diagram (Figure 2) also helped to put it together. I actually found the developer help files more helpful than the ODM, primarily because they didn’t quite overwhelm me with so much data all at once. The standard Windows help file format was also rather familiar and relatively easy to navigate.

I found the programming exercises of Part III to greatly challenging. The most frustrating part was finding the correct interface and making it all come together. It was very reassuring to see other students having similar issues in the Lesson 2 discussion forums. I didn’t have much of an issue with Part IV of the project. This requirement involved modifying the user interface and adding a simple set of pre-set zoom commands (Figure 3). I didn’t have much of a problem setting this up (as much of the code was already provided), and it was a refreshing change from Part III.

Figure 1. ArcObjects Object Model Diagram (ODM) (click on image for full size graphic).

Figure 2. Class Key Diagram from the ODM (click on image for full size graphic).

Figure 3. My Zoom customization created for Lesson 2.

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