Viewer Information

The Viewer Info page in Geocortex Essentials Manager has high-level settings and meta-information about the viewer, such as the viewer's display name and links to launch the viewer.

Open the Viewer Info Page

To open the Viewer Info page for an HTML5 viewer:

1. In Geocortex Essentials Manager, edit the viewer that you want to configure—edit the site that the viewer belongs to, click Viewers in the side panel, and then click the Edit icon beside the viewer.

   Alternatively, if you are already editing the viewer, click Viewer Info in the side panel.

   The Viewer Info page opens automatically when you add a new viewer.

Viewer Info Settings

The Viewer Info page has the following settings:

• Display Name: Used to refer to the viewer in Manager and in the REST API Sites Directory. The display name is not visible to the end user. However, the viewer ID is generated by the display name when the viewer is created and can appear in the viewer's URL. Changing the display name after the viewer has been created does not change the ID.

  Avoid long viewer display names. Display names affect Windows file paths, which must be less than 260 characters.

• Global Unique ID: A globally unique identifier for the viewer. It allows users to launch the viewer with a short URL. The value of the Global Unique ID is used for the viewer URL parameter. For example, if the value is MyViewer, you can launch the viewer with the following URL:

  http://MyServer.com/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer=MyViewer

  The Global Unique ID cannot contain special characters such as <, >, %, :, &, *, \, /, and ?.

  If you do not set the Global Unique ID, all viewers use the default Global Unique ID, which consists of the Site ID and the Viewer ID separated by a period character. For example, http://MyServer.com/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer=MySiteID.MyViewerID.

• Path: (for information only) The path to the viewer's configuration. {Site Path} represents the path to the folder containing the site's configuration file, Site.xml.

• URL: If you have deployed the viewer template to IIS multiple times, you can select which deployment you want the launch links and QR codes to use. This option is only visible if the template is deployed more than once.

• Publish to ArcGIS Online: Publishes the selected viewer URL as an item in ArcGIS Online. This only works if you used an ArcGIS Online identity to sign into Manager, and the selected viewer URL is not already published.

  If the item is already published, a link to the item on ArcGIS Online is displayed. The item can then be shared and configured in ArcGIS Online. A thumbnail is added in ArcGIS Online if the Essentials REST API is publicly accessible.

  You can remove the item using the Remove icon next to the link.

  Items can be orphaned if the viewer URL changes or the viewer is removed.

• Publish to Portal: Publishes the selected viewer URL as an item in Portal for ArcGIS. In order for this to work, you must use a Portal for ArcGIS identity to sign in to Manager, and the selected viewer URL is not already published.

  If the item is already published, a link to the item in Portal for ArcGIS is displayed. The item can then be shared and configured in Portal for ArcGIS. A thumbnail is added if Portal can access the Essentials REST API URL where the thumbnail exists.

  You can remove the item using the Remove icon next to the link.

  Items can be orphaned if the viewer URL changes or the viewer is removed.

• Launch Links: Hyperlinks and quick response (QR) codes ( ) that launch the viewer. Use the QR codes to launch the viewer in a device with a scanner, such as a smartphone. Hover the mouse pointer over a QR code to enlarge the code for scanning.

  • Launch in Browser: Launches the viewer in a browser. The Launch in Browser link uses the configBase URL parameter, which automatically detects the type of device that the viewer is running on—desktop computer, tablet, or handheld device—and uses the appropriate configuration for that device type. For more information on configBase, see URL Parameters.

  • Launch in Geocortex Mobile App Framework: Launches the viewer in the Geocortex Mobile App Framework.

  If you did not deploy the viewer to IIS when you installed the viewer's template, the launch links and QR codes will be missing. See Deploy a Viewer Template to IIS for instructions on using the Post Installer to deploy the viewer to IIS.

  If the viewer is blank when you launch it, and the live previews are also blank, edit the URL in the address bar to make all the references to the server (including the port) identical. We recommend fully qualified URLs. To correct this permanently, upgrade to Geocortex Essentials 3.11.1 or newer and redeploy the viewer.

  

  Recommended form for an HTML5 viewer URL

• Preview: Hyperlinks that launch the viewer within an image of the specified device type, so you can see what the viewer looks like in its target device type. You can use the viewer the same way in the live preview as in a browser—you can navigate the map, use menus and tools, perform searches, run workflows, and so on.

  Every viewer configuration page in Manager has Preview links.

• Properties: Allows you to create a custom property for the viewer.

  Every viewer configuration page in Manager has a Properties link.