Well, it was obvious that something had changed since I left yesterday, so I viewed the server's system log and found that the Application Pool was unable to start. Great, but why couldn't it start? Well, I dug around some more and found a more meaningful log at: c:\windows\system32\logfiles\httperr. This log told me that the application was trying to run using ASP.NET 1.1. What? Well, this pointed me to IIS Manager, where I found that ASP.NET 1.1 had been installed (maybe I should've looked there first, but I wanted to learn something this morning). 1.1 had been installed on the machine by a coworker to support another application, not knowing that it would break my application in the process.

No problem; at least I now knew the source of the problem. How to fix it, though?

Well, first we uninstalled ASP.NET 1.1 and the application that it supported, as it wasn't critical that it be installed on this server. I then tried to restart the application, but now got a new error message: "%1 IS NOT A VALID WIN32 APPLICATION." Okay. So, then I switched IIS from 32-bit to 64-bit mode, as it was still running in compatibility mode to support the now defunct ASP.NET 1.1. To switch it, I used the following command: cscript c:\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil.vbs SET /w3svc/AppPools/Enable32BitAppOnWin64 False.

Next, I had to re-register ASP.NET 2.0 with IIS, which is detailed in a post that I wrote earlier this month. After that, the application came up fine - no errors at all!

Here's a link to a really helpful blog post from David Wang about 32-bit, 64-bit, and IIS.

I caught this one from Lifehacker. Up until now, NPR's wonderfully intelligent show, This American Life, was only available on streaming connections or via Audible.com - for a fee, of course. Now the most recent show is being released weekly as a podcast. To get to archived shows, you still have to pay $.95 per show to Audible.com or iTunes.

This is great news! I wish that I had the time to sit down every week, at the same time, and listen to This American Life on my local NPR station (KUNC) - but I simply don't. Now I'll be able to listen whenever I have the time and inclination.

Link to This American Life podcasts

Here at my new home we've already had three or four decent snows. There's been a good covering, probably close to ten inches, on the ground for at least two weeks now; I'm thinking that I may not see the bare ground again this year. I'll admit it - I'm definitely new to this. For the last five years or so out East we were lucky if we got a couple of three inch snows a year. Now I come out here to the mountains of Colorado and move into a cabin at 8500 feet (~UTM 466472.61 East, 4419642.16 North). I'm in for a rude awakening, right? Well, maybe. But at least I'll have fun playing in the snow.

This past weekend kicked off the year's ski season for me. I went up to Arapahoe Basin with some friends, and waited in line at the only open ski lift with fifteen queues of other skiers/boarders to get to the top of the two open slopes. Oh well, maybe I learned my lesson? Nah, probably not. I'll be there the first chance I get next year, as well. All in all it was still a great time. I got my "ski legs" back, and am itching to get onto those upper slopes.

As is obvious from my recent posts, for the last several months I've been working extensively with ASP.NET 2.0. From this experience, I've really come to appreciate the power and flexibility that the .NET Framework offers (and please realize that this is hard for me to say, as I've long been a proponent of all things non-Microsoft). I've especially been impressed when developing on a strictly .NET platform. The seamless integration between Active Directory, ASP.NET, IIS, SQL Server, and, of course, Visual Studio makes developing applications straightforward and nearly painless.

The database controls for ASP.NET 2.0 are, in my opinion, some of the most powerful and valuable controls available. For example, the DetailsView and GridView controls are an easy way to open up a database to multiple users. Using the controls, you can make a database viewable and editable (including the addition of new records and deletion of unwanted records) and write less than twenty lines of code in the process. There is even built-in support for some basic "reconciliation" of the database to check for changes to the same record before submitting updates back to it, along with the ability to add some client-side validation to the insert/update forms. The big question for us GIS sorts, though, is how easy is it to integrate these types of controls - and this level of functionality - into geospatial web apps?

In the past, this would have likely been done through an ArcIMS application. Anyone that's worked with ArcIMS knows, though, that developing an ArcIMS application isn't exactly what you call sustainable; basically, it's better to avoid ArcIMS altogether if possible. Have you ever seen an ArcIMS application that works efficiently, looks good, and serves its purpose well? Well, to be honest, I have too - but they are few and far between. I could tell, though, by looking at these dispersed gems that (likely expensive) third-party products were used and lots of time and effort went into developing the interface.

On to today, and the question that's currently picking at my brain: I've just started really experimenting with ArcGIS Server 9.2, and - to be honest - I'm about hooked already. Talk about an easy way to publish services (KML, Map, WMS, etc.) to the net! And with ArcGIS Explorer coming out soon, as well, it looks like we might actually have a way to present these services in a solid, customizable, and easy-to-use interface. One thing I haven't tested yet, though, is the ability of ArcGIS Server 's mapping services to be extended into a truly customized and powerful web application (think along the lines of an ArcIMS application, but with much more functionality and end-user interaction/control). With the .NET support, I'm sure it can't be too difficult. Again, this is one of those topics that I'm going to have to explore further and report back with more details later on in the process.

Note: I found one book about ASP.NET and ArcGIS Server on Amazon, but, after reading the lone review, I'm not sure I'm going to bite.

Listening to Paul Simon - Graceland...
My Nose is In Cormac McCarthy - The Crossing...

As many of you probably already know, ESRI's upcoming ArcGIS 9.2 release will greatly enhance the ability of an organization to expand its enterprise GIS to multiple sites through the use of geodatabase replication and synchronization. This ability comes with the workgroup and enterprise versions of ArcSDE; it does not work with personal or file-based geodatabases.

Data have to be registered with the geodatabase and versioned before they are replicated, and a globally unique identifier (GUID) has to be added to each table record to aid in the tracking of multiple copies of the same tables (feature classes). Thankfully, there are ways to limit the data that are synchronized between geodatabases, allowing for a database administrator to control the amount of bandwidth used - and the data exchanged - by replicating and synchronizing only the data that are needed.

As far as versions go, they are replicated and synchronized with the geodatabase, as well. This is obviously necessary, but I can see it being both a good and a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. One thing is for sure, though: the addition of these features to the geodatabase, while adding a tremendously useful resource to the toolset of a geodatabase administrator, adds another dimension of complexity to the SDE world.

I am currently working on a project that will eventually replicate a geodatabase between multiple (10-50) sites, including the management and replication/synchronization of over 300 versions of multiple enterprise datasets from these sites. Up until the 9.2 release, this project wasn't a possibility for us, as many of the sites that we are focusing on have iffy - at best - network connectivity. Also, the check-in/out capabilities that currently exist in the ESRI world have problems that make them an undesirable solution in many situations.

I plan on detailing the progress of our project as it progresses. I'm sure we'll run into many pitfalls and (hopefully) some triumphs along the way.

Listening to Calexico - Garden Ruin...

However, I ran into an issue that I hadn't seen before. I could open html pages, but couldn't open any ASP pages, even though ASP was set up correctly. After browsing through some web forums and such, I found that if the .NET framework is installed before IIS is enabled, you have to manually register ASP.NET with IIS. Sounds like a pain in the ass, right? Well, luckily Microsoft has provided a utility to do it for you.

From the command line, browse to:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\vx.x.xxxxx\ and run aspnet_regiis.exe -i

Next, open up the IIS Manager, click on "Web Service Extensions", and enable the ASP.NET version that you're running.

Listening to Karl Denson - Dance Lesson #2...