Using a ToolBox Model to create a customised ArcPad Check Out

ArcPad 7.1 brought some great improvements to the way that users could check out/in their data, with the ability to associate ArcPad Layer Definitions (APL's) to a new check out in ArcMap, and also the new ArcToolBox tools which can be used with other geoprocessing tools to automate a complex check out/in process.

Assume you have a project where you routinely update your geodatabase with field data. You have several field workers, they each collect and return information which you put back into the central database, and each worker needs an up-to-date version of the whole database (with everyone else's edits) each time they go back out. You have created custom forms for your users to collect data, and you simply want to run a tool that provides current ArcPad files for your users each day (or week or month).

This is the type of task that the geoprocessing tools are really designed for. To complete the scenario above we have built a sample ArcToolBox Model which uses the the ArcPad Check Out tool to create a fresh checkout of data (a "target" AXF), and a standalone utility (called AXFCopy) which copies layer definitions and file store entries from a "source" (or template) AXF to the "target" AXF.

You can download this sample from ArcScripts and customize for your own projects from:

http://arcscripts.esri.com/details.asp?dbid=15551

Please read the enclosed word document for installation, use, and customization guidance.

The sample contains a Toolbox Model that produces a customized ArcPad Check Out of the Riverside data. The model uses the existing Riverside.axf sample as a template for the customization, but performs a ‘fresh’ check out of the data (called Riverside_Target.axf) from the geodatabase every time it is run.