To get started using Public Services, follow the steps in this section. If you need additional assistance, visit support.esri.com. Public Services does not include access to ESRI Support Services. Your technical questions can be directed to other Public Services users on the ArcWeb Services discussion forum.
Step 1: Sign-up for Public Services
Visit www.esri.com to sign-up for Public Services. The sign-up process includes creating an ESRI Global Account if you do not already have one, filling out a simple online registration form, and reading and agreeing to a license agreement. After you accept the license, your account is automatically enabled and you are ready to use Public Services.
Note: If you already have an ArcWeb Services account, you need to create a new ESRI Global Account to register for Public Services.
Step 2: Learn more about ArcWeb Services
Before you use ArcWeb Services for the first time, you might want to go over the quick-start tutorials and samples. Other useful references for your work with ArcWeb Services include the object model, object descriptions, and method descriptions.
Step 3: Access ArcWeb Services through the WSDLs
Access the ArcWeb Services SOAP Application Programming Interface (API) through the Web Service Description Language (WSDL). WSDLs define what the Web service does by describing the available methods, parameters, and parameter types in XML format. If you are using a SOAP toolkit to access the APIs, point it to the ArcWeb Service WSDL to communicate with that service. Access the WSDLs from the WSDL Locations page.
(Optional) Step 4: Upload your data and icons to use in ArcWeb Services
With the POI Manager Web Service, you can use your own set of data points and icons for display on map images and for proximity searches. You can upload up to 100,000 points (5,000 at a time) through a Web-interface and manage POI records through a SOAP-interface. Access the SOAP service through http://arcweb.esri.com/services/v2/PoiManager.wsdl. Access the Web-interface through the ArcWeb site. To use the Web-interface, open the ArcWeb site, click My Account (you'll need to log in with your ESRI Global account user name and password), click Manage V2 POIs, and follow the instructions on the POI pages. Note: You must use the Web-interface to upload custom icons and a file of POI records; the SOAP-interface does not support icon or file uploads.