About geoprocessing packages
A geoprocessing package (.gpk) is a convenient way to share analysis and geoprocessing workflows as a single compressed file created from the result of a successfully run geoprocessing tool.
The fundamental purpose of geoprocessing is to allow you to automate your GIS workflows and perform spatial analysis and modeling, and geoprocessing packages are a way for you to share your workflows. Regardless of whether your workflow is captured as a sequence of system tools or one or more custom model or script tools, or whether your workflow involves heavy data management or complex spatial analytics, your geoprocessing workflow can be easily shared with others as a geoprocessing package. There is no need to manually consolidate all your data and tools into a single folder that will then be zipped and shared—geoprocessing packages will do all this work for you.
The following are available options when creating a geoprocessing package:
Upload package to my ArcGIS Online account—Use this option to easily share your package with a much wider audience by sharing to your ArcGIS Online account. Once you've uploaded your package to your online account, you can share it within your private groups or with everyone.
Save package to file—Packages can be shared locally by writing a package file to disk. As with any other format, a package can be shared through e-mail or by copying and pasting to other locations on your internal network.
- Package Schema only—Use this option to only consolidate or package the schema of the input and output datasources. A schema is the structure or design of a feature class or table that consists of filed and table definitions, coordinate system properties, symbology, definition queries, and so on. Data or records will not be consolidated or packaged. Data sources that do not support schema only will not be consolidated or packaged.
- Include Enterprise Geodatabase data instead of referencing the data—You may want to consider this option if you have enterprise (ArcSDE) geodatabase data in your map. When this option is checked, the data is extracted from the enterprise geodatabase into a file geodatabase by intersecting the features from the layer with the current data frame's extent. Not checking this option means the map layers will continue to reference enterprise geodatabase data.
- Support ArcGIS Runtime—When this option is enabled, extra analyzers are run to ensure the package is suitable for use in ArcGIS Runtime.
The following screen shot shows the Geoprocessing Package dialog box as it appears when sharing a result named Buffer:
Package information
The Item Description is an important part of your package. It provides detailed information to users about the geoprocessing package. The Item Description dialog box provides the following fields where you can enter information describing your map:
- Summary—Contains brief information about your package. This is a required field.
- Tags—Tags make it easier to find this package during a search. Separate tags with a single comma (,). This is a required field.
- Description—Can contain more detailed information about your package.
- Access and Use Constraints—Any limitations regarding use, data, or distribution.
- Credits—Acknowledgment indicating who contributed to the package.
The following screen shot shows the Item Description dialog box sharing a result named buffer:
Additional files
Additional files can be added to Esri packages. These additional files can include controls and applications (*.ocx, *.exe, and *.dll files) that can be downloaded and run on a user's computer. These executable files can be risky to download and run. In order to provide guarantees of authenticity and integrity of executable files (EXE and DLL) included in a package, only digitally signed executable files are allowed to be added to a package. A digital signature attached to an executable file positively identifies the distributor of that file and ensures that the contents of the file were not changed after the signature was created.