About locator packages
A geocode locator package (.gcpk) makes it easy to share locators with others. A locator package can contain one locator or a composite locator along with its participating locators packaged into one convenient, portable file. The file size of the locator package is smaller than the locator, as it is compressed and thus makes file transfer easier. Locator packages can be used for easy sharing of locators between colleagues in a work group, across departments in an organization, or with any other ArcGIS users via ArcGIS Online. Locator packages can also be used to create an archive of the locators.
Locator package creation
The following options are available when creating a locator 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.
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.
For example, when sharing your content within your organization it is likely that enterprise geodatabase data will be accessible for those consuming the package. In this case un-checking this option (i.e. referencing) is a good choice. However, when sharing your content outside of your organization, enterprise geodatabase data will not be accessible and checking this option to include the data in your package is a better choice.
The Locator Package dialog box is shown in the following screen shot: 
Package information
The Item Description is an important part of your package. It provides detailed information to users about the locator package. The Item Description dialog box provides the following fields where you can enter information describing your locator:
- 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—Limitations regarding use, data, or distribution.
- Credits—Acknowledgment indicating who contributed to the package.
The Locator Package Item Description dialog box is shown in the following screen shot:
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.