Publishing a geocode service

Once you finish creating a locator or composite locator, you can publish the locator as a geocode service to a GIS server and share it with others either locally or on the web. To publish your locator as a service, follow these steps:

1. In ArcCatalog or the Catalog window in ArcMap, right-click a locator or composite locator, and click Share As > Geocode Service.

   The Share as Service dialog box opens.

2. Click the button next to Publish a service and click Next.
3. Choose the ArcGIS for Server connection you want to use from the Choose a server connection drop-down list. If the server connection you want to use is not listed in the drop-down dialog box, you can create a new connection to ArcGIS for Server by clicking the Add ArcGIS Server button. If you need help with this step, see About connecting to ArcGIS for Server in ArcGIS for Desktop.
4. Type a name for the service in the Service name text box.

   Note:

   The name cannot be more than 120 characters in length and can contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores.

5. Click Next.
6. By default, services are published to the root directory [root] of ArcGIS for Server. Alternatively, services can be organized in folders within the root directory. Choose the folder where you want to publish the service, or create a new folder to contain the service.
7. Click Continue.

   The Service Editor opens.

   Note:

   You can now configure your geocode service using the Service Editor. If you close the Service Editor during this session, you'll be prompted to save your geocode service configuration as a draft service. By default, draft services are saved in the Drafts folder of your connection to ArcGIS for Server. To complete your geocode service configuration in a future session, see Opening a draft service in ArcGIS for Desktop.

8. In the Service Editor, set the properties for your geocode service. You can choose what users can do with your service and take fine-grained control of how the server will expose your service. For tips and best practices on how to set geocode service properties, see Setting geocode service properties. For information on how to best configure your services for deployment, see Tuning and configuring services.

   Note:

   If your locator was built with suggestions capability, you can enable that property now to take advantage of auto-complete functionality using your published geocode service.

9. Once you've set the properties of your geocode service, click Analyze . This examines your locator to see if it can be published to ArcGIS for Server. You have to fix the Errors in the Prepare window before you can publish your locator as a service. Optionally, you can fix the warnings and informational messages to further improve the performance and appearance of your geocode service. For more information about resolving these issues, see Analyzing your locator.

   

   Tip:

   To give yourself more viewing area when configuring your geocode service, click the Collapse button at the top of the Service Editor.

10. Once you've fixed the errors in your locator, click Publish .

    Note:

    If the geocode service you're publishing will be copying data to the server, the size of the data and your network bandwidth will impact the time it takes to publish.

Your geocode service is now running on the server and can be accessed by users and clients on your network. If your server administrator has allowed web access to the service, your service is also now available on the web.

Note:

The place-name alias table specified in a locator will not be used in the geocode service.