Can I use the ET GeoWizards functionality if I have QGIS?

Yes. ET GeoWizards 12.0 and above can be used no matter what your GIS platform is. If you have QGIS you just need to download and install ET GeoWizards 12.x.

• Run ET GeoWizards 12 from Windows. All the functions accept for input Shapefiles and File GDB layers which are supported by QGIS.
• You can also write your own Python plug-in for QGIS that uses the ET GeoWizards functionality:
  • See the User Guide for how to use ET GeoWizards in Python
  • See also how to create Python plug-ins for QGIS

Is ET GeoWizards compatible with ArcGIS Pro?

Yes. ET GeoWizards 12.0 and above can be used in ArcGIS Pro as well as in any version of ArcGIS Desktop.

• Two add-ins are provided with the software - for ArcGIS Desktop (ETGeoWizards ForDesktop. esriAddIn) and ArcGIS Pro (ETGeoWizards ForPro. esriAddInX). You need to register them in order to start the ET GeoWizards interface from within ArcGIS.
• Also provided are three toolboxes for using the functionality of ET GeoWizards in Arc Toolbox and in the Model Builder :
  • ETGeoWizards 12_Desktop_101 _102.pyt - For ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 and 10.2
  • ETGeoWizards 12_Desktop_103_ and_above.pyt - For ArcGIS Desktop 10.3 and above
  • ETGeoWizards 12_Pro.pyt - For ArcGIS Pro
• The users with older versions of ArcGIS (10.0 and earlier) as well as ArcView 3 can run ET GeoWizards 12 directly from Windows.
• See the User Guide for how to use ET GeoWizards 12 in ArcGIS

Are there any disadvantages of ET GeoWizards 12 if compared with the previous version?

ET GeoWizards 12.x has many advantages and some disadvantages over the previous version.

• Advantages:
  • Can be used without ArcGIS. GIS professionals that use any platform can access the functionality of ET GeoWizards.
  • Can be used within ArcGIS Pro
  • ET GeoWizards 12.x is a native 64-bit application and can handle much larder dataset at much better speed.
  • Because it runs in a separate process can be executed from 32-Bit applications (like ArcGIS Desktop)
  • One installation for all platforms. The previous versions had separate installations for the different ArcGIS versions. Version 12 has a single installation -no matter whether you have ArcGIS or what version of ArcGIS you have.
• Disadvantages:
  • Since ET GeoWizards 12 is a native 64-bit application, it cannot be installed on 32-bit Windows.
  • Some of the functions that in versions 11.x were able to change the structure the input datasets (Delete multiple fields, Polygon and Polyline Characteristics, etc.) now create new outputs.
• Due to the above listed disadvantages, we continue the support for ET GeoWizards 11.x which is built on ArcObjects. This version is:
• Available only for ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 and above.
• Run on 32 and 64-bit Windows
• Use the same license key as ET GeoWizards 12.x
• Able to run on the same machine as ET GeoWizards 12.x

When I load the license key you sent it says that the program is registered, but it appears that it still runs in a DEMO mode.

If you get a message that the program is registered, but you still have no access to the full functionality. Log on to the PC as an Administrator.

• For ET GeoWizards 12.x and ET Surface 7.x- Run the program as administrator (Right click on the icon ==> Run as administrator). If you don't have the Run as Administrator option - hold the SHIFT key down while right click on the icon.
• For ET GeoWizards 11.x, ET Surface 6.x and ET GeoTools 11.x - Run ArcGIS as an administrator(Right click on the icon ==> Run as administrator).
• Load the license key again.

When I try to install ET GeoWizards 11.4 on ArcGIS 10.4 I get the following error: "Unable to get installer types in C:\Program Files\..\ETGeoWizards.dll assembly -> Unable to load one or more of the requested types. Retrieve the Loader Exceptions properly for more information."

Most probably you are trying to install an incorrect sub-version of ET GeoWizards 11.4 for your ArcGIS installation. If you are running ArcGIS 10.4 you need to install ET GeoWizards 11.4 for ArcGIS 10.4. Note that ET GeoWizards 11.5 has a single install for all ArcGIS versions - 10.1 and above (including ArcGIS 10.7.x).

What is the difference between ET GeoTools and ET GeoWizards? Looks like some duplication?

Since the two programs have the same major goal - creating and maintaining topologically correct data, there is some duplication in the functionality. However the scope of the two applications and the way the functions are applied are very much different.

• ET GeoWizards handles the datasets as a whole - all the functions are global, they take the source dataset and create a new one depending on the function used.
• ET GeoTools is a set of local editing tools. They allow productive editing of existing datasets with maintaining the topological relationships between the features.

We think that both programs complement each other. ET GeoWizards offers high performance global functions, ET GeoTools has many local editing tools. Imagine that you have a big polyline dataset that you want to use for network analysis. You go through the Clean, Clean Dangles, Clean Pseudo functions of ET GeoWizards, but from our extensive experience there is no automatic procedure that will fix all the problems. Here comes ET GeoTools that will let you analyze and fix the remaining problems. Further, you have a clean (topologically correct) street dataset, however you need to add a new street and ensure that this will not destroy the existing topology. Processing the whole dataset again is a huge task. Isn't it better to ensure that the new street is correctly added to the existing set?

Why I cannot place the output in a feature dataset?

The feature classes of a feature dataset might participate in Topologies, Geometric networks, etc. The results of 99% of the functions of ET GeoWizards are written into a new dataset (feature class or shapefile). In many cases the result is not final - it goes trough several procedures before the final dataset is derived. To avoid placing feature classes into feature datasets that have been structured to do something, we on purpose have disabled ET GeoWizards to output in feature datasets. It is very easy to copy the result to a feature dataset after the user is sure that the desired result is obtained. One can always make a model that will use the ET GeoWizards tools and just add at the end the standard "Feature Class To Feature Class" tool to direct the output to a feature dataset.

I'm trying to store the result of ET GeoWizards function in File GDB, but always get an error. This is the error message in the ETGW logs, could you help me with this question?
"Start CreateStationLines Date: 24-2-2023 Time: 10:39:03
Failed at creating table for \Stationlines (The row contains a bad value.)
..........................."

The problem is with File Geodatabases created with ArcGIS Pro 2.3 and above. Apparently this problem is caused by the way ArcGIS Pro 2.3 and above creates File Geodatabases which causes FileGDB API (Product of Esri) to fail when writing in such File GDBs. If the File GDB is created with ArcGIS Desktop there are no problems. There is nothing documented by Esri on this issue.
ET GeoWizards 12.6 solves this issue. It does not use the FileGDB API, but the OpenFileGDB driver of GDAL to write in File GDB and will write outputs in any File GDB.