Updated – 2/4/2015
Fixed backwards compatibility with 10.1
Added exception handling for custom/undefined coordinate system, and Layout view.
Select your version of ArcMap:
Download the Google Street View Python Add-in for ArcMap 10.1
Download the Google Street View Python Add-in for ArcMap 10.2
Download the Google Street View Python Add-in for ArcMap 10.3
Download the Google Street View Python Add-in for ArcMap 10.4
(any donations go towards hosting costs)
I work for an electric utility, and Google Street View is a very handy tool to do a quick “field check” to verify, for example, equipment or pole specifications. It can save a lot of time, and gas! Of course, the Street View data may not always accurately depict what’s in the real world since things change, but it’s still a very good source to have available.
To use this Google Street View Python Add-in, first download the add-in by clicking the link at the top of this page. Next, install the add-in. This should add the following toolbar to ArcMap.
If it didn’t automatically add the toolbar, in ArcMap go to Customize –> Toolbars –> and click on Street View.
Once the toolbar is visible, click on the Street View icon, and then using either satellite imagery, or some other landbase data click on a road. Once a road is clicked, your browser will open and show that location within Google Street View. If the screen that loads is black, then there is no Street View data available for that location.
I’ve recently found out the add-in will not work in Layout view, so I’ve added a warning message to alert the user. I’ve also added a warning message when the Data Frame coordinate system is either undefined, or uses a custom coordinate system.
Check out the following guide to add or remove a button, or add a keyboard shortcut for a button:
Tutorial On Customizing ArcMap Toolbars and Keyboard Shortcuts
I hope you find this tool useful. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or problems, and be sure to check out the other tools I’ve created!
Thank you. This will be VERY useful.
Any chance to add just the regular Google map view as well? Thanks for the very handy add-in.
Hi Paulo, you can download the Bing and Google Maps toolbar here:
http://ianbroad.com/bing-and-google-maps-python-addin-for-arcmap/
Great tool.
I was wondering if you have built this add in for Arc Explorer desktop?
Please advise.
Thanks, Dave
Hey Dave- I don’t have this tool available for Explorer, but I came across this ArcGIS Explorer Desktop Labs group:
http://www.arcgis.com/home/search.html?q=owner:arcgis_explorer
I have built a similar python add-in for accessing Bing/Esri/Google (BAG) Web Maps directly from within ArcMap. Originally I even had the ability to “Grab Google Aerial” image tile and automatically georeference directly into ArcMap, all via a single click. This proved to be very popular..so much so that Google got wind and let me know that it violates there Terms of Service (TOS). I thought I was in compliance with the Google Maps TOS, but sadly I was not. I am not sure where your Street View Tools falls..but my guess is that you are okay.
Get the “BAG” tool here.
http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=7cca7c34d6ac4ca4a61387dcf4f14e57
Also, a similar tool that’s called SIGGIS
http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=295fc9c8d17f4512ab77cae095bf0395
the BAG tool is everything I was hoping to find. Thanks!!!
Hey Chris, thanks for the comment!
Thanks Ian. This will be useful for many of our CrescentLink users.
Thanks, Brian, good to hear from you!
Is there a certain version requirement for this to work properly? I’m on 10.0 SP5 and did the install but no street view extension shows up…
Kevin- the Python add-ins were implemented at 10.1, so they will not work with previous versions. Here’s an ESRI article with more information:
http://blogs.esri.com/esri/esritrainingmatters/2012/04/26/coming-at-arcgis-10-1-python-add-ins/
Thanks for sharing this. It is a neat tool.
I installed the tool and it works well. Thanks for sharing!
Paul O’Rourke, Florida DOT
Very handy! We use Street View to help us locate water meters in the field. This tool will save us time. Thank you!
Thank you for posting this handy tool. I’m not sure why, but it works great in some .mxds, while in others (where I know there is streetview imagery) it shows black and in the preview images at the bottom it is showing places in Alabama. I am in western NC.
Any thoughts on why this might be? I have made sure that the data sources are the same as in the .mxd that works.
Thanks for any guidance on this.
Well, the tool uses the coordinate system of the ArcMap data frame. When you click on a road, it grabs the coordinates of that location, and assigns the data frame coordinate system. It then reprojects these coordinates into WGS84.
I’ve seen another person have a similar issue, and it’s because their data frame uses a Custom coordinate system, which causes problems when reprojecting.
So, for the MXDs that don’t work, check the Data Frame coordinate system, and if it says Custom then that’s most likely the problem. Here’s a screenshot to show what I mean:
http://i.imgur.com/bUil4YI.png
Unfortunately that does not appear to be my issue as my current coordinate system is shown as:
“NAD_1983_StatePlane_North_Carolina_FIPS_3200_Feet
WKID: 2264 Authority: EPSG”
Thank you for your response though.
Just so other people know, the problem had to do with the Layout vs Data view. Apparently, the Street View tool will not work if you’re in the Layout view.
Just installed and tested using ArcGIS 10.3. Toolbar installed but had no button until I added it through Customize > Commands. But it appears to be working well and will be a great tool. Thanks for sharing!
James Wingate
Blue Stakes of Utah
(Utah’s “call 811 before you dig” utility notification center)
Thanks for the information, James!
This is a great tool, any chance you are willing to share the source? I’m interested in learning how to do this kind of thing myself.
Thanks! If you open the add-in file with something like 7zip, you can see all the contents. The source code is inside the Install folder.
What browser is this set to open in? When I click on a street, it brings up IE 9 and says it is running in lite mode. There is no street view and I am not positioned correctly in the map.
Hi David, it uses whatever is set as your default browser.
Is there a way to adapt the source code to make it launch Chrome by default to resolve the IE 9 Google Maps Lite issue?
Hi Beth, it should open in whatever browser is set as your default. So, if you want it to open in Chrome, you need to set Chrome as your default browser.
Great add-in. Thanks
Initially had doubts whether it will work halfway round the world. But it did – after setting the DF geograpghic coordinate system,
Nice and simple, exactly what i was looking for. Thanks!
Ian, I upgraded to ArcGIS 10.4 without realizing your streetmap tool will need to be updated as well. Any idea if/when you can get a new version. Great tool, btw, very good time saver.
Thanks, Jeff
Hi Jeff, I will be adding the 10.4 versions shorting. Thanks for the comment!
This is very good! I got the 10.4 versions and it was very easy to add them onto ArcMap. Thanks Ian!
Hi May, glad you find it useful, thanks for the comment!
Ian,
You are a lifesaver. I am the GIS department for a water utility. Being able to look for valves and meters with this tool is a godsend.
Hi Kevin, thanks for the comment! I’m glad you’re finding the tool useful.
This is very useful Ian, Great Work.
Thanks, Lee!
Thanks a lot, great ideal, great development. Please, am in to land management and SAR data processing , do you know any noble tools in that aspect.
Fantastic work. Its make its a lot easier to check google maps while working on arc
Thanks, Romer!
Great tool, thanks for this. I immediately started using it.
Thanks, Travis!
Thanks! It works great and is useful. Looking for this on ArcGIS online maps and Collector also.
Very nice tool! Thanks for sharing. @Rick , with regards to similar tools for ArcGIS Online, if you have the capabilities to deploy Web AppBuilder (WAB) Developer Edition, there are a number of third-party widgets available for Google Streetview integration. Alternately, you could create URL links from your feature classes that build the necessary URL for launching Google Streetview at the specific coordinates of your features. E.g. something like this:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=&layer=c&cbll=31.33519,-89.28720
where the lat and long would be parameters coming from attributes in your feature class.
That is probably the only way you could do something like that In Collector, since there is no function that I know of to add third party widgets to Collector.
I wonder if this script is compatible with ArcMap 10.5 or 10.6.
Please let me know.
Thank you.
Is this tool available for ArcMap 10.6? I did not see a reply to Keisuke.
Thnx.
Looks like 10.4 works on 10.7
Can you please add bing street view? Their street view is quite competitive now with Google’s and some people just do not like Google because they censor information.
Thanks