Using Geospatially Enabled OCHRE (GEO) on a Mac

By Miller Prosser, June 2021

The geospatial tools in OCHRE are based on the Esri Runtime Software Development Kit (SDK) for Java. At the time this feature was integrated in OCHRE, ArcMap and the Esri family of products were available only on the Windows platform. By extension, the OCHRE features based on the Esri toolkit are also available only on the Windows platform.

To run the geospatial tools on a Mac, you will need to install a Windows partition. In this article, we review how to install a Windows 10 partition using the Apple Boot Camp utility. In short, a new partition on your hard drive will allow you to start your computer in either Windows or MacOS. With a Boot Camp partition, you need to restart your computer to switch between operating systems. [While we have not yet tested it, Parallels Desktop is an alternative retail solution that allows you to run Mac and Windows without rebooting.]

NOTE: before beginning, check that your hardware will support an additional partition. Older computers or hard drives with limited space may not support multiple partitions. Keep in mind that programs installed in one partition are not available in the other partition. In my experience, my Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and trackpad work fairly well (but not perfectly) in Windows.

Boot Camp: Official Apple Support

From the official Apple support page:

"Boot Camp is a utility that comes with your Mac and lets you switch between macOS and Windows. Download your copy of Windows 10, then let Boot Camp Assistant walk you through the installation steps for Intel-based Macs."

Follow the Get Started With Boot Camp link to learn more about the requirements for this feature.

Installation Checklist

Having recently successfully installed Boot Camp, and Geospatially Enabled OCHRE, on an iMac 2019 (desktop), we thought this checklist would be helpful to guide other users through this process.

  • Consider backing up your Mac before starting, especially if many files are stored locally.

  • Check hardware compatibility.

  • Check software compatibility.

  • Check hard drive space (the Windows partition will require around 45GB). You will see the recommendations in the Bootcamp guide for how much space is required to install and then to run well. If you need to reclaim hard drive space before creating the partition, consider using the built-in Mac disk management tool. To access it, open the Apple menu and click About This Mac > Storage. Then click Manage.

  • Download a Windows 10 Disk Image (ISO). NOTE: this will not include a software license, but you can run Windows without activating it.

  • Follow the Bootcamp assistant, wait, wait, wait … the installation may take over an hour. Be sure to have a stable internet connection with wired Ethernet if available. While connected through a wired gigabit internet service the process still took nearly 45 minutes for our installation.

  • Once Windows starts and you proceed through all the configuration steps, install Java 64-bit for Windows. Note: the Java site frequently downloads the 32-bit version for Windows by default. Do not install the 32-bit version. Find current Java versions to install here. Choose the Windows Offline (64-bit) version.

  • Install OCHRE in the usual way (from the Start OCHRE button on the OCHRE website).

  • Log into OCHRE with your OCHRE Username and password. From your account under Users click the Initialize GEO button and give OCHRE a few minutes to download the necessary software libraries to your computer.

  • Close OCHRE altogether and start a new OCHRE session. The Globe icon on the main menu bar will now navigate to Map View.