As a publisher in your organization, you can host feature data in ArcGIS Online by publishing hosted feature layers. ArcGIS Online supports multiple sources to allow you to accomplish this. Use any of the following to publish a hosted feature layer:
- Comma-separated values (CSV) files
- Microsoft Excel files (.xlsx or .xls)
- Google Sheets on Google Drive
- Shapefiles (zipped)
- GeoJSON
- Feature collections
- File geodatabases (zipped)
- Collections of georeferenced photos (zipped)
- Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) GeoPackage files
- ArcGIS Pro maps and ArcMap documents
- Data sources in ArcGIS Data Pipelines
- A template or existing feature layer
You can also define a blank hosted feature layer and the empty layers it contains. After the hosted feature layer is created, add fields to each layer.
Feature layers are useful when you need to expose vector data for display, query, and editing on the web or when you want to share a table of nonspatial attributes. Hosting a feature layer on ArcGIS Online is one way to share data with an internet audience if your own ArcGIS Server site cannot be made public. Maps, apps, and desktop map viewers can access your services from anywhere on the internet if you choose to allow it.
Feature layers are most appropriate for operational layers—the layers with which you interact—that go on top of reference layers, such as a basemap. For example, a feature layer may contain information about the street signs in your neighborhood. Each feature (street sign) may include the sign name, date installed, and a website URL for reporting problems to your local street department.
When publishing a CSV file, shapefile, GeoJSON file, feature collection, or file geodatabase, ArcGIS Online automatically sets the optimal visible range based on the data. When publishing a map from ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online honors the existing scale range configured during the authoring process. When you create an empty hosted feature layer, it inherits the visible range of the feature layer or template you used to create it. To change the scale visibility of the hosted feature layer, open the layer in Map Viewer Classic and set the visible range, or open it in Map Viewer and set the visible range.
To complete the steps in the following sections, you must have privileges to publish hosted feature layers and create content.
Publish a CSV file
To web enable feature layers from CSV files, you upload them to ArcGIS Online and have them hosted as services. These services are referred to as hosted feature layers. This is a useful workflow if you do not have any ArcGIS products installed locally.
The steps below outline how to publish features or tables from ArcGIS Online using a CSV file.
Note:
To increase loading and publishing performance, ArcGIS Online reads the values in the first 10 rows of the CSV file to determine the data type and length to display for each field in the New item window. Any string fields with a length less than 256 will be increased to a length of 256 in the hosted feature layer. If any values on the field exceed 256, the length of the field in the hosted feature layer is increased.
Field names must meet the requirements of the database that ArcGIS Online uses to store the data. For information about column name limitations and reserved words, see the Microsoft SQL Server documentation.
These files do not enforce unique field names, but field names in hosted feature layers must be unique. Therefore, ensure all field names in your file are unique before publishing.
The features are published in the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) coordinate system.
All fields in the file containing date and time values will be date or string fields in the published hosted feature layer.
The following steps explain how to add a CSV file from your local drive and publish. For instructions to access and publish a file from a cloud drive, see Publish from files on a cloud drive. For information about using a CSV file to create a feature layer as part of a reproducible process, see the ArcGIS Data Pipelines help.
- Verify that you are signed in and that you have privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers.
- Open Content > My content, click New item, and click Your device.
- Find the file on your device or a machine on your network.
- Select the file and click Open.
- Choose Add <file name> and create a hosted layer or table.
- Click Next.
- Review the included fields and make changes as needed.
If the field types can be identified, they are set automatically. You can remove fields, change the display name of the field, and change the field type.
- If the file contains one or more date fields, optionally choose a time zone from the Time Zone drop-down menu.
By default, date fields are assumed to contain UTC date and time. If your date fields store values that use a different time zone, choose that time zone. The time zone that you select is applied to all date fields in the file. If you later overwrite the hosted feature layer using updated data, the time zone specified when you initially published is used.
See CSV, TXT, and GPX files for information on time zone considerations and supported date and time formats.
Tip:
You can configure pop-ups to display time.
- Click Next.
- Choose the information in your file that ArcGIS Online should use to locate features.
- If your file contains coordinates, choose whether to use Latitude and longitude, Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), or United States National Grid coordinates.
- Choose Addresses or place names if your file contains place-names—for example, Westminster Abbey or Panama Canal—or addresses. By default, ArcGIS Online locates addresses based on your organization's region.
- To create a nonspatial table layer, choose None.
- If you are locating features based on Addresses or place names and your organization has multiple locators configured, click Advanced location settings and choose the locator to use.
- If your file contains addresses, click Advanced location settings and use the Region drop-down list to specify the country in which the addresses are located. If your file contains addresses from multiple countries or from a country not in the list, select World.
By default, the locator adds a field that stores the coordinate location for each feature. You can choose to include additional fields that provide you with information related to the geocoding process, such as how closely the location information in your input file matches with a location in the locator service.
- Turn on the Enrich layer with address information toggle button and choose one of the following options:
- Append four fields that show how well addresses matched—Adds the following fields that describe the location and how well it matches to information in the locator service: status, score, match_addr, and addr_type.
- Append 50 fields for full location information—Includes all available locator fields in the hosted feature layer.
For a description of all the fields that are added, see Geocoding and geosearch.
- Choose whether the location information is based on one or multiple fields.
- Click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save.
CSV files must be formatted and saved as .csv.
The data file and the feature layer are separately added to My content. One way to test the new hosted feature layer once publishing completes is to view it in a map viewer.
If you published a .csv file containing addresses or places, you can review and correct any records that were not placed on the map or were placed incorrectly. You can immediately review the locations in Map Viewer Classic, or choose to review them at a later time. See Review locations for more information. At this time, you can only review locations in Map Viewer Classic.
By default, only you and the administrator can access the hosted feature layer. To allow others to access it, share the layer and file with everyone (the public), your organization, or members of specific groups. You can edit item details and change feature layer settings.
To share the hosted feature layer as a copy in a distributed collaboration, you must enable synchronization.
Publish an Excel file
You can upload an Excel file (.xlsx or .xls) to ArcGIS Online and publish a hosted layer from one of the worksheets. If the worksheet contains latitude and longitude information, coordinates, place-names, or addresses, you can publish a hosted feature layer from the worksheet. If no spatial information is present in the worksheet, you can publish a table layer.
Note:
These files do not enforce unique field names, but field names in hosted feature layers must be unique. Therefore, ensure all field names in your file are unique before publishing.
Field names must meet the requirements of the database that ArcGIS Online uses to store the data. For information about column name limitations and reserved words, see the Microsoft SQL Server documentation.
The features are published in the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) coordinate system.
All fields in the file containing date and time values will be date or string fields in the published hosted feature layer.
The following steps explain how to add an Excel file from your local drive and publish. For instructions to access and publish a file from a cloud drive, see Publish files in a cloud drive.
- Verify that you are signed in and that you have privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers.
- Open Content > My content, click New item, and click Your device.
- Find the file on your device or a machine on your network.
- Select the file and click Open.
- Choose Add <file name> and create a hosted layer or table.
- If your file contains multiple worksheets, choose the one you want to publish from the Publish this sheet drop-down list.
By default, the first sheet in the spreadsheet is published.
- Click Next.
- Review the fields included and make changes as needed.
If the field types can be identified, they are set automatically. You can remove fields, change the display name of the field, and change the field type.
- Choose a Time Zone for the date fields in the file.
By default, date fields are assumed to contain UTC date and time. If your date fields store values that use a different time zone, choose that time zone. Note that the time zone you select is applied to all date fields in the file. If you later overwrite the hosted feature layer using updated data, the time zone specified when you initially published is used.
Tip:
You can configure pop-ups to display time.
- Choose the information in your file that ArcGIS Online should use to locate features.
- If your file contains coordinates, choose whether to use Latitude and longitude, Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), or United States National Grid coordinates.
- Choose Addresses or place names if your file contains place-names—for example, Westminster Abbey or Panama Canal—or addresses. By default, ArcGIS Online locates addresses based on your organization's region.
- To create a nonspatial table layer, choose None.
- If you are locating features based on Addresses or place names and your organization has multiple locators configured, click Advanced location settings and choose the locator you want to use.
- If your file contains addresses, click Advanced location settings and use the Region drop-down list to specify the country in which the addresses are located. If your file contains addresses from multiple countries or from a country not in the list, select World.
- Turn on the Enrich layer with address information toggle button and choose one of the following options:
- Append four fields that show how well addresses matched—Adds the following fields that describe the location and how well it matches to information in the locator service: status, score, match_addr, and addr_type.
- Append 50 fields for full location information—Includes all available locator fields in the hosted feature layer.
For a description of all the fields that are added, see Geocoding and geosearch.
- Choose whether your location fields are based on one or multiple fields.
- Review the location fields (if any exist). If ArcGIS Online can identify which fields contain location information, it sets them automatically. However, you can change location fields if necessary by clicking inside the cell.
- Click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save.
The data file and the feature layer are separately added to My content. One way to test the new hosted feature layer once publishing completes is to view it in a map viewer.
If you published an Excel file containing addresses or places, you can review and correct any records that were not placed on the map or were placed incorrectly. You can immediately review the layer in Map Viewer Classic, or choose to review it at a later time. See Review locations for more information. At this time, you can only review locations in Map Viewer Classic.
By default, only you and the administrator can access the hosted feature layer. To allow others to access it, share the layer and file with everyone (the public), your organization, or members of specific groups. You can edit item details and change feature layer settings.
To share the hosted feature layer as a copy in a distributed collaboration, you must enable synchronization.
Publish a shapefile
To web-enable feature layers from shapefiles (packaged in a .zip file), upload the .zip file to your organization and publish. This creates an item for the shapefile and creates a hosted feature layer. This is a useful workflow if you do not have any ArcGIS products installed locally.
Note:
The features are published in the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) coordinate system.
For information about using a shapefile to create a feature layer as part of a reproducible process, see the ArcGIS Data Pipelines help.
Follow these steps to publish a hosted feature layer from a .zip file containing a shapefile or shapefiles:
- Verify that you are signed in and that you have privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers.
- Open Content > My content, click New item, and click Your device.
- Find the file on your device or a machine on your network.
- Select the file and click Open.
- When you add a .zip file, specify the type of content in the file. Choose the data format from the Item type drop-down menu.
You cannot upload the file if the wrong content type is specified.
- Choose Add <file name> and create a hosted layer.
- Click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save.
Shapefiles must be compressed as a .zip file containing at least the .shp, .shx, and .dbf files. If the shapefile does not include a .prj file and the x,y domain extent is between -180 and 180 degrees. If the data is not within this extent, an error occurs, and you must delete the feature layer.
If there are multiple shapefiles in the .zip file, they are all included in the hosted feature layer.
The data file and the feature layer are separately added to My content. One way to test the new hosted feature layer once publishing completes is to view it in a map viewer.
If you publish a shapefile or shapefiles that contain metadata, that metadata is included in the layers in the hosted feature layer. When viewed from the hosted feature layer's item page, the metadata is displayed in the metadata style configured for the organization.
By default, only you and the administrator can access the hosted feature layer. To allow others to access it, share the layer and file with everyone (the public), your organization, or members of specific groups. You can edit item details and change feature layer settings.
To share the hosted feature layer as a copy in a distributed collaboration, you must enable synchronization.
Tip:
If you edit features in the shapefile from a desktop application, you can upload the edited shapefile and replace the data in the hosted feature layer.
Publish a GeoJSON file
You can publish from a GeoJSON file on a local drive or access a GeoJSON file on the web to publish a hosted feature layer from the file.
For information about using a GeoJSON file to create a feature layer as part of a reproducible process, see the ArcGIS Data Pipelines help.
Publish from a local file
To web enable feature layers from a GeoJSON file (.geojson or .json), upload the file to ArcGIS Online and have them hosted as services. These services are referred to as hosted feature layers. This is a useful workflow if you do not have any ArcGIS products installed locally.
Note:
To publish, the GeoJSON file must be smaller than 100 MB.
The features are published in the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) coordinate system.
The steps below outline how to publish features from ArcGIS Online using a GeoJSON file.
- Verify that you are signed in and that you have privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers.
- Open Content > My content, click New item, and click Your device.
- Find the file on your device or a machine on your network.
- Select the file and click Open.
- Choose Add <file name> and create a hosted layer.
- Click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save.
The data file and the feature layer are separately added to My content. One way to test the new hosted feature layer once publishing completes is to view it in a map viewer.
By default, only you and the administrator can access the hosted feature layer. To allow others to access it, share the layer and file with everyone (the public), your organization, or members of specific groups. You can edit item details and change feature layer settings.
To share the hosted feature layer as a copy in a distributed collaboration, you must enable synchronization.
Publish from a file on the web
If you have access to a GeoJSON file on the web, you can use the URL to the GeoJSON to publish your own hosted feature layer from it.
Note:
If the file is larger than 50 MB, creating a hosted feature layer from the file URL may not be supported.
To create a hosted feature layer from a larger file, download the file and publish from the file instead of from the URL.
- Verify that you are signed in and have the privilege to create, update, and delete content.
- From the My content tab of the Content page, click New item and click URL.
- Type the REST URL of the GeoJSON file on the web.
The following is an example GeoJSON file on the web that is available to the public: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/feed/v1.0/summary/4.5_week.geojson
- Choose GeoJSON for the item type.
- Click Next.
- Choose the Add data and create a hosted feature layer option.
- Click Next.
- Provide a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tags that describe the item.
Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag, and Federal, land is considered two tags).
As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you previously added.
- Optionally, provide a summary that describes the item.
- Click Save.
After you add the GeoJSON file from the web using its URL and publish, the hosted feature layer item appears in your content, and you can edit the item details and share it if you have sharing privileges.
Publish a feature collection
If your data needs to be edited by multiple people, you can publish a feature collection as a hosted feature layer, share the layer, enable editing on it, and use the feature layer in a map.
Note:
If you alter symbology for individual points in the feature collection, that symbology change is not preserved when you publish the feature collection as a hosted feature layer.
- Open the item page of the feature collection.
- Click Publish.
- Use the default title for the hosted feature layer or type a new one.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. public buildings is considered one tag, while public,buildings is considered two tags.
- Click Publish to create the hosted feature layer.
A hosted feature layer is created and added to your content.
Now you can share the hosted layer, enable editing, and add the feature layer to a map.
Publish the contents of a file geodatabase
To web enable a feature layer from a file geodatabase (packaged in a .zip file), you can upload the zipped file geodatabase to ArcGIS Online and have its contents hosted as a service. This service is referred to as a hosted feature layer.
Publishing file geodatabase contents is a useful workflow if the geodatabase contains only a few datasets. Each feature class in the file geodatabase will be a layer in the hosted feature layer.
You can publish the following data types from a file geodatabase to a hosted feature layer:
- Feature classes (x- and y-coordinates; m- and z-coordinates are dropped)
- Tables
- Attachments
- Relationship classes
- Parcel fabrics
Other data types—such as rasters and networks—remain in the geodatabase but are not included in the published hosted feature layer.
Note:
The features are published in the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) coordinate system.
Follow these steps to add a file geodatabase to the website and publish its contents as a hosted feature layer.
- Verify that you are signed in and that you have privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers.
- Open Content > My content, click New item, and click Your device.
- Find the file on your device or network.
The file geodatabase must be in a .zip file.
- Select the file and click Open.
- When you add a .zip file, specify the type of content in the file. Choose the data format from the Item type drop-down menu.
You cannot upload the file if the wrong content type is specified.
- Choose Add <file name> and create a hosted layer.
- Click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save.
The supported data in your file geodatabase is published as a hosted feature layer. It may take some time to upload the file and publish. Once publishing completes, you can test the new feature layer by viewing it in a map viewer. Views in the file geodatabase are not published but remain in the file geodatabase.
If the feature classes in the file geodatabase contain metadata, that metadata is included in the layers in the hosted feature layer. For each layer that has metadata, you can view and edit the metadata from ArcGIS Online, and the metadata is displayed in the metadata style configured for the organization.
By default, only you and the administrator can access the hosted feature layer. To allow others to access it, share the layer and file with everyone (the public), your organization, or members of specific groups. You can edit item details and change feature layer settings.
Tip:
If you edit features in the feature classes in your file geodatabase from a desktop application, you can upload the edited file geodatabase and replace the data in the hosted feature layer.
Publish photos with locations
You can upload a compressed file (.zip file) containing photos that have geotags, and publish a hosted feature layer. ArcGIS Online creates points in the hosted feature layer based on the GPS information in each photo's geotag. The photos are stored as attachments to these points. No point is created for any photo in the file that does not include GPS information.
You can upload a .zip file that contains JPEG image files that are tagged using standard Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) GPS information only.
The features are published in the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) coordinate system.
Follow these steps to add a collection of images to ArcGIS Online and publish a point hosted feature layer with the images stored as attachments.
- Verify that you are signed in and that you have privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers.
- Open Content > My content, click New item, and click Your device.
- Find the file on your device or network.
The images must be in a .zip file.
- When you add a .zip file, specify the type of content in the file. Choose the data format from the Item type drop-down menu.
You cannot upload the file if the wrong content type is specified.
- Select the file and click Open.
- Choose Add <file name> and create a hosted layer.
- Click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save.
A point for each geotagged photo is created in the hosted feature layer. Once publishing completes, you can test the new feature layer by viewing it in a map viewer.
By default, only you and the administrator can access the hosted feature layer. To allow others to access it, share the layer and file with everyone (the public), your organization, or members of specific groups. You can edit item details and change feature layer settings.
Publish the contents of an OGC GeoPackage
You can upload an OGC GeoPackage file and publish its contents as a hosted feature layer. One layer will be created in the hosted feature layer for each spatial table in the GeoPackage.
Publishing the contents of a GeoPackage is a useful workflow if the GeoPackage contains only a few tables.
The following data types will publish:
- Spatial tables that store point, multipoint, line, multiline, polygon, or multipolygon features
- Nonspatial tables
Other data types in the GeoPackage file, such as tile pyramids and views, will not be included in the hosted feature layer.
Note:
The features are published in the WGS 1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere) coordinate system.
Follow these steps to add a GeoPackage file to the portal and publish its contents as a hosted feature layer.
- Verify that you are signed in and that you have privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers.
- Open Content > My content, click New item, and click Your device.
- Find the GeoPackage file on your device or network.
- Select the file and click Open.
- Choose Add <file name> and create a hosted feature layer.
If, instead, you add the file but don't publish a hosted feature layer, you can publish later from the GeoPackage item's page.
- Click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content where you want to save the item.
Alternatively, you can choose Create new folder from the menu and type a folder name to save the item in a new folder.
Folder names cannot contain 4-byte Unicode characters.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save.
The supported data in the GeoPackage file is published as a hosted feature layer. It may take some time to upload the file and publish. Once publishing completes, you can test the new feature layer by viewing it in a map viewer.
By default, only you and the administrator can access the hosted feature layer. To allow others to access it, share the layer and file with everyone (the public), your organization, or members of specific groups. You can edit item details and change feature layer settings.
Publish from ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap
You can publish a feature layer from ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap to be hosted on ArcGIS Online. When you publish a hosted feature layer, data is copied from your data source to ArcGIS Online. The published hosted feature layer references the data in ArcGIS Online, not the data source.
Follow the steps in the ArcGIS Pro help or ArcMap help to publish a hosted feature layer from these applications.
Note:
If the layers in the ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro map have definition queries applied to them, ArcGIS applies the definition queries to the published hosted feature layer. However, all data is uploaded to ArcGIS Online. If you want only a subset of the data to be published to and stored in ArcGIS Online, you must export the subset of the data to another feature class and publish that.
If you intend to overwrite the hosted feature layer to update it, be sure to choose the option to Preserve layer IDs when you publish the feature layer from ArcGIS Pro. This option is not available in ArcMap.
Create a layer from ArcGIS Data Pipelines
ArcGIS Data Pipelines supports a number of input data sources, including data stores, files, and public URLs. You can process the data from one or more sources, and publish hosted feature layers from the processed data.
See the ArcGIS Data Pipelines help for more information about the app and its workflows.
Define your own layer
When you define your own layer, ArcGIS Online creates a blank hosted feature layer containing the layers and fields you define.
- Verify that you are signed in with an account that has privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers, and click the My content tab of the Content page.
- Click New item and choose Feature layer.
- Choose Define your own layer and click Next.
- Type a name for the first layer in the feature layer and choose what type of layer to create: Point layer, Line layer, Polygon layer, or Table.
- To add more layers to the feature layer, click Add and repeat the previous step for each layer.
Clicking Add places a new layer at the top of the list of layers. The order of the layers as they appear in this window is how the layers will appear in the hosted feature layer. Therefore, add layers in reverse order to how you want them to appear in the hosted feature layer.
- Optionally, enable the Add GPS metadata fields toggle button if the layers need to store GPS information such as receiver name, accuracy, and fix type.
When you edit the layer in the ArcGIS Field Maps mobile app, GPS metadata is recorded automatically. For more information about GPS metadata, see Prepare for high-accuracy data collection in the ArcGIS Field Maps help.
- To store z-coordinates with the layers, enable the Enable Z-values toggle button.
- To store m-values (measures) with the layers, enable the Enable M-values toggle button.
- When you finish adding the layers and tables you want in the hosted feature layer, click Next.
- Type a title.
- Choose a folder in My content in which to save the hosted feature layer.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Optionally, type tag terms separated by commas.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your item and help people find your item when searching. Federal land is considered one tag, while Federal,land is considered two tags.
- Optionally, type a summary that describes the data.
- Click Save to create the feature layer.
When the feature layer is created, its item page appears.
Next, add fields to each layer and table, define attribute lists and ranges, define feature templates, and configure other settings that you require.
Note:
By default, editing is enabled on the new hosted feature layer, making it ready for data collection. If you don't want other people to edit it immediately, disable editing by unchecking the Enable editing check box on the Settings tab of the hosted feature layer's item page.
Create from a template or existing feature layer
To duplicate layer properties while allowing members of your organization to populate the new layer with new features, create a hosted feature layer from an existing hosted feature layer, ArcGIS Server feature layer, or a template. When you do this, the fields from the existing layer or template are used in your new hosted feature layer, but the attributes (rows) are empty in the new layer.
For example, you may have a feature layer displaying the perimeter of an existing wildfire. When a new wildfire occurs, you can create an empty feature layer from your existing one. The new layer will have the same fields present, such as date_reported, percent_contained, and fire_crews_assigned, but the fields will not be populated. You can then populate the new layer with the boundary and attributes of the new wildfire.
Follow these steps to create a hosted feature layer from a template or another feature layer.
- Verify that you are signed in with an account that has privileges to create content and publish hosted feature layers, and click the My content tab of the Content page.
- Click New item and choose Feature layer.
- Choose an existing feature layer or template that contains the layers and schema you want to apply to the new feature layer.
This step doesn't add or copy any features to your new hosted feature layer; you're only defining the layers and schema of the new hosted feature layer.
If the existing feature layer or template includes m-values or z-values, the hosted feature layer you create will also have m- and z-values enabled. Similarly, if the existing feature layer or template has a default z-value, the hosted feature layer you create will use the same default z-value.
There are several approaches you can take:
- Click Select an existing feature layer, click Next, choose the existing feature layer you want to use as a template, and click Next.
- Click Use a template, click Next, choose a template provided by Esri, and click Next.
- Click Provide an ArcGIS Server layer URL, click Next, type or paste the URL of the existing ArcGIS Server feature layer to use as a template, and click Next.
- No matter which approach you choose, check the box next to each layer you want to include in the new feature layer.
You must include at least one layer.
- When you finish choosing layers, click Next.
- To add GPS metadata fields to layers and store GPS information such as receiver name, accuracy, and fix type to the feature layer, enable the Add GPS metadata fields toggle button.
When you edit the layer in ArcGIS Field Maps mobile app, GPS metadata is recorded automatically. For more information about GPS metadata, see Prepare for high-accuracy data collection in the ArcGIS Field Maps help.
- To store z-coordinates with the layers, enable the Enable Z values toggle button.
- To store m-values (measures) with the layers, enable the Enable M-values toggle button.
- Click Next.
- Type a title for the new hosted feature layer.
- If your organization has set up content categories, click Assign categories and select up to 20 categories to help people find the item.
You can also start typing a category name to narrow the list of categories.
- Choose the folder in which to store the new hosted feature layer.
- Optionally, type tags and a summary for the new hosted feature layer.
- Click Save to publish the new layer.
The item page of the new hosted feature layer appears.
Note:
If you used a template, editing and synchronization are enabled by default on the new hosted feature layer, making it ready for data collection. If you don't want other people to edit it immediately, disable editing by unchecking the Enable editing check box on the Settings tab of the hosted feature layer's item page.
If you used an existing feature layer, your new hosted feature layer has the same editing settings as the source feature layer.