Skip To Content

Public URL

Use records from a public URL as input to ArcGIS Data Pipelines.

Usage notes

Keep the following in mind when working with public URLs:

  • Using public URL input allows you to load data from a URL. Use the URL parameter to specify the dataset to use as input to your data pipeline. Only HTTP and HTTPS URLs are supported.
  • Use the Data format parameter to specify the format of the data from the URL. The following format options are available:
    • CSV or delimited (for example, .csv, .tsv, and .txt)
    • JSON (.json)
    • GeoJSON(.geojson)
    • Parquet (.parquet)
    • GeoParquet (.geoparquet)
  • If the CSV or delimited format option is specified, the following dataset definition parameters are available:
    • Delimiter—The delimiter used to split field (or column) and record (or row) values. The default is comma delimited (,). Other common delimiter formats include, but are not limited to, tab (\t), semicolon (;), vertical bar (|), and forward and backward slashes (/ and \).
    • Has header row—Specifies whether the dataset contains a header row. The default is true. If set to false, the first row of the dataset will be considered a record.
    • Has multiline data—Specifies whether the dataset has records that contain new line characters. The default is false. If set to true, data that contains multiline data will be read and formatted correctly.
    • Character encoding—Specifies the encoding type used to read the specified dataset. The default is UTF-8. You can choose from the available encoding options, or specify an encoding type. Spaces are not supported in encoding values. For example, specifying a value of ISO 8859-8 is invalid and must be specified as ISO-8859-8.
  • Fields is available to configure field names and types when the data format value is CSV or delimited. The Configure schema button opens a dialog box containing the dataset fields with the following options:
    • Include or drop fields—You can remove fields by checking the check box next to the field. By default, all fields are included.
    • Field name—The name of the field as it will be used in Data Pipelines. This value can be edited. By default, this value will be the same as the field in the source dataset unless the source name contains invalid characters or is a reserved word. Invalid characters will be replaced with an underscore (_), and reserved words will be prefixed with an underscore (_).
    • Field type—The field type as it will be used in Data Pipelines. This value can be edited.
    The following table describes the available field types:

    Field typeDescription

    String

    String fields support a string of text characters.

    Small integer

    Small integer fields support whole numbers between -32768 and 32767.

    Integer

    Integer fields support whole numbers between -2147483648 and 2147483647.

    Big integer

    Big integer fields support whole numbers between -9223372036854776000 and 9223372036854776000.

    Float

    Float fields support fractional numbers between approximately -3.4E38 and 3.4E38.

    Double

    Double fields support fractional numbers between approximately -2.2E308 and 1.8E308.

    Date

    Date fields support values in the format yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss, for example, a valid value is 2022-12-31 13:30:30. If the date values are stored in a different format, use the Create date time tool to calculate a date field.

    Boolean

    Boolean fields support values of True and False. If a field contains integer representations of Boolean values (0 and 1), use the Update fields tool to cast the integers to Boolean values instead.

  • If the JSON format option is specified, the Root property parameter is available. You can use this parameter to specify a property in the JSON to read data from. You can reference nested properties using a decimal separator between each property, for example, property.subProperty. By default, the full JSON file will be read.
  • If the GeoJSON format option is specified, the Geometry type parameter is available. This parameter is optional. By default, the geometry type in the GeoJSON file is used. If the GeoJSON file contains more than one geometry type, you must specify the value for this parameter. Mixed geometry types are not supported and only the specified type will be used. The options are Point, Multipoint, Polyline, and Polygon. A geometry field containing the locations of the GeoJSON data will be automatically calculated and added to the input dataset. The geometry field can be used as input to spatial operations or to enable geometry on the output result.
  • To improve the performance of reading input datasets, consider the following options:
    • Use the Use caching parameter to store a copy of the dataset. The cached copy is only maintained while at least one browser tab open to the editor is connected. This may make it faster to access the data during processing. If the source data has been updated since it was cached, uncheck this parameter and preview or run the tool again.
    • After configuring an input dataset, configure any of the following tools that limit the amount of data being processed:

Limitations

The following are known limitations:

  • If the specified URL uses invalid HTTPS certificates or if it is unresponsive, you cannot use the dataset as input to Data Pipelines.
  • If the specified URL cannot be read, but you can download the data from it, try using the downloaded data as input to the File tool instead.
  • A custom IP address cannot be used for the URL. Only domain names are supported.
  • URLs using the arcgis.com domain are not supported. Instead of using ArcGIS URLs as input, use the File or Feature layer input tools instead.
  • Custom ports are not supported.
  • URLs that redirect may not be supported.

    Learn more about diagnosing URL redirects in Data Pipelines Community

  • Esri JSON files (.esrijson) are not supported.
  • If the dataset includes field names with spaces or invalid characters, the names are automatically updated to use underscores. For example, a field named Population 2022 is renamed Population_2022, and a field named %Employed is renamed _Employed.

Licensing requirements

The following licensing and configurations are required:

  • Creator or Professional user type
  • Publisher, Facilitator, or Administrator role, or an equivalent custom role

To learn more about Data Pipelines requirements, see Requirements.

Related topics

See Dataset configuration for more information.