Skip To Content

Use the GeoAnalytics Tools in the portal map viewer

This topic contains information about accessing and using the GeoAnalytics Tools in the Portal for ArcGIS map viewer. This information applies to all GeoAnalytics Tools.

Note:

This topic discusses the GeoAnalytics Tools available through your portal enabled with ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server. For information about the standard feature analysis tools, see Perform analysis. See Understanding analysis in Portal for ArcGIS for an overview of each toolset.

License:

The administrator of your organization needs to enable GeoAnalytics Tools and grant you certain privileges for you to perform analysis on your big data. To use any of the tools, you need the following privileges:

  • Create, update, and delete content
  • Publish hosted feature layers
  • Spatial Analysis

If you do not have these privileges, you will not see the Perform Analysis option as described below.

To learn more about enabling GeoAnalytics Tools, see Set up ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server.

Access the tools

To access and use GeoAnalytics Tools in the map viewer, follow these steps:

  1. Open a web map in the portal map viewer. You can optionally add layers to the map that you want to perform analysis on, or browse for layers when running your tools.
    Note:

    You can not add big data file shares to your web map. You must browse for these layers to run analyses on them.

  2. Do one of the following:
    • Click the Analysis button Analysis button on the map menu bar.
    • Alternatively, hover over the layer you want to analyze and click the Analysis button Analysis button.

Both actions open the Perform Analysis pane.

Access the tools from ArcGIS Python API

ArcGIS Python API allows GIS analysts and data scientists to query, visualize, analyze, and transform their spatial data using the powerful analysis tools available in their Portal for ArcGIS. To learn more about the analysis capabilities of the API, see the documentation site.

The GeoAnalytics Tools can be accessed via the geoanalytics module .

Explore the Feature Analysis pane

The Feature Analysis pane is illustrated below. This pane contains a number of categories and each category contains tools. To view the tools within a category, click the expand or collapse button on the left side of the category.

Note:

This example uses standard analysis and GeoAnalytics Tools. If you also have raster analysis enabled, you will need to choose Feature Analysis to see this pane. If you do not have standard analysis enabled, you will only see the GeoAnalytics Tools.

Analysis categories and tools

Choose the GeoAnalytics Tools

Choose the GeoAnalytics Tools.

Open the Analysis Environments dialog box

Open the Analysis Environments dialog box.

Return to the Details pane

Return to the Details pane.

Expand the category to view tools within

Expand the category to view tools within.

View help about the category

View help about the category.

View help for the tool

View help for the tool.

Work with a tool pane

To open an analysis tool pane, click the tool icon. This opens the tool's pane as illustrated below with the Copy to Data Store tool.

Copy to Data Store tool pane

Open the Analysis Environments dialog box

Open the Analysis Environments dialog box for the tool.

Close the tool pane without running the analysis and return to the Perfrom Analysis pane

Close the tool pane without running the analysis and return to the Perform Analysis pane.

Get help about a parameter

Get help about a parameter.

Browse for a layer

Browse Layers to add a big data file share or layer in your portal. Choose Analysis Layer may be visible if your administrator has configured Analysis Layers.

The result of running the analysis is saved to My Content using this name

The result of running the analysis is saved to My Content using this name.

You can specify a folder in My Content in which to save the result

You can specify a folder in My Content in which to save the result.

If checked, only the data visible in the current map will be analyzed

If checked, only the data visible in the current map will be analyzed.

Note:

Analysis Environments can be set from the tool pane. Processing Extent and Processing Spatial Reference are the two parameters used by GeoAnalytics Tools. The Processing Extent parameter applies to all tools, even when the extent is set from within a tool pane. By default, the Use current map extent parameter is unchecked when the Processing Extent is set. Checking Use current map extent will override the Processing Extent. The Processing Spatial Reference parameter is only applied to GeoAnalytics Tools and must be reset each time you run a tool. By default, the tool uses the input coordinate system of a layer for analysis. Setting the Processing Spatial Reference parameter will override this.

Each tool has a different set of parameters. You can always view help for a parameter by clicking the help icon next to the parameter as illustrated above. All tools have a Result layer name parameter where the results of running the analysis are written. You can change this name or use the default value.

Use current map extent

It is recommended that you always check Use current map extent and that you zoom in to the area you want analyzed or set the Processing Extent parameter. Doing so limits the number of features the tool needs to examine when performing analysis.. If you uncheck Use current map extent, all features in the analysis layer will potentially be analyzed.

Layers and data you can analyze

Note:

Some tools only work on certain kinds of feature types; for example, Aggregate Points requires an input layer containing point features.

You have the following options when choosing a layer to analyze:

  • Choose a layer from your map.
  • Use Browse Layers to choose any layer in the portal to which you have access. Use this option if you want to access feature layers that contain more than one layer, such as the Esri boundary layers, since the Browse Layers dialog box allows you to choose an individual layer within the feature layer. This is the only way to select a big data file share as input to GeoAnalytics Tools.

    Tip:
    Use an asterisk (*) as a wild card when searching for content in the Browse Layers dialog box. For example, if you are looking for a big data file share, search for bigDataFileShare*.

  • Use Choose Living Atlas Analysis Layer or Choose Analysis Layer to view and select a layer from a preconfigured analysis group. If the portal administrator has configured the portal to access Living Atlas analysis layers, you will see the first option. If the portal administrator has configured the portal to access layers from a custom group, you will see the second option.

    Tip:
    Use an asterisk (*) as a wild card when searching for content in the Choose Living Atlas Analysis Layer or Choose Analysis Layer dialog box. For example, if you are looking for layers with Australia in their title, search for Aus*.

You can perform analysis on the following types of layers and data:

  • Big data file shares
  • Feature service

    The portal must be able to access the feature service; therefore, the URL to the service must either be publicly accessible or within the same network as the portal and hosting server you use to run the analysis. You cannot perform analysis on layers based on nonaccessible feature services.

  • Map service

    As with feature services, the map service must be publicly accessible or within the same network as the analyzing portal and hosting server.

  • Hosted feature layers
  • Hosted WFS layers

    The layer must have the query capability enabled.

  • Comma-separated values (CSV) file (.csv)
  • Shapefile (.zip)
  • Map notes
  • WFS layers

Analysis output

Analysis tools you run in the map viewer create hosted feature layers as output. These output layers are analyzed in the input spatial reference unless the Processing Spatial Reference is set. The output is saved to the spatiotemporal big data store, where it is stored in GCS WSG84.

Note:

If you copy a layer to the relational data store using Copy to Data Store, the output will be stored in the spatial reference it was projected to.