Manage hosted feature layers

You can alter certain settings on a hosted feature (or table) layer, while others are set on individual layers within the hosted feature layer. The following sections describe how the layer owner, or an administrator, can manage the settings for a hosted feature layer and the layers it contains.

Tip:

The settings that allow people to synchronize offline or collaboration data, add attachments to features, or export data apply to anyone who can access your hosted feature layer. Take this into consideration when you share your layer.

Manage editor settings

As the owner of a hosted feature layer, or an administrator, you can allow others to edit the hosted feature layer. If you allow others to edit, you can record editors' logins and further restrict feature access based on those logins.

The owner of the hosted feature layer can edit the layer even if editing is not enabled on the layer.

Allow others to edit

As the owner of a hosted feature layer or an administrator in the organization, you control what edits can be made to a hosted feature layer, if any. You can configure the layer to keep track of when and by whom edits are made on each feature in the layer. If you choose to track edits on a hosted feature layer, edits are tracked for all editable views you create from the hosted feature layer.

Follow these steps to enable editing and specify what types of edits can be made:

1. Open the details page of the hosted feature layer that you want to allow others to edit.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Scroll to the Feature Layer (Hosted) Settings or Feature Layer (Hosted, View) Settings section and check Enable editing.
4. Check Keep track of who created and last updated features to track editors' logins and further control what editors can see and do with hosted feature layers.

   Hosted feature layer views inherit this setting from the hosted feature layer from which they are created and cannot be configured independently. To enable or disable editor tracking for a hosted feature layer view, change the editor tracking setting on the hosted feature layer from which the view was created.

5. Choose one of the following options for the What kind of editing is allowed? setting:
   • Choose Add, update, and delete features to allow editors to add, update, and delete feature geometry and alter the attributes of features.
   • Choose Add and update features to allow editors to add and update feature geometry and alter the attributes of features.
   • Choose Add features to allow editors to add feature geometries. If nonspatial attributes are added at the same time as the geometry, the feature will have both spatial and nonspatial attributes.
   • Choose Update features to allow editors to update feature geometry and attributes.
   • Choose Update attributes only if you want editors to enter attribute information without changing any feature geometry.
If you configured the hosted feature layer to track who creates and edits data, you can choose to apply the following additional restrictions to the hosted feature layer or its dependent feature layer views. These are useful if your hosted feature layer or feature layer view is going to be used in crowd-sourced apps in which you want to limit what contributors see or what control each contributor has over the data.
6. If you want editors to only see the features they create, select Editors can only see their own features (requires tracking) under the What features can editors see? setting. Enable this option if the layer contains sensitive or proprietary information such as medical records or research data for which editors might only have clearance to work with the data they collect.
7. If you don't want editors to see any features, including those they add, choose Editors can't see any features, even those they add under the What features can editors see? setting. Enable this option when the data collector doesn't need to or shouldn't see newly added features. For example, if you have people collecting survey information from the public using apps such as Survey123 for ArcGIS or GeoForm or Crowd Source Polling configurable apps, you may not want the survey collector to see the information the survey respondents provide, as it could be private or sensitive information such as the respondent's home address.

   When the owner of the hosted feature layer or a member of the default administrator role adds the layer to the map with full editing control, he or she will see all features in the layer even if Editors can't see any features, even those they add is enabled. Similarly, if you share the hosted feature layer with a group configured to allow editing of all contents, members of this group will also see all features.

   Caution:

   If you enable the Editors can't see any features, even those they add option, the layer cannot be used in Collector for ArcGIS.

8. If you want to restrict feature edits based on the creator of the feature, select Editors can only edit their own features (requires tracking) under the What features can editors edit? setting. This allows editors to delete or modify the features they created but not delete or modify others' features.
9. If you want anonymous users (those who access the hosted feature layer without signing in to your organization) to only be allowed to add features, select Only add new features (requires tracking) under the What access do anonymous editors (not signed in) have? setting. This prevents anonymous users from editing existing features while still allowing such edits to be made by editors who are members of your organization.

   Note:

   This setting is only applicable if the layer is shared with everyone (public). If the layer is not public, anonymous users cannot access it.

10. Click Save at the bottom of the Settings tab.

Full editing control for owners

You can open any hosted feature layer you own in Map Viewer with editing enabled. You can do this regardless of whether the feature layer is editable by other people. This allows you to use a single feature layer for both public display and internal edits.

To enable editing, open the hosted feature layer's details page, click the Open button, and click Add layer to new map with full editing control.

Further control of edits for layers

Sometimes you need to make a hosted feature layer available to the public or a group with a lot of members for viewing, but you only want a few members of your organization to edit it. If you enabled editing on a public hosted feature layer, anyone could edit it. Similarly, if you enabled editing on a hosted feature layer shared to a group, all members of the group could edit the hosted feature layer.

To allow the public or groups with a large number of users to see the layer but only allow a small group of people to edit it, an administrator in your organization can create a group that is configured to allow editing of all contents. Add or invite organization members to this group who you want to edit items. All items shared to this group can be updated by group members, including hosted feature layers that do not have editing enabled.

When members of the group need to edit the hosted feature layer, they must open the hosted feature layer's details and click Open > Add layer to new map with full editing control.

Full editing control for administrators

If you are a member of the default administrator role for your organization, you can open a hosted feature layer in Map Viewer with editing enabled. You can do this regardless of the editing level you have set for nonadministrators or whether the layer is editable by other people. This is useful if you need to curate or clean up a map that others are editing. It also allows you to use a single feature layer for both public display and internal edits.

To enable editing, open the hosted feature layer's details page, click the Open button, and click Add layer to new map with full editing control.

Full editing control for data curators

If you have the privilege to edit with full control, you can open an editable hosted feature layer in Map Viewer and add, update, and delete features. You can do this regardless of the editing level set on the layer. The layer must have editing enabled.

To edit, open the hosted feature layer's details page and click Open > Add layer to new map with full editing control. Note that the Add layer to new map with full editing control option is only present if the layer has editing enabled.

Allow offline editing or collaboration

To allow people to take the hosted feature layer offline and work with it while disconnected from the network or to share a hosted feature layer data as a copy in a distributed collaboration, you must enable synchronization on the hosted feature layer.

Follow the steps to edit web layer details and check Enable Sync (disconnected editing with synchronization) on the Settings tab. This allows offline editors to get the latest updates to features at the time they connect. Any edits they made to features while disconnected will also be applied at the time they connect. It also allows changes made to the layer in the sending organization of a collaboration to be synchronized to the feature layer in the participating organizations.

Consider the following when you enable synchronization on a layer:

• Enabling synchronization may increase the feature storage size for the layer.
• To enable synchronization on a hosted feature layer view, the hosted feature layer it was created from must have synchronization enabled.
• To disable synchronization on a host feature layer that has dependent views, you must first disable synchronization on all the views.

Caution:

Do not disable synchronization until all offline users have synchronized their edits and, if they're using Collector for ArcGIS, removed the offline web maps containing the layer from their devices.

If you disable synchronization by unchecking Enable Sync (disconnected editing with synchronization), but the hosted feature layer participates in an offline web map, any edits made by offline users while disconnected from the network cannot be synchronized with the hosted feature layer. These edits cannot be synchronized even if you enable sync again.

Also, if you disable synchronization on a hosted feature layer, open and save each map that contained the layer to ensure the maps reflect the state of the hosted feature layers they contain.

Allow data exports

As the owner of a hosted feature layer or an administrator, you can export from any layer to a comma-separated values (CSV) file, Microsoft Excel file, shapefile, file geodatabase feature class, GeoJSON file, or feature collection. You can also configure a hosted feature layer to allow others to export from it.

When users other than the owner or administrator export from a hosted feature layer view that has field or feature definitions applied, the exported file only contains those fields or features that the definition allows. When the owner or administrator exports, the definitions are not applied and the exported file contains all fields and features.

Follow these steps to allow others to export from a hosted feature layer or hosted feature layer view:

1. Sign in as the owner of the hosted feature layer or hosted feature layer view, or sign in as an administrator.
2. Open the item page for the layer you want to allow others to export.
3. Click the Settings tab and scroll to the Feature Layer Settings section.
4. Click Allow others to export to different formats and click Save.

Now other members of your organization can export from the hosted feature layer.

Allow attachments

You can allow editors to attach images and other files to individual features in a layer in a hosted feature layer. This is useful, as it allows you to associate documentation or photos to specific, relevant features. For example, a code compliance officer might attach a photo of the code violation for a specific address point, or a building inspector might include a PDF of a permit for a building feature.

Hosted feature layer views inherit the attachment setting of the hosted feature layer from which it was created; you cannot independently configure attachments on views. To allow or disallow attachments on views, change the setting of the hosted feature layer from which you created the view.

Each file you attach to a feature can be a maximum size of 2 GB. To attach files larger than 2 GB, you can use the Upload Part and Add Attachment operations from ArcGIS REST API to do a multipart upload.

For a list of supported file types you can attach, see Edit features.

Follow these steps to allow people to attach files to features in a layer in your hosted feature layer:

1. Enable editing on the hosted feature layer.
2. Open the feature layer's details page by clicking the layer in the My Content tab of the content page.
3. Locate the Layers list on the Overview tab. Click the Enable attachments link under the layer for which you want to allow attachments.

Now, when people edit the layer, they can attach files to individual features.

If you decide you no longer want any files to be attached to your layer, click the Disable attachments link under the layer on the Overview tab of the hosted feature layer's details page. Be aware, though, that this will remove all existing attachments from the layer and prevent people from adding any more attachments.

Enable time settings

If you have a hosted feature layer that records different information for the same location based on a date and time, you can enable time settings on layers in a hosted feature layer. Once time settings are configured and you add the hosted feature layer to a map, you can configure time settings on the map and see what happened at a specific time, or visualize patterns and trends that emerge as the data changes over time.

Overwrite hosted feature layers

To update the data in hosted feature layers published from a file geodatabase, shapefile, GeoJSON, or CSV file containing coordinates, replace the data with data from an updated source file using the Overwrite option available on the layer's item page. For example, if your hosted feature layer is public and you don't want it to be editable, or if another department regularly sends you data updates in a shapefile, you can overwrite the data in the hosted feature layer. This maintains the URL, layer properties you set on the hosted feature layer's item page, symbology, and pop-up configurations.

When you overwrite the data, both the source file and the hosted feature layer data are replaced with the data from the updated source file. Beginning with ArcGIS Enterprise 10.6.1, if the source is a shapefile with metadata or file geodatabase that contains feature classes with metadata, the portal adds or replaces the layer-level metadata in the hosted feature layer.

If the Overwrite option isn't available, your hosted layer cannot be overwritten due to one of the following conditions:

• You used addresses or places to locate features when you first published the layer. You can only overwrite a layer that used coordinate information to locate features when published.
• It was published from a client other than the ArcGIS Enterprise portal. For example, if you published the hosted feature layer from ArcMap, overwrite the service from ArcMap.

  Note:

  When you overwrite hosted feature layers from ArcMap, the service definition originally created with the web layer must exist in the portal.

• It was published while the portal was at version 10.4.1 or earlier.
• Sync functionality is enabled on the hosted feature layer.
• It's a hosted feature layer view rather than a primary hosted feature layer. To update the data in both the hosted feature layer view and hosted feature layer from which it was created, overwrite the hosted feature layer and the updates will be reflected in the view.

Caution:

• If editing is enabled on the hosted feature layer, any edits that were made to the layer data are replaced by the data from the updated source file.
• The file, field, and feature class names must be the same as they were in the original file you uploaded.
• The same fields and feature classes (in the case of file geodatabases) must be present in the updated file as were in the original file. For example, if you delete a feature class from the file geodatabase, or add a field to the shapefile or feature class, do not overwrite.
• If you do overwrite and the fields and feature class names and schemas do not match, the feature layer and web maps that use the feature layer may not function as expected. If the source data schema has changed, or if you want to preserve the edits made through the hosted layer, load the shapefile, file geodatabase, or CSV file as a new item and publish a new layer instead.
• The data source and hosted layer must be owned by the same account. If you change the owner of one, change the owner of the other. If you do not, you can't overwrite the hosted layer.

1. Sign in to the organization as the owner of the hosted feature layer or as an administrator.
2. Open the item page of the hosted feature layer.
   • If you signed in as the layer owner, click the My Content tab of the contents page and click the hosted feature layer to open the item page.
   • If you signed in as the administrator, click the My Organization's Content tab of the contents page and click the layer name to open the item page.
3. Click Overwrite.
4. Click Browse or Choose File (depending on your browser) and browse to the location of the source file on disk.
5. Click Overwrite.