Manage scene layers

Publishing a scene from ArcGIS Pro can create both a scene layer and an associated feature layer. If data changes in the associated point or multipatch feature layers, you can rebuild the scene layer cache to include changes for specific layers or changes from all layers.

You can update the contents of scene layers that reference precreated caches or hosted scene layers that don't have an associated feature layer by replacing the scene layer with another scene layer.

Only the owner of the scene layer or an organization administrator can rebuild the cache on the scene layer or replace a scene layer.

Rebuild the hosted scene layer cache

You (or the administrator in your organization) can rebuild all or part of the scene layer cache after editors make changes in the associated feature layer.

• For point layers that are edited, rebuilding the cache incorporates all appended features and edits to feature geometry and attributes into the scene cache.
• For 3D object (multipatch) layers, rebuilding the cache incorporates attribute updates and appended features into the scene cache.
• For building scene layers, rebuilding the cache incorporates all attribute updates and appended or modified features into the scene cache.

For example, if the layer contains points that represent street furniture—such as benches, fountains, and planters—and the locations of some of the benches change, you can rebuild the scene cache to reflect the new position of those benches. Similarly, if some of the benches are rebuilt with a different material, and the style in the scene layer varies depending on material type, rebuild the scene layer to include the new attribute and, therefore, the new style.

Tip:

To improve drawing performance, edit the hosted scene layer in ArcGIS Pro rather than editing the associated feature layer in Map Viewer or Map Viewer Classic (formerly known as Map Viewer). See Edit a scene layer with associated feature layer in the ArcGIS Pro help for information on editing scene layers.

In most cases, updating part of the cache takes less time than rebuilding the entire cache. However, scene layer performance may degrade over time if you only rebuild parts of the cache. Eventually, you will need to rebuild the entire cache to optimize cache and, therefore, scene layer performance. In general, you should rebuild the entire cache after the cache is partially rebuilt ten consecutive times. After you rebuild the whole scene layer cache, you can again rebuild parts of the cache.

Rebuild the cache

Follow these steps to rebuild the scene cache to incorporate changes in point, multipatch (3D object), or building scene layers.

1. Sign in to the portal as the scene layer owner or an administrator.
2. Open the item details for the scene layer, click the Settings tab, and scroll down to the Scene Layer Settings section.
3. Click Manage Cache.
4. Choose to rebuild the entire cache for the layers you choose in the next step, or rebuild only the portion of the cache, per layer, that has changed since the last time the cache was built.
5. Choose what you want to rebuild:
   • To rebuild the entire hosted scene layer, choose Full cache. The cache will be rebuilt. If you published the scene layer with a feature layer that references registered data, and you update the schema of the feature data, you must use this option to incorporate the schema changes into the scene layer.
   • To rebuild only the portion of the cache that contains geometry or attribute changes (or both) since the last time the cache was built, choose Partial updates with geometry and attribute changes since the last update will be rebuilt. This option is not supported for point scene layers at this time.
6. Click Rebuild Cache.
7. Click OK to confirm you want to rebuild the cache.

   The time it takes to rebuild the cache depends on whether you are rebuilding the entire cache or part of the cache; the number of features and attributes in the feature layer; whether the features are points, multipatches, or buildings; and whether the multipatches include textures.

   To monitor the status of the cache, click Job Status. If the cache fails to rebuild, click the job ID for information about why it failed.

Schedule the cache to be rebuilt

If the scene layer is edited frequently, you can create tasks that schedule the scene layer's cache to be rebuilt at the intervals you specify. Configure tasks sparingly and at time intervals as far apart as possible.

When you configure tasks to rebuild the cache at regular intervals, consider how frequently the data is updated, and balance the resource burden placed on the ArcGIS Enterprise machines to rebuild the cache against your users' tolerance for out-of-date scene data.

You can schedule up to two tasks: one to rebuild the entire scene layer cache and one to rebuild only part of the cache.

Follow these steps to schedule tasks to rebuild the hosted scene layer cache:

1. Sign in to the portal as the scene layer owner or an organization administrator.
2. Open the item details for the scene layer, click the Settings tab, and scroll down to the Scene Layer Settings section.
3. Click Schedule tasks to rebuild the cache to expand that section.
4. Click Add rebuild task and choose to schedule a task to partially rebuild the cache or rebuild the entire cache.
   • Full rebuild—Choose this option to rebuild the entire scene layer cache on the schedule you define.
   • Partial rebuild—Choose this option to create a task that regularly rebuilds only the portion of the cache that contains geometry or attribute changes (or both) since the last time the cache was built. This option is not supported for point scene layers at this time.
5. Define the schedule for the task.
   1. Click Beginning On and choose the date on which the task will start running.
   2. To define the unit of time when the task will repeat, choose one of the options in the Repeat Type drop-down menu.
   3. Use the Repeat Interval drop-down menu to choose how often you want the cache to rebuild.

      Keep in mind that it may take many minutes or hours to rebuild a full scene layer cache, depending on its size. Do not schedule the rebuild task to run more frequently than each individual rebuild operation can complete.

   4. Use the Ending On drop-down menu to choose when the tasks will stop running. Options are as follows:

      • Never—The task will continue to run at the specified intervals until you edit, pause, or delete the task.
      • Date—When you choose Date, the End date field appears. Choose the date you want the tasks to stop running.
      • Count—To run the task a specific number of times, choose Count and use the up or down arrows to specify the number of times the task will run at the interval you specified.

   5. Click Create Task to create the schedule task.

The cache will rebuild on the schedule you specified. If the rebuild operation fails five times in a row, you will receive a notification.

To access notifications, click Notifications at the top of the website.

You can open the task details as described in the next section and examine the log of the results created by the failed jobs. You can also go to the ArcGIS Server logs for the hosting server to understand the cause for failures and correct it. Once you correct the problem and are ready to rerun the task, resume the task as described in the next section.

See the next section for instructions to view the status of the scheduled rebuild operations or to alter the task schedule.

Manage tasks

You can alter the schedule for existing tasks, view the status of each rebuild operation, pause the task to prevent the cache from being rebuilt temporarily, or delete a task.

Follow these steps to manage a task:

1. Sign in to the portal as the scene layer owner or an organization administrator.
2. Open the item details for the scene layer, click the Settings tab, and scroll down to the Scene Layer Settings section.
3. Click Schedule tasks to rebuild the cache to expand that section.
4. Click in the Actions field for the task you want to manage and choose the action to complete.
   • Details—Click Details to view a list of the individual jobs, the status of each, and a log of the results created each time the task ran.

     Tip:

     You can also open the task's details by clicking the link in the task's Name column.

   • Edit—Click Edit to change the schedule for the task. You can change how frequently the task runs and change the end date for the task.

     Tip:

     You can also alter the task's schedule by clicking the link in the Schedule column for the task.

   • Pause—For an active task, click Pause to prevent the task from running until you resume it. Click Pause again to confirm that you want to suspend the task temporarily.
   • Resume—For a paused task, click Resume so that the task will begin running again on the specified schedule. Click Resume again to confirm that you want the task to start running again.
   • Delete—If you no longer need the scheduled task, click Delete to remove it. Click Delete again to confirm that you no longer need the task to rebuild the scene cache on the schedule you specified.
5. Click Save Task to apply the changes you made to the task.

Replace a scene layer

If the hosted scene layer does not have an associated feature layer, you can update the scene layer's contents by replacing it with another scene layer that you published from a scene layer package (SLPK). If the scene layer references a precreated cache in a folder or cloud data store, you can replace the scene layer with another scene layer that references a precreated cache. This allows you to update the contents of a scene layer without deleting it. You must own both the existing and the replacement layer.

Tip:

If your scene layer has an associated feature layer, you cannot replace the layer. Rebuild the scene cache instead. You can identify whether the scene layer has an associated feature layer by checking the Details section of the scene layer's item page.

Replacing a scene layer provides the following benefits:

• Because the item ID and URL of your existing layer don't change, the scenes and apps that use your layer do not need to be updated to reference a new layer.
• Replacing the contents of the current layer does not generate new scene caches. Therefore, no one has to wait for the scene layer cache to be rebuilt. Scenes and apps that use the current layer will continue to work after you replace the layer.
• The portal creates an archive of the old content, which allows you to revert to this content if necessary.

Note:

Be sure you use the same coordinate system for the replacement scene layer package or precreated cache as you used for the current scene layer. This setting must match. In addition, you can only replace a scene layer with the same type of scene layer.

Follow these steps to replace an existing scene layer with a another scene layer.

1. Sign in as the owner of the web layer, as an administrator of the organization, or with an account that has privileges to update all members' items.
2. Open the scene layer's item page.
3. Click Replace Layer.
4. Click Select layer.

   In the panel that appears, you can search, browse, filter, and sort available layers to find your replacement scene layer. You can also view the item details for each layer by clicking View details.

   Only scene layers of the same type will be listed in the Select replacement layer window.

5. When you've located the scene layer you want to use, click Select.
6. Click Next to proceed to the Archive window, where you can rename the title of the archive layer.
7. If you want to import an updated thumbnail, summary, description, and tags from the replacement layer, scroll down and enable Replace item information.
8. The summary page shows your current hosted scene layer, the layer that will replace the content in the current layer, and information related to the archive layer.

   If you want to use a different replacement layer, click Select replacement layer and choose a new layer.

9. Once you are satisfied with your layers, click Replace to perform the replacement operation.