ArcGIS Field Apps Seminar: Your Questions Answered Part 2: More Field Maps and app integration

See questions and answers from Part 2 of our “ArcGIS Field Apps: Take the Power of Location Anywhere” seminar. In this second Q&A, we cover questions about Field Maps map and form configuration as well as app integration.

Welcome back! Let me dive right into the rest of the Field Maps questions as well those around app integration. Just a reminder many more Field Maps questions were answered in part 1 and the seminar recordings are available.

Configuring your web map with new Map Viewer using Arcade

Mark Ho showed some of the exciting capabilities of the new map viewer you can start using now that it is officially out of beta. Remember that we are continuing to grow what is supported for Arcade in maps used by Field Maps, as well as in the smart form, so more many possibilities are coming soon.

For more information on Field Maps support of new map viewer capabilities see this blog.

Q: Are you able to attach multiple photos to the pop-up?

A: Photos are stored as feature layer attachments, if a feature has multiple attachments, they will all display in the popup.

Q Can Arcade "new-line" using multiple attribute fields? E.g. restaurants name on one line with the address on second.

A: New-lining text in the popup is supported in the new map viewer but not yet in Field Maps.

Q: Can you create a chart using related data in the web map popup?

A: Yes - in the new map viewer, you can create an Arcade expression using related data to return a numeric result. You can add this expression result to a chart to display it (as a bar chart in our example).

Configure the chart to include data calculated by the score expression using the related past inspections table information.

Q: Can you please share the Arcade code to show the inspection info in the popups?

A: Happy to share! Mark showed some very interesting uses of Arcade - these four expressions worked together to create a meaningful popup.

Name Upper Case expression: changes the restaurant grade to upper case.

Calculate Score expression: calculates the overall restaurant rating score using the values from a number of critical infraction attributes.

Calculate Date Difference expression: calculates the difference in days between today and the last inspection.

Inspection History expression: a more complex expression that pulls in related table data on inspection history using Arcade FeatureSet.

The result of using a bit of code is an informative popup that displays well in the new map viewer as well as in Field Maps.

In the Field Maps mobile app, the popup displays across three tabs: Details, Media and Attached images.

We received a comment that Mark “made it easier but we just have to learn to code?” Yes, you do … just a little code and your Arcade expressions can also be used in ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Runtime, ArcGIS Online, and the ArcGIS API for JavaScript. Mark co-presented a recent webinar all about Arcade, to learn more see these blog posts – Part 1 and Part 2 - they contain resources and the link to watch the webinar recordings.

Q: Arcade can make the popup show related data – can it also show joined table or other feature data?

A: Yes, using the Arcade FeatureSet() to you can access information from other layers in your map for display in your popup. 

What can I currently do with Field Maps Smart Forms?

Q: In your Inspection example the Infraction Group was skipped if not necessary, was a default value used to hide this part of the form by default?

A: Yes, we did set the default value of the Inspection Result to “Pass” to initially hide the infraction group questions. By setting up conditional visibility in the form for the infraction group, the group only displays if the editor changes the Inspection result to from the default “Pass” to “Fail”.

The Arcade Constraint profile expression created for the form in Field Maps web to hide the Infraction group of questions for passed inspections.

Q: If there are required fields (or Nulls Not Allowed) in the Infraction Group, can the form still be submitted or do default values have to be assigned to those?

A: Yes, the inspection can be submitted without entering these attributes as the conditional visibility expression hides them even if they are required. You don’t require defaults to be assigned but you may choose to assign them when you configure the attributes for your data.

Q: When collecting new features in Field Maps, how do we ensure that a field is automatically filled with a default value already assigned in the properties of the data?

A: Although you don’t create defaults in the smart form, Field Maps honours any default values you have created for your data. There are two ways to provide default values: specify a default value for a field as part of designing your layer or provide a feature template to use for collecting data.

Q: Can you display an attribute but make it non-editable?

A: Yes, you can configure this from the Field Maps web app in the form editor – select the attribute from the form panel then check off the “Allow mobile users to edit” property to make it read-only.

A: Do bookmarks for Field Maps app need to be pre-created in ArcGIS Online?

A: To create bookmarks, just like the popups, layer symbology, labels and anything map-related, you will continue using existing tools such as ArcGIS Pro, or the Map Viewer (you can use the new one as well as classic) in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. For more information on setting up your map see the help topic. The Field Maps web app does provide a link directly to the map viewer for map editing from the top right of the app.

Q: Is it possible to create a Field Maps setup (e.g. map and layers with domains etc.) and then share it with for another user outside your organization to save or use on their account (not access, but save on their account)?

A: You may use the ArcGIS Online Assistant or a script using the ArcGIS API for Python to copy or clone content (including maps and layers) from one ArcGIS Organization to another.

Field Maps Road Ahead

You can read about what’s coming with the Field Maps next release in Jeff Shaner’s blog and through our early adopter program obtain access to our summer release. 

Q: Can you use Arcade scripts for calculating attributes during field edits?

A: At the current release of Field Maps Arcade calculations such as the FeatureSet are only supported for display in the popup and not for calculating attribute values in the edit form. Support for this is coming soon to web map smart forms.

Q: Is it possible to add business logic to the data collection? For inspections with related tables, are we able to update an attribute on the parent object with the value from the most recent related inspection?

A: Attribute rules are coming to hosted feature services and to forms so that you can execute business logic in your form connected or offline – these are also among the exciting new developments coming to the web map smart form.

Q: Will Field Maps support contingent values setup in ArcGIS Pro?

A: Support for contingent values in the web map smart form – the ability to make values in one field dependent on values in another field are coming soon. This is similar to the cascading selects capability in the XLS Forms spec used with Survey123.

Q: Will we be able to deploy custom widgets and custom search bars to the mobile app?

A: While you cannot customize the Field Maps mobile app, various map settings from the Field Maps web app allow the map author to choose what map tools and feature actions are present in the mobile app user experience, such as turning off edit multiple, collect here and copy actions.

Q: Does Field Maps support editing utility network datasets, and what licensing level is required for mobile users?

A: The Field Worker User type along the Utility Network User Type Extension will be required, take a look at Jeff’s blog for a sneak peek of upcoming support.

Q: Can you integrate webhooks with Field Maps?

A: At present you can create a custom webhook using Integromat to automate your workflows in Field Maps, such as to send an email notification when a mobile user completes an inspection. A connector to simplify the process, as we provide for Survey123 and QuickCapture, is coming.

App Integration

Q: Can you integrate Survey123 forms with the Field Maps app so you can move the point to a particular location on a map in Field Maps and then fill out the form in Survey123?

A: App linking through the url parameters requires the user to tap on the link from the first app to open the second app. As we demonstrated in the seminar, the link to Survey123 can be configured through the custom attribute display option from your web map popup. The mobile user could move the feature first in Field Maps then click the link to open the appropriate Survey123 form to edit the attributes.

Q: Can you add more than one field from the linked Survey123 for update?

A: Yes, more than one attribute can be included in the parameters, consult the documentation for how to structure the link.

Q: When working offline in Field Maps, I link to a Survey123 to record feature attributes. Can the survey answers then update the feature attributes in Field Maps offline or do you have to sync to ArcGIS Online first?

A: While both apps allow you to work disconnected, this involves users of each app downloading the map as well as associated layers and forms before going offline. Offline edits are saved locally to an SQLite mobile geodatabase and as Field Maps and Survey123 are separate apps they download to separate mobile geodatabases. For users in one app to have the offline edits from the other available, all edits must first be synced to the feature layer in your ArcGIS organization and downloaded back to each mobile app. A better workflow is to do all the editing in Field Maps – exploring what you can do with the smart form. Or complete all the workflow in Survey123 – new options allow you to add your own web map with reference features for survey users to view other layers.

Q: Is it possible to seamlessly switch between Field Maps and the Cityworks mobile native app?

A: Field Maps integration is available with the native Cityworks Mobile app at version 10 or 9.1.

That’s all for Field Maps questions and answers (there were a lot of them) as well as app integration.

Want to learn more about working with the Field Maps web app? The help topic and resources provide more information. Don’t forget to regularly check the ArcGIS Field Maps blog where the product team provides tips and updates, as well as the videos on Field Maps YouTube.

Stay tuned for part 3 of the ArcGIS Seminar Q&A blog series where I’ll answer your questions about Survey123 and QuickCapture.

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.