Dynamic text using symbology attribute name

Question

Hi

Is there a way to have a dynamic text object point to the attribute name used in a layer's symbology? I have a single layer with a series of attributes I want to map seperately. The attribute table has the structure like this below:

feature idspecies 1species 2species 31 1 211 31  4 11

For each species map I select the relevant attribute in the symbology (which highlights the relevant features) and export the map. However, I want  a dynamic text object to reflect which attribute (species) I have selected in the symbology. It's a little like a 'stationary' Map Series except the extent stays the same and the series simply flips through the attributes in a given layer.

I'm hoping to avoid running a script to do this as I have to pass this job onto someone who doesn't have those skills. I just want them to manually change the symbology attribute and export.

I'm currently using ArcPro Advanced 2.8.1 on Windows 11.

Cheers

Aubri Otis · Answer

Ok, I understand now!

ArcGIS Pro doesn't have a dynamic text element for layer names (you could add an idea for that though!). However, there are some options you could explore. There is a dynamic text element for map name, so you could rename the map when you change the symbology. Or you could add an extra field to the table and use value dynamic text.

Maybe one of those would work? Or there could be a completely different solution. You could also look at building an SDK Add-In so you could have a button to do this instead of needing to run a script.

I hope this helps!

Aubri

AKitch · Answer

Thanks for the  suggestion Aubri. I did explore the options with Value dynamic text but unfortunately it doesn't do quite what I need. What I need to show is the actual attribute name. For example when I make a map of 'Species 1' using the table I posted then I'd want the dynamic text to display 'Species 1' as opposed to the values in the attribute. I've yet to find an option to do this without scripting. If I was using the Legend terminology, I want the dynamic text to be linked to the 'Heading' of a particular layer.

Cheers

Aubri Otis · Answer

Hi,

I think the Value dynamic text element will do what you need. It can read the values directly from the table. You can choose to show values from only features visible in the map frame, all features in the layer, or a subset of values based on a SQL query.

Cheers,

Aubri