Rules governing ArcGIS Online data accessible as Reference data in ArcGIS Maps for Power BI

Question

Our organisation has released a number of publically available data services through ArcGIS Online. These have been tagged within ArcGIS Online and we're able to search and find a number of older data services in this way:

This much is explained in available documentation online:

Add a reference layer—ArcGIS Maps for Power BI | ArcGIS

Recently we've added another publically available dataset and tagged it in the same way however it does not appear as an option within the search results.

Is anyone aware what the governing rules are regarding data appearing in the search? Should we expect publically available ArcGIS Online data services that have been tagged to appear immediately in this way or is there a delay?

Any insight/advice is appreciated. Thanks.

JamesWharfe · Answer

Hi Scott, Thanks for clarifying. Two things were really useful to know.

1. The fact that Power BI only recognises feature layers (I was expecting to be able to find a shared Map Service)

2. That the feature layer needs to be shared publicly

As soon as this was done I was able to find it using a tag under the Reference options in Power BI.

ScottBall · Answer

Hi James - make sure your ArcGIS content meets the prerequisites on the following page: Add custom reference layers to ArcGIS—ArcGIS Maps for Power BI | ArcGIS

The key is that the map visual in Power BI only recognizes feature layers. If you're publishing a web map or some other complex or raster object, the map visual will filter that out of the list of available reference layers.

Let me know if you have published a feature layer, shared with everyone, and it still isn't visible. If that's the case you may be experiencing a bug that we would need to dig into.