CSV files added as referenced URL layers cannot interact with Experience Builder, Instant Apps, WebApp Builder, etc.

Question

I am referring to this functionality: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-enterprise/mapping/authoring-maps-that-auto-update-using-csv-files/?rmedium=redirect&rsource=blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2011/12/07/authoring-maps-that-update-using-csv-files

(The example above uses MapViewer Classic but the essentials are the same as current Map Viewer)

Our organization makes great use of the auto-updating capability of connecting a CSV file/layer to the map in this way, but I have noticed that most of the apps do not recognize any referenced layers in the map. Tools such as Instant Apps and Experience Builder will display these layers on a map, but all of the app-specific widgets act as though the layer doesn't exist. The only exception is the Dashboards app, which fully recognizes and allows for widgets based on referenced URL data.

Is this a known issue with the other app types or a specific capability of the Dashboards app? With the push to use Experience Builder more, such functionality is the most important decision for our organization in considering its use-cases.

If not already planned, It is my hope that said functionality is pushed through all the Esri products.

necurri_VC_SSO · Answer

This is a problem for us as well. During the pandemic, students here at Vassar who were home for lockdown and still wanted to contribute to the community that they were part of in Poughkeepsie created a community resource map using this functionality. The project, along with a screenshot of the now non-functional map and web app, is well documented on here the YouthMappers blog. But in short they worked remotely with local volunteers who populated information into a series of Google Sheets, which were published as CSVs and consumed live in the web map. This way, local volunteers who were not in the college's ArcGIS Online organization and with local knowledge as to what was open and available in the city could update the worksheets, while the students designed and maintained the map and app.

While the map is no longer in use or current, it was a great portfolio piece to which these still recently graduated students could point potential employers and collaborators as an example of their work. At least they have the above-linked YouthMappers blog post which documents their project.

Now, in 2024 there's another student working with a local organization on a mapping project where we had intended to set up a similar workflow with these same tools. We'll find another way, but it's such a bummer when Esri pushes an update that ends up removing some piece of functionality that organizations have come to rely on. Maybe that's just the nature of tech and the march of time, but it seems like Esri in particular has a long history of this, and it's exhausting.

AndreasHall · Answer

You probably know this already but when you add a layer like you describe above it becomes a Feature Collection. They have limited functionality compared to Hosted Feature Layers (Feature layer functionality).  By reading the documentation for our different apps you can find some hints of how they are supported. For example, the Experience Builder documentation seem to mention feature collections only twice (Search Result | ArcGIS), while the Dashboards documentation states that they are supported (Dashboard data sources—ArcGIS Dashboards | Documentation).

Here is a related community thread: Feature collection vs. feature layer vs. hosted fe... - Esri Community.

This probably doesn´t help you much but it was the best I could do. I do not have insights into the road maps of our different products so I do not know what is planned or what is technically possible with feature collections.