How can I perform spatial filtering in ArcGIS Online using user-drawn polygons?

Question

Hello everyone, I'm looking for an ArcGIS Online tool that allows users to draw a custom polygon on the map and perform a spatial query—specifically, to return features from a point layer that intersect with the drawn geometry. Ideally, I’m looking for a solution where users can draw directly on the map, and both the map view and a list widget automatically update to show only the points within or intersecting that geometry. The goal is to display the drawn polygon on the map, highlight only the relevant points, and show a filtered list of the corresponding records (See attached image). I’ve explored the Draw and Query widgets in Experience Builder and Dashboards but haven’t found a widget that supports this type of spatial filtering based on user-drawn input. Does anyone know if this functionality is currently available in any ArcGIS Online apps? I’d really appreciate any guidance or suggestions on how to implement this workflow. Thanks!

JB

JoseBarrios1 · Answer

Hi Molly,
Thank you for your suggestion and for looking into this. I'm familiar with the Select and Query widgets in Experience Builder, and while each offers part of the functionality we need, neither seems to fully support the workflow. I'm starting to think this might not be possible without using the Developer Edition. It's surprising that such a common workflow isn’t already available in any of the standard apps.
Thanks again for your help—I really appreciate it!

JB

MollyE · Answer

You should be able to make something that looks similar to your image in Experience Builder with a combination of the Select and the List widgets. You can choose which layers the Select tool can interact with and add an action to filter the map so unselected points disappear. You can then use the List widget and connect that to the same data layer, choose "Selected Features" (rather than "Default") and use the dynamic content option to fill in the list with whatever fields you'd like to display. The only thing I don't think this can do for you is show the polygon the user draws with the select widget.

I also just messed around with the Query widget and it looks like you can enable a spatial filter which allows the user to draw which will show the user drawn polygon and can list the features within it, but I haven't been able to figure out a way to make that filter the map itself, so all the points are still visible. There is no lasso option either, so the user must draw circles or straight lined polygons, if that is important for you.

Hopefully you can find a way to make either of those option work out for you. Best of luck!

JoseBarrios1 · Answer

Hi Cody,

I did look at the old Web App builder widgets but other than the draw tool, I could not find a tool that allow me to conduct the workflow I need! Thanks for your suggestion!