Hello everyone, I’m a GIS Specialist that works in the infrastructure asset management field. My team is embedded with the AEC branch of our organization, so we interact with engineers and CAD teammates often. Me and my other GIS colleague recently worked to have ArcGIS for AutoCAD plug-in (version 440) installed for Civil3D and we drafted user guide information to assist the engineers and CAD team access our organization’s GIS content. We are now looking at potential automation workflows using AFA. While at the UC this year I seen demonstrations of how document feature layers can be used, but while testing I am getting different results than how I thought document feature layers worked.
Background information and expectations
We currently have a traditional versioned enterprise geodatabase that stores our spatial infrastructure assets (100+ feature classes and 1000’s of features). Our current workflow to digitize new asset instances using DWG line work is done by adding the site plan DWG to ArcGIS Pro and creating GIS features using the 2D CAD linework as a reference. Essentially, tracing over the CAD linework to create feature instances. I’d like to implement a workflow where we can set up document feature layers in our organization’s DWT to be used when staff/contractors are creating CAD content. This way as our CAD team (or contractors) creates CAD drawings, they can draw those CAD features on the applicable document feature layer. Once we receive the final deliverable GIS team can sync those features back to applicable feature classes in the geodatabase. This workflow is like what is described in the Preparing Document Feature Layers for Contractors . I understand this workflow is unlikely to work with traditional versioning. We may move to branch versioned database in the future, but our current Portal deployment is not architecture to support branch versioning. So as proof of concept I decided to use hosted web feature layers for testing.
Testing and troubleshooting
I’ve created a couple of hosted feature layers in AGOL and added them to a drawing in Civil3D via the AFA plug-in. I used the extract method to create the document feature layers and began creating CAD features in the drawing. At this point I’d like to sync/share those edits I’ve made in the local drawing back to the hosted feature layer from which the document feature layer was originally created. Instead, it appears I can only share the items in the document feature layer back to AGOL as a new hosted feature layer.
From demonstrations at the UC, I was under the assumption that if you create a document feature layer from a web feature layer you could sync/share edits from the document feature layer in a local drawing back to the original web feature layer. Essentially inserting records from the DWG to the original web feature layer it was created from.
Is this assumption wrong or am I missing something? When you create a document feature layer from a web feature layer does it not maintain any sort of link to that original web feature layer? Would it work differently if I was working with branch versioned feature services?
If anyone could provide any clarification or feedback that would be great!
@Kabirr_mdcgis
