Latest Contributions by ThomasHervey1

Summary of changes We are excited to announce that targeting Tuesday, July 9th, 2024 ArcGIS Hub will release the next download experience update for all map services, feature services, and image services on dataset content views. We understand how important it is to share your content simply and reliably. This release marks the next step in a process to promote confidence and reliability around downloads. The current download card is being replaced by a smaller and simpler card with a single download button. Important changes include: File generation: Hub either immediately downloads a up-to-date cached file (if "editor tracking" is enabled), or begins generating an updated file,; Progress: Cards display file generation statuses including "Downloading", "Pending"/"Processing", "Converting", and "Download complete"; Spatial reference: Files use the service's spatial reference instead of 4326*. The obsolete "Local projections" Hub site setting will be removed following this release; No files on your account: Downloading private items no longer creates files on your account, freeing up precious storage; Download API: Requests are made to a new Hub `v1` download API. In a future release this API will be documented for public consumption. Once released, these enhancements will be available on items from non-hosted services and services hosted in Enterprise. These enhancements are already generally available for items hosted in ArcGIS Online with "extract" enabled on the service. Note that the download cards will no longer support downloading a previously cached file or display metadata including the file size and the creation date of the cached file.     * With the exception of KML and GeoJSON which at this time are only supported in 4326. How can I try the changes today? Visit your content's explore view, append the following parameter to the URL and refresh the page, open the download panel, and test out the updated download cards.   &pe=temp:hub:content:downloads:unifiedList     Want more? We released an opt-in beta of an upcoming change to the ArcGIS Hub management experience. In this release, content managers can 1. review an activity log containing recently encountered download errors, and 2. schedule when Hub checks for content updates and updates download files. See how to try out workspaces today! Why make these changes? Remove unused and confusing features: You spoke and we listened. You have noted that certain download features are confusing, rarely used, and contribute to technical complexity. Examples include warnings around file generation times, confusing creation date metadata, and the option to download an outdated cached file. Generalize download functionality: ArcGIS Hub is continuing to offload responsibility and generalize download functionality to the ArcGIS platform. This opens the potential for other client applications besides Hub to offer a simple and reliable download experience. Strive for cimplicity and reliability: By calling the `create replica` operation on services, Hub is reducing technical complexity, which will mean faster troubleshooting and responses to support cases. What is coming next? This work is the next step in a series of improvements we've made to the download experience over the past several years. In February 2024, we released these features for certain items that are hosted in ArcGIS Online and have the "extract" setting enabled on the service. Rearrangeable download formats Customers can showcase the most valuable formats at the top whether they are out-of-the-box supported formats like CSV or Shapefile, or the custom links you've added to your metadata distributions.  Public download API: Use public documentation for the download API to programatically download content. This will be the first time that a download API is documented and supported for direct use. Enhanced error messages: Finer-grained error messages on the download card. Support on Enterprise Sites: Expanding these features to Enterprise Sites. Keep an eye out for this release (targeting July 9th) and get ready for a more streamlined and stable download experience for you and your and data users.  ... View more

Summary of update We know that a core goal of many ArcGIS Hub sites is to provide your community with easily discoverable, accessible, and reusable geographic content. That is why today we are releasing the first version of a map layout for searching and browsing site catalogs. Functional updates include: A new "Map" layout option on your Hub site's search route (e.g., `{siteURL}/search`), Seamless transition between the current "Location" filter and “Map” layout option, The ability to filter geographic search results as the map moves, Connection between the map and the gallery of corresponding results, so that when you hover over or select an item on the map, that result prominently shows in the gallery below.     Getting Started Consider a common workflow of a community member. They want to know what activities and projects are occurring in their neighborhood. Is there road construction happening near their workplace? Are there nearby volunteer tree planting events they could participate in? Has there a been a change to their local polling place? Geography is important to community members, so they can find what is most relevant to them. To determine what activities and projects are occurring in their neighborhood, they may start by searching a web search engine for open geospatial data that will answer their question. Once they land on your Hub site, they type a topic into an on-screen search bar and see relevant search results, but they aren't sure where those results are located. So, they type in their address into the "Location" filter, check the box next to "Filter as map moves" and see that the gallery of geospatial results. This is a good start, but they really want to see a map of geospatial results. With the new geographic search capability, they can now enable the "Map" layout and see a map appear with search result extents. They scroll through the gallery of results below the map, select a search result and watch the map zoom to and highlight that content.   How can you test this feature out? To start, make sure that your Hub site’s content items have geographic extents. Then, navigate to your Hub site's search page `{siteURL}/search` and select the "Map" layout. Often your catalog's content will share a similar and overlapping geographic extent. Hub layers geometries on the map so that smaller geometries are on top and easier to select. If a user selects a map location where there are multiple geometries, they can step through the results using the arrows within the pop-up. The new "Map" layout option allows users to see geographic content in-line with a gallery of search results.     Selecting a result on the map displays a pop-up card with details about the result. Select the title to further explore the content or use the arrows or list at the top to step through other results at that location. Common Questions What content will appear on the map? Currently, any item that has an extent set. What if my geospatial and non-geospatial content doesn't have an extent? Will it render on the map? Not on the map, but it will display in the grid below the map. You can still search and filter all results when viewing the map layout. Keep in mind that any item with geometry should have an extent automatically set to the geometry’s bounding box. Can I disable the map layout? Not yet. But we're working on adding configurations to search displays to hide certain layouts or set the map as the default. We are interested to hear what other search display configurations would be most impactful to your workflows.   What's next? This is just the start for geographic search. In Hub Premium, we've already added map-based discussions, and soon users will be able to search a map of Hub projects. We're considering enhancements for a number of content workflows that will help content managers, site managers, and anonymous end users. Here are just a few: Search for addresses and placenames from any search bar, Explore an immersive full screen map layout on desktop and mobile, Explore more granular geographies including custom-drawn locations or individual features, Content managers define configurable search catalogs including creating custom defined collections and configuring the search display (e.g., set the default layout, sort, and displayed order of filters).   We'd love to hear about your geographic search needs and workflows. Try out the new map layout and give us your thoughts on the feature and what you'd like to see next in the comments below.   Happy Hubbing!     ... View more

UPDATES - 2024-06-25: Minor language changes to clarify that this release is for feature service items that are hosted in ArcGIS Online only. ---   Data downloads and interoperability are cornerstones of ArcGIS Hub's open data principles. To better support user workflows and reduce headaches by content manangers, the ArcGIS Hub team is pleased to announce an upgraded download experience starting with Features Services hosted in ArcGIS Online. In this article, we will explain what is changing, how you can take advantage of these features today, and what download features are coming next.  We would love to hear from you, so please share your feedback in the comments and let us know what download and reuse features you would like to see next for ArcGIS Hub.       _________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents _________________________________________________________________________________   What's new with the upgraded download experience? On February 27th, 2024, Hub’s improved download experience for feature services hosted in ArcGIS Online, in beta during 2023, will become the default download experience for all users. Visitors to the content view of an item that uses a hosted feature service will automatically see the upgraded download experience. For details on what's changing and steps you can take to use the upgraded experience, keep reading.  Once released, users will see: Additional download formats including File Geodatabase (FGDB), Feature Collection, Excel, SQLite Geodatabase, GeoPackage.  A progress indicator that tells users when the system is "processing" a request to generate or update a file, and the percentage completed.  Download speed increases for items with a large number of records and/or complex geometry.  Download reliability improvements for fewer errors and generic messages.  Filtering support for public and private content; use the attribute table filters or precise on-map draw tools to download the exact records you need.   How can you tell if your item is already using the upgraded download system? In the top right corner of the download panel, you will see a "Hosted Downloads" badge and additional formats. Figure 1. Hosted download badge is visible in the top right corner of the download panel.   How can I use the upgraded download experience? At this time the upgraded experience is only available on items that 1. references a feature service, and 2. that feature service is hosted in ArcGIS Online. These items most commonly created either through the ArcGIS Online "Content" tab > "New Item" action or through a workflow when publishing a hosted service from ArcGIS Pro.  We encourage all content managers to try the upgraded download experience (in beta) today. Start by visiting an item's edit route in ArcGIS Hub by selecting the edit pencil. Then, select the download tab and enable both settings for 1. "Extract Capabilities" and 2. "Hosted Downloads."   If neither the download tab or those settings are available then the item is not a hosted feature service. Also, if the "Export data" setting is already enabled on the item within the ArcGIS Online home application, then extract capability is already enabled for the hosted service. Once completed, simply select the 'X' in the top left to view the content; open the download panel to see the upgraded download experience.   Figure 2. Try out the upgraded download experience today by enabling "Extract Capabilities" and "Hosted Downloads" within an item's Content Details in ArcGIS Hub. What else should I know? As mentioned previously, the upgraded download experience is only available for hosted feature services. Due to faster update cycles and increased reliability and performance, we strongly encourage content managers to shift existing non-hosted services over to hosted services when possible. However, we recognize that this is not an easy process and may not be feasible for all customers. We're working closely with the ArcGIS Enterprise team to expand support for downloads so that in a future release non-hosted services will also benefit from the upgraded download experience. What else has changed? Technically hosted downloads use the "create replica" operation on a hosted feature service. As noted above, create replica offers more download formats as well as reliability and speed improvements. However, several features are no longer supported including: option to download a previous version, download file size metadata, and file names that match the item name. We're working with the feature service team to re-introduce these features. _________________________________________________________________________________ What's coming next? We know how important reuse and downloads are to you and your end users, which is why in the first half of 2024 the Hub team is focused on improvements to the download features. Here's what we're considering:  Scheduled download updates will allow content managers to set an update schedule and simply forget about manually checking for updated download files. Scheduled download updates are ideal if you have items that are updated very infrequently and so Hub shouldn't check the service for updates. Conversely, if you have frequently updated data, schedule a daily download update and your users won't have to wait for files to generate. Improved error messaging will give simple explainations to end users and detailed actions to content managers when a download error occurs.  Rearrangeable download formats will let customers showcase the most valuable formats at the top whether they are out-of-the-box supported formats like CSV or Shapefile, or the custom links you've added to your metadata distributions.  Excited for more? Again we would love to hear from you, so please share your feedback in the comments on the experience and let us know what download and reuse feature's you would like to see next for ArcGIS Hub.  ... View more

Updated December 5th, 2023  Effective search and discovery tools help users browse, discover, and explore relevant catalog content. Over the past year, the ArcGIS Hub team has worked hard to develop an upgraded search experience. Changes are designed to offer a simplified user experience (UX), feature enhancements, bug fixes, and removal of low usage features.  This article highlights enhancements and steps you can take today to try out the new experience. You can find additional information in the "What's New on ArcGIS Hub Search" blog. We would love to hear from you, so please leave us feedback on the experience or let us know what you'd like to see next for ArcGIS Hub search. _________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents _________________________________________________________________________________   What's going to change and how do I prepare? On January 9th, 2024, Hub’s improved search experience, which has been in beta during 2023, will become the default search experience for all users. Any visitors to your ArcGIS Hub site's search page on `{siteURL}/search` will automatically see the upgraded search experience.  We encourage all site managers and collaborators to try the upgraded search view today. If you want to get a head start, you can enable the beta view for all users before the general availability release. At first glance, the search experience will feel familiar but with a few important enhancements. We've also rebuilt the search technology's foundation, making it easier and faster to add enhancements in the future.  Prefer the classic search experience? For a limited time after the general availability release, individual users can select the "Switch to classic view" link to revert to the classic search view. You may find this useful to compare the features between the classic and upgraded search experience, such as how search only return items, not all of an item's layers. Figure 1. Switch between the upgraded and classic search experiences or enable the experience for all users before the general availability release.   What's new on search?   Your thumbnails: front and center Love the look of your gallery but wish that users could search it? With the gallery or "grid" layout on search, your users will see smaller cards, thumbnails, and a summary of your content. In the future, we plan to offer actions directly from search results so that users can download, share, and leverage API tools for content. Figure 2. The "grid" layout switcher lets your users scan and browse in a more graphical way.   Enhanced filters While ensuring parity of popular features and filters, the new experience supports the following: Location filter lets users search and navigate to a place or address, and then filter results that intersect the map. Category filter now allows users to filter content by organization categories based on their hierarchy. Value counts show the popularity of filter values. and more including a sort direction, exporting a CSV of public content, removal of owner username metadata, and simplified auto-suggest.   Keeping layers together Before ArcGIS Open Data transitioned to ArcGIS Hub, the product focused on feature layers, not items. We made the decision to split layers into individual search results. However, as the ArcGIS Online ecosystem grew and users needed a better way to manage and showcase content, ArcGIS Hub began to focus on building support for item types. This makes layers search results difficult to understand for content managers and collaborators who are used to managing items, not layers. In some cases, one item may have dozens of layers. Based on substantial user feedback, the upgraded search experience only returns items. If you'd prefer to keep each layer as its own search result , we recommend publishing new items for each of your layers. Depending on your workflow, this may include 1. selecting each individual layer in ArcGIS Pro and publishing individually to your ArcGIS Server instance (see ArcGIS Server web help) or 2. publish individual layers directly from ArcGIS Pro to ArcGIS Online as a hosted web feature layer (see ArcGIS Pro web help). Looking foward, in Q2/Q3 of 2024, the ArcGIS Hub team is considering how to best match user searches against layer metadata, layer statistics, field names, and more. The team will work on showing matching layer(s) directly below the parent item search result. Figure 3. A comparison of search results and counts between the classic search and upgraded search experience. Users will only see items in search results. _________________________________________________________________________________ What's coming next? We know how much effort you put into curating a catalog, which is why we're using this upgraded search experience as a launch pad for easier, more powerful search configuration. Starting in Q1 2024, ArcGIS Hub will expand search to other features and focus on giving you more control. Here is what we're considering: Map search will bring geospatial data exploration to life. Global search bar will show content relevant to the current view but still let users navigate or expand their search from any page. Configurable collections will let you organize your content based on your needs. For example, define a "Healthcare" collection using a combination of type, tag, category, and other filters. Configurable search will let you hide, show, and rearrange filters, change the default layout, and more. Enriched search will let users search against more metadata and find relevant data faster. Excited for more? We welcome your input, so please leave us feedback or let us know what you'd like to see next for ArcGIS Hub search. Take a survey to give us feedback ... View more