Latest Contributions by BrandyPerkins

At version 1.18 of the QuickCapture mobile app, you can use Arcade expressions to calculate field values in captured records. Arcade provides another option to populate QuickCapture records beyond fixed values, user inputs, and device variables. You can calculate values with expressions using Arcade functions, operators, and input values from other fields in the target layer, or from other layers in the project web map. Why use Arcade Use ArcGIS Arcade expressions to streamline populating attributes for data field collection in ArcGIS QuickCapture and take advantage of Arcade's ability to reference and query other attributes and layers in the map. Arcade is a scripting language used in ArcGIS to perform calculations, manipulate data, and create custom visualizations. Using the integrated Arcade Editor in QuickCapture allows you to author expressions to calculate a value that gets written to a specific field. Arcade provides access to attribute values from other fields in the target layer or values and feature geometry from other layers in the project’s web map, allowing you to create expressions that include spatial operations such as buffer and intersect. For example, you can populate a field based on a point in polygon query that gets the name of a region in which a point feature was captured. Each expression you add is added to a list of expressions that you can reuse throughout the project. Writing expressions in the integrated Arcade editor The Arcade editor is where you'll create and edit Arcade expressions. In the QuickCapture web designer, you just need to select a project button, go to the Data tab, and for the field that you want to update, select Arcade expression as the input. Arcade expression selected as input for a Duration field Selecting Create new will launch the expression builder where you can write your first expression. Here is an overview of its functionality: The label input allows you to enter a unique name for your expression. This is helpful if you want to re-use it across multiple buttons and fields. The expression window is where you write the code. You can copy and paste samples like the examples provided here and then modify values to match your data. Or you can write   expressions using the options in the builder. The Profile variables tab offers a list of predefined variables, including attribute fields and geometry for the layer features and the project map. The Functions tab lists the Arcade functions. You can click the arrow next to each function to access its integrated help on parameters, syntax, and usage. Let's look at some common use cases. Calculate a value by referencing other fields To save time and minimize user interactions, it can be useful to write expressions that reference other fields in the captured record. You can calculate a value based on one or more fields that may have been populated from fixed values, user inputs, or device variables. Example 1 – I want to record the horizontal position accuracy as a category instead of a number QuickCapture allows you to record the position accuracy of features you capture using the horizontal accuracy (m) QuickCapture  variable. This returns a value in meters, for example, 10. However, if you wanted to record the accuracy as good, average, or poor, you could use the following logic: If horizontal accuracy < 5, return ‘good’ If horizontal accuracy >= 5 AND horizontal accuracy < 10, return ‘average’ Otherwise, return ‘poor’   When($feature.horizontalAccuracy < 5, 'good', $feature.horizontalAccuracy >=5 && $feature.horizontalAccuracy < 10, 'average', 'poor')   *To use this expression with your own data, replace horizontalAccuracy with the field name from your target layer (such as esrignss_h_rms). 💡TIP: When using $feature, you can see the field options as suggestions in the editor when you type the dot.  Or you can insert the full phrase from the Profile variables tab by selecting from the list of values—including one that gets the feature's geometry to use for spatial queries. In the Arcade window, click the Profile variables tab, and click the arrow next to $feature. In the list of fields, select the field to complete the statement in the editor. Example 2 - I want to calculate the duration for a captured track For line and polygon buttons, QuickCapture supports the ${startTime} and ${endTime} device variables. These variables capture the time that a line or polygon capture was started and stopped. We also have variables to calculate the length of the captured line, but none that record its time-based duration. In Arcade, there is a function called DateDiff(), which takes two date times and calculates the difference between them. If you configure your project to record the start time and end time in separate fields, you could use the following expression:   //Get the difference between the end and start times in seconds //and convert to minutes Round(DateDiff($feature.end_time, $feature.start_time, "seconds"), 1) / 60;   This expression calculates the time difference between two attributes and displays it in minutes with one decimal place precision. QuickCapture can then write this duration to the specified field in the captured feature. The DateDiff() function calculates the time difference in seconds between the end_time and start_time attributes of the feature. The Round function rounds the result of the time difference to one decimal place. The rounded result is divided by 60 to convert the value from seconds to minutes. NOTE: Although the DateDiff() function supports “minutes” as the unit parameter, using “minutes” returns the result as an integer (due to a Maps SDK bug). Therefore, the workaround is to return the result in seconds, and then manually convert it to minutes. *To use this expression with your own data, swap end_time and start_time with the field names from your target layer. Example 3 - I want to get layer statistics Suppose you wanted to calculate the difference between a captured feature's population and the average population of the other features in the target layer. The Arcade expression would look like this:   //Get the ‘population’ value from captured record //and subtract it from the average ‘population’ for the target feature layer $feature.population - Average($layer, 'population');   This expression gets the layer average for the population field and subtracts it from the population value entered in the captured feature. Note that $layer is the feature layer that QuickCapture is sending features to. So we can do things like get a feature count or summary statistic for any of the fields in this layer. You should note that the value returned by the calculation will exclude the feature that you are about to send from QuickCapture because the expression runs before sending the record. *To use this expression with your own data, swap population with the field name from your layer. 💡TIP: To get a field name from the target layer, click the $layer profile variable and select a value in the Field names section. Point in polygon queries You can also build an Arcade expression that queries other layers from your map and returns information from those layers to populate a field attribute for the new feature. In the web map configured for your project, add a feature layer from which you want the data. Use Arcade to access that layer as a FeatureSet (set of point, line, or polygon features in the map) and specify its information to use for attribute and spatial queries, such as point in polygon. 💡TIP: Search ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World for hosted feature layers to add to your web map and access with Arcade expressions. You can find layers about many different topics such as demographics and infrastructure. Although you need to be online for Arcade expressions to run in QuickCapture, you can still capture your features while offline. The Arcade expressions will automatically run once the device is back online (and the map loaded) and will be uploaded to ArcGIS. NOTE: While all layers referenced by your Arcade expression need to be online feature layers or tables (not Mobile Map Packages), Arcade expressions in QuickCapture will work whether you capture data online or offline. The following examples use the Intersects function to find a feature in the map ($map) that intersects the feature captured by the button ($feature). Example 4 - I want to know the name of the region a point was captured in It can be valuable to store the name of the region where a feature was collected. You could have the user manually select the region from a choice list (if they know it), or you could post-process the data. However, both these options require additional effort. A more efficient way would be to use an Arcade expression to get the name by performing a spatial intersection between the captured feature's location and a polygon layer that represents the regions. The following Arcade expression searches the web map for a layer called Regions and performs an intersect using the location of the captured feature. It then returns the name value from the selected polygon feature. NOTE: If your expression references a polygon layer by name, you must include that layer in the web map that’s configured for your QuickCapture project. Ensure that the layer name and field name in your expression matches what’s used in the web map layer.   // Create a feature set using the 'Regions' layer in the map var regions = FeatureSetByName($map, "Regions", ["REGION"]); // Intersect the current location with the regions and // get the first region var region = First(Intersects($feature, regions)); // If the current location does intersect a feature, // return the name of the region. Otherwise, return null if (!IsEmpty(region)) { return region["REGION"]; } else { return null; }   *To use this expression with your own data, swap the “Regions” layer name with the layer name from the map in your project and swap “REGION” with the field name from the layer that you want to return. This example uses geographic regions, however, it would work for any polygon layer, such as land parcels, vegetation types, population count, and so on. Example 5: I want to know the census block name for the start and end of a captured line Another variation using the Intersect function is to perform two intersects between a boundary layer and the start and end of a line feature captured in QuickCapture. For example, if your project is configured to record a track that represents the path a user traveled, you can use Arcade to also record the NAME of the Census blocks in which they started and ended. You’d need to write two separate expressions to update the start_block and end_block fields in the track layer based on which feature each intersects in a Census block layer. The 'Geometry' function retrieves the geometry of the current feature and accesses the first/last point of the first path in the feature set. The 'Intersects' function checks for the intersection between the 'Start_point'/'End_point' and the feature in the 'Blocks' feature set. If an intersecting block is found, it returns the value of the 'NAME' attribute from the 'Block' feature. Start block   // Create a feature set using the 'U.S. Census Blocks' layer in the map var Blocks = FeatureSetByName($map, "U.S. Census Blocks", ["NAME"]); // Get the point geometry of the start of the line var Start_point = Geometry($feature).paths[0][0]; // Intersect the current location with the Census Blocks and // get the first Block var Block = First(Intersects(Start_point, Blocks)); // If the current location does intersect a feature, // return the name of the Block. Otherwise, return null if (!IsEmpty(Block)) { return Block["NAME"]; } else { return null; }   End block   // Create a feature set using the 'U.S. Census Blocks' layer in the map var Blocks = FeatureSetByName($map, "U.S. Census Blocks", ["NAME"]); // Get the point geometry of the end of the line var End_point = Geometry($feature).paths[-1][-1]; // Intersect the current location with the Census Blocks and // get the first Block var Block = First(Intersects(End_point, Blocks)); // If the current location does intersect a feature, // return the name of the Block. Otherwise, return null if (!IsEmpty(Block)) { return Block["NAME"]; } else { return null; }   *To use these expressions with your own data, swap the “U.S. Census Blocks” layer name with the layer name from the map in your project and swap “NAME” with the field name from the layer. Get attributes from a nearby feature When you need to determine a specific location in the map that's nearest to the captured feature, you can use Arcade by finding the closest feature within a specified distance. For example, you could pair the Intersects and Buffer functions to populate a distance or name field, such as for the nearest medical facility, train station, or tree. Example 6: I want to know the name of the feature nearest to the captured point This example gets the name of the nearest medical facility. Here’s a summary of what the expression does: Declare all the variables. Get the geometry of the captured feature. Cycle through the features that intersect the 2000-meter buffer and get the minimum distance. The distance in meters is calculated between the current location and each point in the buffered area. If the distance between the feature and the last point is less, save the distance and name of the closest point. If the distance value is larger, ignore it. After iterating through all the features that intersect the buffer, return the name of the closest feature: the one with the smallest distance returned.   var facilities = FeatureSetByName($map, "Medical"); var point_fs = Intersects(facilities, Buffer($feature, 2000, "meters")); var min_dist = 99999; var nearest_medicalName = null; var geo = Geometry($feature); for (var point in point_fs) { var point_geo = Geometry(point); var dist = Distance(geo, point_geo, "meters"); if (dist < min_dist) { min_dist = dist; nearest_medicalName = point.name; } } return nearest_medicalName;   *To use this expression with your own data, swap the “Medical” layer name with the layer name from the map used by your project and swap name (in point.name) with the field name from the layer. Adjust the buffer distance and preferred units of measurement. Troubleshooting and known limits Next, we'll cover some things that you need to be aware of when writing your own expressions, especially if you're planning to write them from scratch. Arcade version The QuickCapture mobile app uses Arcade version 1.18. When using the Arcade Editor in the web designer (which uses Arcade version 1.24), refer to the integrated Arcade help to verify that the function you’re inserting is supported in version 1.18 or earlier. For example, if you search for DateOnly() on the Functions tab, the in-app help indicates that it’s available “since version 1.24,” so it’s not supported in the QuickCapture mobile app. Refer to the Arcade version matrix and release notes for details. Supported field types The mobile app cannot run calculations if the expression references system managed fields OBJECTID, GlobalID, CreationDate, Creator, EditDate, and Editor) because the app does not know these field values until the feature is submitted. To get a value for a user name or capture date, the expression must reference a field that’s populated with a device variable. Currently, project layers that contain the ArcGIS field types that were introduced in 2023 (DateOnly, TimeOnly, TimestampOffset, BigInteger) cannot use Arcade expressions in QuickCapture (they’re not supported by the Arcade version used by the mobile app).  As a workaround, if you have a layer with these field types, create a hosted feature layer view that excludes them and use the layer view in the project instead. 💡TIP: Arcade allows you to cast a value of one data type to another type. For example, to better format dates. It is best practice to handle casting within the script for full control of casting behavior to Number, Date, or Text return types. Spatial reference Arcade will use the spatial reference from the web map defined in your project. It will assume that all layers in the map share the same spatial reference when using geometry functions. Therefore, the mixing of spatial references is not supported. Reasons your expression may not run The expression is invalid. For example, a typo, an invalid field name, or the QuickCapture project is not referencing the correct web map. If your expression uses a field from a feature, you'll get a warning when testing in the Arcade Editor window unless you collect at least one feature: The editor runs the expression on the first feature in the layer, so if you have an empty feature layer for a new project, the test won't run successfully. Resources See Prepare a feature layer in the QuickCapture documentation for specific requirements. You must add fields to the feature layer for storing the information to be collected by the project. Refer to the ArcGIS QuickCapture documentation about using Arcade in your projects. If you’re not familiar with Arcade, you can find several Arcade resources in the Arcade documentation, including details about the QuickCapture profile. Try out the Arcade editor and test expressions in the Arcade playground. If you’re new to Arcade, learn more and practice using it with the Try Arcade tutorial series, which includes step-by-step workflows that use sample data.  For instructions specific to using Arcade in the QuickCapture web designer, see this tutorial. ... View more

In the November 2023 release, ArcGIS QuickCapture has a new integrated Arcade editor in the web designer. You can build expressions that calculate attributes for data collected with version 1.18 of the QuickCapture mobile app. Using Arcade expressions in QuickCapture projects is applicable to online and offline data collection workflows. The following steps provide guidance for writing your own expressions in the QuickCapture designer. This example populates a field based on a point-in-polygon query that gets the name of a region in which a point feature was captured. You can write expressions to return a value for the capture field using Arcade variables ($feature, $layer, and $map) and functions. To refer to layers in a web map using the $map variable, the web map must be saved as the project map. You'll start by creating a map for your project using a layer from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. Create a web map in Map Viewer by adding the World Countries Generalized feature layer from Living Atlas. Living Atlas layer selected for the map Create a Quick Capture project using the Run, Walk, Have Fun template and change the project map to use your new web map with the Living Atlas layer of world boundaries. Map changed in the project Click the Take a photo button, click the Data tab, and click the target layer’s info icon to open the item page so you can add the field. Info button for the target feature layer In the Details section of the item page, click FunRun to open the source layer’s item page. Item details with link to open source layer Click the Data tab, switch to Fields view, and click Add. Create a String field named Country. Add Field window for new Country field Return to the QuickCapture designer, save the project, and refresh the browser to see the new field on the Data tab. Scroll to the Country field and select Arcade expression from its options. Click Select expression and click Create new. Arcade expression chosen as input for the Country field In the Arcade window, type a label for the expression, which will appear in the Arcade expression list of options so you can use it in other fields or buttons for the project. Click the Profile variables (x) tab and click the arrow next to $map to access its layers. Expression label and Profile variables tab with arrow button selected for $map TIP: You can use the interactive panel to insert snippets and select layer and field references from the project’s map and layers. The Arcade window provides in-panel help for syntax and examples, Intellisense for suggestions as you type, and options to validate and format your expressions.     Click the arrow next to World Countries Generalized (the layer you added to your map) and scroll through the field names—you’ll use the COUNTRY field. Above the Field names section, click the FeatureSetByName function to insert the snippet. FeatureSetByName selected for the map to insert the snippet Click the Run button to test it out. This returns all the features in the map layer (a feature set). Run button and test result for FeatureSetByName Edit the expression to add a third parameter for [“COUNTRY”], so it only returns the COUNTRY field values for the features in the layer. Click Run to test the expression. COUNTRY field name added to expression and new test results To perform an intersect between the location of the point feature captured in the mobile app ($feature) and polygon features in the map’s countries layer, edit the expression as follows:   // Create a feature set using the 'World Countries Generalized' layer in the map var countries = FeatureSetByName($map, "World Countries Generalized", ["COUNTRY"]); // Intersect the current location with the countries and // get the first country var country = First(Intersects($feature, countries)); // If the current location does intersect a feature, // return the name of the country. Otherwise, return null if (!IsEmpty(country)) { return country["COUNTRY"]; } else { return null; } ​   Note: When your expression references a polygon layer by name, you must include that layer in the web map that’s configured for your QuickCapture project. Ensure that the layer name and field name in your expression matches what’s used in the web map layer. To use this expression for point-in-polygon calculations with your own data, swap the “World Countries Generalized” layer name with the layer name from the map in your project and swap “COUNTRY” with the field name from the layer that you want to return. 12. Click Create. Save the project and download the project to the mobile app. (You can’t test this expression in the designer until the target feature layer has at least one record because it uses the first feature to run the test.) 13. In the mobile app, select the Take a photo button to capture a feature and photo. Once the record is processed and the expression runs, select Send to send the feature. (QuickCapture runs the expression before sending the feature.) 14. To verify the collected data, return to your project in the designer and click the info icon for the Photos target feature layer to open its item page. Take a photo button selected in the project and info button selected for its target feature layer 15. Click Open in Map Viewer to verify that the new feature’s pop-up shows that the Country field is populated.  (You may need to configure the pop-up to turn on the field.) Sample web map pop-up for a captured feature with the Country field populated This example uses geographic regions, however, it would work for any polygon layer, such as land parcels, vegetation types, population count, and so on. For more information about using Arcade in QuickCapture, plus additional example expressions to try, refer to the blog post, Streamline field data collection in QuickCapture using Arcade. Here’s a list of the common use cases included: Calculate a value by referencing other fields Get values from other layers in the map (point in polygon queries) Get attributes from a nearby feature   ... View more

The latest update (version 3.5) of ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud released today. This update includes significant enhancements, bug fixes, and new tools to explore. Below is a summary. For more details, see this blog article.  New features and enhancements Add content from an improved layer library, including an updated set of OpenStreetMap layers and vector tile basemaps. Name your file on sync the first time you sync a map created in the extension. Duplicate AIX-generated mapboards. Beta — Create georeferenced PDFs with the extension when you sync a new map from the Compilation window or when you open an .aix file in Illustrator.  This beta feature can be used for testing purposes; it is not yet recommended for production use. Share your feedback here in the Community.  Use the same name as your .aix file instead of getting an Untitled file. Bug fixes BUG-000156147 Opening some Pro-generated AIX files fails in Illustrator 27.1 (Requires ArcGIS Pro 2.9.8 or later) BUG-000159848 Patterns in Legend don’t display as expected  Adding places to a map fails intermittently. Read more in this community post. Choropleth layers do not sync as expected. Read more in this  community post. Failure when signing into an ArcGIS Enterprise 11.0 portal when the print service is configured with a leading space in its URL. Mapboard in the Compilation window shows a mismatched extent when created with a specific size. Error when adding boundary layers from Living Atlas of the World in ArcGIS Enterprise. Failure to retain a basemap other than Topographic when duplicating a mapboard. Esri logo and data attribution text do not align when syncing a mapboard with rotation. We encourage you to download and upgrade to this latest version at your earliest convenience. (See Requirements for supported versions of Adobe apps.) We appreciate this community’s support and feedback and look forward to staying engaged to continue improving Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud. Sincerely, ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud team ... View more