Runtime content label issue

Question

I find that maps rendered from Geodatabase do not look or behave the same way as it looks in ArcMap.  This has been a point of frustration for our customers who are building their runtime content.  I understand that the differences is expected because the map is rendered from two different engines, but the inconsistency and lack of documentation on these differences is frustrating.

Here is a map seen in Arcmap.

And here is the same map displayed at the same scale in ArcGIS Runtime.

Note the following:

- The freeway emblem does not show up.

- The white shadow behind the black text is not there.

- The label placement property is not observed (I've configured to duplicate labels - one per feature)

Is there any documentation on what is supported and what is not?

JeremyMullins4 · Answer

This. This. A thousand times, this. Thank you for bringing it up, and I have promoted your ArcGIS Idea.

I did notice that in the errors, when attempting to use the Maplex label engine and generate runtime content, that it states that not all label properties are supported in ArcGIS Runtime content (code 24076); to me, this reads that some of it can work. Have you experienced any success at all with the Maplex Label Engine? I already figured out (through trial and error) that label expressions, halos, and shadows are currently deemed "complex", and therefore do not fall into the pervue that is "simple" labeling.

It seems like you have already done some extensive testing on what does and doesn't work for runtime content; I have been working on this exact task for almost a year now. I'd love to compare notes and see what else does or doesn't work; who knows - maybe we could give an extensive list here (or elsewhere) concerning what we have found thus far.

Thanks for the hard work!

HuyHo · Answer

Hi Adam,

Thanks for raising the issue to Esri.  The kind of pain you are going through is exactly what we tried to avoid by providing the known limitations within our documentation.  But unfortunately, we ourselves do not know all the limitations until someone reports it to us or when we stumbled upon it.  It is frustrating at times for sure.

AdamRepsher · Answer

Hello Huy!

I believe we have emailed before!

Obviously, we are having the same issue here - a lack of documentation.  I have posted a request for this to be fixed at this link: Create Runtime Limitation List.  Please vote for this idea so that Esri might see the light and fix this issue.  Every vote counts!

I am going to also post a few other Ideas about Creating Runtime Content - like fixing the labeling issues that I have found, adding Maplex support, labeling expression parsing support, and honoring feature definition queries.  I will post links to those here also.

Thank you!

--Adam