Pop-ups disabled on hosted feature layer but I can still select features

Question

Hello, wondering if someone has any ideas on why this is happening. I have a layer on my AGOL map that is required for an arcade expression. But I don't want users to see or interact with the layer. Right now, I have it on the map - turned on with transparent symbology and pop-ups disabled. This is how I've found it needs to work for the expression to work but remain invisible to users.

The issue is that even with pop-ups disabled on the layer in Map Viewer it can still be selected in Map Viewer and Experience Builder. I'm creating a portal for users to export data on other layers through an Experience Builder app.

Does anyone have ideas on why this is happening? Everything I read says that if pop-ups are disabled then you shouldn't be able to select.

CassNEGIS · Answer

The issue, for me, is that I want the pop-ups on the map for layers X and Y, but not layer Z when the pop-up should appear in the Feature Info widget. That's perfectly doable currently individually, but turning the pop off for Z also means it's not selectable by default and breaks the flow of the app.

For my Experience, I have the popups and widgets handled with a separate map so you can filter and select away without changing what is displayed on the map itself with the intent that the user can click on any parcel and have the relevant info appear in the Feature Info box off to the side, keeping the map visible while they look at the info. Within that map, there are several other layers that may be of interest to the users but there's no good way to make the popups work for them without also making the map all but unusable if you want to just select a parcel.

It is frustrating that the most reasonable way to set something like this up is to have a mess of arcade functions working behind the scenes trying to anticipate any possible combination of data users will seek.

TonghuiMing · Answer

if pop-ups are disabled then you shouldn't be able to select

This is true, but be aware of the context - you would not be able to select features using the mouse click (the way pop-ups show up). If you use something like a selection box (map select tool/Select widget), that is done by querying the features using geometry from the server, and it has nothing to do with or should be controlled by the pop-up settings.

Hope it helps,

Tonghui

ChelseaP · Answer

I do want selection / pop-ups on for all layers in the map except one.