Using JavaScript Maps SDK to Optimize User Interactions with Large Related Datasets

rwrenner_abtglobal — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 18:25:24 GMT

We're looking for guidance on how to extend the functionality of ArcGIS Dashboards and/or Experience Builder using the JavaScript Maps SDK.

The map in our app visualizes a many-to-many relationship between points and polygons:

Each polygon is affected by multiple points.
Each point affects multiple polygons.

We’ve used a join to simplify this into a 1-many relationship, but the underlying data still reflects a many-to-many relationship.

The goal: create an interactive experience where the user can click a polygon to display the points affecting it. Currently we envision representing points as a multipoint feature but are open to alternatives.

The challenge: These interactions are currently very slow. We suspect the bottleneck stems from the size of the data being queried and/or the process of rendering it on the map.

Therefore we’re interested in exploring how the JavaScript Maps SDK can operate within or alongside Dashboards or ExB to:

Improve query efficiency for interacting with large datasets.
- While the current approach simplifies the many-to-many relationship into a 1-M relationship via data joins, we are considering alternative methods. For instance, one suggestion was to use a querying table to work more directly with the many-to-many relationship, rather than relying on the 1-M data structure in the map. If this approach is feasible, we wonder whether it could reduce the amount of data being processed at once and improve performance.
Optimize rendering of geometries, especially for large or complex datasets.
Potentially precompute or cache results to speed up filtering actions
(e.g., clicking a polygon to view the points that affect it)
- We’ve encountered challenges with getting a vector tile layer (with feature enabled) to cache in AGOL and consistently fails without explanation

We’d appreciate guidance on:

Best practices or patterns for using the JavaScript SDK in similar scenarios.
Resources or examples of using the SDK to enhance ArcGIS Dashboard or Experience Builder performance.
Tips for leveraging SDK features (e.g., FeatureLayers, custom widgets, or client-side processing).

If you’ve tackled similar performance or querying challenges using the JavaScript Maps SDK, we’d love to hear your insights! If there is a more appropriate question board on which to post this inquiry, that would also be helpful to know.

Thanks in advance!

topic Using JavaScript Maps SDK to Optimize User Interactions with Large Related Datasets in ArcGIS JavaScript Maps SDK Questions

Using JavaScript Maps SDK to Optimize User Interactions with Large Related Datasets