topic Re: Problem updating multiple fields with same domain definition in ArcGIS API for Python Questions

Problem updating multiple fields with same domain definition

jsidborn — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 11:51:21 GMT

Hi,

We are having problems when we want to update the field defintion on a featurelayer that is hosted on a featureservice in ArcGIS Online. We want to update the domain definition on multiple fields that uses the same domain.

Domain defintion:

"domain": { "type": "codedValue", "name": "YESNO", "mergePolicy": "esriMPTDefaultValue", "splitPolicy": "esriSPTDefaultValue", "codedValues": [ { "name": "No", "code": "1" }, { "name": "Yes", "code": "2" } ] }

This domain is used on multiple fields in a feature layer that is hosted in ArcGIS Online.

We call the update_definition in Python like this:

from arcgis.gis import GIS import arcgis import json gis = GIS([AGOLURL], [USER], [PWD]) fs = arcgis.features.FeatureLayer([FeatureServiceURL], gis) update_dict = json.loads(...json field defintion...) check = fs.manager.update_definition(update_dict)

JSON field defintion:

"fields": [ { "name": "field1", "domain": { "type": "codedValue", "name": "YESNO", "mergePolicy": "esriMPTDefaultValue", "splitPolicy": "esriSPTDefaultValue", "codedValues": [ { "name": "No", "code": "1" }, { "name": "Yes", "code": "2" } ] } }, { "name": "field2", "domain": { "type": "codedValue", "name": "YESNO", "mergePolicy": "esriMPTDefaultValue", "splitPolicy": "esriSPTDefaultValue", "codedValues": [ { "name": "No", "code": "1" }, { "name": "Yes", "code": "2" } ] } }, { "name": "field3", "domain": { "type": "codedValue", "name": "YESNO", "mergePolicy": "esriMPTDefaultValue", "splitPolicy": "esriSPTDefaultValue", "codedValues": [ { "name": "No", "code": "1" }, { "name": "Yes", "code": "2" } ] } } ]

The result from that call is SUCCESS and it updates all fields.

BUT the name of the domain for each field changes from what I except "YESNO" to field1_[number], field2_[number], and so on.

Does anyone have some input how to solve this? or if I am missing something. I have checked that we dont have missed out any fields in the feaure layer that uses the same domain.

We have ArcGIS Pro 3.1.3 installed at the moment.

Re: Problem updating multiple fields with same domain definition

PeterKnoop — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 21:25:45 GMT

I've had the same experience. It seems that in ArcGIS Online, a field's domain is defined within the field's definition, meaning a domain only applies to that one field. You cannot re-use one domain across multiple fields in a hosted feature layer, like you might be used to doing in ArcGIS Pro, such as with a feature class in a file geodatabase.

(Intriguingly, there are a couple JSON keys in a typical feature service definition, hasSharedDomains and supportsSharedDomains, which might hint at the possibility of sharing domains across multiple fields? However, I have not found any documentation that describes how to use them.)

Re: Problem updating multiple fields with same domain definition

Clubdebambos — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 08:45:12 GMT

One day these shared domains might come into fruition. For now, each domain for that layer must have a unique name, so AGOL is probably noticing that you are breaking that rule and renaming the domains for you.

Re: Problem updating multiple fields with same domain definition

jsidborn — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:19:51 GMT

Thank you for the tip on hasSharedDomains and supportsSharedDomains in the service definition. When i set them to true it worked 😀.

I have tested on a hosted feature service with multiple layers with fields where they all share the same domain and it works.

Re: Problem updating multiple fields with same domain definition

Clubdebambos — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:20:50 GMT

This is nice to know. I have some workflows to update now 😅