topic Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error in ArcGIS Collector Questions

Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

Anonymous User — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 14:44:24 GMT

I am writing a campsite collection form that uses Collector and Survey 123. I set this up using Arcmap's custom URL scheme. The user can select a site in collector and two links are included in the pop-up. One says Resurvey Campsite the other says Survey New Site. The resurvey link has a rather lengthy URL that attempts to pre-fill many of the fields of survey123. This worked other than the attributes that I had custom expressions to set correctly. The final bit the resurvey link sends the coordinates of the campsite using another custom expression.

Unfortunately, the custom expressions would work on my desktop, but when I opened collector on the iPad issued to me, they would not. I posted on this issue and was informed that Collector Aurora would support custom expressions in the URL link. I signed up for the beta and had fair success with the iPad. Some custom expressions still didn't send but coordinates did, and they were the most important one to work.

Now that Collector (Aurora) is officially out, I went out and field tested the two apps to discover that custom expressions are once again not working on my iPad or Samsung Galaxy phone. I am curious is this is a known issue and can be fixed or not, as it is rather pivotal that I can at least send the coordinates of the point to Survey 123. Below is my custom URL scheme for the resurvey link and the steps I went through to test if the custom URL was truly the issue

Resurvey Campsite Link - (&center={expression/expr2} is the non-functioning part)
arcgis-survey123://?itemID=1284e4815d4c4995b5809f1a51a83f9f&field:District={expression/expr1}&field:Wilderness_CRD={expression/expr3}&field:Wilderness_BRRD={expression/expr4}&field:Wilderness_CRRD={expression/expr5}&field:New_Site=no&field:Date_Orig_Collection={calOrigYear}&field:Campsite_ID_Number={expression/expr0}&field:Dist_Along_Trail={Dist_Along_Trail}&field:Ground_Dist={Ground_Dist}&field:Tree_Damage={Tree_Damage}&field:Disturbed_Area={Disturbed_Area}&field:Overall_Imp={Overall_Imp}&field:Between_Trail_Stream={Between_Trail_Stream}&field:Water_Source={expression/expr7}&field:Water_Dist_FT={Water_Dist}&field:Social_Trails={Social_Trails}&field:Main_Trail_Designated={Main_Trail_Designated}&field:Trail_Dist_FT={Trail_Dist}&field:Impact_Area={expression/expr6}&field:Litter_Trash={Litter_Trash}&field:Pot_Site_Expan={Pot_Site_Expan}&field:NNIS_Presence={NNIS_Presence}&field:Site_Condi={Site_Condi}&field:Rec_Site_S={expression/expr8}&field:Admin_Structures={Admin_Structures}&center={expression/expr2}

Resurvey Campsite Link Output on Desktop
arcgis-survey123://?itemID=1284e4815d4c4995b5809f1a51a83f9f&field:District=CRRD&field:Wilderness_CRD=&field:Wilderness_BRRD=&field:Wilderness_CRRD=MT&field:New_Site=no&field:Date_Orig_Collection=2007&field:Campsite_ID_Number=1&field:Dist_Along_Trail=&field:Ground_Dist=1&field:Tree_Damage=1&field:Disturbed_Area=1&field:Overall_Imp=3&field:Between_Trail_Stream=&field:Water_Source=1&field:Water_Dist_FT=45&field:Social_Trails=%20&field:Main_Trail_Designated=&field:Trail_Dist_FT=-100&field:Impact_Area=3&field:Litter_Trash=%20&field:Pot_Site_Expan=Medium&field:NNIS_Presence=Unknown&field:Site_Condi=Fair&field:Rec_Site_S=&field:Admin_Structures=N%2FA&center=34.745047%2C%20-83.844254

Expression/expr2 - Code to calculate geometry
function metersToLatLon(mx, my) {
   var originShift = 2.0 * PI * 6378137.0 / 2.0;
   var lon = (mx / originShift) * 180.0;
   var lat = (my / originShift) * 180.0;
   lat = 180.0 / PI * (2.0 * Atan(Exp(lat * PI / 180.0)) - PI / 2.0);
return [lat, lon];
}
var poly = Geometry($feature);
var result = '';
if (!IsEmpty(poly)) {
   var latlon = metersToLatLon(poly.x, poly.y);
   result = Round(latlon[0], 6) + ', ' + Round(latlon[1], 6);
}
return result;

Process for Testing Error

After noticing the error in the field, I retested each device in the office

Desktop (Success) iPad (Error) - Newest Collector App Android (Error) - Beta App

I then created a third link that only included the code to send the coordinates and tested it on each device
Link - arcgis-survey123://?itemID=1284e4815d4c4995b5809f1a51a83f9f&center={expression/expr2}
Desktop (Success) iPad (Error) - Newest Collector App Android (Error) - Beta App

Finally, I created one more link that sent a fixed coordinates instead of using the custom expression

Link - arcgis-survey123://?itemID=1284e4815d4c4995b5809f1a51a83f9f&center=34.734837%2C%20-83.916739

Desktop (Success) iPad (Success) - Newest Collector App Android (Success) - Beta App

Thank you for anyone who has made it this far, I would really appreciate any help on resolving this bug as I'm super excited about using Collector and Survey 123. Good work!

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

MarkBockenhauer — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 17:04:38 GMT

I tried the following with a map in Collector (IOS) and it passed the coordinate via an expression to Survey123

var polyx = text(centroid($feature).x);
var polyy = text(centroid($feature).y);
function metersToLatLon(mx, my) {
   var originShift = 2.0 * PI * 6378137.0 / 2.0;
   var lon = (mx / originShift) * 180.0;
   var lat = (my / originShift) * 180.0;
   lat = 180.0 / PI * (2.0 * Atan(Exp(lat * PI / 180.0)) - PI / 2.0);
return [lat, lon];
}
var latlon = "";
var result = "";
var latlon = metersToLatLon(polyx, polyy);
result = Round(latlon[0], 6) + ', ' + Round(latlon[1], 6);

return result;

For the link

arcgis-survey123:///?itemID=7e7dd26a96db4338bcdae969d9d05398&center={expression/expr0}

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

Anonymous User — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 18:37:43 GMT

Thank you for the response. I tried your code in place of mine and had the exact same result as mine. It works on my desktop (windows 10), but not on my iPad or android phone. I used the link you provided (and was thankfully able to open your water leak report survey) and also had the exact same problem. The coordinates were passed just fine on my desktop, but did not work on my iPad or Android.

When you say it worked for you in IOS, where you using a mobile device or a desktop?

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

MarkBockenhauer — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 18:57:07 GMT

I opened this webmap https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=0062ba474d7b467dad3e6f75ffd6a7a8

In Collector and tapped a polygon for Popup.

Could you try this map?

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

Anonymous User — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 19:15:19 GMT

Further update, I realized when I say it is working in desktop that I was opening that from the arcmap online map that I've used to design the app.

I opened the actual collector app on my windows computer and it failed to send the coordinates to survey123 as well. This isn't too surprising though as this is still the older version of collector and not aurora (I'm fairly certain).

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

MarkBockenhauer — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 19:24:13 GMT

Definitely need to use New Collector for this. Were you able to try the map I referenced in Collector on IOS?

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

Anonymous User — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 20:22:21 GMT

I was able to try your map, both in Arcmap Online and on my iPad. It worked perfectly both in displaying the coordinates and the link to survey123. I then mimicked your design and added the geometry expression to my pop-up. This finally found the actual issue! Below is the screenshot of Collector on the iPad. The section that says Coordinates: is where I have my custom expression which as you can see is outputting 0.000312, -0.000754. This is why my survey123 is opening at 0, 0.

The only difference between our maps that I could immediately think of was that mine is prepared for offline use. So I made a copy of my map and didn't have it set up for offline mode. I then opened it on the iPad. It works perfectly! As you can see below, the coordinates are reported perfectly (and the Resurvey Campsite link sent the correct coordinates to Survey123. This clearly shows that the map being in offline mode is somehow affecting the custom expression, but I'm not sure yet how. When I'm back at work tomorrow I plan to test the other custom expressions to see if they are changing at all between online and offline mode. Thank you so much Mark! I have been so frustrated by this and your help has gotten me to the actual problem finally!

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

WarrenCarver1 — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 16:03:33 GMT

So I have got it working now!

Long story short in online mode the code

text(centroid($feature).x);

outputs

-9331888.963170711

This then needs to be converted to longitude to be sent to Survey123.

In offline mode though, the exact same code

text(centroid($feature).x);

outputs

-83.829785

This is already in longitude and does not need to be converted to be sent to Survey123. Since the conversion was still being run though, Survey123 was being sent something that is approximately 0. I have no idea why this change happens, but I made a small edit to Mark's geometry code that checks if the absolute value of

var polyx = text(centroid($feature).x);

is greater than 10,000. If it is, then it runs the conversion, if it isn't then it doesn't. This means the custom expression is now working in the Arcmap Online map and on the Collector Aurora (I have tested it on my iPad). Such a simple fix that was ridiculously frustrating to find! Here is the full code for anyone else who runs into weird issue.

var polyx = text(centroid($feature).x);
var polyy = text(centroid($feature).y);
function metersToLatLon(mx, my) {
   var originShift = 2.0 * PI * 6378137.0 / 2.0;
   var lon = (mx / originShift) * 180.0;
   var lat = (my / originShift) * 180.0;

   lat = 180.0 / PI * (2.0 * Atan(Exp(lat * PI / 180.0)) - PI / 2.0);
   return [lat, lon];
}
var latlon = "";
var result = "";
var latlon = [];
if (Abs(polyx) > 10000) {
   latlon = metersToLatLon(polyx, polyy);
}
else {
   latlon = [Number(polyy), Number(polyx)]
}
result = Round(latlon[0], 6) + ', ' + Round(latlon[1], 6);

return result;

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

MarkBockenhauer — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 16:35:39 GMT

Warren,

How are you taking the map offline?

I used a Map Area (pre-planned) and did not reproduce your experience (it worked as expected), did you use Collector to take the map offline (Adhoc)?

I will be sharing this experience with the team. There are plans on the Arcade side to allow for specifying the coordinate system of the coordinates, but until that work is completed and delivered, this is really good to know.

Thanks,
Mark

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

WarrenCarver1 — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 17:19:35 GMT

Mark,

As the collection is being done in Forest Service Wilderness areas, offline mode was a necessity. Under the map settings I have offline mode enabled and have defined 12 offline areas. Below is a screenshot of my specific maps settings. I want to make sure I'm answering your question correctly as this is the only way I thought you could use a map offline.

Another difference I can think of is that the data I'm accessing (the point feature layer) is the output feature layer for my Survey. Not sure if that makes sense, so my survey R8 Wilderness Campsite Survey outputs data to the feature layer (hosted) R8 Wilderness Campsite Survey. This layer is in the Online Map titled AT/Wilderness Campsite Inventory that is set to Offline Mode Enabled for Collector. I have then created a view layer of R8 Wilderness Campsite Survey that filters the data so that only select sites are displayed. This view layer of the survey layer is the specific feature layer (sorry for saying layer so much there), that I am using the custom expression with and that this effect occurred.

Finally, I formatted all of our old campsite data to match the format of the R8 Wilderness Campsite Survey feature layer and uploaded it into the layer using Update Data > Append Data to Layer. These are all the things I've done that I can think of that might impact my map behaving differently to what is normally expected.

If any of that blathering doesn't make sense or further info would be helpful, please let me know! Again, thank you for the help!

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

MarkBockenhauer — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 18:54:29 GMT

Thanks for your write up. In a different context (ArcGIS Pro) I have noticed that in some instances the geometry function will return values in the coordinate system of the source data, while in others it returns values in the coordinate system of the map. I mention this because your result difference -9331888.963170711 vs. -83.829785 Is what I have seen while using a similar expression in ArcGIS Pro - Labeling vs. Popup vs. Calculation - same expression yields different results. It would appear that there is something in the webmap use case that triggers similar inconsistencies.

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

JoshConrad1 — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 15:12:52 GMT

@MarkBockenhauer @DougBrowning @JamesTedrick @IsmaelChivite

All:

I have been experiencing the same issues described in this thread: trying to create an attribute expression that calculates lat/long coordinates from a hosted feature layer, then integrate Field Maps with Survey123 to open a form and have the geopoint plot the submitted survey on top of the feature using the result of the attribute expression using a custom URL via the custom URL popup (&center=).

I have been using the "Expression/expr2 - Code to calculate geometry" formula called out in this post (and a multitude of others on the community page) and it was correctly calculating the coordinates in ArcGIS Online Web Viewer Classic, but then when we tested this functionality in the field, the point was not mapping.

I found that the original formula in the "Expression/expr2 - Code to calculate geometry" results in an Array data type, with associated brackets. These brackets do not show up in ArcGIS Online, but when you view the popup in Field Maps, you can see the brackets. So because of this, i tested further and in the original function, i removed the brackets in the result line, which worked but was not perfect. It was not perfect because the coordinate results ended up being truncated to 2 decimals, and even though the submitted form was executing, the point was being plotted hundred of feet away.

After 10 hours of testing and researching these threads (which by the way, all of the contributions are EXPONENTIALLY HELPFUL AND I AM SO GRATEFUL OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE) i was able to find the CORRECT SOLUTION:

1.) Create an attribute expression for latitude:

var lat;
var originShift = 2.0 * PI * 6378137.0 / 2.0;

lat = number(Geometry($feature).y / originShift) * 180.0;
lat = 180.0 / PI * (2.0 * Atan( Exp( lat * PI / 180.0)) - PI / 2.0);
return lat;

2.) Create an attribute expression for longitude:

var lon;
var originShift = 2.0 * PI * 6378137.0 / 2.0;

lon = number(Geometry($feature).x / originShift) * 180.0;
return lon;

3.) Because of the "number" identifier, In ArcGIS Online Web Map Viewer Classic go to Configure Popups, make sure your pop up display is custom, then the important step is to click Configure Attributes. Navigate to the newly created expressions and expand the decimal places to a minimum of 5.

4.) Lastly, in the custom URL make the "&center={expression/expr3},{expression/expr4} where expr 3 is Lat and expr 4 is Long.

I have been testing since i discovered this and it has been running smoothly. Happy Mapping!

Re: Collector (Aurora) Custom Expressions in Custom URL Scheme Error

JeffLegato1 — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:43:15 GMT

the CORRECT SOLUTION:
1.) Create an attribute expression for latitude:
var lat;
var originShift = 2.0 * PI * 6378137.0 / 2.0;
lat = number(Geometry($feature).y / originShift) * 180.0;
lat = 180.0 / PI * (2.0 * Atan( Exp( lat * PI / 180.0)) - PI / 2.0);
return lat;
2.) Create an attribute expression for longitude:
var lon;
var originShift = 2.0 * PI * 6378137.0 / 2.0;
lon = number(Geometry($feature).x / originShift) * 180.0;
return lon;

I got this working in FieldMaps.
THANK YOU!