topic Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents in ArcGIS Online Questions

Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

BrianHaren — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:02:03 GMT

ArcGIS Online (subscription account) now offers the ability to store certain non-spatial document types (PDF, JPG, TIF, etc) directly in the ArcGIS Online cloud. I'd like to use this feature to store documents (PDFs) that I use as linked documents in Map Notes feature pop-ups in my web maps. Unfortunately it appears that ArcGIS Online does not generate a URL for these documents once they are uploaded so I can't add them as a linked document.

Is there a work-around for this limitation? I need to provide these linked documents to customers outside our domain and having them accessed directly from our ArcGIS Online site is an ideal solution.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

MikeTschudi — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:24:41 GMT

Hi Brian,

http://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/<itemId>/data
works for me for PDF items shared with everyone, where the item ID comes from the URL of the ArcGIS Online item, e.g.,
http://<organization>.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=7e92720c9f264cd6b07c247c2e43b06

Mike

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

JohnPower — Tue, 28 May 2013 15:10:04 GMT

We would like to do a similar thing with linked PDF documents, but only want to share them within our organization. How would I configure the URL for that scenario?

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

MikeMinami — Tue, 28 May 2013 15:23:34 GMT

John,

The URL would not be different. Because the document is stored in ArcGIS Online, the same sharing rules apply. If you share the document with the organization, then only members of the organization will be able to view it. If they are viewing from the ArcGIS.com website, they can go to the item, click the Open button to download a copy of the PDF.

If you are writing your own application to access the PDF, then your app will have to authenticate the user, then use a token to access the PDF item.

hope this helps,

Mike

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

JohnPower — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:07:00 GMT

Mike,

Thanks for the suggestion. I did as you suggested, but when I click on the URL link I get the following error message:
"ArcGIS Portal Directory
You do not have permission to access this resource or perform this operation. Error: 403"

Thanks,
John

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

MikeMinami — Tue, 28 May 2013 20:58:57 GMT

John,

So you went to the item details page, and clicked the Open button and chose the Download option? And you saw the error message?

If you are trying to use the URL directly like mentioned above:

"http://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/<itemId>/data"

and, for example, embed it in a website, it won't work unless you write code to authenticate the user.

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

JohnPower — Wed, 29 May 2013 12:20:52 GMT

Mike,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I want the user to be able to view the PDF from a pop-up note. Where would I find information on writing code to authenticate the user, and using a token to access the PDF item.

Thanks,
John

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

JohnPower — Thu, 30 May 2013 15:39:20 GMT

Mike,

I spoke to one of our GIS Developers and he wondered why I would need to authenticate users when I am using an ESRI app template out of the box. To clarify, I did not write a custom app.

Thanks,

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

MikeMinami — Thu, 30 May 2013 19:25:01 GMT

John,

This is the workflow I was describing:

A member of your organization sign in to <org>.maps.arcgis.com.

Because you're shared your PDF, they can find it via search or other means.

They visit the page describing the item (item details page) and click Open.

There should be no additional sign in required as they are already signed in.

Depending on the browser, they may see the option to open or save the file.

My comment regarding authentication (sign in) would occur if they are not signed in already. For example, you might choose to copy the URL to the item and put it as a link on another web page, like a company web page. In this case, your website would have to authenticate the user.

To make it work from a popup in the same way (it won't display in the popup), the URL to the PDF would have to be an attribute value of your data. As long as the user is signed in, it should work. Alternatively, you could make the item public.

Mike

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

yeoannyvenetsanos — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 17:44:19 GMT

Hi Brian,

http://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/<itemId>/data
works for me for PDF items shared with everyone, where the item ID comes from the URL of the ArcGIS Online item, e.g.,
http://<organization>.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=7e92720c9f264cd6b07c247c2e43b06

Mike

I did this step and it seemed to work, although when you click on the hyperlink, the application takes you to the details page of the file instead of the file itself. Is there a way to hyperlink directly to the PDF? I was able to successfully do this, but there was an expiration constraint on the file. Any assistance would be most appreciated.

Yeoanny

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

BradleyMecham — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 19:20:55 GMT

@yeoanny

I assume since you asked your question over 2 weeks ago, you've either found an answer or moved on. However, this blog post made things clear for me:

http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2010/01/05/direct-links-to-items/

In short, if you go to the <organization>.maps.arcgis.com/... site, you get the details page, but if you link to the www.arcgisonline.com/sharing/... page, you get the resource.

My question, though, is a variation of JohnPower1's question:
1) I cannot make the file public--it is protected information
2) I've determined that I need code to authenticate the user requesting the file
3) I am currently unable to piece together the different examples and figure out how to do this from within my remote app (which references a map, and hopefully by the end of this process, other files hosted on uplan.maps.arcgis.com).

How do I attach authentication information obtained via IdentityManager--which successfully opens the correct, secured map--to a request to open a file (in this case a .pdf)?

That's my question. 🙂 Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

SimonRoss_User — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 15:13:18 GMT

Hi Bradley,

Did you identify a solution for this. We're trying to do the same thing right now. We have the option to host linked content outside of AGO but it's easier for our users if we can do it all within the AGO platform

Thanks

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

JohnTownsend — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 18:25:27 GMT

Has there been any update to this? It is 2017. I too am trying to open a file (pdf) stored on AGOL through a hypelink url within a web app. From what I can see is there is two options.

Hyperlink to the item information page. This requires the user then to click again to open the file. Unfortunately, the URL expires quickly after the file is opened so using the URL to try to open the document directly results in error (as discussed by yeoanny venetsanos).
Use external storage outside of AGOL and use hyperlinks to the file locations.

It sure would be nice to be able to directly link to content published within an organization. For now I'm going to have to default to using option number 2 though this seems a bit silly being the fact that all the other functionality is there within AGOL other than directly opening the file.

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

JTessier — Tue, 15 May 2018 23:33:15 GMT

Same request as what John suggests above, but for Portal for ArcGIS. If the user is logged into Portal already (via a separate tab even) then why would a direct link to the resource data not work?

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

paulkonings — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 04:31:59 GMT

Has anyone found a solution to this issue?
We cannot find an answer to the questions raised here anywhere.

Thanks.

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

CurtHarvey — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 18:13:22 GMT

Still no solution to this? Really?

Any ideas from anyone?

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

JTessier — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 16:32:12 GMT

Is this on the GIS ideas board? Or under development? Looking for a pdf added to On-Premise Portal to have a link *to the document itself* that is accessible to users when the item is only shared to the Organization.

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

AnthonyWhaleyUSFS — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 22:47:06 GMT

I also have this same question. Any update on this Esri?

Specifically, if I have an image, pdf, or spreadsheet to link to from a Dashboard or StoryMap. If that item is shared with my organization, how can I insert the item as a rest url to link directly to the document. Not to the item details page. That is just confusing for users.

From what I've seen the item has to be shared publicly (which is not an option for my organization and I would assume for others) in order to have the rest url at the bottom right of the item details page. If that is available, then this wouldn't be an issue.

Anyone else have suggestions?

Re: Using ArcGIS Online To Store Linked Documents

BrittanyBurson — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 16:13:14 GMT

Here looking for the same functionality from our Portal as everyone else. I've got two as-builts I want to load as PDF items, giving me a hyperlink I can add to features for users to open the PDF directly in the field. I can do this only if the item is shared as Public, otherwise run into token issues.