topic Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL in ArcGIS Online Questions

How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

Trippetoe — Thu, 17 May 2018 19:11:53 GMT

I am trying to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted feature layer view through the Admin view of the REST endpoint of the feature service. The change i am trying to make is setting some default values in the 'templates' element. However, regardless of the changes i try to make to the definition, i am getting the following error message:

Invalid definition for 'DefinitionQuery'.
Invalid definition for System.String

Even for the simplest change of setting "lastEditDate" : " ", I get the error message. I am the owner of the view.

The definition query (as generated by AGOL when creating the view) looks like this:

{
...
"viewDefinitionQuery" : "(IsActive = 'Yes') AND (CaseType = 'Report') AND (ReportStatus = 'Received')",
"definitionQuery" : "(IsActive = 'Yes') AND (CaseType = 'Report') AND (ReportStatus = 'Received')"
...
}

Any thoughts on what's going on?

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

Trippetoe — Wed, 23 May 2018 15:40:12 GMT

Esri Tech Support has verified that this is a bug in AGOL. The bug number is #BUG-000114175

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

larrycamp — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:35:20 GMT

Is the bug the whole method of using Update Layer Definition?

Or is the bug related to this poster's Def Qry only?

I'm running into similar problem trying to update a field to nullable = false.

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

JohnMarino — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 20:42:15 GMT

The issue appears to be with having a Definition Query applied to the Feature Layer View when attempting to update its 'definition.'

In case anyone else encounters this error message, here is a workaround that was successful for me:

remove all definition queries for the feature layer view [edit: be sure to save your definition queries for later retrieval, or at least remember what they are]
update the definition of the feature layer view
re-enable any definition queries previously removed in step 1

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

Anonymous User — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 14:30:34 GMT

I had the same exact issue as described by Tom Rippetoe‌ and this 3-step process worked like a charm. I hope there's a bug fix coming soon on this or at least a more useful error. Anyway, in my opinion this should replace the current Correct Answer as it provides an actual workaround rather than a link to a promise of fix. Thank you for sharing, John Marino!

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

MichaelVolz — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 14:50:00 GMT

Thanks for sharing that information John. That is the best part of GeoNet!!!!

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

Trippetoe — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 16:29:43 GMT

Works for me. i updated the correct answer.

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

RobBurke — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 23:56:57 GMT

How do you carry out the first step? "remove all definition queries for the feature layer view"

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

fklotz — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 12:44:16 GMT

Steps that worked for me:

Navigate to the ArcGIS REST Services Directory page for the specific layer within your Hosted Feature Layer
Use the "deleteFromDefinition" REST end point, passing it both the "viewDefinitionQuery" and the "definitionQuery" from the layer in your view. e.g.,

{ "viewDefinitionQuery" : "(field1 = 12345) AND (field_name_two = 'bobsyeruncle')", "definitionQuery" : "(field1 = 12345) AND (field_name_two = 'bobsyeruncle')" }

After step 2 is complete, use the "addToDefinition" REST end point, passing it ONLY the "viewDefinitionQuery", ESRI will add the "definitionQuery" for you automatically. If you try to pass both, you will get the "Invalid definition for System.String" error.

{ "viewDefinitionQuery" : "(field1 = 98765) AND (field_name_two = 'slurm is tasty')" }

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

ArmstKP — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 16:45:29 GMT

This bug still exists as of today.

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

ChristopherCounsell — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 02:32:14 GMT

Can you contact tech support? They closed this bug as non-reproducible. I feel like you and I and others hit this page and assume it's a bug but no one contacting support.

The issue is reproducible for my on the layer definition (i.e. featureserver/0, /1, /2 etc) but it looks like it's not reproducible on the parent service (featureserver/). So a good workaround may be to update the service definition. Either way would be good if you can touch base with support so we can have this issue properly reognized if it's still a thing.

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

ChristopherCounsell — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 22:17:36 GMT

BUG-000114175 has been closed as 'non-reproducible'.

BUG-000155365 has been opened.

The error does not occur for the 'update service definition', i.e. when you do it at the root layer level.

The error does occur for the 'update layer definition', i.e. when you go into one of the sublayers of the service and try to update there.

Esri had closed off this issue however long ago but it's now been reopened as BUG-000155365. Please contact support and attach yourself to this issue if you continue to encounter it.

I believe it should be possible to update the sublayer definitions through the service definition - we should be able to workaround the error this way instead of having to remove the definition query.

@ArmstKP FYI

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

fklotz — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 21:25:39 GMT

The latest BUG on this is marked as "By Design". The fix is quite easy to implement, but it is annoying that Esri's error messaging is not better or that the updateDefinition doesn't take care of these things by itself.

From the bug page:

Bug ID Number BUG-000155365

Submitted	January 25, 2023
Last Modified	October 12, 2023
Applies to	ArcGIS Online
Version found	November 2022
Operating System	Windows OS
Operating System Version	11.0 64 bit
Status	As Designed

Additional Information

When updating a layer definition from REST, it is recommended to only include the part of the definition that is being updated. Including the entire definition may cause the update definition to fail. The "definitionQuery" cannot be updated by updating the layer definition. However, you can update the "viewDefinitionQuery" without including the rest of the layer definition including the "definitionQuery".

End of bug page content.

What this means is when you update the definition query, you only need to include the elements you want to update. For example, if the bottom of my layer's definition shows:

"maxRecordCount" : 1000, "standardMaxRecordCount" : 32000, "tileMaxRecordCount" : 8000, "maxRecordCountFactor" : 1, "capabilities" : "Query", "viewDefinitionQuery" : "CreationDate > timestamp '2023-01-01 05:59:59'", "definitionQuery" : "CreationDate > timestamp '2023-01-01 05:59:59'", "exceedsLimitFactor" : 1, "layerOverrides" : [ "allowGeometryUpdates", "capabilities", "ownershipBasedAccessControlForFeatures" ] }

and I want to modify the maxRecordCount and the view's definition query, I would submit the following to the updateDefinition end point:

{ "maxRecordCount" : 5000, "viewDefinitionQuery" : "CreationDate > timestamp '2024-01-01 05:59:59'" }

Looking at the layer definition afterwards, we can see that those elements have been updated:

"maxRecordCount" : 5000, "standardMaxRecordCount" : 32000, "tileMaxRecordCount" : 8000, "maxRecordCountFactor" : 1, "capabilities" : "Query", "viewDefinitionQuery" : "CreationDate > timestamp '2024-01-01 05:59:59'", "definitionQuery" : "CreationDate > timestamp '2024-01-01 05:59:59'", "exceedsLimitFactor" : 1, "layerOverrides" : [ "allowGeometryUpdates", "capabilities", "ownershipBasedAccessControlForFeatures" ] }

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

fklotz — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 21:40:37 GMT

BUG-000155365 is closed with a status of 'As Designed'.
Some folks don't have access to bug pages, so here is the additional information from that bug:

What this means is that instead of including the View's complete layer definition in the 'updateDefinition' REST end point, you only need to include the relevant parts. To update a view definition, you only need to include the viewDefinitionQuery:

{ "viewDefinitionQuery" : "CreationDate > timestamp '2024-01-02 05:59:59'" }

Submitting that will update the 'viewDefinitionQuery' and Esri will update the 'definitionQuery'.

Re: How to use the Update Definition operation on a hosted layer view in AGOL

Jesse_WI_DNR — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 15:40:23 GMT

Thanks for this tip. Sure would be nice if there were documentation on this!