topic Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations in ArcGIS Online Questions

New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

FaithSJohnson — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 12:55:41 GMT

The problem that I'm having is that when using the New Map Viewer in ArcGIS Online to edit data in a web map, folks are able to view and edit all fields of the layer, even fields that have been set to not visible and/or not editable.

Background: I published layers and created views. After I created the views in AGOL, from the Data tab, I configured the pop-up to make some fields not editable but visible, and some fields not editable or visible, and several fields both editable and visible. Then I added those layers to a web map (classic viewer) and saved it.

Behavior in classic map viewer: when a user clicks on a feature and edits it, or adds a new feature, they do not see any fields that are set to not visible, and if the field is set to visible but not editable, they can see it, but they cannot add data to it (it's grayed out).

Behavior in new map viewer: when user clicks on Edit on the right panel and then chooses either edit a feature or add a feature, they have access to view and edit every field of the layer, regardless of the visibility and editability of the pop-up configuration. Now I will note that when a user simply clicks on a feature to view the information, the pop-up configuration is honored as far as which fields are visible. I do not see anywhere in the new map viewer where it is honoring the "Edit" property of the pop-up configuration that is set at the layer level.

If there is a way to restrict the user from editing certain fields within a layer in the new map viewer, please let me know. However, this could potentially take a long time as we have so many layers and maps that would need to be updated. I'm concerned that our users all have access to the new map viewer and can now edit every field.

@jtmouw1

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

jcarlson — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 14:09:22 GMT

I can confirm similar behavior in my maps. If the layer is editable, all visible fields are editable.

The workaround here (warning: it's tedious) is that recently AGOL added the ability to toggle editing per field. So I guess it's more accurate to say, if the layer is editable, all visible fields are editable if their settings allow it.

Item → Data → Fields → Field → Editable

It's a really fantastic addition, and you'd only have to change it once per layer / view, but there's not really another way around it at this point.

To make it less tedious, you could do this via the Python API. If you look at FeatureLayer.manager.properties, you can find the fields section, which looks like this (emphasis added):

"fields": [
    {
      "name": "OBJECTID",
      "type": "esriFieldTypeOID",
      "actualType": "int",
      "alias": "OBJECTID",
      "sqlType": "sqlTypeInteger",
      "nullable": false,
      "editable": false,
      "visible": true,
      "domain": null,
      "defaultValue": null
    },

Using update_definition, you can adjust the editable property that way as well. Depending on how many layers you're trying to update, it might be quicker to do up a python loop.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

ChristySpielman — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 21:38:09 GMT

It seems this solution only works for 'hosted' layers. I'm using feature services from our SDE. Does anyone know how to disable editing of specific fields either in the service creation or ideally in AGOL? Hopefully we'll get field level control in the new Map Viewer soon.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

MarkEastwood — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 18:09:37 GMT

@FaithSJohnson

Have you found a way to disable editing on specific fields in the new Map Viewer?

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

FaithSJohnson — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 18:53:52 GMT

@MarkEastwood - look at the reply to my comment from @jcarlson . There is a way to configure it at the layer level.

Unfortunately this has to be done to all of our views, which is a-plenty. In the meantime, if people open one of our maps in the new map viewer, they have full edit access to all of the fields!

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

BrookeAumann — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 22:29:46 GMT

Bumping again for visibility. Any fixes on this yet or documentation? My work flow includes multiple maps hitting the same hosted feature layer (haven't figured out hosted views yet) and I was using this for different field editing for different maps/ users. Maybe this is a way to force hosted views? If there is a better workflow using the New Map Viewer I'm all ears.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

NaomiBegg — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 04:15:42 GMT

I'm also having issues with this. I have a map I created in Map Viewer Classic. By default maps now open in the new viewer so they do not honour the attribute editing settings I selected.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

PeterGoedbloed1 — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 12:01:57 GMT

Yeah, it is a really nice addition, however the advantage of the popup settings is that fields can be editable or not editable in different web maps. This setting applies to all webmaps a layer is in. I really need this option, back to classic!

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

JimW — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 13:06:34 GMT

Same issue here. Setting the Editable setting on the layer itself is not an option as some fields need to be editable at other stages of our workflow.

Here is my configured pop-up:

When someone goes to edit this same point every single field in the feature layer is available for editing. I didn't include all fields but this demonstrates the issue.

This is not a good thing. I'd like to see my pop-up as configured above but only the fields that can be editable will be editable.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

MJBiazar — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 15:11:57 GMT

Hi all,

It seems like this issue is caused by a defect in Map Viewer. A bug has been logged against this behavior:

BUG-000139878 - Hidden fields are visible and editable when editing a feature service in Map Viewer.

Best,

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

FaithSJohnson — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 15:46:31 GMT

Is the fix planned for an upcoming release?

This continues to be a problem for us.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

ChristySpielman — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 20:27:59 GMT

Yes, this continues to be a problem for us too. For example, I need users to be able to see the Unique ID of records but I don't want them editing those of course!

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

GrantHoward1 — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 20:07:36 GMT

Yikes! This is a pretty bad bug. With this bug there is no more data integrity! We have users that use the Old Map Viewer, the New Map Viewer and mobile devices. So far from what I can tell this bug only has affects within the New Map Viewer. So if I don't use the New Map Viewer can I be assured that all my layers within all my maps will continue to honor the 'configure attributes' settings I've applied? I hope this is a high priority fix for ESRI.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

DavidRichey — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 22:41:37 GMT

Hi @MJBiazar , thanks for this confirmation. Did this work at one point? Memory tells me it did... In ay case, do when the bug will be addressed? It would be great to have the edit hot link on the popup to edit attributes giving the user fewer clicks just to get to the attributes.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

MJBiazar — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 21:28:12 GMT

Hi all,

This issue is planned to be addressed to some extent in the upcoming release (currently planned for tonight 12/8). With this fix, Map Viewer will honor the attribute fields configuration and won't allow editing fields that are set to not-editable in the pop up configuration for the feature layer.

In order to hide some attribute fields, you can use view layers and set attribute definitions. By doing so, the fields that are not included in the view layer won't be visible and hence not editable in the Map Viewer.

(*In the new release creating a view layer interface has been updated to provide a better user experience)

And... here is the more exciting part and a sneak peak to a new functionality in this ArcGIS Online release which provides a better experience for controlling fields visibility and editability.

Now you can use Forms (similar to what you might be already familiar with in Field Maps) in Map Viewer to control which field should be visible/editable on your map when adding/editing features.

I hope this answers your some of your questions and provides a viable solution. Please feel free to post any additional questions here or by reaching out to Technical Support.

All the best,

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

FaithSJohnson — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 16:09:49 GMT

I checked the new map viewer with an existing map and things look great! When I edit a feature, I can see fields that are set to visible, but not editable, and I cannot edit them. I cannot see fields that are set to not visible (I don't have any fields set to not visible but editable). It's exactly how I expected it to work.

MJ - thank you for the thorough response with screenshots. I'm so pleased that Esri finally fixed this! I like the new form capability as well, that will help us make a better editing environment in AGOL.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

JTLancer — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 16:36:41 GMT

This appears to be fixed in the New Map Viewer. However in the Classic Map Viewer, I am still seeing cases where this is not fixed. See screenshots below. This is an address feature service published from our Enterprise. All attributes are unchecked to disable editing of any attributes.

I can definitely still go into edit mode and expose every field for editing.

Thanks for the update @@MJBiazar , but ESRI may want to look into this some more specifically in Classic Maps. I'm not sure why @GrantHoward1 was not seeing this in the classic map viewer but I certainly am. I agree that this is a major oversight that could have some catastrophic consequences. We as an organization have many edit apps out there and to think that everything is potentially exposed for editing every field is more than unsettling.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

GrantHoward1 — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 17:39:54 GMT

Good Morning,
I agree with @FaithSJohnson - thanks for ESRI for fixing this issue, and I too am excited to try using the form capabilities in the new map viewer.

Hi @JTLancer , I just checked a couple of layers in a couple different web maps in the classic map viewer and I am not seeing any issues regarding the attribute settings for 'display' & 'edit' settings like you have in your screenshot. I also only previously saw the issues in the new map viewer. I never did see those issues in the classic map viewer. The layers I checked were hosted features.

Thanks,
Grant

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

JTLancer — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 17:49:43 GMT

@GrantHoward1 After some further testing on my end, the issue appears to be fixed when I create a new map and use the same feature service and modify the display/edit attribute settings. I wonder if the maps that I created before were during a window of time when this was not working and is persisting. The maps that I have tested were both created over the last couple of weeks.

Anyhow, I will follow up with ESRI support regarding the issue. Thanks for your feedback.

Re: New Map Viewer Does Not Honor Field Configurations

CFrost — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 15:55:43 GMT

Any advancements on this issue? I use Enterprise which I have found is last to get some of the updates that AGOL receives. I've reviewed the potential solutions and it doesn't appear that these are options currently. It's far from ideal when having to use non technical staff to create and edit data.