topic Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents in ArcGIS Online Questions

Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

JamesCucinelli — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:02:46 GMT

I am trying to create an arcgis.com online map with congressional districts from my arcgis server as the top layer and then cancer mortality rates mapped thematically with county or state polygons from a different arcgis server service.

If I add congressional districts first, they appear.

then I add county rates, they go on top.

If I go into the Table of Contents and move the congressional districts back to the top, they don't really move to the top in my map.

any suggestions?

Thanks,
James Cucinelli

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:26:01 GMT

I can't reproduce this. Can you share your web map with everyone and post the URL to it here?

thanks,

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

StephanieWidas — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:33:20 GMT

James,
Did you get this resolved? I have also noticed that the order in the table of contents does not reflect the draw order. For example, I have a point layer at the top of my table of contents and a line layer at the very bottom. The lines draw on top of the points. What is interesting though - - it draws correctly if the map is viewed on a mobile device (smart phone, iPad, etc.). When viewed on a desktop (doesn't matter what browser, IE and Firefox do the same), the draw order doesn't match the table of contents.
Thanks,
Stephanie

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

JamesCucinelli — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:25:44 GMT

I never got this resolved. And I just found more errors. New Post to come soon.

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

StephanieWidas — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:46:50 GMT

James,
I'm kind of curious...are you using only map services? Have you tried uploading zipped shapefiles? I've noticed that the draw order in the table of contents is not recognized when I use map services, but it seems to be ok if we use uploaded shapefiles. We need to use map services because our data changes so often, so I hope Esri can fix this.
Thanks,
Stephanie

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:16:13 GMT

Stephanie,

Can you share your map and post the URL to it here?

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

StephanieWidas — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:21:17 GMT

Mike,
Here is a link to the map:
http://bit.ly/yINTdI
This map is using our map services. As you can see, the trails are at the bottom of the table of contents, but they are drawing on top of our point layers.
Thanks,
Stephanie

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

StephanieWidas — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:54:34 GMT

Mike,
I wanted to add just a little more information about this unusual draw order behavior. With regard to my trail map posted above, the last two linear layers are the Nature Trails and the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The Nature Trails are drawing underneath the point layers as they should, but the Swamp Rabbit Trail is the one that is drawing on top of everything. If I move the Nature Trails down in the table of contents, then move the Swamp Rabbit layer back down, then move the Nature Trails down again, and repeat that cycle several times, eventually my Swamp Rabbit Trails are drawn under my point layers. Save map... Close map... Open map. Swamp Rabbit is drawing on top of everything again. It's just strange so I thought I would point it out. Perhaps it might help with troubleshooting and solving the problem.
Thanks again,
Stephanie

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:01:28 GMT

Stephanie,

Your problem appears to be a bug. This should be fixed when we update the website in a few weeks. As a workaround, you might try explicitly add the layers in the order you want to appear, bottom to top, rather than trying to arrange the order later. I've not tried this with the number of layers you have, however...

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

StephanieWidas — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:04:31 GMT

Thank you, Mike. The trails layer was the first layer I had brought in, but I know I had rearranged some of the point layers after they were added to the map. I recreated the map as you suggested, bringing in each layer in the order I want them to draw so I didn't have to rearrange any of the layers. The map seems to be drawing correctly now. I'll just have to remember not to move around any of the layers! 🙂

When the fix comes out in a few weeks, will it fix maps that already exist? Will I be able to move the layers around in this map and other maps that I have already created? Or will the fix only apply to maps created after the bug is fixed?

During the process of recreating this map, I also noticed that I couldn't change the symbology on any of the layers once I set unique symbology on the trails. As long as I kept the default colors/lines for the unique symbology, everything was ok. After I selected my own colors and line thicknesses for the trails, I could no longer change the symbology of the other layers in my map. I found a work around - - I just had to make sure that all of my symbology (single symbols) was set the way I wanted it before I created any unique symbology.

Thanks again,
Stephanie

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:39:30 GMT

I'm not 100% sure it will fix existing maps...however, what I was able to test out is that any reordering of layers is being preserved. If it doesn't fix the map immediately, I believe if you reorder some layers, then save your map, it probably will fix any problem.

As far as your symbolization issue, I am not able to reproduce this looking at your map.

http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e0e52db628584b93a1be91abe33c6d77

I was able to change the symbols of, for example, the trail caution areas. What browser and version are you using? Can you try clearing your browser cache and opening the map again?

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

StephanieWidas — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:51:09 GMT

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your response. I have the problem changing the symbology in both Firefox (9.0.1) and Internet Explorer 7. I cleared the cache as you suggested, but it did not have any effect. I tried a few things and I discovered that if I save the map and sign out, the next time I open the map I can change the symbology. Simply saving the map, however, doesn't help. I must close out of it and reopen it on ArcGIS.com. Once I change the symbology on the trails layer (unique symbology), I can't change my other layer until I save, close and open the map again.

Here is a test map with just two layers, a point (single symbol) and a linear layer (unique symbology):
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=ec05ddcc1fdd4efdb788a99b44a9a41d

If I change the color of one of the trails (let's say I change primary trails to purple) and then I try to change my points (for example, to a blue pushpin), the points do not change. To change the points, I have to save, close, and reopen the map.

On a side note, the points are drawing under the trails. The trails were added first, then the points... and the layers were never rearranged. In this case, the order in which the layers were added doesn't match the draw order - and there are only 2 layers. :confused: Fortunately, your work around fixed my other map though!

Thanks again,
Stephanie

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:58:20 GMT

Thank you for taking the time to document the symbolizing problem. I can reproduce the problem and will document this issue. Unfortunately, it won't be fixed for our upcoming release in 2 weeks, but we'll get it in the next one. This problem only seems to appear when you override an individual symbol when using the unique symbols option. You can symbolize the points by changing the lines to single symbol again, symbolizing the points, then using unique symbols for the lines again.

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

EmilyGreenlee — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:16:25 GMT

I am encountering the same problem as described above. ArcGIS Online content draws on top of all other layers each time I open my map, despite re-ordering and saving it in the table of contents. The map is here:http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=7e48bd9161ca41f5b3aa9fa670cf15c8 and the "Counties" layer, specifically, keeps appearing on top. Please advise.
Emily

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

AngeloMarino — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:17:39 GMT

I have created a map several times using both a map service and a feature service. Regardless of how I bring the services into the map, the map service always goes to the bottom of the draw order. I would like to bring it to the top. Is there any way to do this?

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:53:32 GMT

Nashua,

No there is no way to draw map services on top of feature services. Map services return images that the web browser displays as an image. Feature services are vectors drawn by the browser and always appear on top of images.

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:47:16 GMT

Emily,

We can reproduce your issue and are investigating it.

Thanks,

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

AngeloMarino — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:21:13 GMT

Nashua,

No there is no way to draw feature services on top of map services. Map services return images that the web browser displays as an image. Feature services are vectors drawn by the browser and always appear on top of images.

Thanks,

Mike

Thanks. The reason I need a map service and a feature service is because feature services do not support labeling so I use the same features in the map service for labels. Is that in the works for a release some time soon?

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:31:04 GMT

Nashua,

Sorry, the wording in my post above was backwards. It should have said "there is no way to draw map services on top of feature services". This is something we can't overcome because the implementation relies on the browser's ability to draw on the page. All features in a feature service are drawn by the browser over the page.

I suppose another option would be to allow feature services to support labeling. I have not heard anything on this front, so I don't believe anything will happen soon. Perhaps even a third option would be to support some sort of labeling layer.

Is it possible to add the layer that represents your feature service into the map service? Or perhaps you are editing the features.

Mike

Re: Order Layer Problem - Table of Contents

MikeMinami — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:57:32 GMT

Emily,

We have tracked down the problem with the counties appearing on top of the contents. Unfortunately, there is not an immediate fix,as the issue is a bit complicated. This will not be fixed in our upcoming release. However, it is logged as an issue that we will address in the following release. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks,

Mike