topic Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced in ArcGIS QuickCapture Questions

Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

MarkC1 — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 14:21:32 GMT

I'm aware that it's possible to use an offline map/basemap with Quickcapture by creating a MMPK file and selecting this as the map in QuickCapture Designer.

My use case is that I have a polygon feature layer and I am capturing point locations within different polygons using quick capture. I need the polygons visible on the map to aid navigation and to know which polygon I am in. The polygon feature layer is updated on a regular basis (daily) however.

I don't want to have to have to create a new MMPK file every time I add a new polygon to my feature layer. I need to be able to navigate in areas where mobile phone coverage is limited.

Is there a way to keep the feature layers in my offline map up to date?

Edit:

To update on the behavior I'm seeing:

1. Creating a MMPK using "Share" -> "Package" -> Mobile Map in Arcgis Pro

Using a MMPK created in this manner with QuickCapture results in only those features that were present in my feature layer at the time of making the MMPK are visible. Any features added after this won't be in the MMPK

2. Creating a MMPK using "Create Mobile Map Package" in Arcgis Pro and Checking "reference online content"

If the QuickCapture project is open and running the map stays visible which is an improvement on above. The features do remain up to date if I add a new feature to my polygon layer however if there is no internet connection before opening the project the map will not load so the project has to be opened while the device has a internet connection. Not ideal if the app crashes or is accidentally closed when there is no connectivity as it is impossible to reload the map then.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

IsmaelChivite — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 00:06:33 GMT

Hi. The workflow you describe is not supported at this moment. You would need to update the mobile map package and have users download it, which is unlikely practical given that the package changes daily. This is an area where QuickCapture needs improvement. It would not hurt if you log an official Enhancement Request via Esri Technical Support and or ArcGIS Idea.Thanks for your question.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

JohnathanHasthorpe — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 11:55:10 GMT

Hi Mark

To add to this

We are planning to add support for offline areas. This means that you can link an associated map area to a project. In ArcGIS Online map areas can be configured to update on a daily basis and this would pick up any new features added to the included layers. The user of the app would see updates in the app so that they could download the updates if they are online.

Thanks

John

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

MarkC1 — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 12:03:17 GMT

Hi Johnathan, that sounds like it might be what I need. Any idea of when 1.8 will be released?

Edit

Just to clarify on my second point, this is only the case when the MMPK is made with hosted feature layers and when the "reference online content" option is checked in the Arcgis Pro geoprocessing tool. If I make a MMPK without checking "reference online content" then there is no problem opening this in QuickCapture when the device is offline. However this brings me back to my original problem in that the features in the MMPK won't be up to date from this point forward.

If it were possible to make the MMPK with "reference online content" and to be able to open this Quickcapture project while my device is offline that would be perfect.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

JohnathanHasthorpe — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 23:32:43 GMT

Hi Mark,

We have added a fix for the issue you are seeing with MMPKs referencing online content. This is a wider issue affecting offline maps in general. This will be available in 1.7 that is due for release later this week.

Thanks

John

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

MarkC1 — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 23:37:19 GMT

Excellent news! Thanks!

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

JohnathanHasthorpe — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 00:01:22 GMT

You can try the fix here: Welcome to our Customer Validation site Build 1.7.44

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

MarkC1 — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 22:24:14 GMT

I just tried this now and the map now opens when the device is offline. However there are no features present which I assume is expected behaviour?

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

JohnathanHasthorpe — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 07:13:53 GMT

Hi Mark, yes the device needs to be online when the project map is opened for the first time, otherwise, you won't see the data coming from online layers. Once loaded, you can go offline and still view the data loaded from these online layers, but won't be able to get any updates.

Cheers

John

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

MarkC1 — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 13:04:47 GMT

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

PaulDoherty2 — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 03:43:38 GMT

Jonathan -

I’ve setup a QuickCapture Project so it points to a web map that has offline areas, but I’m not seeing them anywhere in the app. When I go offline it shows the grey placeholder map (not a map). Has this been implemented yet or is it delayed? I saw something about “map areas” in the json but didn’t want to mess with it since I couldn’t find any doc.

I look forward to this capability!!!

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

MarkC1 — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 17:11:28 GMT

Hi @JohnathanHasthorpe . Does Quickcapture now support webmap areas? Was this ever implemented? I've been checking to see but haven't been able to get it to work.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

JohnathanHasthorpe — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 11:57:04 GMT

Hi Mark, support for offline areas has not yet been added. We need to overcome some technical issues before doing so.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

MarkC1 — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:05:18 GMT

Ok thanks for the update.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

rescuemap — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 10:25:37 GMT

@JohnathanHasthorpe is there updated documentation on these workflows? The product page is severely lacking on detail on what is / not possible. Seems like this is a very very common requirement but not good instructions as to what is not "pretty beta"

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

JohnathanHasthorpe — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 07:17:41 GMT

@rescuemap - Here you go:

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/quickcapture/help/editproject.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_9A1D5F1502084266B7FBF9B4420E5BAF

Thanks
John

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

Shashibhushan — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 02:10:53 GMT

@JohnathanHasthorpe

Hi Johnathan, Is there a visible timeline to support offline area in QuikCapture? We are in a trial phase of the project to implement the daily inspection activity by 300 plsus users and it requires offline areas. All our users will be in remote areas and without offline areas, we can't implement QuickCapture.

https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/manage-data/take-maps-offline.htm

In the above page "Take web maps offline", QuickCapture is not yet listed.

Re: Quick capture offline - keeping things synced

EricaNova — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 20:20:02 GMT

Is there a page somewhere that describes the offline capability of Quick Capture and how to set it up? I'm following advice from the page "create mobile map package" to create an .mmpk for offline use of my Quick Capture project, but it seems quite buggy and lately, I can't see my basemap when I'm in offline mode. I wonder if the few times I've been able to see my map have just been because I've panned around in my map when online and a view of the map remains when offline.

I've spoken to ESRI support and they've told me the following, which matches my experience but might contradict your response earlier in this thread (users should be able to see previously collected data when offline).

.tpkx, .vtpk or .mmpk with the "reference online content" box unchecked

When online or offline, you will be able to see the basemap you created with the correct symbology. If the hosted feature layer that is being collected on in this project is included in this package, the points that were present at package creation will be in the correct symbology you set up.
New points collected while offline in the app will be in the default symbology (that you did not set up).
Once back online, the newly collected points will send and will disappear. Only points that were present in Pro when the package was created will be visible. The newly-collected points will not be visible. The package is like a snapshot in time and would need to be re-created with the updated points if you wanted to see those in the map in the app.

An .mmpk with the "reference online content" box checked

If the hosted feature layer that is being collected on in this project was included in the package when it was created, when using the app offline, you will not be able to see the points (neither those that were present when the package was created, nor the newly-collected points). The documentation you had sent me in your previous email specifically says that this is "for use on devices connected to the internet".
When online, you will be able to see the points present when the package was created, and they will be in the correct symbology. Newly collected points will appear in the default symbology. Once the points are sent, you will need to click out of the project, return to your workspace, and return to the project to see the newly added points on the map (in the correct symbology).
So this is the only option for the updated data to appear in the QuickCapture map without re-creating the package, but it only works while online. While offline, you won't see any points for the hosted feature layer at all, not even the ones that were there when you created the package.

@JohnathanHasthorpe I know you mentioned trying the beta version of the software but I need to be able to provide this to staff so I think I'm only going to work with the current stable build.