topic Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top? in Mapping Questions

Why is the basemap drawing on top?

CharlesBoas — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 04:23:56 GMT

I just installed ArcMap 10.4. I loaded an existing mxd that included the World Imagery basemap layer with features drawn over it. Despite being correctly positioned in the TOC, the basemap seems to be drawing on top and obscuring the features. What could be causing this?

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

JayantaPoddar — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 08:13:05 GMT

Hi Charles,

Make sure the "List by Drawing Order" is selected in TOC, and the basemap is at the bottom.

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

CharlesBoas — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 12:45:13 GMT

Thanks, got that, still got the problem.

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 12:49:57 GMT

are you talking 'features' (as features in a shapefile or geodatabase) or 'graphics'. And if you zoom to the full extent, are both in the same space when you toggle on/off the basemap. I just want to make sure they are in the same coordinate space

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

JayantaPoddar — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 12:50:40 GMT

Are the features displaying properly when the basemap is turned off?

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

CharlesBoas — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 00:52:54 GMT

Geodatabase features, and they are there when I toggle the basemap off.

Thanks

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

CharlesBoas — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 00:53:15 GMT

Yes they are, thanks.

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 01:43:32 GMT

So to summarize... the basemap is on the bottom of the list in the TOC, and when you toggle it on/off, the layers which are above it appear/disappear without you having to move to a new location/(zoom)..

Have you removed that basemap and replaced it with another one, and if so, did it exhibit the same behaviour?

You did a reboot of the machine?

You tried restarting with a new project, same basemap, different data? if so what happened?

as you can tell what you are experiencing is really really simple and some salient fact hasn't bubble up or ... you have identified a major issue.

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

CharlesBoas — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 03:49:49 GMT

your summary is correct.

I tried the steps you suggested and got some new info:

Loading different basemap; same behavior.

Reboot machine; no change.

Create new mxd with same data; at first it worked properly, all features

visible. The features were no longer visible when I applied rotation to

the data frame. As long as I set the rotation to zero, I can see my

features. When I set the rotation to a different value, they are

obscured. I experimented with several values, my preferred setting for

this map is 118 deg., only zero worked.

Charlie

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 06:08:57 GMT

I can only find few reference to rotation, 10.4 and dataframe

rotate map/layout in arcgis pro (2D)

00227: Cached map services do not support rotated data frames—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop

I would suggest filing a ticket to see if it is a bug... sorry, no more suggestions other than using a different projection for the dataframe

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

CharlesBoas — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 02:42:21 GMT

Thanks for your help, for now I will just capture an image of the

basemap and geo-reference it into the map. I will look into reporting it

as a bug.

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

CarlMorrison — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 14:28:32 GMT

Did you ever receive an answer to this issue? I am experiencing all of the same symptoms and also have tried the suggestions noted above to no avail.

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

AdrianWelsh — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 15:31:01 GMT

Carl,

Can you post a screenshot of your table of contents? Or a screenshot illustrating what is happening?

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

JoshuaSmit — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 22:50:29 GMT

Had this exact same issue. I ungrouped the basemap layer and that fixed it

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

HectorMendivil1 — Sat, 02 May 2020 21:00:24 GMT

That is the solution, take the imagery basemap out of the Base Map group, it seems like a bug but solved on this way, thanks @Joshua.

Re: Why is the basemap drawing on top?

James12403610234 — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 15:30:23 GMT

Six years later and I have the same problem! Lol

Thanks JoshuaSmit, ungrouping worked.

I hate using ArcMap. So many little bugs. It's so slow even with the required PC specs. ESRI really need some better competition to force them to improve their product. It's great in so many ways... but's it's also very frustrating at times.