Problems sideloading vtpk via Files App in Collector IOS

[JakeJacobs]

I'm using Collector for ArcGIS 20.2.1 on iOS 13.4.1.

I am trying to follow the directions to sideload via OneDrive and the Files app instead of using iTunes on a laptop that is connected to the iPad.

I got the vtpk onto my iPad via OneDrive and was able to copy it and paste it into the Basemap folder of Collector. It did not show up in my offline basemaps.  

I then did the same vtpk via iTunes and noticed that it creates a folder with a guid name and puts the vtpk inside there, and that in iTunes you drop the file at the Collector level rather than in the Basemap folder. It showed correctly in my offline basemaps in Collector

So in Files on the iPad I copied the vtpk to the Collector folder. When I re-browsed to the Collector folder in Files, it had moved into the Basemaps folder inside a new folder that was auto-named.

However I still can't see the basemap in Collector, even though, to the eye, the result in the file structure looks like what happens from iTunes.

Not sure what to try next.

[ColinLawrence]

HI Erika,

I understand your concern about uninstalling; its something that we can do easily in testing that is less viable in some real world scenarios. 

I finally had the opportunity to test this a bit further to jog my memory and potentially found whats going on. Do you happen to be placing the .vtpk directly into the Basemaps folder using the Files app? Packages should be placed in the root Collector folder, as Collector has logic to distribute these in the proper location (indv folder under Basemaps) when the app is launched. For example:

I had a fresh install of Collector (no basemaps folder) and sideloaded a vtpk via OneDrive to the Collector folder. After closing and re-opening Collector I see the .vtpk as expected. Inspecting the Collector folder there is now the Basemaps folder and 1 folder under that, representing the .vtpk. I tried the process again with another vtpk, placing it in the Basemaps folder -- Collector did not recognize this one. I used the Files app to move the problematic vtpk from the Basemaps folder up to the Collector folder, closed and relaunched Collector, and found that Collector now recognized the .vtpk. Looking back in the Files app the .vtpk had been placed in its own folder under Basemaps as I would expect. Note: When using itunes to sideload a basemap it doesnt even let you access the basemap folder. This is the reason for the logic mentioned above.

It seems odd that you are only having issues with one vtpk in particular so I am not sure if this is the cause, but have you tried moving this problematic .vtpk to the root Collector folder and relaunching?

Regards,

Colin

[JakeJacobs]

I can confirm that my test was to use Files to copy the vtpk into the Collector folder, not any lower down. Once I reopened Collector, the vtpk moved into it's own folder (named with a guid) inside the Basemaps folder, as you described.  But it is not visible in my Basemaps list in Collector.

I just did that again to confirm that I still can't see it.

I only have one vtpk for testing but I made several copies of it and each time I transferred one of them via OneDrive and the above process I can't see it in Collector, but if I take the same file and transfer it via iTunes, it works just fine.

[Kylie]

Could you try using something other than OneDrive and the Files app, like maybe Box or Google Drive? If possible, do this with a copy of the VTPK that hasn't been in OneDrive -- once Colin mentioned it I do know we saw some oddness when trying to use OneDrive with the Files app.

[JakeJacobs]

No, sorry, no other file sharing apps allowed by our organization. I did email you the vtpk to try yourself though. Not sure if you were able to reproduce the issue. 

[Kylie]

I am not seeing the email with a VTPK - it might have been blocked in the email. Did you upload it to AGOL or have a OneDrive link I could try? (That said, I think all I'd be able to do is confirm for you that OneDrive is the problem in the workflow, and I'm not sure if that confirmation is worth the trouble of sharing it since you can't use other file sharing apps.)

[JakeJacobs]

Oops, you're right. I didn't email it; I just shared via OneDrive to your email address. It is too large to share via our email servers. 

[Kylie]

Could you email me the link to it? OneDrive hasn't notified me at all, so I'm not sure what I'd need to do to access it.