ArcGIS Online Is A Web Filesystem For ETL Tools
There are many ways to read data with the ArcGIS Data Interoperability extension. Convenience matters, and users also appreciate not having to make copies of data to get their work done.
On a recent webinar we showcased the Esri ArcGIS Connector package and mentioned using ArcGIS Online as a web filesystem, but there was no time to demonstrate the feature, so here we go in this blog, bringing together the convenience of file storage in ArcGIS Online with simple browsing to these files in ETL tools, including the Quick Import system tool.
In an earlier post I was working with GeoParquet files, which are an example of data you might maintain in ArcGIS Online. The item type in Online is Parquet, but Data Interoperability can be told it's working with GeoParquet.
Here is the result of bringing a GeoParquet file into my map in the Memory workspace. The mint green polygons are parcel subdivision edits the parquet files model.
Over the map are dialogs relating to the Quick Import tool built into my Quick Import To Memory sample.
When I navigate to my data I get the opportunity to filter by file type and pick the one I want:
Quick Import To Memory does what it's name suggests and makes a memory feature class from GeoParquet.
It really is that simple, when you go to pick a file for any ETL tool, and the file is stored in ArcGIS Online, you can use the option to browse the web, use a web connection to ArcGIS Online, and your data will be downloaded for you in the background. You do need to create a web connection either beforehand or at run time, which will persist for re-use. Follow this workflow.
The Quick Import To Memory sample isn't guaranteed to work for every format, but for files storing one logical object of simple feature type it should work. For the usual case of spatial ETL tools authored with readers you can handle any format complexities when using ArcGIS Online as a web filesystem.
Now you have another way to leverage ArcGIS Online!
