How do I reorder the list of attributes in a web service?

[JustinOdell]

Hi all,

I have a map document containing a customized layer file. I wish to publish this layer/map document as a service through my Portal. I have done a lot of customization to the layer file, including applying aliases and reordering the fields so when the user queries a feature, they are presented with the most important attributes at the top of the list.

When I publish this layer/map document as a service and query a feature in a web map, I notice that the order of attributes reverts to the original order of attributes. Is there a way to overcome this issue?

[Anonymous User]

Hi Justin Odell‌,

Ok...  When you publish the layer, are you publishing the layer or the Map document?  If you are just publishing the layer then the changes that you have made will not go through as they are stored on the map document.
To keep the changes that you have made you will have to publish a new table with the fields in the correct order, or make a layer view of the table with the reordered fields and publish that.

I have in the past published the map document where the order of the fields was changed, but this was in a very old system and I am not sure if that method will still work.

I hope that this helps,

Michael

[JustinOdell]

Thanks Michael, I probably should have stated that I am publishing this as a Hosted Service from my Map Document to a Portal connection via the File > Share As > Service operation. 

I understand different results can be experienced depending on whether you are publishing a Hosted Service or publishing a service directly from the ArcGIS Server? At least, this is what my support team informs me.

I see in my Hosted Service that the symbology is only partly maintained from my layer file in my map document. Additionally, the order of the attributes is not preserved, but instead reverts back to the original order of attributes in the underlying data.

So in order to preserve the presentation of the data exactly as my layer file depicts in my map document, I think I may need to get the administrators to publish it directly from the ArcGIS Server.

I do see that I can 'configure pop-ups' in my hosted service's web map, however this is not my ideal workflow. I also understand that it is possible to create Web Applications which will return results of queried data exactly as I specify. This may be worth investigating as well.

[Anonymous User]

All good Justin, thanks for the clarification.

Symbology - At present Portal does not support complex symbology when publishing the feature the way you are.
Try this:
with the adjusted layer in the mxd,  create a layer file.  That should preserve the symbology and the table view of the data.

Use the layer file in a new mxd (or the one that you are currently using) and publish the new mxd to the Portal.
you may have to publish the layer file by itself to the portal.

If you are just using the layer in Web maps/apps and are only using the Pop-ups to display the table information, then configuring the pop-ups would be the best route.
You can use the "Custom" option to display the data in the way you want, and if you are using the same layer over many Web Maps then you can copy the "Custom" config to a word doc and import that config into each Web Map where the layer resides.

Thanks,

Michael

[JustinOdell]

Thanks Michael,

I have created relevant layer files to preserve the symbology and the table view of the data. I am satisfied with how this is working in ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro. 

Unfortunately when I publish the service the complex symbology and table view are not being preserved. I've tried publishing a hosted service using the following methods:

1. In ArcMap, using the File > Share As > Service method, and
2. In my Portal, under 'Content', clicking 'Add Item' and adding a 'zipped geodatabase'.

Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to integrate my symbology into a geodatabase just yet. I understand it is possible to create representations, however when I click 'Convert Symbology to Representation' I am presented with an error stating "The workspace for this feature class doesn't support representations." if I attempt to create it directly from the shapefiles.

Alternatively if I load all my features into a geodatabase then re-map the data sources of the layer files to point to this new location, then I encounter FDO/FID errors on my labels as shapefiles start at FID 0, whereas feature classes start at FID 1; so something does not compute there.

[Anonymous User]

Good morning Justin Odell‌,

I came across this today whilst pondering your issue.

How To: Configure Portal for ArcGIS with custom symbology 

I am not sure how much access you have to the back end of your Portal but it may be worth a look.

I will let you know if I find anything else. 

Thing is, I can remember doing exactly what you are trying to do about 2 years ago and was able to publish up the custom symbology, but for the life of me I can not remember exactly the process that I used .

Hope that we can find the solution soon,

Michael