getting started with editing layers via Server

[EricGardecki]

Hello and happy new year!

I've started researching what steps I need to take in order to allow editing of certain features within my web apps or mobile apps and am getting a little overwhelmed and question some things that I've read.  I'm hoping someone can start me on the right track with this by answering some questions so I can then continue learning the necessary steps.

I have all of my data layers in a file geodatabase, managed with ArcGIS Desktop Basic and have ArcGIS Server Workgroup Standard for supporting my web/mobile apps.  Currently using Flex and the basic ESRI app to access via mobile.  I do not use ArcGIS Online much at all and am unfamiliar with the inner workings. I want to be able to allow some users (currently no one but myself does any editing of our data at all so I have no existing users set up in any place)

1. Is a "feature service" the only way to allow for editing via AGS?
2. I read here that using a feature service requires an enterprise geodatabase (of which I have no experience).  Can you verify that this is the case before I would take the leap to completely change my entire data structure?
3. Is there a way via AGO to allow editing without the enterprise gdb?
4. I currently use the ESRI mobile app for viewing my map service but it, or Server, doesn't seem to support the ability to have 2 different connections, 1 open publicly and 1 requiring a login for editing.  At least this was the case a few years ago when I first set up the JSON for mobile.  Is this still the case?  Is there some alternative?
5. Is "Collector" a better app for this?  It seems to be tied to AGO (it asks for a login rather than a way to connect to a map service) and I do not know what the relationship would be like between it and my Server services.
6. Before I really dive in, what are the key things, or caveats, I need to keep in mind?

Thanks much for any info you can offer!

[JakeSkinner · Accepted solution]

Hi Eric,

1.  Is a "feature service" the only way to allow for editing via AGS?

Yes.

2.  I read here that using a feature service requires an enterprise geodatabase (of which I have no experience).  Can you verify that this is the case before I would take the leap to completely change my entire data structure?

You need an enterprise geodatabase.  If you have ArcGIS for Server Workgroup, this should come with SQL Server Express, which is an enterprise geodatabase.

3.  Is there a way via AGO to allow editing without the enterprise gdb?

Yes, if you are using an ArcGIS Online Organization account, you can create a hosted feature service.  Since you have ArcGIS Desktop, you are entitled to an ArcGIS Online Organization account.  You will just need to call Customer Service (888-377-4575) to activate it.

4.  I currently use the ESRI mobile app for viewing my map service but it, or Server, doesn't seem to support the ability to have 2 different connections, 1 open publicly and 1 requiring a login for editing.  At least this was the case a few years ago when I first set up the JSON for mobile.  Is this still the case?  Is there some alternative?

I would recommend using Collector for ArcGIS.  It is much easier and more user friendly in my opinion.

5.  Is "Collector" a better app for this?  It seems to be tied to AGO (it asks for a login rather than a way to connect to a map service) and I do not know what the relationship would be like between it and my Server services.

Yes.  Any web map that you create in ArcGIS Online that contains a feature service can be accessed with Collector.

[EricGardecki]

Thanks for the response!

Is there any way, other than the hosted feature service, to use AGO for this and avoid needing to do an enterprise GDB?

Is there a way to use Collector without AGO?  AGO didn't seem like a viable option for me due to the forced basemaps that do not allow you to zoom in far enough.

I'm sure I have many other questions but I'll get to reading!

Thanks!

[JakeSkinner]

Is there any way, other than the hosted feature service, to use AGO for this and avoid needing to do an enterprise GDB?

Unfortunately, no there isn't.  An enterprise geodatabase is requried to create a Feature Service.

Is there a way to use Collector without AGO?  AGO didn't seem like a viable option for me due to the forced basemaps that do not allow you to zoom in far enough.

You will need to AGO or order to use Collector.  However, you can create your own custom basemap and use this with Collector.  You could create a cached AGS service, or you could create a tile package and upload this to AGO and host the tiled service there.  See this thread about creating a tile package of a cache and uploading to AGO.

[EricGardecki]

I'm still working through all of this on my end but had another question or two I thought you might be able to help me with.  In order to go the EGDB route I need to upgrade my desktop license so I'm weighing that against using AGO for hosted feature services.

The problem is that in order to use Collector, and therefore AGO, it appears that I'll have to add more "members" to my organization, and that ends up being more costly than the desktop upgrade (either option may simply be too costly for us) despite having the negative of not being connected directly to my data since it would be housed on AGO.  But if I upgrade desktop to use EGDB's, and create feature services, then it still doesn't allow me to use Collector due to users needing to login to AGO instead of connecting directly to our Server.  Is there something I'm missing here?  Is there some alternative to these 2 options for enabling editing in the field?  Are there other decent app options?  ArcPad? 

Thanks for the help