Allow Arcade Expressions in Experience Builder

19187
44
05-13-2020 08:52 PM
Status: Open
ZorbaConlen1
Frequent Contributor

It would be useful to be able to use arcade expressions in the following areas:

  • Filters. The list of fields available to filter on should include any arcade expressions created for the layer.
  • List templates. Again, really useful to use Arcade expressions to enhance data presentation in list widget.
  • Image and text widgets.

I'm hoping to see this extended in future releases of ExB. There are probably other widgets and interfaces where it would be useful as well within ExB.

Thanks

44 Comments
ScottBrown1

This function would be huge.  I am trying to move away from Dashboards as mobile and tablet use doesn't work well. Unfortunately, most of my Dashboards have Arcade Expressions to show pops of color based on dynamic content.  The combination of the two would be amazing, especially in the list and text box feature.

feralcatcolonist

@Jianxia, is Arcade capability currently on the Experience Builder Road Map?

From the current documentation, all of the other "next generation" applications offer varying degrees of Arcade functionality including: Dashboards, Quick Capture, and Field Maps.

https://developers.arcgis.com/arcade/profiles/

As discussed in the post and in the comments, there are a lot of features currently within Experience Builder that are either clunky or less than robust because of a lack of Arcade functionality. For me, this is most evident with the Data View functionality, which honestly is just the Filter Mechanism from Web Map Viewer by another name.

What's the purpose of utilizing the 4.x Javascript SDK if we're unable to access all of the features that come with the new architecture? Arcade really is a must-have for modern GIS applications in that it offers dynamic data control along with geometric and other expression functionality.

I understand that a lot of development time has been spent trying to achieve parity with the legacy Web App Builder and the next development push should focus on a level of parity with the other next generation applications.  The workaround currently is to embed other applications within the ExB to achieve the same kind of look and feel that is possible with Dashboards; instead of a grotesque nesting doll approach, the more elegant solution would be to develop native Arcade abilities within ExB itself.

 

The opinion that I hear from colleagues across a variety of organizations is that ExB is a prettier, harder-to-use application, with less functionality than WAB. Having access to Arcade functionality would mediate some of those short-comings.

This is definitely a separate Ideas post but as long as we're talking about it: Esri needs to seriously spend time to provide in-depth documentation and content on usage patterns for each of the widgets instead of shrugging their shoulders and saying, "everyone uses it differently, so there's no value in explaining best practices or common use-cases to anyone."

 

ExB - Data View

feralcatcolonist_0-1690380542456.png 

Map Viewer - Filter

feralcatcolonist_1-1690380841658.png

Dashboards - Data Expression

feralcatcolonist_2-1690381283602.png

Dashboards - List Options

feralcatcolonist_3-1690381422630.png

 

These other Ideas also broach the subject of Arcade and have received no response from Esri staff.

 

 

ShelbyZelonisRoberson

Desperately need functionality to filter by arcade expressions configured in layer pop-ups!

QuantitativeFuturist

@feralcatcolonist agree with all of your points, wish I could Kudos your post.

ResearchGIS_NYC

To further emphasize the need for Arcade functionality in Experience Builder, it would be immensely valuable to have the capability to incorporate additional formulas within dynamic text, beyond the existing functions currently available. This enhancement would greatly enhance the flexibility and usability of Experience Builder.

BrianFausel

Thumbs up to this idea...especially in the Text widget!

LizParrish_Geospatial

YES, PLEASE!

MattBewleyDCGov

Echoing that this functionality would be very helpful in the Text widget.

JamesBooth

Would really love to see someone from ESRI provide an update on this ArcGIS idea. Allowing arcade to be used in experience builder would be a massive improvement to workflows.

QuantitativeFuturist

The Dashboards team do a far better job at almost everything they deliver, including arcade implementation. I agree with @JamesBooth we need someone from esri to comment, an occasional update to an image buried in a blog post is insufficient information for Enterprise planning. Is there someone whos job at esri is to look at the stack holistically? The disconnect we see across the products is frustrating at best.