Description:
Hello,
I’d like to propose an enhancement to the time-slider and data-action capabilities in Experience Builder. In many realistic workflows, users maintain a non-spatial table containing time-series or event data — and a separate feature (geometry) layer containing spatial objects, linked by a shared unique key (e.g. station_id, object_id).
Currently, time-aware tables can be used with the Time Slider — and geometry layers can be filtered via actions — but there is no reliable way to bind them together, so that moving the time slider filters the geometry layer based on the related table’s time-filtered records.
In other words: the desired behavior is that the map should show (or highlight) only those geometries whose corresponding records in the time-aware table fall within the selected time range. This is a common requirement in, e.g., sensor time series, asset-logging, status history, or temporal event visualization — and seems conceptually simple.
Use case example:
I have a table of traffic sensor readings (timestamped, non-spatial), and a layer of sensor locations.
When I move the time-slider, I want the map to show only the sensor locations for which there exist readings in that time window.
I do not want to duplicate or “stack” geometry layers; I want a single geometry layer filtered dynamically based on related table data.
Why this is important:
Maintains data normalization: spatial data and time-series data remain separate.
Avoids data duplication and stacking of layers (which can cause rendering and maintenance issues).
Mirrors realistic GIS workflows (e.g. sensor networks, time series, events).
Reduces need for custom coding / developer-edition — makes it accessible to more users.
Proposed enhancement:
Allow the Time Slider when bound to a non-spatial table to emit a “time extent changed” event that can drive data actions (filter, highlight, etc.) on geometry layers — potentially via a “related table → geometry layer” binding that matches keys.
In the “Filter data records” action configuration, support a linking condition across data sources (table → layer) via key matching.
Thank you for considering this enhancement. I believe it would greatly improve the power and usability of Experience Builder for temporal-spatial data workflows.
Regards,
A user of ArcGIS Online / Experience Builder
