Hello Esri team,
I am reporting a performance issue in ArcGIS Field Maps related to calculated fields that use Arcade expressions referencing other layers in the map (e.g., FeatureSetByName, Intersects, Nearest, Filter, etc.). The problem occurs only when working online.
In offline mode, all calculations run instantly and the form behaves smoothly, even with complex dependencies. However, in online mode, Field Maps appears to recalculate every Arcade expression each time any field is edited, even when the edited field has no relation to those expressions. Every recalculation triggers new queries to the hosted feature service, causing noticeable and cumulative delays during data entry.
The latency is often greater than 5 seconds for each field edited, and in some cases even longer. Because this happens at every input step, filling long or complex forms becomes impractical. The user must wait for all expressions to finish re-evaluating before continuing. In workflows involving many questions, this creates a chain of delays that severely impacts productivity. While going offline resolves the issue completely, some teams cannot work offline due to corporate policy or real-time data needs.
This behavior suggests that Field Maps might:
Be recalculating all expressions instead of only those affected by the modified field;
Be running repeated, identical queries to the server without caching results;
Be processing visibility, required logic, and calculation logic multiple times for the same expression.
Impact:
The issue affects field operations that rely on multi-layer lookups—such as environmental, geotechnical, asset inspection, and infrastructure workflows. For extensive surveys, the cumulative wait time becomes unviable for field use.
Expected / improved behavior:
Recalculate only expressions dependent on the changed field;
Cache FeatureSet queries during the editing session to avoid repeated server calls;
Provide an option for “calculate on submit” for heavy expressions;
Align online performance with the much faster offline behavior.
I can supply sample Arcade expressions, videos of the latency, screenshots, and a reproducible test environment upon request.
Thank you for reviewing this issue. Improving the recalculation logic would significantly enhance Field Maps performance for advanced forms involving spatial queries and calculated fields.
