ArcGIS for Excel Constantly Losing Connection to Added Layers

[AnthonyJonesRSK]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else has issues with ArcGIS for Excel losing connection to layers added to the spreadsheet? I have a couple of Excel files that I edit every month or so that contain multiple layers from ArcGIS Online via the add-in. I spend time formatting the data in these layers using filters and highlighting certain columns to make them easier to work with but I'm constantly having to redo this as the add-in often fails to recognise that my tabs are from ArcGIS Online. Below shows the map window effectively saying there are no GIS layers within the map window (N.B. my layers are feature tables) but the three blue tabs below are all AGOL feature services that I have worked on in the spreadsheet previously. This loss of connection tends to happen between sessions but I have another spreadsheet where I've seen it lose connection during a session which has meant edits I've made in Excel will not sync to AGOL.  

Has anyone else seen this kind of issue and if so is there anything that can be done to prevent it? Is there a way to re-establish the connection without just adding the layers in again?

The ArcGIS for Excel add-in has the potential to be a game-changer for working with online datasets but I find it increasingly frustrating that the connections to my datasets often get lost meaning I have to re-do a lot of the formatting or I can't be sure if my edits will sync.

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Anthony

[ShannonCardoza]

Good morning  @AnthonyJonesRSK, 

Thank you for posting your question! I am sorry to hear you are experiencing frustration with this workflow. I do have additional questions to help clarify my understanding. 

When you say, ArcGIS for Excel losing connection to layers added to the spreadsheet
- this means you can see your data in Excel but not in the TOC (as seen from your screenshot)?

When you said, I spend time formatting the data in these layers using filters and highlighting certain columns to make them easier to work.
- to confirm you are applying these edits in the Excel worksheet? Saving editing or formatting in Excel is separate then saving/editing in ArcGIS for Excel. Something like this...

Versus any edits made to the ArcGIS layer attribute data in the Excel worksheet directly update the hosted layer in ArcGIS (use Sync with ArcGIS data tool) 

When you say, fails to recognize that my tabs are from ArcGIS Online.

- Can you explain this, how are the tabs failing to be recognized? By not being saved in workbook or
by not being added to the map? or both?

When you say, I've seen it lose connection during a session which has meant edits I've made in Excel will not sync to AGOL.
- This connection isn't live, meaning data has to be sync'd for it to apply and then it must be saved in Excel.

Has anyone else seen this kind of issue and if so is there anything that can be done to prevent it?
Is there a way to re-establish the connection without just adding the layers in again?
- I have not seen this as a reoccurring issue or a frequent topic of conversation but I will be on the look out for this! 

Also to confirm this is an ArcGIS Online account you are using or an Enterprise account?

I also have a great article and video recording written by my colleague, it maybe helpful in seeing an example workflow, please check it out, Add and Edit ArcGIS Layer Attribute Data in an Excel Worksheet. 

I know I asked a ton of follow up questions so sorry but its easy to misunderstand what you said and what I think you said 😂

Keep me posted!

SC

[AnthonyJonesRSK]

Hi @ShannonCardoza,

Thank you very much for coming back to me on this. Please find my responses to your questions below: 

• Yes I can see the data layer tabs in Excel but they do not show under the layers section of the ArcGIS for Excel map despite doing so previously.
• With regards to formatting, yes, I'm simply adding a filter to my worksheet, changing column widths and highlighting some of the columns I need to edit so no changes to the actual data that would need to be synced.
• On my tabs not being recognised as from ArcGIS Online - the layers no longer show in the map window and although my tabs persist any edits to the data are not recognised so I get no notification to sync and the changes do not appear in the feature service.
• With regards to losing connection during a session what I mean by this is that I've had an occasion where I was making edits and the sync option was appearing and I was able to sync without issue. But later in the session I noticed the sync option was not appearing and then found that the layers were not showing in the map window. So I ended up with edits in my worksheet that were not able to sync to the feature service.
• I'm the only person I'm aware of this issue but I don't know if others use it regularly. I use it to manage our users as we have python scripts that run and extract user data each day so it's very useful for managing that. As far as I'm aware there is no way to re-establish the connection other than removing the tabs and adding them back in. A way to reconnect would be fantastic as re-adding the layers resets the formatting and means edits can be loss which is where the frustration comes from. Is there potentially some kind of cache that may be getting reset that results in the loss of connection?
• I'm using an ArcGIS Online account.
• Thank you for the article link I'll be sure to check that out.

Thanks

Anthony