Make Webmap layer IDs editable from the webmap UI

[4andy]

Please make Webmap layer IDs (the ID as well as the titles) editable from the webmap UI. When the webmap is used in an SDK, the IDs become far more meaningful and useful. Layer titles change and can be duplicated so they aren't useful for identifying a particular layer. The auto-assigned IDs aren't memorable and can also change if a layer is changed. If the layer IDs were editable this would greatly improve the experience for developers using webmaps in their applications.

[fdeters]

100% agree. We have to rely on titles as stable unique layer identifiers in some of our custom apps and it's not ideal. Would love to have control over the layer IDs in Map Viewer.

[JeffreyThompson2]

This probably belongs on the Online/Enterprise Ideas Boards instead of here. Maybe worth reposting over there.

[4andy]

Cross posted the idea over in the online area; however, I thought developers who run into the limitation might see this here. Thanks. https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-online-ideas/make-webmap-layer-ids-editable-from-the-webmap-ui/...

[Noah-Sager]

Hi @4andy, thanks for posting your idea here. I'm not sure I follow 100%. Can you explain more about the webmap UI, are where you are wanting to modify this information? Also, please explain what problem you are trying to solve with the dynamic IDs, perhaps we have workflows that would help developers with this already.

[4andy]

Thanks for looking at this @Noah-Sager. When developing an app in the JavaScript SDK, you can easily assign and use layer 'id's to find and manipulate layers in a map. https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/api-reference/esri-layers-FeatureLayer.html#id Note that this layer property is distinct from a layer 'title' property that displays as the layer name in the legend and layer list etc. Layer IDs must be unique in a map (and are generally static), but titles can be duplicated and changed - makes sense. It is common in our workflows to change the layer titles programmatically in applications; for example, updating a title to display a date range or other detail when a layer filter is applied. This all works perfectly when the map is built in the SDK and you can assign whatever ID to the layer you like and use it in the rest of the code to identify a particular layer. However, there are reasons to use a portal/agol webmap in a SDK driven application - such are many of esri's examples e.g. https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/sample-code/webmap-basic/ . This keeps a lot of map and layer details out of the code and you can easily make changes to layers and symbology in the webmap on the fly without affecting app code -- with the exception I bring up in this idea -- you can't edit or view layer ID properties in the webmap UI, you can only change titles. This is a big problem if your app changes the title of layers programmatically and need a static and consistent way to identify a layer. You can view the layer ID automatically assigned by the webmap only in ago assistant - 

But should you delete the layer and re-add it in the map, the id would change and code would break if the id was referenced. 

That leads us to this idea. Please allow users to view and edit the layer ID in the webmap UI. That way it could be viewed and modified for use in applications. Let me know if that doesn't make sense. Thanks.