Allow changing Display Field of hosted feature layers OR field shown in Smart Forms

[Tiff]

When layers are published to ArcGIS Online, the display field is unchangeable unless you overwrite the data. There has been mention of some workaround using the JSON and rest service admin tools but that has not worked for me. 

The issue with the defined display field is that this carries over to editing in ArcGIS Online Map Viewer, Field Maps, Instant Apps, etc. and anything that uses the 4.x Smart Forms capability. When you click in an area that contains multiple points or potentially overlapping points, the display field is shown and there is no other way to change it than to overwrite and republish the data.

It would be helpful to allow this change once the feature layer has been published and is hosted in AGOL.

[BrightonC]

I agree there should be a way to modify this online. Currently supporting an emergency operation mission in another county after a storm, my coworkers have already created dashboards, webmaps, viewing apps etc. that would all be broken if the feature layer was republished with the correct display field. 

[RichardHowe]

Agree there should be a simplistic out-of-the-box way to do this. I arrived here lookign for such.

That s aid, I have just managed to achieve this via the Update Definition option is the REST admin.

@Tiff drop me a message if any of the following doesn't make sense:

1. View REST seervice directory of your hosted feature layer

2. Click "Admin" in top right hand corner

3. Pick the layer you wish to change the display field for

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Update Definition"

5. Find the "displayField" parameter and change it to a different field

6. Find the "lastEditDate" parameter and delete all the numbers after the colon

7. Click "Update Layer Definition"

[Tiff]

Hi @RichardHowe thanks for this! I believe this is the exact workflow I tried to follow when I was attempting to change the display field. Unfortunately every time I tried to save, it didn't work. The next time I run into this I'll definitely try it out again w/ your steps, and hopefully it works for others!

[jessneuner]

@RichardHowe , was that with a hosted layer in ArcGIS Online?

I'm just running into this issue with the edit widget in Experience Builder -- i don't see a way to configure / change the way items being edited are titled in the widget... 

[RichardHowe]

@jessneuner Yeah, webmaps certainly carry the value through from the hosted feature layer, so I suspect experience builder does as well, although I haven't checked it. Let me know if my instructions aren't clear and I can hopefully help you change it

[AlixVezina]

Here's the Technical Support article for updating the Display Field: How To: Change Display Field Using ArcGIS Server Services Directory REST API (esri.com)

[Tiff]

@AlixVezina and @RichardHowe I finally had the opportunity to test this out since I had a sudden use case for it. It worked perfectly for both hosted feature layers and views. Thank you very much, this is going to be very useful!