ArcGis online symbology using a multilayer line

[KristenJones1]

We have several services hosted on our ArcGIS server and most of them has some sort of MultiLayer symbology for lines.  The services seem to work fine for anyone using it and the symbology is perfect.  Yet if I add the service to the ArcGIS Online and then add to a WebMap ALL of the symbology that has multi-lines turn to a solid thick black line.  I have tried just about everything to isolate the issue, but just selecting something like railroad tracks in ArcGIS desktop and then sharing as a service to our ArcGIS server it does not show up as such using ArcGIS Online.

1. After analyzing in ArcGis desltop prior to publishing it says "Layer contains a multi-layer line symbol whose symbol widths may result in aliasing" and after looking up that warning there is no clear reason or anything I can do to it that prevents this warning.  I even selected the "Automatically Correct Line Widths option" and it still did not fix the issues with the Online map.

Tried publishing as a map service and feature service --- no change

Tried using standard ESRI symbology like railroads and rivers (Multi-line) --- no change

Thanks for any input

Jason

[EduardoRosa]

The symbolization in ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS online are exactly alike. The free ArcGIS online has limitations that must be resolved with the adequacy of the possibilities available.

[KristenJones1]

We actually have an organization account with the Online, but if the symbology was the same, then you should be able to use muilti-lines.  I am using 10.1 Desktop and GISServer. 

Now if you try to change the symbology in the Online, there are still no option for multi-line.

[EduardoRosa]

Hello Jason, a Multi-line classification in ArcGIS online is possible for different fields in the table, limiting compared to ArcGIS Desktop is the relative amount of fields and the type of representation. Good Luck

[KristenJones1]

You would think,  but I have been playing with this for over 3 hours and I gave up, thinking there must be something else wrong. http://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/create-maps/change-symbols.htm Try to find a multi-line symbol.  for example something as simple as railroad tracks or a Highway.  All I see are solid lines that you can change color,  thickness, dashing and transparency

[MikeMinami]

What kind of service are you adding? Is it a map service?

What is the URL you are using to add the layer? Are you adding the layer individually by index number? E.g., http://xxx/arcgis/services/rest/myservice/MapService/1

When you add the map service without an index number you are allowing the server to draw the layer which returns an image to the client (web browser) with nicely drawn lines. In this case, complex symbology is maintained. If you are adding the layer via an index number, you are bypassing the drawing power of the server. Instead, the server is now returning x,y coordinates of features to the client and the client is drawing the features. Unfortunately web browsers have only limited graphics drawing abilities and thus, you only see simple line symbols.

Hope this helps,

Mike

[KristenJones1]

No I am not selecting a single layer, I am selecting the entire feature. So this brings me to my original problem, Because the only reason I was trying to do this online, was because it was not showing my original symbology. shouldn't ArcGis Server which shows the multi-line  symbology with every other connection from the original MXD file from ArcDesktop? Or is importing this into ArcGIS Online not possible which is why I am getting big ugly black lines in replace of the normal multi-line symbology? 

Thanks

Jason

[KristenJones1]

I opened a support ticket with ESRI today and it turns out I am not doing anything wrong. There are a lot of reported bugs with Labels and Symbology with ArcGIS Online (both browser and mobile apps) My issue is one of them. 

If I get tracking details for it, I will post back so the next person doesn't waste a day trying to fix something that is not "fixable" 

Thanks

Jason

[MikeMinami]

Jason,

I think you are encountering a current limitation. But you should still be able to draw the layer with its multi-layered symbol...

If you want to draw multi layered line symbols, then you need to access the map service. I tested this out with my own server by publishing a line layer that uses a 3 layered line symbol in ArcMap for "expressway" and it drew correctly in the ArcGIS Online map viewer. On the service, I configured it for the "best" anti-aliasing.

If you access the feature service or an individual layer of a map service via it's index, complex multi-layered symbology is not supported. This is because how the layer gets drawn. With map services, the layer is drawn by the server and returns an image to the client. The server draws the complex line symbol in much the same way ArcMap would. When you access a feature service or individual layer of a map service, the server returns the x,y coordinates of all features and relies on the client (web browser, mobile device) to draw it. These features get drawn as graphics on the client and the clients have pretty limited drawing abilities. This is why you only get a simple line symbol.

We are looking at ways to improve our client side drawing (SVG, Canvas), but this is a work in progress. So in the mean time, you'll have to rely on the map service to draw such symbols.

Thanks,

Mike

[JosephChampagne]

Is there any update on this topic? I believe I'm currently running into exactly this issue and it seems like seven years should be enough time to figure out how to render layer services to look the same as we publish them from Desktop.