Disable Geocoder

[RayCrew]

Is it possible to turn off the ESRI World Geocoder, or at least not return or mask the results, when a users uses the search and a layer is defined. I have an app in which I need to limit the search returns, the US Gov does not allow any non-approved place names to be in their web map applications.

[JeffWard]

You can go to My Organization -> Edit Settings > Utitlity Services.  In the Geocoding section delete the ESRI World Geocoder.  It won't let you do this unless you have another geocoding service from ArcGIS Server present.

[RayCrew]

Jeff thanks for your answers. Sadly this will not work for me. I do have a geocoding available on the Servers, but other users need to be able to use the World GeoCoder.

I plan to write something up for ESRI IDeas.  Would be nice to control what GeoCoders are used for what applications. 

Also know searching if there is a search-like widget that will meet my needs.  I found a JavaScript one but am not permitted to use JavaScript for this application.

[JeffWard]

In some app templates you can configure a search tool to default to your geocoder instead of the World Geocoder.  You can also have it search a field in a layer.  Sometimes I have the search tool search my address point layer instead of a geocoder, this way I can enable suggestions and a list of valid addresses is displayed for the user.

[RayCrew]

There are some app templates with such a search function? This is shocking and wonderful news to me. I have been searching and not able to find any examples.

[KellyGerrow]

Hi Ray,

Are you trying to implement this in a configurable app? If so, which app are you using?

What data source are you using that you want your users to search from? Is it a layer in the web map or a geocoder that is hosted on a local server?

Thanks,

Kelly

[JeffWard]

The Basic Viewer template allows you to search a layer as well as geocoders.  You can select any of the layers in your map and select the fields you would like to be searched, enable suggestions (up to 15) and select the default layer to be searched if you select more than one searchable layer.  You can also select your geocoding service here and uncheck the World Geocoder (I think).

One issue I have encountered is if your search layers have a visibility set that isn't visible when the app opens, if you type in a search and select one of the suggestions it gives an error.  A bug has been logged by tech support for that issue, but I can't find a link for it outside My Esri.

[AlanRex1]

Hi Jeff,

Kelly and I checked out the search/visibility bug you mentioned and I think we've narrowed down the issue with a bit more detail.  We've determined that the problem occurs with anything using Feature Search, so it's not specific to any of the web apps. For example, you can reproduce it if you enable Feature Search on the web map you used to generate your web app.  We've also determined that the issue only occurs if:

1) editing is disabled on the service

2) the initial zoom level of the web map falls outside of the feature layer's visibility range (as you already found)

With this in mind I've modified the bug that was attached to your Tech Support case to make it a bit more accurate:

BUG-000096388 - Feature Search fails with "No Results: There were no results found for [search term]" when searching features in a non-editable service if the web map's initial zoom level is outside of the feature layer's visibility range.

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention!

Temporary workarounds would be to modify the initial scale of your map to match the visibility scale of your searchable layer(s), modify the visibility scale to match your map's initial scale or enabling editing on the searchable service(s).

Regards,
Alan

[JeffWard1]

Thanks so much Alan.  I'm glad this is getting some attention since neither work-around is ideal.  The feature layer I am using is address points.  So I guess I could have an address point query layer that is 100% transparent and no visibility limitations but searchable, and then the address point label layer that has the visibility range set.

[SarahHartholt]

is it possible to turn off the geocoder in dashboards? I only want to use my organization's geocoder so that the public will not get pulled away from our area of interest by accidentally selecting a street in another city