Downloading attachments via web browser replaces space character with plus (+) character in file name (feature service is hosted in AGOL)

Question

My crew uploads files that have space characters in the name to a hosted feature service. When we download them with any standard web browser the space characters are replaced with a plus symbol.

Has that always been the case for hosted feature services? Does anyone know a solution (e.g. browser setting)? Is there a list of supported/unsupported characters for attachments?

Thanks!

MiguelParedes · Answer

Greetings @To

Thank you for providing the workflow.
I can confirm that indeed, if the attached document is a .docx the exported attachment does come with blanks replaced by + symbols.   I am not sure what may be causing this but I do not think it is something that can be configured in ArcGIS Online.

I did a test where I saved the test .docx as a .pdf and that did not have the same effect.  However, the behaviour of what happens to the file is not the same either because when you click on the PDF attachment, the document is opened in the browser where you can save the document and have the option to replace the "+" with "_".   I know this is a quirky workaround and not an ideal solution.

I would suggest raising the issue with your local Esri Technical Support team so that they can investigate the issue.  I will continue to investigate on my side and will post if I find out anything useful.

I hope the above is of some help.

To · Answer

Hi Miguel. Here are the steps to repro the issue:

* in Microsoft Edge (or any other major web browser) go to https://umn-egis.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=d3da1aa66e0d4f15b8f4a712b3cbb31a#overview
* click "Open in Map Viewer"
* use the Edit tool to add a point and add an attachment to that point. Make sure the attachment has a space character in the name (e.g. "test file name with spaces.docx")
* Close the Edit tool.
* Click on the point you created
* Download the file you attached to the point.
* Notice that the file name has all space characters (" ")  replaced with plus characters ("+"). For example the file "test file name with spaces.docx" I uploaded is named "test+file+name+with+spaces.docx".

MiguelParedes · Answer

Greetings @To

Would you add a little more context here, please?

When you say download do you mean that you first export the Feature layer (hosted) to a particular format, such as .csv, FGDB, Shapefile, Excel, KML, etc. and when you then download the exported file, the file name is coming out with + instead of _ ?   So "My+File.csv" as opposed to "My_File.csv"?