Related Tables & Using Hyperlinks in ArcGIS Online

[JeffDavis7]

Hello,

A few of my engineering and cadastral layers have related tables and attribute tables that contain hyperlinks to both videos and PDF documents.

First, does anyone have any good insights to offer regarding related tables so they properly carry over to ArcGIS Online?  I have successfully set-up a relationship class within the same directory as my layer and a copy of the OLE database that is related.  Is there a better way?  It just seems I will be always copying over the old with the new and republishing a lot.

Second, hyperlinks do not seem to be supported directly by ArcGIS Online.  Any suggestions on how to maintain links to videos and PDF documents?

Thank you.

[JakeSkinner]

Hi Jeff,

Are you creating a relationship class?  A relationship class is permanent, i.e. it is not limited to the MXD the data is in.  However, the data must reside in the same geodatabase to create one.

As for hyperlinks, web hyperlinks are supported but UNC hyperlinks are not.  If you are using a web hyperlink, make sure you have http:// added to the link.

[JeffDavis7]

Hi Jake,

Thank you for responding to my questions.

Yes.  For my OLE database I did create a relationship class and the attribute table of my parcels plus the OLE database components were successfully carried over to ArcGIS Online via the popup configuration.  The OLE database supplies us with the latest parcel ownership information which will obviously change from time to time.  My workflow will be to republish this service on a semi-regular basis to obtain the "latest for the moment" ownership information for what is being displayed on ArcGIS Online.  Is there a better workflow that I could use in this case, or are my methods sound for this process?

As for my hyperlink inquiry, I have heard that UNC is not supported by ArcGIS Online.  Does there exist any good documentation regarding converting UNC hyperlinks to web hyperlinks?  If my hyperlinks are modified to web hyperlinks, will both the videos and PDF documents play and/or autoload in ArcGIS Online?

[JakeSkinner]

You would just need to copy the files to a web server.  For example, say my PDFs existing in the following directory:

C:\Documents\PDFs

Example of the full path:

C:\Documents\PDFs\2341.pdf

I could copy the PDFs folder to my web server (i.e. C:\inetpub\wwwroot).  I could then reference the PDF with a URL:

http://webserver/PDFs/2341.pdf

The pop-up in AGOL would show more info.  When the user clicks on this, the PDF will display, or the video will play.

[JeffDavis7]

Once I transfer the videos and documents to my C:\inetpub\wwwroot directory, how is the web path obtained or modified within the attribute table to reference this new location?

[JakeSkinner]

You could use the Field Calculator to do this.  For example, check on Python at the top of the Field Calculator and then you could use the replace method:

fieldname.replace("C:\\Documents", "http://")

Then run the Field Calculator again to replace the backslashes with forward slashes. 

fieldname.replace("\\", "/")

Note:  in python, a backslash is referenced using a double backslahs (\\)

[JeffDavis7]

Thank you, Jake.  Perhaps a stupid question but I am a novice obviously...where do I obtain the new web path once I transfer my documents?

[JakeSkinner · Accepted solution]

The URL will be the web server's name.  For example, if my computer's name is jakelaptop.esri.com, then I can access the C:\inetpub\wwwroot directory using:

http://jakelaptop.esri.com

If this is a web server that your organization is hosting, you will want to check with IT.  There may be a DNS alias used to access the web server.  For example, if there were a DNS server that contained the alias www.esri.com for my computer, I would then access using the following URL:

http://www.esri.com

A client specifies http://www.esri.com, which goes the DNS Server, and then the DNS Server routes this request to http://jakelaptop.esri.com

[JeffDavis7]

Thank you so much, Jake!  I may circle around for follow-up questions but you have been such a great source!