Layer id values in pro projects are assigned when a layer is added to a project. I don't understand the rules for how the values update when new layers are added, removed, and reordered in the project. But these id's cause issues for publishers who don't understand the importance that they stay consistent.
When a service is published to arcgis online, the layer is accessed by it's layer id. Depending on how a publisher updates that data, the layer id can change. These change happen without the publisher knowing it caused a breaking change for consumers.
As a consumer, it is akin to whack-a-mole trying to keep up with some publishers as the id seems to change on every publish. Some days, they create a new project, add the data, and overwrite the service creating a 0 index. Other days it seems they create a project with a bunch of data and publish creating a layer id of 4. They publish again and it's 6.
It's very difficult to trust these publishers and ultimately that boils down to the platform and the tools coming up short.
The best place to educate publishers that the id's will change is during the analyze step of publishing. I am aware that some customers do not enjoy the amount of information displayed there now which can lead to it being ignored. But where else could it be displayed? What other hook is available? Are there any optional analyze tools that can be triggered by the responsible people who are interested in this information?
My idea is to create an analyzer that can spot id's changing and allow publishers to read about the subject and assign an id to a layer to avoid the breaking change. It could link to a thoughtful article explaining the nuances of changing id's and yada yada.
If this doesn't fit into the required analyze step, then I propose creating an optional analyze step or a way to enable "advanced" analysis. I think you get the idea.
