Rachel,
This is similar to Ben's question above. If I have a hosted feature layer, in my case it's a waterline layer that is shared to our field staff; how can I completely replace that layer easily without messing up our online maps? I tried Append, and I believe I just duplicated the features in the layer like Ben stated.
As an example, we may spot dig and locate a waterline in a particular area and we will acquire a GPS point on the waterline using our "Locate" layer. I will then pull that "locate" layer into ArcGIS Desktop and make alignment changes to make the waterline more accurate. We have really nice hi-res county aerials which is why I do it on Desktop. I don't have to do this often, but I have made many small changes in quite a few places and need to update the waterline layer contained in our online maps on AGOL. I just want to write over the layer, but change nothing else with regard to sharing, editing, etc., and not lose or create errors in the existing maps.
I created a new zip file that contains the watermain shape files (exported from Desktop) and uploaded that layer to a feature layer on AGOL. I haven't done anything with it at this point. If I click on that feature layer and click on the "Update Date" button, there are two options: "Overwrite Entire Layer" or "Append Data to Layer". Overwrite sounds like the correct choice, but that is not listed as an option in my existing watermain layer that I want to replace. Only the Append option is listed. I'm not sure why that is, but my existing layer is a couple years old. I also may have one iPad in the field that has an offline map on it. I'll check that later today and delete it. I don't know if that would have anything to do with it or not.
I appreciate your help.
Travis Anderson
