The Parcel Drafter WAB Widget is the only thing that's keeping us in WAB these days. I've never worked with custom widgets, but given that Parcel Drafter is still "not planned" on the roadmap, I'd be willing to take a crack at it.
Any suggestions for a beginner? Am I biting off too much?
Have you used React before? That is going to be a major hurdle to get over. Here is a primer on major React concepts.
I am not familiar with the Parcel Drafter widget. What all does it need to do?
I have not worked with React, but it's on my list of things to learn "when I have time". Thank you for the detailed write-up you did! I'll definitely be referring back to it.
The parcel drafter widget is sort of like the WAB equivalent of ArcGIS Pro's "Traverse" tool. It's used for drawing up legal descriptions.
You set a beginning point, then enter things like a bearing of "N 34°51'30" E" and a distance of "50.19", and it sketches a temporary line in the map. These lines can also have a radius value, defining a circular arc. The endpoint of that line is used as the beginning point of the next, and entering all the segments of a legal lets you visualize the boundary being described, see whether or not it closes, interactively reorder, add, and remove segments.
When you're done, the lines are all saved as features in a linked layer, and the bearing, distance, and curve information is stored in attributes on the line features. If the boundary closes, the tool also creates a polygon to represent the "parcel" being drafted, lets you add information to that parcel feature, and there is a relationship class between the parcels and their lines.
This seems like a task, at least building the user interface, that React is uniquely well suited for. One of the best things about React is how easy it is to re-use components and make them respond to user interactions. A React best practice is to make your individual components as small as possible and call them in from higher up in the tree. I think if you keep this design principle in mind, you should be able to construct a great UI for this widget fairly easily.
I am going to follow this string because our county is in a similar situation and the Parcel Drafter is a huge asset for our real property lister. I may just have to use the Parcel Drafter Solution that Esri provides but I am unsure how customizable it is.
**Edit: I just figured out that the solution is also web app builder so I will not be using it. Still trying to figure this out**
Following this thread as well. I don't see any replacement for WAB Parcel Drafter yet, please post back if you hear of one!