Update feature service with ArcGIS api for python

[PatrickFilyer]

I am trying to figure out how to update a feature service hosted on arcgis online using the arcgis api for python. Essentially, every morning I would like to run a script that takes new features from a feature class on our organizations egdb and update a replica of the feature service on AGOL. 

Is this possible?

[AlexanderBrown5]

Patrick,

If you utilize the Python API from an IDE and pull in ArcPy functions as well, you can utilize adding/editing features:

Editing features | ArcGIS for Developers 

You just need to create loop through your feature class to grab the pertinent attributes, format them for the ingestion into the Python API.  Definitely possible.

~Alex

[PatrickFilyer]

Thanks Alexander, working through the demo now. 

[PatrickFilyer]

I made a test data set and was able to successfully add a point using the python api. However, when i implement this into our GIS, I will be adding polygons. Would you know how to write the geometry (coordinates) for a polygon? Adding a point is pretty straight forward as it is just an x,y value. 

[RohitSingh2 · Accepted solution]

It is possible using the ArcGIS API for Python alone.

See updating_features_in_a_feature_layer | ArcGIS for Developers and overwriting_feature_layers | ArcGIS for Developers  

[AlexanderBrown5]

Rohit,

Do you have to export your new data to a csv?  Can you connect directly to your geodatabases using the Python API?  Definitely easier utilizing just the ArcGIS API, but I can see numerous occasions where users would want to update directly from their authoritative databases.

~Alex

[PatrickFilyer]

Ideally this is what I would like to do. 

[NaomiBegg2]

Does this require Portal or can it be done using straight AGOL?

[RohitSingh2]

You don't have to export your data to a csv. 

You can overwrite feature layers using arcgis.features.managers module — arcgis 1.2.0 documentation 

You can also read in a file geodatabase or shapefile as a Spatial Data Frame and get it in pandas before pushing the updates to a feature layer, on similar patterns as the examples shared above.

[PhilLarkin1]

Thanks for the API. It is helpful. 

Here is some advice for those attempting to use .overwrite(). If you are passing a string file path, try pointing to the zipfile name while dropping the '.zip'. This worked for me. 

C:\RootFolder\example.zip
C:\RootFolder\example