Operational layer properties
For each operational map layer you add to a mobile project, you can determine how the layer behaves inside the mobile project. The properties you can configure include the following:
- Purpose of a layer
- Visibility
- Whether the layer is searchable
- Whether updates of the layer can be downloaded
- Whether attachment support is enabled
When authoring operational map layer content in ArcMap, the following properties affect your mobile project:
- Full extent and current extent of the map—Full extent defines not only the smallest scale of the map but also the precision associated with the mobile cache that's created. Therefore, it is recommended that you set the full extent to include no more than your field operation area. The initial extent is used to display the map in Mobile Project Center when the map is added to your project. After you save the project, the current extent is saved with the project as well and is honored by field applications.
- Map layer symbology—Consider the environment and size of the device when choosing layer symbology and scale dependencies for map layers. For more information, see How to design and create mobile maps using ArcGIS for Desktop.
- Map layer field settings—The mobile project honors field settings, so ensure that only the fields that are important to your crew members are visible or editable in the map document. You can also set meaningful alias names for fields. By default, these alias names are taken from the field alias you defined when creating the feature class. For more information, see Configuring fields.
For each mobile cache or mobile service you add to your project, many of the layer properties are inherited from the map document that you can further configure inside of Mobile Project Center to meet your field operation requirements. This is convenient when you have a set of layers that you want to use for multiple projects.
For example, you might have a water facilities inspection project and a water valve maintenance project that leverage the same mobile service or mobile cache. In the inspection project, the water valves map layer should not be edited, yet it can be edited in the water valve maintenance project. Using Mobile Project Center to configure the properties of a map layer, you can unlock the editing capabilities in the maintenance project and lock them in the inspection project.
It's important to understand that what your field worker can do with a map layer is limited by the schema of its data source. For example, a layer can't be used for collecting data by field applications unless it has a GlobalID column created in the geodatabase. Similarly, field users can't collect or manage attachments for a map layer unless the attachment has been enabled for this layer in the database.
Purpose of an operational map layer
An operational layer can be used for one of the following purposes:
- To collect data—Field workers can collect data for the map layer or modify geometry and attributes. A layer is editable only if it contains a GlobalID field and
- it resides in a file geodatabase, and you use the Create Mobile Cache Tool to generate a mobile cache from the map containing the layer.
- it resides in an ArcSDE geodatabase, and you either publish the map to ArcGIS 10.1 for Server as a mobile service with the database registered to the ArcGIS Server (see Publishing a mobile service for details); or you use the Create Mobile Cache tool to generate a mobile cache.
Caution:If a map layer comes from a file geodatabase and you publish the map to ArcGIS for Server (version 10.1 or later), data of that map layer cannot be edited on field applications. However, this constraint does not apply to earlier versions of ArcGIS for Server.
- To provide read-only reference information—Any map layer can be marked as reference only. A reference-only layer is treated as a vector-based basemap and therefore is non-editable, but it can be set to be searchable.
- To identify the current user—If a mobile project contains an Identity layer, when field workers open the project, they need to choose or create (optionally) an identity to sign in. If the Identity layer comes from a mobile service, field workers can refresh (synchronize) the local Identity list with the service and obtain all identities created by other field workers.
Note:An Identity layer is not a security mechanism for authentication of authorization. It only serves the purpose of identifying users working on a mobile project. For details, see Understanding project user identity.
- To log all positions of the current user—If a layer is set as a logging layer, it logs all the historical positions for the current user using his sign-in identity. A text field for machine name (or user identity or display name if you have an Identity layer in the project) and a date/time field for time stamp must exist if you want to use a point layer for logging. For details, see Configuring logging and field crew layers.
- Logs the current position of the user and downloads last known location of other users—This essentially makes a point layer a field crew layer. It synchronizes and refreshes all field workers' last known positions on a regular basis (configurable within Mobile Project Center). Similar to the logging layer, a text field for machine name (or user identity or display name if you have an Identity layer in the project) and a date/time field for time stamp must exist for this point layer as minimum requirements. Because the field crew layer involves synchronization between field application and server to get other field-workers' positions, this layer must come from a mobile service and not from a local mobile cache created by a geoprocessing tool. For more information on field crew layers, see Configuring logging and field crew layers.
- To include a layer that's hidden from the user—In some cases, you may have certain map layers that you don't want to use for field operations at all. If so, you can mark the layer as hidden from the user. This means that the field applications will treat it as if it doesn't exist. The data for this layer won't be involved in any synchronization (download or upload) or field operations (view, edit, or search).
ArcGIS for Windows Mobile supports editing against any transactional model inside a multiuser geodatabase. You should determine the best model for managing changes (versioning, short-transaction editing, or non-versioned editing).
Additional settings of a layer
Depending on the purpose you set for a layer, you can change the following optional properties:
- Layer visibility—When ArcGIS for Windows Mobile applications shows a map layer, it's visible by default. If you uncheck this option, the layer is turned off in field applications for the first time when you open the project, but they can be set to visible again by your field crew. This setting can be useful when including map layers that your field crew wants to see only under certain circumstances. For example, you might include parcel boundaries in your mobile service but don't need to see them until you want to measure a distance from the property line to the corner of a building. Note that the layer visibility setting is not available for hidden layers.
- Searchable—This setting determines whether a map layer participates in search or identify operations. This setting is not available to identity layers, logging layers, or hidden layers.
- Download updates from server—If a map layer is loaded from a mobile service and is set for data collection or as read-only, you can specify whether updates of the layer can be downloaded. By default, this property is checked for data collection layers and unchecked for read-only layers.
- Include support for attachments—For a map layer that has attachment support enabled in the back-end database, you can set this property to true in Mobile Project Center. Setting it to true enables field users to view, add, delete, and synchronize attachments from inside field applications. This applies to layers that are marked for data collection or reference only.