Esri MOOC: Do-It-Yourself Geo Apps by Esri

Esri has been releasing more and more MOOC over the span of 2 years to accommodate its increasingly large expanse of products within the ArcGIS ecosystem. 

And it all started with ArcGIS Pro that more or less jump start and brought forward a new dimension of map visualization in the cartography world. The idea is not new since many have developed and produced amazingly beautiful and very informative maps even before the sleek 64-bit ribbon-ned interface the ArcGIS Pro boasted. Compared to ArcMap that was developed in a 32-bit environment, ArcGIS Pro is a game changer that highlighted so many works that did NOT even utilize ArcGIS products to its full extent. 

But of all the MOOCs that I've participated in, 'Do-It-Yourself Geo App MOOC' must be the most underrated ones produced by Esri Training. The functionalities highlighted within the MOOC took the anthem right off their recent Esri UC 2020 that went virtual. The curriculum includes:

1. The creation of hosted feature layer (without utilizing any GIS software medium like ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro).
2. The basics of the ArcGIS Online platform ecosystem:
• hosted feature layer >  web map > web app 
• Basically, to view a hosted feature layer, you will need to drag it onto a 'Map' and save it as a web map.
• Conventionally, web map suffices for the visualization and analytical work for the likes of any geospatialist who are familiar with Web GIS. 
• But this time, Esri is highlighting a brand new web map product called 'Map Viewer Beta'. Why beta? Cause it is still in beta version but so sleeky cool that they just had to let every have a shot at using it. Truth be told, Map Viewer Beta did not disappoint.
• Even so, Map Viewer Beta still has some functionalities that have yet to be implemented. 
3. Using web map to visualize data, configure pop-up, execute simple analysis and extending it to Map Viewer Beta interface 
4. Utilizing Survey123 for crowdsourcing data; the first level of citizen science and creating a webmap out of it.
5. Creating native apps using AppStudio for ArcGIS; no coding required. 
6. Some tidbits on accessing the ArcGIS API for JavaScript

I love how cool it is that this MOOC actually shows you step-by-step on how to use the new Map Viewer Beta and explain the hierarchy of formats for the published content in the ArcGIS Online platform

I have established my understanding of ArcGIS Online ecosystem 3 years back but I do find it awkward that such powerful information is not actually summarized in a way that is comprehensible for users that have every intention of delving into Web GIS. And Web GIS is the future with all the parallel servers that could handle the processing/analysis of large amount of data. ArcGIS Online is a simplified platform that provides interfaces for the fresh-eyed new geospatial professionals. 

It is quite well-know for the fact that there has been some criticism as to the domination of Esri within the GIS tools/resources within the geospatial science industry, but I believe it is something we could take as a pinch of salt. Not everything in Esri's massive line of commercial products are superior to other platforms but it is a starting point for any new geospatialists who wants to explore technologies there are not familiar with. 

All in all, this MOOC is heaven-sent. For me, I have been playing with the web apps and web maps for close to 4 years and I can attest to the fact that it covers all the basics. For the developer's bit, maybe not so much as going through it in a distinct step-by-step but it does stoke the curiosity as to how it works. The question is, how do we make it work. Now that's a mystery I am eager to solve. 

I'm going to put this on my ever-expanding to-do list and think JavaScript for another few more months of testing out this ArcGIS API for JavaScript implementation. Tell me if you wanna know how this actually works and I'll share what I find out when I do.

Till then, stay spatially mappy comrades!

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Survey123 for ArcGIS: Taking it offline

Survey123 for ArcGIS is perhaps, one of those applications that superficial nerds like me would like; it's easy to configure, kiddie-level degree of customization with 'coding' (for that fragile ego-stroke) and user-friendly template to use. No app development/coding experience is required to publish a survey form and believe it or not, you can, personalize your survey to not look so meh. 

It took me some time to stumble through the procedures of enabling this feature before I understand the 'ArcGIS Online' ecosystem to which this app is chained to. 

So how do we do it? And why doesn't it work pronto?

This issue may be due to the fact that when we first start creating our forms, we go through the generic step-by-step procedures that leave little to imagination what was happening. Most of the time, we're too eager to find out how it really work. 

When we publish a Survey123 form; be it from the Survey123 website portal or the Survey123 Connect for ArcGIS software, we are actually creating and publishing a folder that contains a hosted feature layer and a form. It is on that hosted feature layer that we add, delete, update or edit data it. From ArcGIS Online, it looks like any feature service that we publish out of ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Pro, save for the special folder it is placed in with a 'Form' file. 

To enable any offline function in any hosted feature layer in ArcGIS Online, you will need to enable the 'Sync' feature. So far, in many technical articles that I have gone through to learn how to enable this offline feature always goes back to 'Prepare basemaps for offline use'. It is a tad bit frustrating. But my experience when deal with 'Collector for ArcGIS' gave me the sense of epiphany when it comes to Survey123. So when you have prepared your Survey123 form for offline usage and it still doesn't work...do not be alarmed and let's see how to rectify the issue. 


Locate your survey's hosted feature layer

1. At your ArcGIS Online home page, click 'Content' at the main tab. We're going to go directly to your hosted feature layer that was generated for your survey when you published. 
2. Locate your survey folder. Click it open 
3. In the survey folder, navigate to the survey's hosted feature layer and click 'Options' button; the triple ellipses icon
4. At at the dropdown, click 'View item details'. Please refer to the screenshot below: 

Change the hosted feature layer settings

1. At the item details page, navigate to the 'Settings' button at the main header and click it. This will prompt open the settings page for the feature layer. Refer to the screenshot below:
   
2. At the 'Settings' page, there are two tabs at the subheader; 'General' and 'Feature layer (hosted)'. Click 'Feature layer (hosted)' to configure its settings.
3. At the 'Feature layer (hosted)' option, locate the 'Editing' section. Here, check the 'Enable sync' option. This is the option that will enable offline data editing. Please refer to the following screenshot: 
   
    
4. Don't forget to click 'Save'

With this, your hosted feature layer which serves as the data model is enabled for synchronization. Synchronization helps to sync back any changes you've made when you're out on the field collecting data; editing, adding, deleting or update...depending on what feature editing you've configured. 

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it and just bear in mind that the data hierarchy in the ArcGIS Online universe are as follows:

Feature layer (hosted) > Web map > Web application

Once you get that out of the way, go crazy with your data collection without any worries!

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