Here's my workflow:
- create a file geodatabase containing lots of data
- create an MXD to display this data
- > File > Share As > Service within ArcMap
- publish to ArcGIS Online*
- the dataset and its definitions are uploaded to ArcGIS.com
This is all working fine, and I can access the features via a feature layer in the JSAPI. In the background, ArcGIS Online creates Service Definition and Features entries under My Content.
My question:
I've now updated the symbology in the MXD. How can I get the new symbology definition into ArcGIS Online?
- One option is to delete the existing service and recreate it – but this involves uploading the large dataset again, even though there are no changes to the data.
- I tried > Share > Save A Service Definition but this fails since the service already exists (even if I delete the existing Service Definition while retaining the existing Feature service)
- ArcMap tells me to Overwrite the existing service, but won't this re-upload the data?
Thanks
*aka ArcGIS.com aka ArcGIS for Organisations aka AGOL
Best Answer
It appears to me that it is not possible at the current release of AGOL.
What you can do is that you can just use another name when creating an .sd file and then rename the .sd file manually. It works fine then to use the Update link in ArcGIS.com to upload the .sd file which should have the same name. Moreover, .sd file is just an archive which you can unpack and explore.
However,it seems to me that there is no way to update just the symbology for a service on AGOL without not uploading the data again, since it is .sd based. You probably know that one can change symbology for a service directly in ArcGIS.com Map viewer, but there are some limitations on what you can do.
PS. If you will by any chance work with data you want to create map cache (Tiled Mapping capability for a service), create tiled package in ArcMap first by enabling an option, and then upload it to AGOL without burning credits that are taken when caching.