Bind to (NEW) ArcGIS Feature Layer?

[lisagravy]

I know there's a great feature which allows binding a Vectorworks layer to an existing Feature layer on ArcGIS Online ❤️

 

I just wondered if there was a way to take an existing Vectorworks layer and create a brand new Feature layer to bind it to - essentially creating a Feature layer online directly from Vectorworks layer content? 

 

Or do you always have to login to ArcGIS Online first to create an empty feature layer as a path? (Not a huge deal, I'm just always trying to skip steps!)

 

@Vlado? 👀

[Tom W.]

I just tried this feature for the first time + couldn't get it to do anything...

 

I followed the steps in Help:

 

 

I get to Step 4 - I select a feature service in the 'Select Service' dialog - but then I don't get the 'Select Features for Layer' dialog.

 

Am I doing something wrong?

 

I'm in a Georeferenced file. The Geolocate + Geoimage tools work as they should. I created an ArcGIS account.

 

Thanks!

[lisagravy]

@Tom W. I'm actually getting the same issue... I can select a Feature Service, but when I click OK nothing happens and the layer doesn't appear to bind. Wonder if this is a bug! 

 

 

[Tom W.]

3 minutes ago, lisagravy said:

@Tom W. I'm actually getting the same issue... I can select a Feature Service, but when I click OK nothing happens and the layer doesn't appear to bind. Wonder if this is a bug! 

 

 

 

Oh no! This is precisely what was happening to me. Did it work previously? It's been around since VW2022 I think...

 

Can I ask: where it says 'Portal: My content' in your screenshot, where is that content coming from? How did it get there? I am 100% ignorant of how it's meant to work + what kind of 'vector geometry and associated data' might be available to me, free or otherwise... Thanks.

[lisagravy]

@Tom W. It did work previously because I tested it, but I haven't in a while... probably since 2021! 

 

Portal: My content is from my own ArcGIS Online account, so that's GIS stuff I've already created. The point of binding the content is so that edits in Vectorworks apply to the files online, and vice versa - they effectively sync between softwares. 

 

You can however access public WMS data free - you can do that via GeoImage tool. If you select Geoimage preferences and hit 'Select Service', then you can get a ton of (albeit raster!) info to add to your Vectorworks project. You can also add additional datasets you find online if you change the settings to Web Service > Manage Service > Add URL.

 

It's really good. 

 

A digression on the linking ArcGIS features bug though! 

[iborisov]

Hello Lisa,

Would you try to bind to this feature layer from the screenshot or some of the other freely accessible feature layers?
Note: Binding only works with Type: Feature Service.

 

[lisagravy]

Hi @iborisov - it still doesn't work for me, I've navigated to that exact USA Major Cities feature layer. 
 

Happy to have a Zoom chat if that's helpful for you, I'll stick my email on JIRA. 

[lisagravy]

So this is total user error on my part... (Directed I think by a bit of a miscommunication in the 2022 'Help'.)

 

@Tom W. - there isn't a Select Features for Layer' dialogue that appears here - you just bind the layer and then close the layer editing panels etc. 

 

It seems like nothing has happened - but THEN you have to navigate to Landmark (or AEC) > GIS > Update Layer from Feature Service, which works.
 

[Tom W.]

5 hours ago, lisagravy said:

So this is total user error on my part... (Directed I think by a bit of a miscommunication in the 2022 'Help'.)

 

@Tom W. - there isn't a Select Features for Layer' dialogue that appears here - you just bind the layer and then close the layer editing panels etc. 

 

It seems like nothing has happened - but THEN you have to navigate to Landmark (or AEC) > GIS > Update Layer from Feature Service, which works.
 

 

Lisa you're a star thank you. I also watched this video which had a section on feature layers which was useful: https://university.vectorworks.net/mod/overview/view.php?id=2848. Tamsin recommends searching for 'OS open' in the 'Select Service' dialog to narrow the list down to UK-relevant data: I have managed to import some vector based geometry but it doesn't seem right... This is 'OS Open Rivers' for example:

 

The geometry in the middle is my own map, the surrounding Polylines are the feature service geometry. It's as if most of it's missing (given they are meant to be rivers). In fact I'm going to invoke @Tamsin Slatter here to ask why I'm not getting the same results as in her video... Thanks!

[Tom W.]

Ok things work better if I'm zoomed in closer:

 

For context, the map is approx 8.2km square. So in the earlier attempt, when the screen area was perhaps 100km+ across, this was just too big? Too much data for it to supply in full?

[lisagravy]

Thanks Tom! Yes, the GIS datasets can cover huge areas which are too big (and far away from the internal origin) for Vectorworks to process, so it'll work better zoomed in. 
 

Glad you've got it working! 

OS Open is a great search for background mapping, but there's tons of other UK data too. If you search BGS, you get British Geological Survey data, for example. 

 

There's an ArcGIS Online directory here which is quite useful for the full list of datasets, as long as you filter on 'Feature Layer'. 

[Tom W.]

BGS was a good tip thank you! I guess I just need to play around + see what's out there. It would be good if the process could be slightly more streamlined...