ArcGIS Online

Go Beyond the Smart Editor using Smart Forms

In this blog, we use Smart Forms to explore new functionality. If you’re looking for ways to replicate the Web AppBuilder Smart Editor functionality in your new applications, check out From the Smart Editor to Smart Forms.

Over the years, we have received many enhancement requests for the Smart Editor widget, such as the ability to calculate statistics and geometries, and even to generate text values.

While we were able to implement several requests, some functionality may now be available in Smart Forms using Calculated expressions and the Arcade scripting language.

Use the Editor widget with Smart Forms to improve your editing experiences and automatically calculate attributes. This widget is available in Map Viewer and app builders such as Experience Builder and Instant Apps.

To build Forms in Map Viewer, all you need is an editable layer. If this is your first time, read this blog to get started.

Below are examples of the most popular requests, along with a sample web map to help you get started:

Use Calculated expressions and the Arcade scripting language in Smart Forms to calculate values automatically when editing features
Use Calculated expressions and the Arcade scripting language in Smart Forms to calculate values automatically when editing features

 

Calculate statistics

Use Arcade functions to calculate statistical values such as the feature’s area, length, and even the distance between two features. Perform mathematical operations such as count, sum, min, max, and mean using features and values from other fields or other layers.

Count features

Example: Count the number of customer address points intersecting with an edited polygon feature. See the sample web map.

Draw a polygon feature on the map to get the number of intersecting address points for the area
Draw a polygon feature on the map to get the number of intersecting address points for the area
Click here to show the sample code

Copy the code below to create your own Arcade calculated expressions:

// Define the source layer to intersect
var sourceLayer = FeatureSetByName($map, "Addresses")
// Count the number of intersecting features from the source layer
var countFeatures = Count(Intersects(sourceLayer,$feature))
// Return the value (number)
return countFeatures

         

 

Calculate an area

Example: Calculate the total area in square feet for an edited polygon feature. See the sample web map.

Draw a polygon feature on the map to get its total area in square feet
Draw a polygon feature on the map to get its total area in square feet
Click here to show the sample code

Copy the code below to create your own Arcade calculated expressions:

// Return the geodetic area for a polygon feature in the given units,
// and round to 0 decimals
Round(AreaGeodetic($feature, 'square-feet'),0)

         

 

Generate text values

Use Arcade functions to generate new text values. Fetch attribute values from features intersecting with the feature you are editing using Intersects. Then, use the Concatenate function to populate a field with these values.

Example: Get the names of all the public schools found within an edited polygon feature. See the sample web map.

Draw a polygon feature on the map and determine which schools can be found within the area
Draw a polygon feature on the map and determine which schools can be found within the area
Click here to show the sample code

Copy the code below to create your own Arcade calculated expressions:

// Define the source layer to fetch attribute values
var sourceLayer = FeatureSetByName($map, "Public School Locations")
// Get the features contained in the current feature's boundaries
var attributeValues = Contains($feature, sourceLayer)
// Loop through the features and get values for the field "NAME"
var valuesList = []
for (var f in attributeValues){
    Push(valuesList, f.NAME)
}
// Return the list of values, separated by a comma
return Concatenate(valuesList, ', ')

         

 

Calculate values based on other field values

Use Arcade expressions to look up values from other fields within the same or another feature, and calculate new values accordingly.

Example: Look up the names of the schools within an edited polygon feature and specify with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ if there is a high school. See the sample web map.

Draw a polygon feature on the map and determine if there is a High School in this area
Draw a polygon feature on the map and determine if there is a High School in this area
Click here to show the sample code

Copy the code below to create your own Arcade calculated expressions:

// Define the text field to look up
var text_field = $feature.ConcatenateValues
  // Find the text value "High" within the text field 
if (Find("High", text_field, 0)>-1) {
  // If the string value "High" can be found, return 'Yes'
  return "Yes";  
  // If the value "High" cannot be found, return 'No'
} else {
  return "No";  
}

         

 

Generate sequential values

The NextSequenceValue function is only available for database attribute rule calculations with ArcGIS Enterprise. However, you can use Arcade functions in Smart Forms to calculate the next number in a sequence based on the value for the latest created feature.

Example: Generate an identifier value by adding +1 to the identifier value from the last created feature. In this case, the value is generated when the feature is created but will not be changed when the feature is updated. See the sample web map.

Create a new polygon feature and get a sequential identifier value
Create a new polygon feature and get a sequential identifier value
Click here to show the sample code

Copy the code below to create your own Arcade calculated expressions:

// Define the edit context so the value is only calculated when the feature is created
if ($editContext.editType == "INSERT") {
  // Lookup the value for the last created feature
  var last_feature = First(OrderBy($layer, 'SequentialValue DESC'));
  // If the last value was empty write 1, otherwise add 1 to the value
  return IIf(IsEmpty(last_feature), 1, last_feature.SequentialValue + 1)
} else {
  // When the feature is updated, return the existing value in this field
  // and do not calculate a new value
  $feature.SequentialValue
}

         

 

Use the $editcontext.editType variable to indicate whether the calculated expressions should be executed when the feature is created, updated, or deleted.

Generate random values

Values between 0 and 1 can be generated randomly for a numerical or text field when a new feature is created.

Numerical value

Example: Generate a random identifier value with 5 digits. In this case, the value is generated when the feature is created but will not be changed when the feature is updated. See the sample web map.

Create a new polygon feature and get a random numerical identifier value
Create a new polygon feature and get a random numerical identifier value
Click here to show the sample code

Copy the code below to create your own Arcade calculated expressions:

// New function to generate a random number that must be above the value "val"
function random_above(val) { 
  // Generate a random number between 0 and 1
  var random_number = Random()
  // If the number is below "val", generate a new random number
  if (random_number <= val) { 
    return random_above(val) 
  }
  // If the number is above "val". multiply by 100,000 and remove decimals
  return Round(random_number *100000, 0)
} 
// Define the edit context so the value is only calculated when the feature is created
// and return the result from the function "random_above" when "val"= 0.1
if ($editContext.editType == "INSERT" && $feature.RandomValue == null) {
  return random_above(0.1) 
} else { 
  // When the feature is updated, return the existing value in this field
  // and do not calculate a new random value
  return $feature.RandomValue
}

         

 

Text value

Example: Generate a text identifier value with a random 5-digit number and a prefix. In this case, the value is generated when the feature is created but will not be changed when the feature is updated. See sample web map.

Create a new polygon feature and get an identifier value with a prefix and a random number
Create a new polygon feature and get an identifier value with a prefix and a random number
Click here to show the sample code

Copy the code below to create your own Arcade calculated expressions:

// Define the edit context so the value is only calculated when the feature is created
if ($editContext.editType == "INSERT" && $feature.RandomValueText == null) {
  // Generate a random number between 0 and 1, 
  // multiply it by 100,000 and preserve 5 digits
  var random_text = Text(Random()*100000, '00000')
  // Return the random number and add a prefix text to it
  return "Prefix-" + random_text
} else {
  // When the feature is updated, return the existing value in this field
  // and do not calculate a new random value
  $feature.RandomValueText
}

         

 

Other requests

Of course, these calculation examples barely scratch the surface of what’s possible with the Arcade scripting language. Sometimes, small things can make a big difference!

Other common requests we’ve had over the years for the Smart Editor widget which are now included in the Editor widget and the Smart Forms:

Keep an eye out; there’s still a lot of new exciting functionality coming soon!

About the author

Alix works on the ArcGIS Solutions Web Development team as a Product Engineer to successfully deliver industry web tools for ArcGIS Web AppBuilder, ArcGIS Experience Builder, and ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript since 2019. Prior to her work at Esri, she assisted in the digital GIS transformation of a property and land management organization in New Zealand and coauthored Esri Learn lessons for Public Safety. She has a degree in GIS from Université de Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada).

Connect:
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Next Article

Your Living Atlas Questions Answered

Read this article