ESRI ArcGIS Web Apps
This page is about creating web apps the ESRI way.
Overview
Entry level: This is from the ArcGIS Server documentation, so it's high level. About web GIS and from that same site, consider this article: Designing basemaps
Options
- Publish directly from ArcGIS Pro
- Use Web AppBuilder in ArcGIS Online or Portal, see ESRI overview
- Use the WebAppBuilderForArcGIS SDK
- Use the JavaScript API.
Web AppBuilder
Basically you can run Web AppBuilder on AGO or in Portal, using the version that ESRI installed for you, or you can install it and run it yourself.
There are 43 widgets in 10.6 and 53 online, I feel deprived.
Portal
This is what I am trying as the starting point.
Content -> Create -> App -> Template | Web AppBuilder
The template option gives you a bunch of templates. I picked Basic Viewer. I added my Taxlots layer and it picked OpenStreetMap as the base layer for me. I wonder how they make it so slow? I can click on a parcel and then eventually it creates a popup with every attribute in it. That's enough for templates.
The Web AppBuilder option launches and offers me tabs "Theme", "Map", "Widget" and "Attribute.
In Theme, I chose "Foldable Theme", then a Style, I chose GREEN because it's nice. I used the first Layout. Layouts don't appear to have names.
In Map, under "Choose web map" I used the "Create Map" option to select my taxlots layer and the OSIP imagery and a grey basemap. I zoomed to the county and set initial extent to "Use current map view". I set visible scales appropriately.
In Widget I chose a random collection of standard widgets. I wonder how I replace the ESRI World Geocoder with my own?
I saved. I launched.
I wonder how I do multiple selections. Drag just zooms. Ctl and Shift and Click don't do it either.
Searching for the Anderson Ungerman Duplex takes me to Anderson Indiana. PAH!
Browser history does not work.
ArcGIS Online
I am assuming it's a newer version of whatever we have in AGE Portal 10.6
I am marching through the same settings as for Portal now to see how it turns out.
I noticed I can use other search options here, have to confirm that's the same in Portal. It's not standards compliant, you have to use an ESRI geocoder service. Boo. Also you cannot limit the area to search except by COUNTRY.
Web AppBuilder SDK
This is a separate nodejs application that you run in conjunction with your Portal.
What this SDK does for you is let you write your own widgets and host them, you run it on a publicly accessible server (or one your Portal can reach anyway) and then you can build widgets and host them there.
- Download it from https://developers.arcgis.com/web-appbuilder/
- Unzip it
- Run startup.bat
- Go to http://localhost:3344/ and follow the instructions to point it at your Portal. https://delta.co.clatsop.or.us/portal in our case.
Setting it up means putting your Portal address into the widget server and putting your server's address into Portal so they can talk to each other. Once that is done you can add custom widgets to your apps.
Down the rabbit hole
You will be working with ESRI JavaScript API so go learn something there then come back here. May god have mercy on your soul.
