Types of data services

ArcGIS supports many different types of data services to host your data. This section provides an overview of feature services, vector tile services, map tile services and image services and a comparison below.

Feature services

Feature service with points showing thermal activity detected by NOAA/NASA (last 7 days)

A feature service is a data service that provides access to features. A feature is a single record in a dataset that typically represents a real-world geographic entity. A feature can contain attributes and/or a geometry such as a point, polyline, or polygon with attributes. Collections of features with the same geometry type and attributes are stored in the service as datasets. The datasets can be feature layers, feature layer views, or tables. To request data from a feature service, you use a SQL and/or spatial query to return features from a specific dataset. Features can be output in different formats such as JSON, GeoJSON, and PBF.

Feature services are typically used to access, edit, update, export, and display records of geographic data in mapping applications.

Vector tile services

Vector tile service of the world with outdoor styles

A vector tile service is a data service that provides access to vector tile data. Vector tiles contain style and attribute information. A vector tile service is created (published) from an existing hosted feature layer. Each service is composed of one tiled dataset and does not contain multiple layers like feature services. The tiles are a "snapshot" of the features in the feature layer. If the features in the original feature layer change, the vector tile layer needs to be regenerated to match. The symbols and renderer from a feature layer are used to define the styles for the vector tiles. If the input feature layer contains attributes, the fields and values can also be stored with the vector tile data. The style for a vector tile layer adheres to the Mapbox Style specification.

Vector tile services are typically used to take advantage of GPU rendering in a browser to display large amounts of features in mapping applications.

Map tile services

Map tile service for global landcover at small scales (global to regional)

A map tile service, also known as a raster tile service, is a data service that provides access to tile data. The tiles are composed of images and do not contain attributes. A map tile service is created (published) from an existing hosted feature layer. Each service is composed of one tiled dataset and does not contain multiple layers like feature services. The tiles represent a "snapshot" of the features in a feature layer. If the features in the feature layer change, the map tile layer needs to be regenerated to match. The tiles are stored as caches of images (PNG32) for different zoom levels. Map tile services are typically used to effectively display large amounts of feature data in mapping applications as image tiles.

Image services

Image service showing global land cover at 10 m resolution.

An image service is a data service that provides access to raster data, making it accessible for use in applications like web clients, desktop applications, and field apps. You create (publish) an image service using data management tools or scripting APIs to upload and host your raster data in ArcGIS. Data can be output in different formats such as static tiles or exported images. An image service has supported capabilities such as dynamic processing, on-the-fly mosaicking and raster analytics.

You use image services to efficiently store, manage, process, analyze and display large collections of raster data such as:

  • satellite imagery
  • drone imagery
  • weather radar data
  • aerial photography

Data service comparison

The table below provides a summary of how to create different types of data services, the data type and format they support, and the main operations supported.

Input formatService typeService layerData typeOutput formatKey service operationsUse cases
Import data from files (CSV, XLS, GeoJSON...)

or Define a new dataset
Feature serviceFeature layerFeature (geometry + attributes)JSON, GeoJSON, PBFquery, applyEdits, updateFeatures, deleteFeatures, addAttachment, appendStore geographic features as points, polylines, and polygons with attributes, query, edit, and update features, add attachments, display features on maps
Import data from files (CSV, XLS, GeoJSON...)

or Define a new dataset
Feature serviceFeature layer (table)Feature (attributes)JSON, GeoJSON, PBFquery, applyEdits, updateFeatures, deleteFeatures, addAttachment, appendStore non-geographic features with attributes, query, edit, and update features, add attachments
Create from a feature serviceVector tile serviceNoneVector tilePBF/tile/<level>/<row>/<column>.pbf, resources/style, exportTilesAccess and display large amounts of data as vector tiles, style data, access attributes
Create from a feature serviceMap tile serviceNoneMap tilePNG32/tile/<level>/<row>/<column>, exportTilesAccess and display large amounts of data as map tiles

Tutorials

Tools

Import data to create a feature layer

Use data management tools to import files and create a feature layer in a feature service.


Define a new feature layer

Use data management tools to define and create a new empty feature layer in a feature service.


Manage a feature layer

Use a hosted feature layer item to set the properties and settings of a feature layer in a feature service.


Create a vector tile service

Use data management tools to create a new vector tile service from a feature service.


Create a map tile service

Use ArcGIS Online or scripting APIs to publish a map tile service.


APIs

Add a vector tile layer

Access and display a vector tile layer in a map.


Add a map tile layer

Access and display a map tile layer in a map.


Query a feature layer (spatial)

Execute a spatial query to get features from a feature layer.


Edit feature data

Add, update, and delete features in a feature service.


Display a popup

Format a popup to show attributes in a feature layer.


Workflows

Services

API support

Use data management tools or Client APIs to create, manage, and access data services. The table below outlines the level of support for each API.

CreateManageAccess
ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript1
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Kotlin1
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Swift1
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Java1
ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET1
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Qt1
ArcGIS API for Python
ArcGIS REST JS
Esri Leaflet2
MapLibre GL JS23
OpenLayers23
Full supportPartial supportNo support
  • 1. Use portal class and direct REST API requests
  • 2. Access via ArcGIS REST JS
  • 3. Requires manually setting styles for renderers

Tools

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