Introduction

What are items?

An item, also known as a content item, refers to a fundamental unit of content in the portal service. It can represent a wide range of spatial information, such as maps, layers, styles, tools, applications, files, data sources, or notebooks. Each item in the portal is associated with metadata, which includes information like the item's title, description, tags, and thumbnail. Items are important components that enable users to organize, share, and collaborate on spatial data.

Items in portal are created when content is added to the portal by users or shared with them by others. Items can contain various types of data, such as spatial datasets, imagery, web maps, and web apps. Once uploaded or created, items can be used in web map, web scenes and apps, allowing users to visualize and analyze information. Users can search for specific items using keywords, tags, or categories, making it easier to discover relevant content in the portal.

Certain items can be created during the content creation process:

• Running an analysis tool can produce a layer item containing results.
• Creating dashboards, templates in other apps, or saving maps or scenes results in items saved in the organization.
• Adding files to Map Viewer also creates items.

If the content already exists elsewhere, you can add this content to your organization making it accessible as an item. Existing content can be a file on a server, a service on the internet or an organization's intranet, or an app or file accessible via a URL.

Why use items?

You can use an item to:

• Securely store different types of content in the portal.
• Manage all properties and capabilities of the content.
• Share content with different users and groups.
• Access data and services.

Supported item types

Many different types of items can be stored in the portal, including maps, layers, styles, tools, applications, files, data services, or notebooks. Each item has a set of properties that describe and reference the content. For items that reference content that can be stored as text, such as a web map, the JSON data is stored in a child data source. For items that reference services, properties such as the URL are stored, and depending upon the type of service, child data may also be stored with the item such as a renderer or pop-up configuration.

Below is a list of some of the more common content item types, the label used in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise, and the data type.

Another supported item type is developer credentials. Developer credentials are an item created in your portal that contain parameters used in authentication. Below are the two supported developer credential types you can create.

Item properties

All items contain a common set of properties such as the owner, title, type, tags, thumbnail, and description. These properties are common to all types of items and are set when the item is created. The properties are also used to search for the item.

When an item is created, it is assigned a unique identifier, also known as an item ID. You can use an item ID to find and directly access an item and its content in the portal.

Items that reference services can be used to manage the properties and capabilities of that service. For example, you can use a hosted feature layer item to store the pop-up and styling information for a hosted feature layer. It can also be used to set the editing capabilities for the feature layer in the feature service.

An item's sharing permissions can also be set with its access property, so that it can be accessed by only its owner (private), the members of an organization (org), or everyone (public).

These properties are typically set using an item page. See Manage an item for more details.

Tutorials

Use tools to create different types of content and build content-driven applications.

Web maps

Create a web map

Use Map Viewer to create a web map for your application.

Map Viewer

Style layers in a web map

Use Map Viewer to style layers in a web map.

Map Viewer

Display a web map

Create and display a map from a web map.

JavaScript Maps SDKKotlin Maps SDK.NET Maps SDKJava Maps SDKQt Maps SDKPython API

Web scenes

Create a web scene

Use Scene Viewer to create a web scene for your application.

Scene Viewer

Style layers in a web scene

Use Scene Viewer to style layers in a web scene.

Scene Viewer

Display a web scene

Create and display a scene from a web scene.

JavaScript Maps SDKKotlin Maps SDK.NET Maps SDKJava Maps SDKQt Maps SDK

Feature layers

Import data to create a feature layer

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

ArcGIS portal

Manage a feature layer

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

ArcGIS portal

Add a feature layer

Access and display point, line, and polygon features from a feature service

JavaScript Maps SDKKotlin Maps SDK.NET Maps SDKJava Maps SDKQt Maps SDKEsri LeafletMapLibre GL JSOpenLayersCesiumJSPython APIREST JS

Vector tile layers

Create a vector tile service

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

ArcGIS portal

Add a vector tile layer

Access and display a vector tile layer in a map.

JavaScript Maps SDKEsri LeafletMapLibre GL JSOpenLayers

Basemap layers

Create a custom basemap style

Use the Vector Tile Style Editor to style a vector tile basemap layer.

Vector Tile Style Editor

Display a custom basemap style

Add and display a styled vector tile basemap layer.

JavaScript Maps SDKEsri LeafletMapLibre GL JSOpenLayers

Services

API support

Tools

Use tools to access the portal and create and manage content for applications.