Copy items

Copying items involves duplicating existing content within your organization or across different organizations. This process helps the replication of data, maps, applications, and other content which enables you to share and collaborate on spatial information. By copying items, you can streamline workflows, distribute data, and ensure consistent access to essential content.

Why copy items

You copy items to:

• Allow team members to build upon each other's work without overwriting the original.
• Help the reuse and repurpose existing content. Users can copy an item and then modify it to suit their specific needs rather than having to create new content from scratch.
• Provide protection against accidental deletions or changes to content. Users can always revert to the original item if needed.
• Share the underlying data to the receiving organization to have their own copy of the data which they can then edit and manage.

How to copy items

The general steps of transferring item ownership:

1. Access your content

Sign in to your portal and ensure that you have administrative privileges to manage content within your organization.

• ArcGIS portal (ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online).
• ArcGIS Enterprise portal (ArcGIS Enterprise)

Go to the Content tab where you can view all the content available in your organization.

2. Select the item

To find and select an item, you can follow one of these methods:

• Use the search bar at the top of the page to enter keywords related to the item you're looking for.
• You can browse through your content by clicking on the Content tab on the top navigation bar.
• You can filter your content by type, owner, or other criteria to locate the specific item more efficiently.

Once you find the item, click on it to open its details page, where you can view its properties and perform various actions.

3. Copy the item

Once you selected the item

1. Open its details page by clicking on it.
2. Open the item in Classic Map Viewer.
3. Click Details > Contents.
4. Hover over the layer you want to copy, click More Options > Copy.

A new copy of the item will be added to the table of contents. You can save this as a new item which will create a duplicate copy of the item which is accessible and manageable separately from the original.

4. Verify

The copied item will now appear in your Content list and can be accessed by you and other members of your organization. This allows you to reuse and modify the item without impacting the original.

Code examples

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# ID of the item to be copied
item_id = "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef"

# Get the item to be copied
item_to_copy = gis.content.get(item_id)

# Copy the item
copied_item = item_to_copy.copy()

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# List of item IDs to copy
item_ids_to_copy = ['item_id_1', 'item_id_2', 'item_id_3']  # Add your item IDs here

# Copy items
for item_id in item_ids:
    # Get the item to be copied
    item_to_copy = gis.content.get(item_id)

    # Copy the item
    copied_item = item_to_copy.copy()

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# Log in to the source and destination ArcGIS Online organizations
source_gis = GIS("https://source_organization.maps.arcgis.com", "username", "password")
destination_gis = GIS("https://destination_organization.maps.arcgis.com", "username", "password")

# Define the IDs of the items to be copied
item_ids = ['item1_id', 'item2_id', 'item3_id']  # Replace with the actual item IDs

# Loop through each item ID and copy it to the destination organization
for item_id in item_ids:
    # Get the item from the source organization
    source_item = source_gis.content.get(item_id)

    # Copy the item to the destination organization
    copied_item = destination_gis.content.clone_items([source_item], copy_data=True)[0]

Tutorials

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

Define a new feature layer

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

ArcGIS portalPython APIREST JS

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

Create a vector tile service

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

ArcGIS portalPython APIREST JS

Create a map tile service

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

ArcGIS portalPython APIREST JS

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.

Tools