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Feature layer performance
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Description
This application demonstrates how to use Feature Layers to set up custom scale dependencies and follow best practices to ensure performance does not suffer when querying, retrieving and displaying large datasets in an ArcGIS API for JavaScript application. The goal was to display appropriate US boundaries (states, counties or census block groups) for the current map scale. For example, trying to display census block groups for the whole US would overwhelm the browser with features. This app makes sure that only the states appear at the small scales, counties at the medium scales, and census block groups at the large scales. This ensures that a manageable number of features are always being transferred and displayed. The app is simple, but the concepts can be applied to just about any web mapping app that has to deal with big data. The total size of the data used by the app is around a couple of hundred megabytes. This is accomplished through custom scale dependencies. This is as simple as creating a few feature layers, listening for their onLoad event and setting their minScale and maxScale properties. The code below shows how this is done:
var fl = new esri.layers.FeatureLayer(url, options);dojo.connect(fl, 'onLoad', function() {
fl.minScale = minScale;
fl.maxScale = maxScale;
});
The app includes a couple of features that demonstrate some of tools that are available when features are available client side. The first is a rich Popup that displays feature attributes, as well as an option to zoom to the feature when you touch a graphic. The second is the ability to filter features based on population using a slider. Both perform very well because client geometries and attributes are already on the client. The app's performance is kept snappy because only the required data is being sent to the client. For geometries, that means using maxAllowableOffset to generalize geometries on the server before they're sent to the client. For attributes, only the fields required by the Popup are sent across the wire.
Code
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no">
<title>High Performance Feature Layers</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://js.arcgis.com/3.46/dijit/themes/tundra/tundra.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://js.arcgis.com/3.46/esri/css/esri.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="./css/layout.css">
<script>var dojoConfig = { parseOnLoad: true };</script>
<script src="https://js.arcgis.com/3.46/"></script>
<script>
dojo.require("dijit.layout.BorderContainer");
dojo.require("dijit.layout.ContentPane");
dojo.require("dijit.layout.StackContainer");
dojo.require("dijit.form.HorizontalSlider");
dojo.require("dijit.form.HorizontalRuleLabels");
dojo.require("dojox.lang.functional.fold");
dojo.require("esri.map");
dojo.require("esri.layers.FeatureLayer");
var globals = {};
globals.map = null;
globals.layerUrls = [];
globals.layerScales = {};
globals.featureLayers = [];
globals.currentFl = null;
globals.redrawTimer = null;
globals.popSlider = null;
function init() {
globals.map = new esri.Map("map", {
basemap: "topo-vector",
center: [-94.878, 37.719],
zoom: 4,
slider: false
});
// States
globals.layerUrls.push('https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/Census/MapServer/3');
// Counties
globals.layerUrls.push('https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/Census/MapServer/2');
// Block Groups
globals.layerUrls.push('https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/Census/MapServer/1');
// Define custom min/max scales for the feature layers
// Used after all layer information is available
globals.layerScales = [
{ min: 0, max: 4000000, level: 4 }, // States
{ min: 4000000, max: 100000, level: 8 }, // Counties
{ min: 100000, max: 0, level: 13 } // Block Groups
];
// Popup templates
globals.flPopupTemplates = [];
// States
globals.flPopupTemplates.push(new esri.dijit.PopupTemplate({
title: "{STATE_NAME}",
fieldInfos: [
{fieldName: "POP2000", visible: true, label: "Population(2000): ", format: { places: 0, digitSeparator: true }},
{fieldName: "POP2007", visible: true, label: "Population(2007): ", format: { places: 0, digitSeparator: true }}
]
}));
// Counties
globals.flPopupTemplates.push(new esri.dijit.PopupTemplate({
title: "{NAME}",
fieldInfos: [
{fieldName: "POP2000", visible: true, label: "Population(2000): ", format: { places: 0, digitSeparator: true }},
{fieldName: "POP2007", visible: true, label: "Population(2007): ", format: { places: 0, digitSeparator: true }},
{fieldName: "STATE_NAME", visible: true, label:"State: "}
]
}));
// Block Groups
globals.flPopupTemplates.push(new esri.dijit.PopupTemplate({
title: "FIPS: {FIPS}",
fieldInfos: [
{fieldName: "POP2000", visible: true, label: "Population(2000): ", format: { places: 0, digitSeparator: true }},
{fieldName: "POP2007", visible: true, label: "Population(2007): ", format: { places: 0, digitSeparator: true }}
]
}));
globals.outFields = [];
// States
globals.outFields.push(["STATE_NAME", "POP2000", "POP2007"]);
// Counties
globals.outFields.push(["NAME", "STATE_NAME", "POP2000", "POP2007"]);
// Block Groups
globals.outFields.push(["FIPS", "POP2000", "POP2007"]);
// Population slider
globals.popSlider = dijit.byId('populationSlider');
dojo.connect(globals.popSlider, 'onChange', function(evt) {
dojo.forEach(globals.currentFl.graphics, function(g) {
if ( g.attributes.POP2000 > evt ) {
g.hide();
} else {
g.show();
}
});
});
dojo.connect(globals.map, 'onLoad', initUI);
dojo.connect(globals.map, 'onLoad', addFeatureLayers);
}
function initUI(){
dojo.connect(globals.map, 'onZoomEnd', function() {
esri.hide(dojo.byId('maxLabel'));
// Hide popup when zooming in or out because geographies could change
globals.map.infoWindow.hide();
});
// Connect click event listeners for "zoom to" links
dojo.connect(dojo.byId('zoomStates'), 'onclick', function() {
globals.map.setLevel(globals.layerScales[0].level);
});
dojo.connect(dojo.byId('zoomCounties'), 'onclick', function() {
globals.map.setLevel(globals.layerScales[1].level);
});
dojo.connect(dojo.byId('zoomBlockGroups'), 'onclick', function() {
globals.map.setLevel(globals.layerScales[2].level);
});
}
function addFeatureLayers() {
var outline = new esri.symbol.SimpleLineSymbol()
.setColor(dojo.colorFromHex('#fff'));
var sym = new esri.symbol.SimpleFillSymbol()
.setColor(new dojo.Color([52, 67, 83, 0.4]))
.setOutline(outline);
var renderer = new esri.renderer.SimpleRenderer(sym);
dojo.forEach(globals.layerUrls, function(info, idx) {
globals.featureLayers[idx] = new esri.layers.FeatureLayer(
globals.layerUrls[idx], {
infoTemplate: globals.flPopupTemplates[idx],
mode: esri.layers.FeatureLayer.MODE_ONDEMAND,
outFields: globals.outFields[idx]
}
);
globals.featureLayers[idx].setRenderer(renderer);
// Apply custom min and max scales when the layer loads
dojo.connect(globals.featureLayers[idx], 'onLoad', function() {
globals.featureLayers[idx].minScale = globals.layerScales[idx].min;
globals.featureLayers[idx].maxScale = globals.layerScales[idx].max;
});
// Show popup when a feature is clicked
dojo.connect(globals.featureLayers[idx], "onClick", function(evt){
globals.map.infoWindow.setFeatures([evt.graphic]);
globals.map.infoWindow.show(evt.mapPoint);
});
// Show re-draw time
dojo.connect(globals.featureLayers[idx], 'onUpdateStart', calcRedraw);
dojo.connect(globals.featureLayers[idx], 'onUpdateEnd', calcRedraw);
// Add this FL to the map
globals.map.addLayer(globals.featureLayers[idx]);
// Set slider value for first layer
if ( idx === 0 ) {
dojo.connect(globals.featureLayers[idx], 'onLoad', setSliderMax);
}
});
// Keep track of visible feature layer
globals.currentFl = globals.featureLayers[0];
}
function setSliderMax(idx) {
if ( typeof(idx) != 'number' ) {
idx = 0;
}
var graphics = globals.featureLayers[idx].graphics;
var pops = dojo.map(graphics, function(g) { return g.attributes.POP2000; });
var max = dojox.lang.functional.reduce(pops, "Math.max(a,b)");
dijit.byId('populationSlider').attr('maximum', max);
dijit.byId('populationSlider').attr('value', max);
dojo.byId('maxLabel').innerHTML = formatMaxValue(max);
esri.show(dojo.byId('maxLabel'));
}
function formatMaxValue(max) {
var maxLen = (max + '').length,
maxFormatted = null;
if ( maxLen > 6 ) {
maxFormatted = (max / 1000000).toFixed(1) + 'M';
} else if ( maxLen > 3 ) {
maxFormatted = (max / 1000).toFixed(0) + 'K';
} else {
maxFormatted = max;
}
return maxFormatted;
}
function calcRedraw() {
// console.log('calc redraw');
if ( globals.redrawTimer ) {
var drawEnd = new Date().getTime(),
elapsed = drawEnd - globals.redrawTimer;
dojo.byId('redraw-time').innerHTML = elapsed + 'ms';
globals.redrawTimer = null;
// Update slider max value
var currentScale = esri.geometry.getScale(globals.map);
if ( currentScale > 4000000 ) {
globals.currentFl = globals.featureLayers[0];
setSliderMax(0);
} else if ( currentScale < 4000000 && currentScale > 100000 ) {
globals.currentFl = globals.featureLayers[1];
setSliderMax(1);
} else if ( currentScale < 100000 ){
globals.currentFl = globals.featureLayers[2];
setSliderMax(2);
}
} else {
globals.redrawTimer = new Date().getTime();
}
}
dojo.ready(init);
</script>
</head>
<body class="tundra">
<div id="mainWindow" data-dojo-type="dijit.layout.BorderContainer" data-dojo-props="design:'headline',gutters:false" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;">
<div id="header"
data-dojo-type="dijit.layout.ContentPane"
data-dojo-props="region:'top'">
<div id="title">High Performance Maps with Feature Layers</div>
</div>
<div id="leftPane"
data-dojo-type="dijit.layout.ContentPane"
data-dojo-props="region:'left'">
<div id="leftPaneContent"
data-dojo-type="dijit.layout.BorderContainer"
data-dojo-props="design:'headline',gutters:false"
style="width:100%; height:100%;">
<div id="panel1" class="panel_content"
data-dojo-type="dijit.layout.ContentPane"
data-dojo-props="region:'center'">
<div id="description">
Feature layers provide a powerful and easily configurable way to serve features to a client. They are an easy way to build an application that accesses gigabytes of data and allow for rich interaction on the client while maintaining excellent performance.
<br /><br />
Features to note:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/3/jsapi/featurelayer-amd.html">JS API Feature Layers</a></li>
<li>Query hundreds of MBs of data, fetch results and display features in ~1s or less</li>
<li>Custom scale dependencies for fine-grained control over which layer displays at a specific scale</li>
<li>Interactive filtering via a slider</li>
</ul>
Zoom to:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="#" id="zoomStates">States</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" id="zoomCounties">Counties</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" id="zoomBlockGroups">Census Block Gropus</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div id="redrawContentPane"
data-dojo-type="dijit.layout.ContentPane"
data-dojo-props="region:'bottom'">
<div id="redraw">
Query, fetch and refresh time: <span id="redraw-time">N/A</span>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="map"
data-dojo-type="dijit.layout.ContentPane"
data-dojo-props="region:'center'">
<div id="slider">
<div id="popSliderLabel">
Filter On Population(2000):
</div>
<div id="populationSlider"
data-dojo-type="dijit.form.HorizontalSlider"
data-dojo-props="showButtons:true, value:40000000, minimum:0, maximum:40000000, discreteValues:21, intermediateChanges:true"
style="width:200px; position: absolute; bottom: 20px; left: 20px;">
<ol id="sliderLabels"
data-dojo-type="dijit.form.HorizontalRuleLabels"
data-dojo-props="container:'bottomDecoration'"
style="height:1em;font-size:75%;color:#666;">
<li>
<span id="minLabel">0</span>
</li>
<li id="maxLabel">
<span id="maxLabel"></span>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div id="top-shadow"></div>
<div id="left-shadow"></div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>