When should I use a Vector Tile Service?
Vector map data is essentially simple geometric data such as points, lines or areas (polygons). You can import this type of data to Maptionnaire as shapefiles or geoJSONs (or even create it directly on the platform). However, if you have a lot of data, the survey may become quite heavy to load.
Creating a vector tile service means that the tiles of the different map scales are generated ahead of time, so the map rendering is faster.
Are there any requirements (e.g. CRS) for using vector tiles in Maptionnaire?
The vector tile service should be in EPSG:3857.
How do I create a Vector Tile Service?
Vector Tile Service layers are easy to create in ArcGIS. The recommended way to do it is to generate a tile package with ArcGIS Pro, and then upload that package to ArcGIS Online and publish a service from there. This way your ArcGIS Online credits are consumed only for data storage and not for tile generation!
- Create a map in ArcGIS Pro with all the vector layers (e.g. shapefiles) you want to share.
-
Remove the basemap layers from the map, as they cannot be added to the tile package.
-
Go to the layer list, and right click on the Map item, then select Properties.
-
Go to the Metadata tab, write a description, click OK.
-
Go to the Analysis ribbon and click on Tools.
-
In the Geoprocessing pane search for the tool "Create Vector Tile Package".
-
Choose the map in your project that contains the layers you want to share. Set the Output File Name and Location. Check that the tiling format is "Indexed", as it creates a smaller package. Set the Minimum and Maximum Scale for the cache process. Fill the Summary and Tags Properties. Click on Run to start the tile generation process.
-
When the tile package is done, open ArcGIS Online. Navigate to the Content / My content page and click on the New item button.
-
Select the tile package from your computer by clicking on the "Your device" button.
-
Select the first option, to publish now. Click on Next and the service will be published.
-
When the service is published, the item description page will open up automatically.
-
On this site scroll down to the sharing property, and change it to Public, then click Save.
-
Then scroll to Details and copy the URL.
How do I set up a Vector Tile Service in Maptionnaire?
-
In the survey, go to Map and layout. Under Map overlays, click New and select Esri Vector Tile Service.
-
Enter the vector tile service URL that you copied from ArcGIS Online. This should be the basic URL without styles specified. It usually ends in “/VectorTileServer”.
-
Optionally add a custom style URL. The style URL is what tells Maptionnaire how to render the raw vector tiles. The URL usually ends in “resources/styles/root.json”.
-
Give the layer a Public title. The public title is the name that is shown in the map legend.
-
Click Create item. It's now stored in Materials and can be used in all this team's surveys.
-
Set the default map view for the map in the survey. Preview and adjust if needed.
I uploaded a Vector Tile Service layer but can't get it to work. What's wrong?
Some of the most common problems and how to fix them:
- Check that the URL is correct.
- Check that the vector tiles are in the coordinate system EPSG:3857.
- Check the map in ArcGIS. The files must be published as a vector tile service to an ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Online, or ArcGIS Enterprise portal. This makes the tiles accessible via a URL, allowing them to be used in web maps and applications.
- Remember, you can always contact support@maptionnaire.com for help!