After you have imported data to the ArcGIS Indoors Information Model, and prepared and shared data as a feature service for use in floor-aware web maps and apps such as Indoor Viewer and Indoor Space Planner, you may need to periodically update the data published in the feature service. For example, if a building is renovated, staff leave or join the organization, or assets are relocated, an update to the data is required to reflect these real-life changes.
How you want to manage your indoor data will affect whether you will use ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise, the type of geodatabase you store your data in, how you publish data to your ArcGIS organization, and how you update published data.
Data stored in the Indoors model can be handled in the following ways:
- Data management in a file geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro
- Data management in a branch versioned feature service in ArcGIS Enterprise
- Data management in a hosted feature service in ArcGIS Online
These methods of data management are explained further in the sections below.
Data management in a file geodatabase
You can use a file geodatabase as your source for editing data. If you shared your indoor data as a hosted feature service, you can make data updates in a geodatabase, and overwrite the existing feature service with ArcGIS Pro. This option allows you to stage edits in the geodatabase and conduct quality control before they are committed to the feature service.
Considerations for geodatabase data management
You can perform quality control workflows on data by staging changes in a geodatabase before overwriting the service. Consider the following when managing data in a file geodatabase:
- This option is applicable if you are working with hosted feature services. For workflows that require multiuser editing, use branch versioning in ArcGIS Enterprise to manage data.
Edits made to the feature service are not preserved when the web layers are overwritten.
If the feature service has existing edits that must be preserved, you can export the feature service to a file geodatabase, make updates in ArcGIS Pro, and overwrite the web layer. This method may result in downtime for users—further edits should not be made on the feature service during this process, as they are lost when the layer is overwritten.
- You can overwrite feature services with updates from a geodatabase even if the Edit capability is not enabled on the service.
Data management in a branch versioned feature service
For workflows that require multiuser editing, you can manage indoor data using branch versioned feature services on ArcGIS Enterprise. With branch versioning, users with write access can edit data in different versions of the feature service, allowing for review of any editing conflicts. Quality control workflows, such as validation, can also be applied to versioned data before edits are pushed to the default version, providing protection against unintended edits or data errors.
Considerations for branch versioned feature service data management
When data is managed in a branch versioned feature service, edits can be performed on different versions of the feature service by multiple editors simultaneously, and conflicts can be resolved before changes are posted to the default version. Consider the following when managing data in a branch versioned feature service:
- Branch versioning requires ArcGIS Enterprise.
- Branch versioned data can only be edited from feature services published from an enterprise geodatabase, and can not be edited directly in the geodatabase.
- You must stop any running feature services to make schema updates to source layers in the geodatabase. Schema updates cannot be made on branch versioned feature services.
Data management in Enterprise and ArcGIS Online together
For workflows that require multiuser editing but also require access to ArcGIS Online, you can manage indoor data using a combination of branch versioned feature services in ArcGIS Enterprise and other feature layers, and use these layers in Indoors maps and apps in ArcGIS Online. By using a combination of ArcGIS Online and Enterprise, you can benefit from enhanced data quality control workflows provided by Enterprise as well as enhanced accessibility to users provided by ArcGIS Online.
Considerations for data management in a combined environment
Managing data in a combined environment allows you to use a combination of hosted feature services, referenced data feature services, and branch versioned feature services to present data to editors, based on editing workflow needs. Consider the following when managing feature service data in the Enterprise and ArcGIS Online environments together:
- For any hosted feature services, edits are applied to live feature service data and are visible to users immediately.
- When editing data shared in hosted feature services, if there are multiple shared services that contain your indoor data, edits must be made to each hosted feature service separately.
- Edits can only be made on layers that have the Edit capability enabled in the feature service.
- You must configure the ArcGIS Server instance to be accessible to your users if using Enterprise services in ArcGIS Online maps. Consider how you want to configure security on your ArcGIS GIS Server site to best suit your organization's needs.
- You can publish a network service in Enterprise and consume the service in ArcGIS Online web maps and apps.
Indoor data types
Some common types of data that are used in floor-aware web maps include the following:
- Floor plan data—Layers in the Indoors model that contain floor plan information. These layers include sites, facilities, levels, units, and details. Depending on your organization, there may be more layers, such as sections or zones. You can make manual edits to these features in ArcGIS Pro, or you can import updated floor plans from source CAD or BIM files.
These layers may contain information beyond basic floor plan data. For example, if you are using Indoors apps for workspace reservation, the units layer contains information indicating whether a unit is reservable, what equipment types are included in the space, and room geometry.
Depending on your use case, these layers may all be shared as part of the same feature service or contained in different feature services. They may be editable or noneditable. For example, if you are using both Space Planner and Viewer, you may have shared the units layer as part of an editable feature service, while the sites, facilities, levels, and details layers are shared as a separate, noneditable feature service.
- Occupant data—The Occupants layer in the Indoors model that contains information about employees in your organization.
- Additional floor-aware data—You may have extra layers related to your floor plans that are not part of the Indoors model. These layers could include landmarks used for indoor navigation or asset location data unique to your organization, such as fire extinguishers, ATMs, computer kiosks, AC vents, and so on.
- Network data—The routable network used to generate directions in Viewer and Indoors mobile.
- Reservations layer—The layer in the Indoors model that contains hotel and meeting room bookings created in Indoor Viewer if you configure workspace reservations using the Reservations layer method.
When using branch versioning workflows, this layer must be shared as a referenced feature layer instead of a branch versioned service. The Reservations layer represents locations in real time, so any reservations booked must edit the Reservations layer immediately to avoid confusion from multiple users trying to book the same space.
Common data update scenarios
This section contains common examples of update scenarios you might encounter when managing indoor data, and how to perform these updates using the data management strategies discussed above.
Occupant data updates
Occupant data may need to be updated with new employee information regularly. These types of updates can be performed with the Update Occupant Features tool. The following data management strategies can be applied to maintain occupant data:
- File geodatabase—Run the Update Occupant Features tool on the data in a file geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro, verify the edits, and overwrite the existing feature service.
Note:
Any edits made to the published feature service are lost. If there are edits to the feature service that must be preserved, you can export the feature service as a file geodatabase and make required edits to that database.
- Branch versioned feature service—You can open the branch versioned service in ArcGIS Pro and create a new version. Run the Update Occupant Features tool on the new version, then verify the edits, and reconcile and post the changes to the default version.
- Feature service—Open the feature service in ArcGIS Pro, run the Update Occupant Features tool, and verify changes on maps and in apps.
Floor plan data updates
You may need to update floor plan data from CAD or BIM files to reflect renovations or other floor plan changes. You can implement one of the following data management strategies to update floor plan data:
- File geodatabase—Open the geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro, import floor plan changes from updated BIM or CAD files, verify the edits, and overwrite the existing feature service.
- Branch versioned feature service—Open the branch versioned feature service in ArcGIS Pro, create a new version, import floor plan changes from updated BIM or CAD files, verify the edits, and reconcile and post the changes to the default version.
- Feature service—Open the feature service in ArcGIS Pro, import floor plan changes from updated BIM or CAD data, and verify changes on maps and in apps.
Data schema updates
You may occasionally need to update the schema for published feature layers, such as adding a new field or coded value domain. This can be accomplished with data management strategies in the following ways:
- File geodatabase—Open the geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro, update fields and domains as necessary, verify changes, and overwrite the existing feature service.
- Branch versioned service—Stop all services published from the Indoors data. Open the enterprise geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro, update fields and domains as necessary, verify changes, and restart services. Changes to the enterprise geodatabase are automatically reflected in the default version when the service is restarted.
- Feature service—Open the feature service in ArcGIS Pro, edit fields, and verify changes in web maps and in apps.
Note:
It is not possible to apply domains to fields on a published feature service. The feature service must be republished or overwritten from a geodatabase with the domains applied.
Data validation with attribute rules
When you make data changes, you can use attribute rules to perform quality control checks to ensure the edits meet data requirements specific to your organizational needs. For example, after updating existing floor plans, you can ensure that there are no duplicate unit features, and that units and details are associated to the correct level in the Indoors model. If you have added Indoors attribute rules or created your own ArcGIS Arcade-based or Data Reviewer rules, you can validate your data as follows:
- File geodatabase—Add indoor data and error layers to a map in ArcGIS Pro, run validation rules in the Error Inspector pane, address errors, and overwrite the published feature service with changes.
- Branch versioned service—Share a branch versioned service with the Validation capability enabled, open the branch versioned service in ArcGIS Pro, create a new version and update data as necessary in the version, run validation checks, address errors, and reconcile and post changes to the default version.
Note:
Attribute rules are not supported in ArcGIS Online.