Use an OGC API service—ArcGIS Pro

You can use OGC API Features or OGC API Tiles (map tiles) services that are available on the web when using ArcGIS Pro. The OGC API service client support in ArcGIS allows you to access these services over the internet and add an OGC API Features or OGC API Tiles (map tiles) layer to your map.

The OGC API Features standard is a multipart specification that allows you to work with spatial data over the web. The ArcGIS Pro client supports Part 1 of the OGC API Features specification. For more information regarding the OGC API Features standard, see the OGC website at https://ogc.org/standard/ogcapi-features/.

The OGC API Tiles standard is a specification that allows you to work with geospatial information as tiles. Currently, the ArcGIS Pro client supports only the map tiles type of the OGC API Tiles specification. For more information regarding the OGC API Tiles standard, see the OGC website at https://www.ogc.org/standard/ogcapi-tiles/

View an OGC API Features or OGC API Map tiles layer in the Contents pane

After creating an OGC API server connection, an OGC API server connection is shown in the Servers folder in the Catalog pane. You can add an OGC API Features or OGC API Tiles service to a map by selecting the layer in the OGC API server connection and dragging it onto the map, or by right-clicking the layer and selecting Add To Current Map. When you add an OGC API Features or OGC API Map tiles layer to the map, the layer is added to the Contents pane and features are displayed on the map.

Work with an OGC API Features layer from the web

When an OGC API Features layer has been added to ArcGIS Pro, it behaves as a read-only feature layer. For example, you can open the attribute table to view the records in the layer, query features in the map, or change the symbology of the layer. Since the OGC API Features layer is not editable, you cannot make edits to the data or schema through ArcGIS Pro.

Add OGC API Layers dialog box

When you add an OGC API Features layer to the map using an OGC API Server connection or from an OGCFeatureServer item on the Portal tab of the Catalog pane, the Add OGC API Layer(s) dialog box appears. This dialog box allows you to limit the features opened in the map by specifying an extent or set the maximum number of features added to the map. The ability to limit the features added to the map may be helpful for performance when the datasets are very large. These properties are also available to modify on the OGC Features layer properties dialog box.

Set the maximum features returned—To set the maximum number of features returned for the layer, you can specify a value in the Set the maximum features returned text box. If no value is set, all features will be returned. If an extent is also used to limit the features returned, the maximum features returned will be applied for the features returned within the extent that is set.
Use Spatial Extent—Choose to limit features by providing an area of interest (spatial extent).
- Checked—Limit the features added to the map by providing an extent. The OGC API Features service must support the bbox parameter to use this functionality. Provide the extent to use in the Selected extent parameter.
- Unchecked—Do not spatially limit the features added to the map. This is the default.
Selected extent—Set a custom extent to use to limit the data added to the map. You can enter the coordinates manually or borrow extent values from the current visible extent, the extent of data in all layers, or the extent of a specific layer. When an extent is provided, ArcGIS Pro will send the extent values using a bbox parameter with every request to the server. ArcGIS Pro is dependent on the response from the server to return the correct features within the bbox sent, so the service must support the bbox parameter as per the OGC API Features specification.

Keep the following in mind:

For layers added through the OGC API Server connection, by default, features in the layer will not be limited by an extent or maximum number returned. This means all features will be added.
For layers added through the Portal tab, the maximum features returned value may be set to reflect the limit of the service by default. To remove the limitation, you can delete the prepopulated value.
If multiple layers are selected and added to the map at one time, the values set for this dialog box will be applied to all layers selected.

When an OGC API Features layer has been added to the map, the maximum features and extent values work independently of other layers open in the map. To edit these values after the layer has been added to the map, right-click the layer in the Contents pane, select Properties, click the OGC Features tab, modify the values as desired, and click OK.

The ArcGIS data model allows only one geometry type per table. If a mixed geometry OGC API Features layer is added to the map, the geometry type of the layer is determined by querying the first feature in the OGC API Features service. For example, if the first row in the data is a polygon, the OGC API Features layer will be added to the map as a polygon layer.

OGC API Features layer properties

To get information about the layer, access the Layer Properties dialog box by right-clicking the OGC API Features layer in the Contents pane and clicking Properties. For example, you can view the data type, URL, layer name, and layer alias on the Source tab.

On the OGC Features tab, you can limit the number of features that are added to the map by setting a value for the maximum features returned. If a value was set when adding the layer to the map, you can modify it here. To remove the maximum features limitation, leave the Set the maximum features returned text box empty and click OK.

On the OGC Features tab, you can limit the number of features that are added to the map by providing an extent that will be used as a bounding box. To use this functionality, you can check the Spatial Extent check box and provide an extent using one of the Get extent from options or input your own values in the Selected extent form. When an extent is provided, ArcGIS Pro will send the extent values using a bbox parameter with every request to the server. ArcGIS Pro is dependent on the response from the server to return the correct features within the bbox sent, so the service must support the bbox parameter as per the OGC API Features specification. If you have set the extent value when adding a layer to the map using the Add OGC API Layer(s) dialog box, you can view the values that were set and choose to modify them. If you no longer want to limit features by an extent, you can uncheck the Spatial Extent check box and click OK.

Get the most recent data from your service

When working with an OGC API Features layer in ArcGIS Pro, if records in your service are often changing, you may want a way to refresh your layer with the most recent data from your service.

Layer connection mode

Similar to WFS layers in ArcGIS Pro, OGC API Features layers also have snapshot and on demand connection modes.

Snapshot mode—This means that the data is downloaded locally into a temporary folder and is deleted upon closing the session of ArcGIS Pro. Since the layer in the map is using a local copy of the data that was downloaded at the time of opening the layer (that is, a snapshot in time), the layer will not know about any changes to the service unless it is refreshed manually. This mode will be the most compatible with third party and older ArcGIS services since it requires the service to only support a basic request to download the data from your service. By default, most OGC API Features service layers are added to the map in the snapshot mode.
On demand mode—The on demand mode gets the most recent records from the service as you pan and zoom around the map. In this mode, ArcGIS Pro sends requests to the server as you pan and zoom around the map, select features, or query the data. The requests that are sent to the server in this mode use methods described in the OGC API Features specification. ArcGIS Enterprise OGC API Features service layers are added to the map in on demand mode by default.

Note:

For a service to work in on demand mode, the service must support bbox, filter parameters (for example, cql2-text), and use an id field where the values are unique. It is also recommended that you only use this mode if the server has good performance since ArcGIS Pro relies on server response time to load data in a timely manner. Note that there are known limitations at this time using this mode when making more complex queries on the data, queries on date or time fields, as well as queries on the attribute table. To view the requests that ArcGIS Pro sends your service while performing these operations, you can use the HTTP tab on the diagnostic monitor tool.

Set the connection mode

ArcGIS Enterprise OGC API Features services are added to the map using the on demand connection mode. All other services are added using the snapshot connection mode. If you want to force the connection to use a specific mode, you can set a customer request parameter on the OGC API Server connection where MODE is the key and SNAPSHOT or ONDEMAND is the value. This property will be set for all layers in the connection.

Refresh your layer

Whether you have chosen to use snapshot or on demand mode, both modes have a way to refresh the data in the layer to get the most recent records from the server.

To refresh your layer in snapshot mode you can do the following:
- Modify any of the properties on the OGC Features tab of the layer properties dialog box and click OK.
- Re-add your layer to the map.
- Save your project and then close and restart ArcGIS Pro.
To refresh your layer in on demand mode, you can pan and zoom around the map or modify any of the OGC Features properties on the layer properties dialog box.

If you had chosen to limit features to an area of interest by providing an extent when you added the layer to the map, both snapshot and on demand modes honor that extent. If you want to refresh data outside of the original extent specified, you can modify the extent bbox or choose to no longer use a spatial extent filter by editing the spatial extent property on the OGC Features tab of the layer properties dialog box.

Work with an OGC API Map tiles layer from the web

When an OGC API Map tiles layer has been added to ArcGIS Pro, it behaves as a map layer. You can view the pregenerated georeferenced map images or change the image format and tiling scheme of the layer.

OGC API Map tiles layer properties

To get information about the layer, access the Layer Properties dialog box by right-clicking the OGC API Map tiles layer in the Contents pane and clicking Properties. For example, you can view the data type, URL, layer name, and layer alias on the Source tab. On the OGC API Maptiles tab, you can switch the image format and tiling scheme.