Create a mapping app

Learn how to create a UI for a simple mapping application using Calcite Components and ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript.

You will use Calcite Components to craft a positive user experience and drive interaction in your mapping application. This tutorial focuses on the user interface and expects some knowledge of the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript. If you are new to the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript, they have a great tutorial that covers the mapping concepts used in this application.

Prerequisites

ArcGIS account

You need a free ArcGIS Online and/or ArcGIS Location Platform account to access the services used in this tutorial.

Steps

Create a new pen

Go to CodePen to create a new pen for your mapping application.

Add HTML

In CodePen > HTML, add HTML and CSS to create a page with a viewDiv element which will display the map. The CSS ensures that the map is the full width and height of the browser window.

The <!DOCTYPE html> tag is not required in CodePen. If you are using a different editor or running the page on a local server, be sure to add this tag to the top of your HTML page.

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<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no" />
    <title>Calcite Components: Create a mapping app</title>
  </head>
  <style>
    html,
    body,
    #viewDiv {
      padding: 0;
      margin: 0;
      height: 100%;
      width: 100%;
    }
  </style>
  <body>
    <div id="viewDiv"></div>
  </body>
  <script>
  </script>
</html>

In the <head> element, add references to Calcite Components and ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript.

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<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no" />
  <title>Calcite Components: Create a mapping app</title>

  <script src="https://js.arcgis.com/calcite-components/2.13.2/calcite.esm.js" type="module"></script>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://js.arcgis.com/calcite-components/2.13.2/calcite.css" />

  <script src="https://js.arcgis.com/4.31/"></script>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.31/esri/themes/light/main.css" />

</head>
<style>
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Import modules

In the <script> element, import the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript modules that you will use in this application.

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  require([
    "esri/WebMap",
    "esri/views/MapView",
    "esri/widgets/Bookmarks",
    "esri/widgets/BasemapGallery",
    "esri/widgets/LayerList",
    "esri/widgets/Legend",
    "esri/widgets/Print"
  ], function (WebMap, MapView, Bookmarks, BasemapGallery, LayerList, Legend, Print) {

  });
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Use an API key

An API key is required to access ArcGIS services if you are using a developer account. You can skip this step if you have an account associated with an ArcGIS Online organization.

Go to the get started with security and authentication to build an app that can access secure resources.
Back in CodePen > <script>, import the esriConfig class.
Set the apiKey property.

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  "esri/widgets/Print",
  "esri/config"
], function (WebMap, MapView, Bookmarks, BasemapGallery, LayerList, Legend, Print, esriConfig ) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

Display a map

The map is the central focus of this application. You added CSS above which makes the map the full width and height of the window. You will also add ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript widgets that interact with the map. The widgets will be organized by Calcite Components to keep the user interface clean.

Initialize a WebMap using the id provided via the webmap URL search parameter. If a web map id is not provided, it will use the fallback id specified in the code.

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    const webmapId = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get("webmap") ?? "210c5b77056846808c7a5ce93920be81";

    const map = new WebMap({
      portalItem: {
        id: webmapId
      }
    });
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Initialize the MapView, and add padding to the left of the view to make room for the Calcite Components you will add later.
Next, initialize the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript widgets, placing them in containers which you will create in a subsequent step.

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    const view = new MapView({
      map,
      container: "viewDiv",
      padding: {
        left: 49
      }
    });

    view.ui.move("zoom", "bottom-right");
    const basemaps = new BasemapGallery({
      view,
      container: "basemaps-container"
    });
    const bookmarks = new Bookmarks({
      view,
      container: "bookmarks-container"
    });
    const layerList = new LayerList({
      view,
      dragEnabled: true,
      visibilityAppearance: "checkbox",
      container: "layers-container"
    });
    const legend = new Legend({
      view,
      container: "legend-container"
    });
    const print = new Print({
      view,
      container: "print-container"
    });
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At this point the application will display a map. However, the widgets you initialized will not appear because they are placed in HTML containers that have not been created yet.

Create the layout

To create the layout you will use calcite-shell, which organizes other components on the page using slots. Slots are a web component concept and there is a brief section in Core concepts. A list of a component's slots, if it has any, can be found on its reference page. For example, here are shell's slots.

Add the calcite-shell component.
- Set the content-behind attribute so users can interact with the map behind the shell.
Add the calcite-shell-panel component, placing it in shell's panel-start slot.
- Set the displayMode attribute to "float" so the shell panel's content appears to hover over the map.

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  <calcite-shell content-behind>

    <calcite-shell-panel slot="panel-start" display-mode="float">

    </calcite-shell-panel>

    <div id="viewDiv"></div>

  </calcite-shell>
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Add the calcite-navigation component and place it in the shell's header slot.
Then, slot the calcite-navigation-logo component into navigation's logo slot. Supply an id to dynamically populate the heading with the title of the web map.

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  <calcite-shell content-behind>

    <calcite-navigation slot="header">
      <calcite-navigation-logo id="header-title" heading-level="1" slot="logo">
        <!-- Dynamically populated -->
      </calcite-navigation-logo>
    </calcite-navigation>

    <calcite-shell-panel slot="panel-start" display-mode="float">

    </calcite-shell-panel>
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Add action and panel components

Next, add the components used to access the widgets. The calcite-panel components will have the widgets' containers. The panels will start hidden, and users can display them using the corresponding calcite-action component.

Add the calcite-action-bar component and place it in shell panel's action-bar slot.
Add calcite-action components, which will open the panels when clicked.
- Set the icon attribute to the name of the widget that the action will open. View the Calcite Icons to find additional options.
- Set the text attribute, which will display when uncollapsing the action bar.
- Set the data-action-id global attribute, which will be used in a subsequent step to make the action interactive.

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  <calcite-shell content-behind>

    <calcite-navigation slot="header">
      <calcite-navigation-logo id="header-title" heading-level="1" slot="logo">
        <!-- Dynamically populated -->
      </calcite-navigation-logo>
    </calcite-navigation>

    <calcite-shell-panel slot="panel-start" display-mode="float">

      <calcite-action-bar slot="action-bar">
        <calcite-action data-action-id="layers" icon="layers" text="Layers"></calcite-action>
        <calcite-action data-action-id="basemaps" icon="basemap" text="Basemaps"></calcite-action>
        <calcite-action data-action-id="legend" icon="legend" text="Legend"></calcite-action>
        <calcite-action data-action-id="bookmarks" icon="bookmark" text="Bookmarks"></calcite-action>
        <calcite-action data-action-id="print" icon="print" text="Print"></calcite-action>
        <calcite-action data-action-id="information" icon="information" text="Information"></calcite-action>
      </calcite-action-bar>

    </calcite-shell-panel>
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Below the action bar, add calcite-panel components with the containers for the widgets you initialized in JavaScript.
- Set the heading attribute for the panel's title.
- Set the height of the panel using the height-scale attribute.
- Set the hidden global attribute, which will be removed when clicking on the corresponding action.
- Set the data-panel-id global attribute, which will be used in a subsequent step to make the panels interactive.

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      <!-- Map-specific panels (each one provides a div for ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript widgets) -->
      <calcite-panel heading="Layers" height-scale="l" data-panel-id="layers" hidden>
        <div id="layers-container"></div>
      </calcite-panel>
      <calcite-panel heading="Basemaps" height-scale="l" data-panel-id="basemaps" hidden>
        <div id="basemaps-container"></div>
      </calcite-panel>
      <calcite-panel heading="Legend" height-scale="l" data-panel-id="legend" hidden>
        <div id="legend-container"></div>
      </calcite-panel>
      <calcite-panel heading="Bookmarks" height-scale="l" data-panel-id="bookmarks" hidden>
        <div id="bookmarks-container"></div>
      </calcite-panel>
      <calcite-panel heading="Print" height-scale="l" data-panel-id="print" hidden>
        <div id="print-container"></div>
      </calcite-panel>
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Add another calcite-panel component.
Create a div, and then add img and div child elements with id global attributes. These elements will populate with the web map's thumbnail and description.
Add a calcite-label component with the layout attribute set to "inline".
Add a calcite-rating component as the label's child and set the read-only attribute. This component will populate with the web map's average rating.

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      <!-- Info panel (populates with info from the web map) -->
      <calcite-panel heading="Details" data-panel-id="information" hidden>
        <div id="info-content">
          <img id="item-thumbnail" alt="webmap thumbnail" />
          <div id="item-description">
            <!-- Dynamically populated -->
          </div>
          <calcite-label layout="inline">
            <b>Rating:</b>
            <calcite-rating id="item-rating" read-only>
              <!-- Dynamically populated -->
            </calcite-rating>
          </calcite-label>
        </div>
      </calcite-panel>
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Populate the content

You finished adding Calcite Components to your application! Now populate the navigation logo's heading and info panel with content from the web map.

Below the existing JavaScript code in the <script> element, wait for the map to finish loading asynchronously.
Once the map is loaded, use the querySelector() method to access the DOM and populate the content.

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    map.when(() => {
      const { title, description, thumbnailUrl, avgRating } = map.portalItem;
      document.querySelector("#header-title").heading = title;
      document.querySelector("#item-description").innerHTML = description;
      document.querySelector("#item-thumbnail").src = thumbnailUrl;
      document.querySelector("#item-rating").value = avgRating;

    });
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Make components interactive

The next step is to open the calcite-panel components, which contain the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript widgets, when clicking on the corresponding calcite-action components.

Inside of the map.when() function, initialize a variable to store the name of the widget that is currently open.
Create a function that will execute when an action is clicked. The function will close the active panel and open the panel corresponding to the clicked action. If the user clicks on the active action, the corresponding panel will close and there will not be any open panels.

This step uses attribute selectors to access the action and panel elements using the data attributes you added above. The values of the data attributes are the names of the corresponding widgets.

Create a click event listener on the calcite-action-bar using the function above as the callback.

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      let activeWidget;

      const handleActionBarClick = ({ target }) => {
        if (target.tagName !== "CALCITE-ACTION") {
          return;
        }

        if (activeWidget) {
          document.querySelector(`[data-action-id=${activeWidget}]`).active = false;
          document.querySelector(`[data-panel-id=${activeWidget}]`).hidden = true;
        }

        const nextWidget = target.dataset.actionId;
        if (nextWidget !== activeWidget) {
          document.querySelector(`[data-action-id=${nextWidget}]`).active = true;
          document.querySelector(`[data-panel-id=${nextWidget}]`).hidden = false;
          activeWidget = nextWidget;
        } else {
          activeWidget = null;
        }
      };

      document.querySelector("calcite-action-bar").addEventListener("click", handleActionBarClick);
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Dynamically resize the view

Now that the components are interactive, the map's view should adjust when the calcite-action-bar expands and collapses.

Inside of the map.when() function, add an event listener on the calciteActionBarToggle. The listener will add or remove padding to the view when expanded or collapsed respectively.

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      let actionBarExpanded = false;

      document.addEventListener("calciteActionBarToggle", event => {
        actionBarExpanded = !actionBarExpanded;
        view.padding = {
          left: actionBarExpanded ? 135 : 49
        };
      });
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Add a loader component

Now everything is interactive in your application! You can open and close the widgets using Calcite Components. However, the application takes a second to load, which should be communicated to the user.

In the <body> element, add a calcite-loader to display the component.
Add the hidden global attribute to calcite-shell.

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  <body>
    <calcite-loader></calcite-loader>

    <calcite-shell content-behind hidden>

    <h2 id="header-title" slot="header">
      <!--dynamically populated-->
    </h2>

Inside of the map.when() function, below the rest of the JavaScript code, hide the calcite-loader component with the hidden property set to true, and display the calcite-shell component by setting the hidden property to false.

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      document.querySelector("calcite-shell").hidden = false;
      document.querySelector("calcite-loader").hidden = true;

    });
  });
</script>

</html>

Add styling

In the <style> element, add some additional CSS to clean up the user interface.

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  body {
    display: flex;
  }

  calcite-loader {
    align-self: center;
    justify-self: center;
  }

  #info-content {
    padding: 0.75rem;
  }

  calcite-rating {
    margin-top: 0.25rem;
  }


</style>
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Run the app

In CodePen, run your code to display the application. The map will display once the application finishes loading, along with the web map's title and a calcite-action-bar. Clicking on the calcite-action components will open and close the calcite-panel components, which contain the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript widgets.