Data management
What is data management?
Data management is the process of using ArcGIS Online and the developer dashboard content management tools to set the properties, sharing settings, and capabilities of hosted layers and data services. These tools allow you to administer hosted layers through item pages.
Item pages
Item pages are created when you publish a hosted layer in ArcGIS. You use item pages to set hosted layer properties, set data service capabilities, and perform other maintenance operations such as caching, data uploading, exporting, and publishing.
Here are some operations you can perform with item pages:
- Set the item name, description, and tags.
- Set sharing properties.
- View data.
- Build indexes and caches.
- Optimize drawing and visibility levels.
- Set visualization properties.
- Set editing and edit tracking properties (hosted feature layer).
- Upload and replace data (hosted feature layer).
- Create views (hosted feature layer).
- Export data (hosted feature layer).
- Set offline capabilities.
- Publish new layers.
How hosted layers and item pages work
When you use data management tools to publish a hosted layer, a new item page, item, and layer in a data service are created. The item is assigned a unique ID and stored in your account. An item is an internal data structure that contains properties for the hosted layer such as the name, description, ID, URL, sharing settings, and data service (source).
You use an item page to manage and update the properties and capabilities of your hosted layers.
Accessing hosted layers
You can access hosted layers with tools in ArcGIS Online and the developer dashboard.
List items
To access hosted layers that you own, you need to sign in to ArcGIS Online or your developer dashboard. This gives you access to items in your account.
Find items by ID
If you know the ID for a hosted layer, you can access the item page directly with a URL.
Example: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=69e12682738e467eb509d8b54dc73cbd
If the item is is private, you will be prompted to sign in and redirected to the item ID URL:
Search for items by ID
If you would like to search for all hosted layers that are public, you can do so using ArcGIS Online.
Example: https://www.arcgis.com/home/search.html?q=&focus=layers
Manage hosted layers
Item pages provide a number of settings through which you can manage your hosted layers. The available (visible) settings depend upon the type of hosted layer the item page represents, and also whether it is the owner or another user viewing the item page. Only the owner of an item can change its settings through the item page. If an item is private, it is only accessible to the owner; if it is public, others can search for and find those items on ArcGIS Online.
The following is a list of the primary settings available in an item page for most hosted layers:
- Name: The name of the hosted layer.
- Description: Text that describes the layer, what data it contains, and what it is used for.
- Type: The type of hosted layer. e.g. Feature layer or Tile layer
- Layers: Access to other layers if present.
- Terms of use: Description of usage restrictions for accessing data.
- Tags: Search text used to find item in ArcGIS Online.
- *Owner: Name of the owner or publisher of the data.
- *Source: The type of data service.
- *URL: The URL used to access the layer in the data service.
- *ID: The unique identifier for the hosted layer.
*Read-only properties that are assigned when the hosted layers are created.
You can update and change these properties as necessary. Properties such as the Owner and URL are defined by ArcGIS Online when a hosted layer is created.
If you are viewing the item page in ArcGIS Online, properties are organized into the following tabs: Data, Visualization, Usage, and Settings.
Sharing properties
The most common property to set in an item page for a hosted layer is the sharing property. When a hosted layer is created, the Sharing property (privacy setting) is set to Owner. This setting requires that applications use an API key or some other mode of authentication to access that hosted layer. Learn more about authentication in Security and Authentication.
The following is a list of available sharing options:
- Owner: Only the owner has access.
- Organization: All members of your organization can access.
- Everyone (public): Anyone can view and access.
To set the sharing property, use the Share button on your item page.
Example: https:
Tutorials

Import data as a feature layer
Use data management tools to import and create hosted feature layers.

Create a new feature layer
Use data management tools to create a new hosted feature layer.

Manage a feature layer
Set the properties and capabilities of a hosted feature layer.

Access feature layer data
Use ArcGIS Online tools to access and display feature layer data.

Publish a vector tile layer
Use ArcGIS Online to publish a vector tile layer.
Services
Feature service
Add, update, delete, and query feature data.
Vector tile service
Store and access vector tile data.
Image tile service
Store and access image tile data.
API support
- 1. Access portal via HTTP request and authentication.
- 2. Access via ArcGIS REST JS.
- 3. Requires manual application of renderers