What is sharing?
Sharing is the process of making geographic content accessible to users in ArcGIS Online
You can use the share setting to:
- Change the discoverability of an item in a portal.
- Make an item private or public.
- Give specific groups of users or an organization access to an item.
- Require data services
Data services, also known as hosted data services, are services created dynamically to store and provide access to your data in ArcGIS. Examples are feature services, vector tile services, map tile services, image services, and scene services. to be accessed with an access token.
Types of sharing levels
The following is a list of the sharing levels available for the different types of ArcGIS products:
- Owner (private): Only the owner has access. The hosted layer (item) and data service are private and will not be visible or accessible to others. A valid access token or scoped API key is required. Learn more about scoping items to an API key in API keys.
How to set the sharing level
The general steps on how to share an item
1. Create an item
An item
The most common types of items added to a portal include:
- Shapefiles
A shapefile is a vector data storage format that contains geometry and attribute data for geographic features. It can also include spatial and non-spatial indexes. (.shp): A common geospatial vector data format used in GIS software. - CSV (.csv): Comma-separated values files often used to store tabular data.
- GeoJSON
GeoJSON is an open standard for representing geographic information in a JSON file. It is commonly used for sharing data between web services or manipulating vector data in the browser. (.geojson): A format for encoding geographic data structures. - KML
Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML-based format that describes geographic entities. Developed and popularized for use with Google Earth, the KML specification is now maintained by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). (.kml): Keyhole Markup Language for encoding and visualizing geographic information. - Web maps
A web map is a map stored as a JSON object that defines properties such as the basemap layer, data layers, layer styles, and pop-up styles. Its JSON structure is defined by the web map specification. (.webmap): Specific to ArcGIS, containing information about layers, symbology, and other map properties. - Tile packages
A tile package is a tiled layer that has been bundled into a single (.tpk): Bundled raster data used for efficient map display..tpk/.tpkxfile. The file contains a tile cache of the data and metadata about the layer, packaged into a single, portable file. - Hosted layers
A hosted layer is an item in a portal that contains the properties and settings for a hosted data service or a layer in a hosted data service. : Layers hosted on ArcGIS Online for sharing and collaboration.
2. Select a sharing level
Determining the right level of sharing, whether for the general public, internal members, or specific groups, requires an understanding of the target users. This involves considering the sharing requirements and potential uses of the specific item.
The table below shows authorization required for each sharing level.
| Sharing level | Authorization required | ArcGIS account required |
|---|---|---|
Owner (private) | Yes | Yes |
Group | Yes | Yes |
Organization | Yes | Yes |
Everyone(public) | No | No |
The table below shows types of ArcGIS products charged to access an item for each sharing level.
| Sharing level | ArcGIS Location Platform | ArcGIS Online | ArcGIS Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
Owner (private) | Pay-as-you-go | Free tier | Free tier |
Group | Unsupported | Free tier | Free tier |
Organization | Unsupported | Free tier | Free tier |
Everyone (public) | Unsupported | Free tier | Free tier |
3. Set the sharing level
Once the share levels are configured, ensure the item has the appropriate sharing levels by reviewing the item page.
Below is an example of how to share an item:
# Update the sharing level
item.share(everyone=True, org=True if sharing_level == 'organization' else False, groups='')
Code examples
You can use data management tools to manage the sharing level of a hosted feature layer (item)
Set sharing to private
Restrict the hosted layer (item) and data service access to the owner only. An access token
POST https://{host}/sharing/rest/content/users/{organizationId}/items/{itemId}/share HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
everyone=false
&org=false
&groups=
&token={access_token}Set sharing to group
Restrict the hosted layer (item) and data service access to private or public groups in the organization. An access token
This sharing level is not available.
Set sharing to organization
Restrict the hosted layer (item) and data service access to members of the organization. An access token
This sharing level is not available.
Set sharing to public
Allow unrestricted access to the hosted layer (item) and data service. An access token
This sharing level is not available.
Tutorials
Import data to create a feature layer
Use data management tools to import files and create a feature layer in a feature service.
Define a new feature layer
Use data management tools to define and create a new empty feature layer in a feature service.
Manage a feature layer
Use a hosted feature layer item to set the properties and settings of a feature layer in a feature service.
Create a vector tile service
Use data management tools to create a new vector tile service from a feature service.
Create a map tile service
Use ArcGIS Online or scripting APIs to publish a map tile service.
Services
Feature service
Add, update, delete, and query feature data.
Vector tile service
Store and access vector tile data.
Map tile service
Store and access map tile data.
Image service
Store and access imagery and raster data.