As an alternative to the label layer, you can create a label for one or more individual features by placing a text symbol at a given point. To do this, use the geometry service to generate a point for placing a label inside a polygon.
To try this sample, draw a polygon on the map. When you submit the polygon, it's simplified so it won't throw errors if it overlaps itself. The GeometryService.labelPoints() method determines a point inside the polygon. The parameters are an array of polygon graphics to be labeled and a callback function specifying what to do with the label points. In most cases, you'll be associating each point with a TextSymbol, like this:
labelPoints[i].setSymbol(textSymbol);
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no">
<title>Geometry Service: Label Points</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://js.arcgis.com/3.46/dijit/themes/nihilo/nihilo.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://js.arcgis.com/3.46/esri/css/esri.css">
<style>
html, body, #mapDiv {
height: 100%;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
width: 100%;
}
#info {
bottom: 20px;
color: #444;
height: auto;
font-family: arial;
left: 20px;
margin: 5px;
padding: 10px;
position: absolute;
width: 200px;
z-index: 40;
}
</style>
<script src="https://js.arcgis.com/3.46/"></script>
<script>
require(["dojo/dom",
"dojo/dom-attr",
"dojo/_base/array",
"esri/Color",
"dojo/number",
"dojo/parser",
"dijit/registry",
"esri/config",
"esri/map",
"esri/graphic",
"esri/tasks/GeometryService",
"esri/tasks/BufferParameters",
"esri/toolbars/draw",
"esri/symbols/SimpleMarkerSymbol",
"esri/symbols/SimpleLineSymbol",
"esri/symbols/SimpleFillSymbol",
"esri/symbols/Font",
"esri/symbols/TextSymbol",
"dijit/layout/BorderContainer",
"dijit/layout/ContentPane"
], function(dom, domAttr, array, Color, number, parser, registry, esriConfig, Map, Graphic, GeometryService, BufferParameters, Draw,
SimpleMarkerSymbol, SimpleLineSymbol, SimpleFillSymbol, Font, TextSymbol) {
var map, toolbar, geometryService;
parser.parse();
// create the map control
map = new Map("mapDiv", {
basemap: "streets-vector",
center: [-117.215, 34.05],
zoom: 13,
showAttribution: false
});
// create a toolbar for the map
toolbar = new Draw(map);
toolbar.on("draw-end", addToMap);
// activate a drawing tool when a button is clicked
registry.byId("polygon").on("click", function() {
toolbar.activate(Draw.POLYGON);
map.hideZoomSlider();
});
registry.byId("freehand").on("click", function() {
toolbar.activate(Draw.FREEHAND_POLYGON);
map.hideZoomSlider();
});
registry.byId("clear").on("click", function() {
map.graphics.clear();
});
geometryService = new GeometryService("https://utility.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/Geometry/GeometryServer");
function addToMap(evtObj) {
map.graphics.clear();
var geometry = evtObj.geometry;
// add the drawn graphic to the map
var symbol = new SimpleFillSymbol(
SimpleFillSymbol.STYLE_SOLID,
new SimpleLineSymbol(SimpleLineSymbol.STYLE_SOLID, new Color([0, 0, 0]), 2),
new Color([0, 0, 255, 0.5]));
var graphic = new Graphic(geometry, symbol);
map.graphics.add(graphic);
// simplify polygon so it can be used in the get label points request
geometryService.simplify([geometry], getLabelPoints);
}
function getLabelPoints(geometries) {
if (geometries[0].rings.length > 0) {
geometryService.labelPoints(geometries, function(labelPoints) { // callback
toolbar.deactivate();
map.showZoomSlider();
var font = new Font("20px", Font.STYLE_NORMAL, Font.VARIANT_NORMAL, Font.WEIGHT_BOLDER);
array.forEach(labelPoints, function(labelPoint) {
// create a text symbol
var textSymbol = new TextSymbol(
"X: " + number.format(labelPoint.x) + ", Y: " + number.format(labelPoint.y),
font, new Color([0, 0, 0]));
var labelPointGraphic = new Graphic(labelPoint, textSymbol);
// add the label point graphic to the map
map.graphics.add(labelPointGraphic);
});
});
} else {
alert("Invalid Polygon - must have at least 3 points");
}
}
});
</script>
</head>
<body class="nihilo">
<div id="mapDiv"></div>
<div id="info" class="esriSimpleSlider">
<button id="polygon" data-dojo-type="dijit.form.Button">Polygon</button>
<button id="freehand" data-dojo-type="dijit.form.Button">Freehand Polygon</button>
<button id="clear" data-dojo-type="dijit.form.Button">Clear Graphics</button>
</div>
</body>
</html>