Learn how to use a SQL query to limit features displayed in a feature layer.
A hosted feature layer can contain a large number of features. To display a subset of the features, you can filter features on the server-side with a definition expression. Definition expressions are different than feature layer queries: they only support a SQL where clause without a geometry (spatial) parameter, and are only used to filter features at the time they are displayed in a map or scene. They cannot be used to get features like a feature layer query.
You need a free ArcGIS developer account to access your dashboard and API keys. The API key must be scoped to access the services used in this tutorial.
In the require statement, add the FeatureLayer module.
The ArcGIS API for JavaScript uses AMD modules. The require function is used to load modules so they can be used in the main function. It's important to keep the module references and function parameters in the same order.
Add line.Change line
<html><head><metaname="description"content="ArcGIS JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer"><metacharset="utf-8"><metaname="viewport"content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><title>ArcGIS API for JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer with SQL (JSAPI)</title><style>html,
body,
#viewDiv {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
</style><linkrel="stylesheet"href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/esri/themes/light/main.css"><scriptsrc="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/"></script></head><script>require([
"esri/config",
"esri/Map",
"esri/views/MapView",
"esri/layers/FeatureLayer" ], function(esriConfig,Map,MapView,FeatureLayer) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY";
const map = newMap({
basemap: "arcgis-topographic"// Basemap layer service });
const view = new MapView({
container: "viewDiv",
map: map,
center: [-118.80543,34.02700], // Longitude, latitude zoom: 12 });
// Create a UI with the filter expressionsconst sqlExpressions = ["Choose a SQL where clause...", "Roll_LandValue < 200000", "TaxRateArea = 10853", "Bedrooms5 > 0", "UseType = 'Residential'", "Roll_RealEstateExemp > 0"];
// UIconst selectFilter = document.createElement("select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("class", "esri-widget esri-select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("style", "width: 275px; font-family: Avenir Next W00; font-size: 1em;");
sqlExpressions.forEach(function(sql){
let option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = sql;
option.innerHTML = sql;
selectFilter.appendChild(option);
});
view.ui.add(selectFilter, "top-right");
// Add a feature layer to map with all features visible on client (no filter)const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
url: "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/LA_County_Parcels/FeatureServer/0",
outFields: ["*"],
popupTemplate: {
title: "{UseType}",
content: "Description: {UseDescription}. Land value: {Roll_LandValue}" },
definitionExpression: "1=0" });
map.add(featureLayer);
// Server-side filterfunctionsetFeatureLayerFilter(expression) {
featureLayer.definitionExpression = expression;
}
// Event listener selectFilter.addEventListener('change', function (event) {
setFeatureLayerFilter(event.target.value);
});
});
</script></head><body><divid="viewDiv"></div></body></html>
Create a selector
Use an HTML select element to provide a list of SQL queries for the LA County Parcels feature layer.
Create a sqlExpressions array of SQL queries.
Add line.Add line.
<html><head><metaname="description"content="ArcGIS JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer"><metacharset="utf-8"><metaname="viewport"content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><title>ArcGIS API for JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer with SQL (JSAPI)</title><style>html,
body,
#viewDiv {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
</style><linkrel="stylesheet"href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/esri/themes/light/main.css"><scriptsrc="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/"></script></head><script>require([
"esri/config",
"esri/Map",
"esri/views/MapView",
"esri/layers/FeatureLayer" ], function(esriConfig,Map,MapView,FeatureLayer) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY";
const map = newMap({
basemap: "arcgis-topographic"// Basemap layer service });
const view = new MapView({
container: "viewDiv",
map: map,
center: [-118.80543,34.02700], // Longitude, latitude zoom: 12 });
// Create a UI with the filter expressionsconst sqlExpressions = ["Choose a SQL where clause...", "Roll_LandValue < 200000", "TaxRateArea = 10853", "Bedrooms5 > 0", "UseType = 'Residential'", "Roll_RealEstateExemp > 0"];
// UIconst selectFilter = document.createElement("select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("class", "esri-widget esri-select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("style", "width: 275px; font-family: Avenir Next W00; font-size: 1em;");
sqlExpressions.forEach(function(sql){
let option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = sql;
option.innerHTML = sql;
selectFilter.appendChild(option);
});
view.ui.add(selectFilter, "top-right");
// Add a feature layer to map with all features visible on client (no filter)const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
url: "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/LA_County_Parcels/FeatureServer/0",
outFields: ["*"],
popupTemplate: {
title: "{UseType}",
content: "Description: {UseDescription}. Land value: {Roll_LandValue}" },
definitionExpression: "1=0" });
map.add(featureLayer);
// Server-side filterfunctionsetFeatureLayerFilter(expression) {
featureLayer.definitionExpression = expression;
}
// Event listener selectFilter.addEventListener('change', function (event) {
setFeatureLayerFilter(event.target.value);
});
});
</script></head><body><divid="viewDiv"></div></body></html>
Create a parent selectFilter element and add option elements for each SQL query. Add some css styles to the elements.
<html><head><metaname="description"content="ArcGIS JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer"><metacharset="utf-8"><metaname="viewport"content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><title>ArcGIS API for JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer with SQL (JSAPI)</title><style>html,
body,
#viewDiv {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
</style><linkrel="stylesheet"href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/esri/themes/light/main.css"><scriptsrc="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/"></script></head><script>require([
"esri/config",
"esri/Map",
"esri/views/MapView",
"esri/layers/FeatureLayer" ], function(esriConfig,Map,MapView,FeatureLayer) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY";
const map = newMap({
basemap: "arcgis-topographic"// Basemap layer service });
const view = new MapView({
container: "viewDiv",
map: map,
center: [-118.80543,34.02700], // Longitude, latitude zoom: 12 });
// Create a UI with the filter expressionsconst sqlExpressions = ["Choose a SQL where clause...", "Roll_LandValue < 200000", "TaxRateArea = 10853", "Bedrooms5 > 0", "UseType = 'Residential'", "Roll_RealEstateExemp > 0"];
// UIconst selectFilter = document.createElement("select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("class", "esri-widget esri-select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("style", "width: 275px; font-family: Avenir Next W00; font-size: 1em;");
sqlExpressions.forEach(function(sql){
let option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = sql;
option.innerHTML = sql;
selectFilter.appendChild(option);
});
view.ui.add(selectFilter, "top-right");
// Add a feature layer to map with all features visible on client (no filter)const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
url: "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/LA_County_Parcels/FeatureServer/0",
outFields: ["*"],
popupTemplate: {
title: "{UseType}",
content: "Description: {UseDescription}. Land value: {Roll_LandValue}" },
definitionExpression: "1=0" });
map.add(featureLayer);
// Server-side filterfunctionsetFeatureLayerFilter(expression) {
featureLayer.definitionExpression = expression;
}
// Event listener selectFilter.addEventListener('change', function (event) {
setFeatureLayerFilter(event.target.value);
});
});
</script></head><body><divid="viewDiv"></div></body></html>
Add selectFilter to the top-right corner of the view.
Add line.
<html><head><metaname="description"content="ArcGIS JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer"><metacharset="utf-8"><metaname="viewport"content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><title>ArcGIS API for JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer with SQL (JSAPI)</title><style>html,
body,
#viewDiv {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
</style><linkrel="stylesheet"href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/esri/themes/light/main.css"><scriptsrc="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/"></script></head><script>require([
"esri/config",
"esri/Map",
"esri/views/MapView",
"esri/layers/FeatureLayer" ], function(esriConfig,Map,MapView,FeatureLayer) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY";
const map = newMap({
basemap: "arcgis-topographic"// Basemap layer service });
const view = new MapView({
container: "viewDiv",
map: map,
center: [-118.80543,34.02700], // Longitude, latitude zoom: 12 });
// Create a UI with the filter expressionsconst sqlExpressions = ["Choose a SQL where clause...", "Roll_LandValue < 200000", "TaxRateArea = 10853", "Bedrooms5 > 0", "UseType = 'Residential'", "Roll_RealEstateExemp > 0"];
// UIconst selectFilter = document.createElement("select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("class", "esri-widget esri-select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("style", "width: 275px; font-family: Avenir Next W00; font-size: 1em;");
sqlExpressions.forEach(function(sql){
let option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = sql;
option.innerHTML = sql;
selectFilter.appendChild(option);
});
view.ui.add(selectFilter, "top-right");
// Add a feature layer to map with all features visible on client (no filter)const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
url: "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/LA_County_Parcels/FeatureServer/0",
outFields: ["*"],
popupTemplate: {
title: "{UseType}",
content: "Description: {UseDescription}. Land value: {Roll_LandValue}" },
definitionExpression: "1=0" });
map.add(featureLayer);
// Server-side filterfunctionsetFeatureLayerFilter(expression) {
featureLayer.definitionExpression = expression;
}
// Event listener selectFilter.addEventListener('change', function (event) {
setFeatureLayerFilter(event.target.value);
});
});
</script></head><body><divid="viewDiv"></div></body></html>
Verify that the select element is created.
Create a feature layer to filter
Use the FeatureLayer class to access the LA County Parcels feature layer. Since you are performing a server-side query, the feature layer does not need to be added to the map. However, to view the results of the query, the feature layer will be added to the map.
Create a featureLayer and set the url property to access the feature layer in the feature service. Set the outFields property to return all attributes on the client and the popupTemplate to display the parcel description and land value. Set the definitionExpression to 1=0 so no features are displayed when the layer is loaded. Add featureLayer to the map.
<html><head><metaname="description"content="ArcGIS JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer"><metacharset="utf-8"><metaname="viewport"content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><title>ArcGIS API for JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer with SQL (JSAPI)</title><style>html,
body,
#viewDiv {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
</style><linkrel="stylesheet"href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/esri/themes/light/main.css"><scriptsrc="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/"></script></head><script>require([
"esri/config",
"esri/Map",
"esri/views/MapView",
"esri/layers/FeatureLayer" ], function(esriConfig,Map,MapView,FeatureLayer) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY";
const map = newMap({
basemap: "arcgis-topographic"// Basemap layer service });
const view = new MapView({
container: "viewDiv",
map: map,
center: [-118.80543,34.02700], // Longitude, latitude zoom: 12 });
// Create a UI with the filter expressionsconst sqlExpressions = ["Choose a SQL where clause...", "Roll_LandValue < 200000", "TaxRateArea = 10853", "Bedrooms5 > 0", "UseType = 'Residential'", "Roll_RealEstateExemp > 0"];
// UIconst selectFilter = document.createElement("select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("class", "esri-widget esri-select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("style", "width: 275px; font-family: Avenir Next W00; font-size: 1em;");
sqlExpressions.forEach(function(sql){
let option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = sql;
option.innerHTML = sql;
selectFilter.appendChild(option);
});
view.ui.add(selectFilter, "top-right");
// Add a feature layer to map with all features visible on client (no filter)const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
url: "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/LA_County_Parcels/FeatureServer/0",
outFields: ["*"],
popupTemplate: {
title: "{UseType}",
content: "Description: {UseDescription}. Land value: {Roll_LandValue}" },
definitionExpression: "1=0" });
map.add(featureLayer);
// Server-side filterfunctionsetFeatureLayerFilter(expression) {
featureLayer.definitionExpression = expression;
}
// Event listener selectFilter.addEventListener('change', function (event) {
setFeatureLayerFilter(event.target.value);
});
});
</script></head><body><divid="viewDiv"></div></body></html>
Apply the SQL expression
The definitionExpression is the SQL where clause. Use the expression to apply a filter and limit features displayed in the map.
Create a setFeatureLayerFilter function with an expression parameter. Set the definitionExpression to filter the feature layer with the expression.
Add line.Add line.Add line.Add line.
<html><head><metaname="description"content="ArcGIS JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer"><metacharset="utf-8"><metaname="viewport"content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><title>ArcGIS API for JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer with SQL (JSAPI)</title><style>html,
body,
#viewDiv {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
</style><linkrel="stylesheet"href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/esri/themes/light/main.css"><scriptsrc="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/"></script></head><script>require([
"esri/config",
"esri/Map",
"esri/views/MapView",
"esri/layers/FeatureLayer" ], function(esriConfig,Map,MapView,FeatureLayer) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY";
const map = newMap({
basemap: "arcgis-topographic"// Basemap layer service });
const view = new MapView({
container: "viewDiv",
map: map,
center: [-118.80543,34.02700], // Longitude, latitude zoom: 12 });
// Create a UI with the filter expressionsconst sqlExpressions = ["Choose a SQL where clause...", "Roll_LandValue < 200000", "TaxRateArea = 10853", "Bedrooms5 > 0", "UseType = 'Residential'", "Roll_RealEstateExemp > 0"];
// UIconst selectFilter = document.createElement("select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("class", "esri-widget esri-select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("style", "width: 275px; font-family: Avenir Next W00; font-size: 1em;");
sqlExpressions.forEach(function(sql){
let option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = sql;
option.innerHTML = sql;
selectFilter.appendChild(option);
});
view.ui.add(selectFilter, "top-right");
// Add a feature layer to map with all features visible on client (no filter)const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
url: "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/LA_County_Parcels/FeatureServer/0",
outFields: ["*"],
popupTemplate: {
title: "{UseType}",
content: "Description: {UseDescription}. Land value: {Roll_LandValue}" },
definitionExpression: "1=0" });
map.add(featureLayer);
// Server-side filterfunctionsetFeatureLayerFilter(expression) {
featureLayer.definitionExpression = expression;
}
// Event listener selectFilter.addEventListener('change', function (event) {
setFeatureLayerFilter(event.target.value);
});
});
</script></head><body><divid="viewDiv"></div></body></html>
Add an event listener to call the setFeatureLayerFilter function when a SQL where clause is chosen from the selector.
Add line.Add line.Add line.Add line.
<html><head><metaname="description"content="ArcGIS JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer"><metacharset="utf-8"><metaname="viewport"content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no"><title>ArcGIS API for JavaScript Tutorials: Filter a feature layer with SQL (JSAPI)</title><style>html,
body,
#viewDiv {
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
</style><linkrel="stylesheet"href="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/esri/themes/light/main.css"><scriptsrc="https://js.arcgis.com/4.18/"></script></head><script>require([
"esri/config",
"esri/Map",
"esri/views/MapView",
"esri/layers/FeatureLayer" ], function(esriConfig,Map,MapView,FeatureLayer) {
esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR-API-KEY";
const map = newMap({
basemap: "arcgis-topographic"// Basemap layer service });
const view = new MapView({
container: "viewDiv",
map: map,
center: [-118.80543,34.02700], // Longitude, latitude zoom: 12 });
// Create a UI with the filter expressionsconst sqlExpressions = ["Choose a SQL where clause...", "Roll_LandValue < 200000", "TaxRateArea = 10853", "Bedrooms5 > 0", "UseType = 'Residential'", "Roll_RealEstateExemp > 0"];
// UIconst selectFilter = document.createElement("select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("class", "esri-widget esri-select");
selectFilter.setAttribute("style", "width: 275px; font-family: Avenir Next W00; font-size: 1em;");
sqlExpressions.forEach(function(sql){
let option = document.createElement("option");
option.value = sql;
option.innerHTML = sql;
selectFilter.appendChild(option);
});
view.ui.add(selectFilter, "top-right");
// Add a feature layer to map with all features visible on client (no filter)const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
url: "https://services3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/LA_County_Parcels/FeatureServer/0",
outFields: ["*"],
popupTemplate: {
title: "{UseType}",
content: "Description: {UseDescription}. Land value: {Roll_LandValue}" },
definitionExpression: "1=0" });
map.add(featureLayer);
// Server-side filterfunctionsetFeatureLayerFilter(expression) {
featureLayer.definitionExpression = expression;
}
// Event listener selectFilter.addEventListener('change', function (event) {
setFeatureLayerFilter(event.target.value);
});
});
</script></head><body><divid="viewDiv"></div></body></html>
Run the app
In CodePen, run your code to display the map.
When the map displays, you should be able to choose a SQL query from the selector that applies a definition expression to the visible extent of the map. Only the features that match are added to the feature layer and displayed in the view.