Show labels on layer

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Display custom labels on a feature layer.

Image of show labels on layer

Use case

Labeling features is useful to visually display a key piece of information or attribute of a feature on a map. For example, you may want to label rivers or streets with their names.

How to use the sample

Pan and zoom around the United States. Labels for congressional districts will be shown in red for Republican districts and blue for Democrat districts. Notice how labels pop into view as you zoom in.

How it works

  1. Create a ServiceFeatureTable using a feature service URL.
  2. Create a FeatureLayer from the service feature table.
  3. Create a TextSymbol to use for displaying the label text.
  4. Create an ArcadeLabelExpression for the label definition.
    • You can use fields of the feature by using $feature.field_name in the expression.
  5. Create a new LabelDefinition from the arcade label expression and text symbol.
  6. Add the definition to the feature layer with featureLayer.labelDefinitions.add(labelDefinition) .
  7. Lastly, enable labels on the layer using featureLayer.labelsEnabled.

Relevant API

  • FeatureLayer
  • LabelDefinition
  • TextSymbol

About the data

This sample uses the USA 116th Congressional Districts feature layer hosted on ArcGIS Online.

Additional information

Help regarding the Arcade label expression script for defining a label definition can be found on the ArcGIS Developers site.

Tags

arcade, attribute, deconfliction, label, labeling, string, symbol, text, visualization

Sample Code

MainActivity.kt
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/*
 * Copyright 2023 Esri
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 *
 */

package com.esri.arcgismaps.sample.showlabelsonlayer

import android.os.Bundle
import android.util.Log
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import androidx.databinding.DataBindingUtil
import androidx.lifecycle.lifecycleScope
import com.arcgismaps.ApiKey
import com.arcgismaps.Color
import com.arcgismaps.ArcGISEnvironment
import com.arcgismaps.arcgisservices.LabelingPlacement
import com.arcgismaps.data.ServiceFeatureTable
import com.arcgismaps.mapping.ArcGISMap
import com.arcgismaps.mapping.BasemapStyle
import com.arcgismaps.mapping.Viewpoint
import com.arcgismaps.mapping.labeling.ArcadeLabelExpression
import com.arcgismaps.mapping.labeling.LabelDefinition
import com.arcgismaps.mapping.layers.FeatureLayer
import com.arcgismaps.mapping.symbology.TextSymbol
import com.esri.arcgismaps.sample.showlabelsonlayer.databinding.ShowLabelsOnLayerActivityMainBinding
import com.google.android.material.snackbar.Snackbar
import kotlinx.coroutines.launch

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    // set up data binding for the activity
    private val activityMainBinding: ShowLabelsOnLayerActivityMainBinding by lazy {
        DataBindingUtil.setContentView(this, R.layout.show_labels_on_layer_activity_main)
    }

    private val mapView by lazy {
        activityMainBinding.mapView
    }

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

        // authentication with an API key or named user is
        // required to access basemaps and other location services
        ArcGISEnvironment.apiKey = ApiKey.create(BuildConfig.ACCESS_TOKEN)
        lifecycle.addObserver(mapView)

        // create a map with a light gray map style
        val map = ArcGISMap(BasemapStyle.ArcGISLightGray)
        // create a service feature table from an online feature service of
        // US Congressional Districts
        val serviceFeatureTable =
            ServiceFeatureTable(getString(R.string.congressional_districts_url))
        // create the feature layer from the service feature table
        val featureLayer = FeatureLayer.createWithFeatureTable(serviceFeatureTable)
        // add this feature layer to the map
        map.operationalLayers.add(featureLayer)
        // add the map to the mapview
        mapView.map = map

        lifecycleScope.launch {
            // if the map load failed show an error and return
            map.load().onFailure {
                return@onFailure showError("Error loading map:${it.message}")
            }
            // if the feature layer load failed show an error and return
            featureLayer.load().onFailure {
                return@onFailure showError("Error loading feature layer:${it.message}")
            }
            // zoom to the layer when it's done loading
            featureLayer.fullExtent?.let { extent ->
                mapView.setViewpoint(Viewpoint(extent))
            }
        }

        // create label definitions for the different party type attribute in the feature service
        val republicanLabelDefinition = createLabelDefinition("Republican", Color.red)
        val democraticLabelDefinition = createLabelDefinition("Democrat", Color.blue)

        featureLayer.apply {
            // add the label definitions to the feature layer
            labelDefinitions.addAll(
                listOf(
                    republicanLabelDefinition,
                    democraticLabelDefinition
                )
            )
            // enable the labels
            labelsEnabled = true
        }
    }

    /**
     * Creates and returns a [LabelDefinition] for the given party [name] attribute
     * with the [labelColor]
     */
    private fun createLabelDefinition(
        name: String,
        labelColor: Color
    ): LabelDefinition {
        // create a text symbol for styling the label
        val textSymbol = TextSymbol().apply {
            color = labelColor
            size = 12f
            haloColor = Color.white
            haloWidth = 2f
        }
        // create a arcade label expression for the label text
        val arcadeLabelExpression =
            ArcadeLabelExpression(
                "\$feature.NAME + \" (\" + left(\$feature.PARTY,1) " +
                    "+ \")\\nDistrict \" + \$feature.CDFIPS"
            )
        // create and return a new label definition with the arcadeLabelExpression and textSymbol
        return LabelDefinition(arcadeLabelExpression, textSymbol).apply {
            // set the label placement
            placement = LabelingPlacement.PolygonAlwaysHorizontal
            // set the attribute name for which this label will be generated
            whereClause = "PARTY = '$name'"
        }
    }

    private fun showError(message: String) {
        Log.e(localClassName, message)
        Snackbar.make(mapView, message, Snackbar.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
    }
}

/**
 * Simple extension property that represents a blue color
 */
private val Color.Companion.blue get() = fromRgba(0, 0, 255)

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