Layers | ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unity

Maps use a collection of layersA layer is a reference to a collection of geographic data that is used to access and display data. The data for layers are typically provided by the basemap layer service and data services.Learn more to display geographic data from a variety of data sourcesA data source is a service or file containing geographic data that is accessed by a data layer.Learn more and formats. These can include several basemap layers and data layers from online or local sources. You can use an ArcGIS Map as a container for layers to display geographic data in a scene.

Each layer in a map references geographic data, either from a data serviceData 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.Learn more or from a data fileA data file is a stand-alone file containing geographic data that can be sideloaded on to a device. It is typically used in offline applications that never connect to a network.Learn more. There are a variety of layers that can be added to a map, each designed to display a particular type of data.

There are two groups of layers that an ArcGIS Map contains:

Basemap layersA basemap layer is the layer in a map or scene that displays basemap data. The data source for a basemap layer is typically a basemap service.Learn more, used for geographic context.
Data layersA data layer is a layer that references geographic data from a file or a service and is used to visualize the data in a map or scene.Learn more, used to display geographic data within the context of the basemap.

Key concepts

Basemap Layers

You can use one or more basemap layers to provide a background of geographic context for the data layers displayed in your scene.

The basemap layer serviceThe ArcGIS Basemap Styles service, also referred to as the Basemap Styles service, is a location service that provides basemap styles and data for the world. It returns styles as Mapbox styles and web maps, and data as vector tiles and/or map tiles. It supports all of the styles in the ArcGIS Basemap style and Open Basemap style family. An ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online account is required to use the service.Learn more provides several vector tile and image tile basemap layers that you can use for your applications. Basemap layers are collected together in a basemapA basemap is the foundational layer and data that provides the overall visual and geographic context for a map or scene. It typically includes geographic features and labels for land, water, roads, buildings, cities, places, and administrative boundaries, but can also include raster data such as satellite and areal images.Learn more and you use the Basemap property of the ArcGIS Map.

Learn more about basemap layers

Data layers

Data layersA data layer is a layer that references geographic data from a file or a service and is used to visualize the data in a map or scene.Learn more bring additional geographic data into your scene to be displayed in the context of the basemap. You use the Layers property of the ArcGIS Map to control the data layers in your scene. The following types of layers are supported:

Global scenes support data in any geographic coordinate system. Local scenes support any projected coordinate system. Refer to global or local for more information.

Image tile layers

An image tile layerAn image tile layer is a data layer that can access and display raster tile data provided by an image layer service.Learn more is a data layer that can access and display image tile data provided by a map tile serviceA map tile service, formerly known as image tile service, is a data service that provides access to static, pre-rendered mao tiles. The tiles are typical in PNG format. Map tiles are typically retrieved by specifying a specific level, row, and column value.Learn more or a map tile packageAn map tile package, formerly known as image tile package, is a read-only data file containing static, pre-rendered map tiles.Learn more.

The tile layerA tile layer is a data layer that can access and display tiles (rectangular sections) into a continuous layer. The tiles are either raster image tiles or vector tiles that are generated into a tile cache before being made available for use.Learn more format is fast to transmit over the Internet. Raster tiles are cached at various scales instead of dynamically generating map images at the request of the client application.

Learn more about image tile layers

Vector tile layers

A vector tile layerA vector tile layer is a data layer used to access and display tiled data and its corresponding styles.Learn more contains vector representations of data across a range of scales that is provided by a vector tile serviceA vector tile service is a data service that provides access to vector tile data and a style definition.Learn more or vector tile packageA vector tile package, also known as a VTPK, is a read-only data file containing static tiles of vector data.Learn more.

Vector tile layers are similar to image tile layers except they store a vector representation of the data. In other words, this format represents geographic features as points, lines, and polygons.

Learn more about vector tile layers

Scene layers

A scene layerA scene layer is a data layer is used to access and display 3D data from a scene service.Learn more is a type of data layer that is optimized for displaying large amounts of 3D data from a scene serviceA scene service is a data service that provides access to large 3D datasets for scenes.Learn more or a local scene layer package, as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Indexed 3D Scene Layer (I3S) specification.

Visualizing your information in 3D makes it easier to intuitively understand and experience geographic information. ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unity currently supports 3D object scene layers, integrated mesh scene layers, and building scene layers.

Learn more about scene layers

3D Tiles layers

A 3D Tiles layer references a tileset that defines spatial data in a hierarchical data structure following the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) 3D Tiles specification.

3D Tiles are an OGC standard enabling visualization of 3D content. A 3D tile layer can display data from online services, a tileset (.json), or a 3D tile archive format (.3tz).

Learn more about 3D tile layers

Group layers

A Group layerA group layer is a container for other layers and group layers.Learn more is a collection of layers organized as a group in the map. Layers within a group layer are called sublayersA sublayer is a classification, or member, of a group layer, and there can be many different kinds of sublayer. For example, a map service layer is a type of group layer that can contain one or more sub image layers.Learn more and can be of the same type or different types. For example, an integrated mesh scene layer and a 3D object scene layer can be organized together in a group layer.

Set data layers

Click the Layers tab.
Click the + Add New button located on the lower right to open an Add New Layer pop-up window.
Select a layer type from the Type drop-down list.
In the Source field, enter an online service URL. To use a local file package, click ··· and select the file.
Enter a name in the Name field.
Click Add.

When you click Add, the layer is added to the Layers list.

To use private content, select the matching configuration from the Authentication drop-down list in the Layers section. For more information about using private content, see user authentication.

Use ArcGISImageLayer, ArcGIS3DObjectSceneLayer, ArcGISIntegratedMeshLayer, ArcGISBuildingSceneLayer, or ArcGISPointCloudLayer based on the layer you add to the scene and register them to the ArcGISMap. Specify the source URL or file path, layer name, opacity value (between 0.0f and 1.0f), visibility, and API key in the constructor. See ArcGISGroupLayer in the API reference for information about working with group layers.

You can find the sample code to add ArcGISImageLayer and ArcGIS3DObjectSceneLayer in the SampleAPIMapCreator.cs file. The sample script file is in:

Assets/Samples/ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unity/[version]/Sample Content/Scenes/Scripts/APISample

Refer to the FAQ to troubleshoot data loading issues.

Layer management

You can toggle layer visibility on and off, change layer opacity, remove, and reorder layers. When you have multiple layer sources, the last item added to the collection takes precedence and is displayed topmost in the Map Creator UI.

You can perform the following layer management operations from the Layers tab:

To change the layer order, click ⋮ and select Move Up or Move Down. The layer at the top of the layer list has the highest priority.
To change a layer name, click the layer name or click ⋮ and select Rename.
To delete a layer, click ⋮ and select Remove.
To copy a layer URL, click ⋮ and select Copy URL.
To change layer visibility, check or uncheck the check box.
To see a layer's properties, expand the layer registry (triangle icon at the left).
To set layer opacity, enter a value between 0.0 and 1.0 or use the slider.
Click the Type drop-down list to change the layer type.
Click the gear icon in scene layers properties to configure additional filters or modifications for the layer.
To zoom the Scene view camera to the extent of the layer, click ⋮ and select Zoom To.

You can perform the following layer management operations under the Layers section in the Hierarchy window.

To change the layer order, click = next to the expand (triangle) icon and move the item up or down. The layer at the bottom of the layer list has the highest priority.
To see a layer's properties, expand the layer registry (triangle icon at the left).
To change the layer name, enter a new name in the Name field.
To set the layer opacity, enter a value between 0.0 and 1.0 or use the slider.
To change the layer type, click the Type drop-down list, replace the source URL or file path, and then select a matching authentication configuration.
To add more layers, click +.
To delete a layer, click the layer name then click -.

To remove a layer:

Use dark colors for code blocksCopy
arcGISMap.Layers.Remove(arcGISMap.Layers.IndexOf(layer_4));

You can update a layer's name, opacity, and visibility without rebuilding the map.

To change the opacity of a layer:

Use dark colors for code blocksCopy
layer_1.Opacity = 0.9f;

You can find the sample code to remove a layer and change layer opacity in the SampleAPIMapCreator.cs file. The sample script file is located in:

Assets/Samples/ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unity/[version]/Sample Content/Scenes/Scripts/APISample