Maps use a collection of layers to display geographic data from a variety of data sources 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 service or from a data file. 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 layers, used for geographic context.
- Data layers, 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 service provides several vector tile and image tile basemap layers that you can use for your applications. Basemap layers are collected together in a basemap and you use the Basemap property of the ArcGIS Map.
Data layers
Data layers 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 layer is a data layer that can access and display image tile data provided by a map tile service or a map tile package.
The tile layer 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.
Vector tile layers
A vector tile layer contains vector representations of data across a range of scales that is provided by a vector tile service or vector tile package.
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.
Scene layers
A scene layer is a type of data layer that is optimized for displaying large amounts of 3D data from a scene service 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 Unreal Engine currently supports 3D object scene layers, integrated mesh scene layers, and building 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).
Group layers
A Group layer is a collection of layers organized as a group in the map. Layers within a group layer are called sublayers 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 on the Layers tab.
- In the Add New Data section, select a layer type from the Layer Type drop-down list.
- In the Layer Source field, introduce an online service URL. If you want to use a local file package, click on ··· and select the file.
- Introduce a name in the Layer Name field.
- Click on the Add button.
When you click the Add button, the layer is listed under the Layers section.
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.
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 Modes Panel UI.
You can make the following layer management operations under the Layers tab.
- Change the layer order by dragging it to a new order position. The layer at top of the layer list has the highest priority.
- Change a layer name by typing a new name under the Name field.
- Add a new layer by clicking the + icon.
- Delete a layer by clicking the v icon in the layer name row and selecting Delete.
- Delete all layers at once by clicking the trashcan icon.
- Add a layer source by directly pasting the URL to the Source field or loading a file package via the ... icon.
- Set a value between
0.0and1.0or use the slider to set the layer opacity. - Hide a layer by marking the checkbox next to the layer name.
- Click on the triangle icon on the left to expand a layer registry and see the layer properties.
- Click the Type drop-down list to change the layer type.
- Replace the layer source URL or file path.
- Select matching authentication configuration.
- Click the gear icon in scene layers properties to configure additional filters or modifications for the layer.
- Click Zoom To Layer to zoom to a specific layer's extent.