Troubleshooting your ArcGIS integrations

Integrating ArcGIS layers into Aphex allows construction teams to visualise their schedules on top of the actual project design, imagery or services. If you have any issues during setup, this is a really useful starting point that collects the most common problems and resolutions.

Aphex Project Setup Requirements

To set up an ArcGIS integration, make sure your Aphex project has the following;

1. Subscription: There is an active subscription to Pro+ or Enterprise plans (unless your project is on the Limited Beta program)

2. Location: A Map Space location is created from the Locations page in Aphex Planner, and you are initiating the integration from this Map Space location.

Common Issues or Questions

Aphex supports layers being connected from any ArcGIS service (Online or Enterprise); however, there are some common things to validate if you experience issues;

Layer Access

Connecting an ArcGIS layer to Aphex requires valid credentials to be provided during setup. Please make sure that the credentials provided have permission to view the layers being connected.

If you are using a Registered User account for access, you can test the access level of that account by simply logging into your ESRI/ArcGIS account and attempting to open the layer you want to integrate. If you can open a layer in ArcGIS, your account has permission to view it.

Supported Layers

Aphex currently supports the following source resources from ArcGIS;

• Feature Layers

• Map Image Layers

• Tile Layers (Raster and Vector)

• Web Map Tile Service (WMTS)

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) Restrictions

By default, ArcGIS allows CORS - meaning external services like Aphex can, with the appropriate credentials, view resources such as layers. However, some GIS administrators may disallow this feature as an added security feature.

If you find that a layer connects successfully, but no data is visible on the map, it may be a result of the ArcGIS CORS policy at your company.

ArcGIS supports CORS access enabled, disabled, or disabled with exceptions. Therefore you can either ask your GIS administrator to return the CORS policy to default enabled or to add the following domains as CORS exceptions;

• https://app.aphex.co
• https://dev.aphex.co

For guides on adjusting the ArcGIS CORS policy, please refer to the ArcGIS Help Guide here.

Layer Performance Issues

Aphex is designed to be as fast and lightweight as possible for users who could be accessing their project on poor connections or underpowered devices.

ArcGIS, however, is a powerful GIS service that allows its customers to create immense geographical datasets.

Connecting an ArcGIS layer to Aphex will allow that layer to be loaded to an almost identical way to the way that layer is loaded from ESRI services.

To keep load times as short as possible, each sublayer within a layer can be set to Hide or Show, depending on the context needed at the time.

There is currently a limit of 42 sublayers per layer - any sublayers that attempt to load past this amount will not render.

In general, Aphex should take as long to load a layer as it takes ArcGIS to load the same layer. You can test the expected load time for your users by opening a layer natively in ArcGIS first.

Therefore, teams creating layers for use in Aphex should seek to balance information and end-user performance. The more data that is included in a layer, the longer it will take to load for everyone.

Some common tactics can be used to maximise layer loading performance in both ArcGIS and Aphex;

• Layer Type: Tiled or raster image layer types generally load faster than feature layers. This is especially true for layers with many strings (lines), such as design alignments. Where possible, seek to publish layers with these types;

  • Map Image Layers: Designs, utilities, alignments. Anything that is suited to a feature layer will perform well in Aphex as a Map Image.

  • Tile Layers: Drone or other aerial imagery are often already stored as tile layers and perform well. If your company's ESRI account doesn't support this, Map Image will work, too.

• Server Selection: If your company can publish layers to an Enterprise or ArcGIS online server, there is usually a performance difference across those. Whichever is faster for loading layers in the ESRI service will be faster in Aphex.