ArcGIS Web Editing: Local and Online Interaction

Context

This walkthrough is based on testing the ArcGIS Web Editing for JavaScript SDK (2025) demo code (GitHub repo). The demo references a web map hosted in ArcGIS Online with editing enabled.

The key question: Do edits made locally through the app affect the hosted web map, or are they only local to the client?

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Testing Workflow

Local Implementation

1. Cloned the demo repository locally.

2. Set up and ran the React implementation:

   • Started the app using npm run dev.
   • Create a new feature in the map.
   • Sketched a rectangular polygon.
   • Added an attachment to the feature.
   • Verified the attachment upload succeeded.
   • Confirmed the feature was visible in the map view.

Notes:

• No explicit workflow was required to “publish” or “sync” edits back to ArcGIS Online.
• The feature layer’s editing capabilities were configured to allow only Create operations (no update or delete).

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Online Verification

After creating the feature locally, the hosted web map was checked directly in ArcGIS Online by searching for the referenced web map ID.

Results:

• The feature created locally was visible in the hosted web map.
• The ArcGIS Online Map Viewer allowed further editing of this feature.
• In the web map, delete functionality was also available (even though the local app limited editing to create-only).

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Conclusion

Edits made through the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript (using a web map ID that references an editable feature layer) are applied directly to the hosted data source. No manual synchronization is needed — the app interacts with the feature service in real time.