Automating Offline Mobile Map Updates – Leveraging FME to Update Offline Areas Via ArcGIS Portal

Purpose – Update data used in several ArcGIS online maps used offline by remote field crews.

The Challenge – The client needs to utilize ESRI’s offline capabilities as part of field inspections. Field workers download maps specific to their area of interest. This process creates replicas of any feature services utilized within the maps. Efficiently managing database replicas is essential in updating offline feature service data. The existing solution is labour intensive, with a chance of over-taxing the portal server.

The Plan – As the feature services being utilized in the maps are read-only, it is possible to use the ArcGIS portal rest API via FME and update the data and refresh the offline maps. Because of these factors, the offline maps have not been updated regularly or consistently. By using FME and FME server, it is also possible to avoid over-taxing the ArcGIS portal server.

The Process –
FME is used to access the ArcGIS portal, update data, and refresh offline maps.
The steps include:
Detect changes in data to determine if an update is needed.
Read new source data and update the feature services for the maps.
Where required, manage replicas for the feature services.
Use FME and the HTTP caller transformer to update offline maps.
Incorporate error reporting for capturing issues between steps.
Report updates to stakeholders with information pertaining to areas of interest.
The final goal is to deploy this process as an automation via FME server allowing for more frequent updates. Thus, providing the field workers with more meaningful data.