Share feature layers with collaboration groups | ArcGIS Enterprise on Windows and Linux documentation

In a distributed collaboration, you can share hosted feature layers, hosted feature layer views, and federated feature layers as either references or copies.

Note:

Hosted spatiotemporal feature layers are not supported and cannot be shared in distributed collaboration.

Share feature layers as references

When you share a feature layer as a reference, a layer item is created in the recipient’s organization, but the data is not copied. Instead, the layer item references the original feature layer or feature layer view. To access a referenced layer, members in the recipient organization must meet one of the following conditions:

They have access to the source organization where the layer resides.
The layer is shared with Everyone.
Saved credentials are provided with the layer.

If the layer is secured, members must authenticate with the source organization using an account that has at least Viewer-level access to the layer.

Share feature layers as copies

When you share a feature layer as a copy, the data is copied to the recipient’s organization. A new hosted feature layer is created and owned by the receiving organization, which is reflected in the item's service URL.

If you join a workspace as a guest with permission to send content, any items you share to the workspace group are sent to participating organizations based on their access mode (Receive or Send and Receive).

Shared feature layer editing

Shared feature layers can be edited either by the layer owner (one-way) or by both the owner and the receiver (two-way).

Edits made by owner only (one-way)

For sharing edits one-way, the owner of the original feature layer can edit the layer and synchronize changes to all participants through sync intervals. Guests choose the interval at which edits are synchronized in the collaboration workspace. To share layers as copies, ensure that sync is enabled on your feature layers before sending.

Services that support sharing edits one-way include the following:

Hosted feature services
Hosted feature service views
Feature services referencing branch versioned data
Feature services referencing nonversioned with archiving data
Feature services referencing traditionally versioned data without the option to move edits to the base configuration

If a feature service does not support sync, or is running on read-only traditionally versioned data, the feature service item will be shared as a reference, even if the item was shared to a collaboration workspace that is configured to share feature services as copies with one-way editing.

The If unable to share as copies share as reference option allows the host organization to either send feature service items as a reference if they cannot be sent as copies, or not share feature service items at all if they cannot be sent as copies when the option is not enabled. This collaboration workspace configuration option was added at ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8.1 for collaboration hosts and at 10.9 for collaboration guests.

To learn more about how to manage a collaboration workspace and modify this feature as a collaboration host, see Manage collaborations as host. To learn more about how to manage the collaboration workspace and modify this feature as a collaboration participant, see Manage collaborations as guest.

Edits made by owner and receiver (two-way)

Support for two-way sharing of edits was introduced in ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9. When sharing edits two-way, the owner of the feature layer can allow shared feature layers to be edited by both the owner and the receiving collaboration participants. The types of edits supported include adding new features, editing features, or deleting existing features.

Services that support sharing edits two-way include the following:

Hosted feature services
Hosted feature service views
Feature services referencing branch versioned data
Feature services referencing nonversioned with archiving data
Feature services published by reference from a user managed data store

Note:

Feature services running on traditionally versioned data do not support the bidirectional syncDirection parameter and, therefore, can only be shared one-way.

The following are prerequisites for allowing edits to be shared two-way:

For ArcGIS Enterprise, the collaboration workspace must be created at version 10.9 or later to enable this capability. Workspaces created prior to 10.9 will not support this option.
To enable two-way sharing of edits with eligible participants, the collaboration workspace must be configured to share feature layers as copies when setting up the workspace sync.
The participant configuring the collaboration workspace must have send and receive access.
The participant receiving the feature layer must have send and receive access to the collaboration workspace.
Collaboration participants must be using ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9 or later. The shared feature layer must meet the following requirements:
- Has sync enabled—The feature service property capabilities should appear as follows:
  
  "capabilities": "Query,Create,Update,Delete,Editing,Sync"
- Is configured to use the ArcGIS Pro service runtime
- Supports replica tracking—The feature service layer property isDataReplicaTracked should be true:
  
  "isDataReplicaTracked": true
- Supports bidirectional sync—The feature service property syncCapability should have the child property supportsBiDirectionalSyncForServer set as true:
```
{
  "syncCapabilities": {
    "supportsBiDirectionalSyncForServer": true
  }
}
```

If the feature service does not meet all the above requirements but has sync enabled, the service will be shared as copies that support one-way editing. Additionally, if the above requirements are not met, and the service does not have sync enabled, the service will be shared as a reference.

Note:

Either result—being shared as copies with one-way editing or as a reference—will occur, even if the collaboration is configured to share services as copies with two-way editing, if the services being shared do not meet all requirements for two-way edit sharing. Whether the service has sync enabled or not determines whether it is shared as a copy with one-way edits or as a reference.

A collaboration workspace configuration (introduced at ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8.1 for collaboration hosts, and at 10.9 for collaboration guests) allows the organization to either send feature service items as a reference if they are unable to be sent as copies, or allow for feature service items to not be shared at all if they cannot be sent as copies if the feature isn't enabled. This feature, If unable to share as copies share as reference, is available to both the collaboration host and guests when creating or managing the collaboration workspace. To learn more about how to manage a collaboration workspace and modify this feature as a collaboration host, see Manage collaborations as host. To learn more about how to manage the collaboration workspace and modify this feature as a collaboration participant, see Manage collaborations as guest.

Note:

Distributed collaboration uses replication and global IDs to synchronize feature layer edits between participants when shared to a collaboration workspace as copies. Preserving global IDs ensures that any data edits for existing features are sent as updates rather than as new features.

Prepare and publish feature layers

To share a feature layer as a copy in a collaboration, the layer must be published and have sync enabled. The workflow you follow depends on whether the layer is a hosted feature layer or references data stored in an enterprise geodatabase.

You can publish from the following:

Hosted feature layers from an ArcGIS Pro map or from files in ArcGIS Enterprise.

Note:

For a full list of supported publishing workflows, see Publish hosted feature layers.

Feature layers that reference registered data in an enterprise geodatabase using ArcGIS Pro.

Note:

To support two-way sharing of edits, collaboration participants must use ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9 or later, and the collaboration workspace must be created in version 10.9 or later.

Enable sync and editing capabilities

To share feature layers as copies, sync must be enabled. One-way sharing of edits (from the owner to the recipient) requires sync to be enabled, while two-way sharing requires sync, replica tracking, and bi-directional sync to be enabled. Supported editing operations include adding, updating, and deleting features. Schema changes are not synchronized.

Enable sync on hosted feature layers

To enable sync on a hosted feature layer, do one of the following:

Enable sync when publishing from ArcGIS Pro.
Enable sync from the Settings tab of the hosted feature layer's item page.

Hosted feature layers published with sync enabled automatically support replica tracking and bidirectional sync when applicable.

Enable sync on feature layers that reference data in enterprise geodatabases

When sharing feature layers that reference registered data in enterprise geodatabases, additional configuration is required.

Prepare the data

Before enabling sync, you must ensure your data meets the following requirements:

It must be prepared for offline use.
It must be nonversioned with archiving enabled, or branch versioned.

Enable sync and replica tracking

If the feature layer is published from ArcGIS Pro with Enable Sync selected, replica tracking, and bidirectional sync are enabled automatically.

If replica tracking is not enabled, complete the following steps to enable it:

Sign in to ArcGIS Server Manager as a member with administrative privileges.

The URL for ArcGIS Server Manager is in the format https://machine.example.com:6443/arcgis/manager. Replace machine.example.com with the value appropriate for your ArcGIS Server site.
Browse to Services > Manage Services.
Click the Stop button on the service to stop it.
Open ArcGIS Pro and connect to the feature layer's database connection.
In ArcGIS Pro, run the Enable Replica Tracking tool using the feature layer's feature dataset.
Return to ArcGIS Server Manager and restart the stopped service by clicking the Start button.

The service now supports replica tracking and bi-directional sync.