ArcGIS / Esri

If your team collects in ArcGIS Field Maps or Survey123, you can sync the resulting hosted feature layer into a CensusIO survey type. Open Integrations, under ArcGIS / Esri.

Who can do this

This needs the Owner or Admin role.

Find your feature layer URL

This is the step most people get stuck on. CensusIO syncs from the hosted feature layer (the table of records behind your survey), not from the Survey123 design page or the Field Maps map. Its URL ends in /FeatureServer and lives on the feature layer’s item page in ArcGIS Online, not on the survey123.arcgis.com page.

1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization (for ArcGIS Online that is arcgis.com, or your own portal address).
2. Open Content in the top bar, then My Content.
3. Find the item whose type is exactly Feature Layer (hosted) and whose name matches the survey. A Survey123 survey makes several items: ignore the Form, ignore any Feature Layer (hosted, view) items (often named ..._form and ..._results), and ignore the Location Sharing layer. To narrow the list, filter by Item Type → Feature Layers.
4. Click that item to open its Overview page. In the panel on the right, find the URL field and choose Copy. The address ends in /FeatureServer.
5. Paste that into CensusIO’s Feature service URL, and put the layer number into the separate Layer id field (0 is the first layer, which is the usual Survey123 submission layer). Do not add the number onto the URL: CensusIO appends Layer id for you, so a URL ending in /FeatureServer/0 together with Layer id 0 would become /FeatureServer/0/0 and fail. Leave the URL ending in /FeatureServer.

Check a URL quickly

Paste the /FeatureServer URL into a browser while signed in to ArcGIS. A valid feature service shows the ArcGIS REST Services Directory page, which lists its layers by number (0, 1, …) at the bottom. That number is the Layer id. If you instead land on a survey form or a sign-in loop, it is not the feature service URL.

Get your Client ID and Secret

These are not on the feature layer. CensusIO signs in as an application, so you create an OAuth credential in ArcGIS and copy its two values.

1. In ArcGIS, open Content → My Content, choose New item, then Developer credentials, then OAuth 2.0 credentials.
2. For the application type, choose Private application with selected privileges and access.
3. Under Item access, choose Grant access to specific items and select the Feature Layer (hosted) item from the step above, so the credential is allowed to read it.
4. Give it a name (for example, CensusIO – <survey> integration) and choose Create.
5. Open the new credential item and scroll to Credentials. Copy the Client ID and the Client Secret into CensusIO’s connect form.

Keep the secret server-side

Treat the Client Secret like a password: CensusIO stores it encrypted and only ever uses it from the server. If Developer credentials is missing from the New item list, the account needs a Creator (or higher) user type and the organization privilege to assign privileges to OAuth applications; an ArcGIS administrator can grant that through a role.

Connect a feature layer

Choose Connect a feature layer and provide:

1. A Name, the Feature service URL and Layer id (from the first step), your Client ID and Client secret (from the OAuth credential above, stored encrypted), and the Target survey type. Choose Test connection to check the credentials and read the layer’s fields.
2. Map the fields, including the layer’s Location (geometry), to your survey type fields, or (skip) them.
3. Choose Save connection.

The connection syncs on its own and on Sync now. CensusIO pulls features incrementally using the layer’s record id (the OBJECTID), so each sync brings only what is new, and the feature geometry is carried through into the survey record.

Related

• How syncs work
• KoboToolbox