Identify (Map Service)

Description

The identify operation is performed on a map service resource to discover features at a geographic location. The result of this operation is an identify results resource. Each identified result includes its name, layer ID, layer name, geometry and geometry type, and other attributes of that result as name-value pairs.

New at 10.8

Supports the following new parameters. These parameters are only supported by map services published from ArcGIS Pro.

  • clipping to mask out layers outside of a clip polygon.
  • spatialFilter to draw or query only features that meet the spatial filter criteria.
NoteNote:

Check for supportsClipping, supportsSpatialFilter on a map service root resources before using it.

New at 10.6.1

The operation supports the following new parameter:

  • historicMoment—Queries from a given moment in an archive-enabled layer

New at 10.5

The operation was enhanced with the following Boolean flags to support returning unformatted values and field names when desired:

  • returnUnformattedValues
  • returnFieldName

The operation supports the following new parameters:

  • datumTransformations—Provides a desired datum transformation to be applied while features get projected
  • mapRangeValues—Sets values to ranges applicable to all layers with same ranges in the map service
  • layerRangeValues—Sets range values specific layers
  • layerParameterValuesSets value to parameterized filters to specific layers
NoteNote:

Simple syntax is not supported as an expected value for the layerDefs parameter starting at 10.5.

New at 10.1

  • Support for dynamic layers was added with the dynamicLayers parameter. When using dynamicLayers, define definitionExpression and layerTimeOptions within dynamic layer definition. Use the layers property to specify if only the top result or all results are to be returned in the identify result. Only those layers that are defined in dynamicLayers are used in the identify operation. The layer list in layers is ignored. Layer order is based on the order of dynamicLayer elements in the dynamicLayers array; the first dynamicLayer is on top of the second dynamicLayer.
  • The gdbVersion parameter was introduced. Use this parameter to specify the geodatabase version.
  • The geometryPrecision parameter was introduced. This option can be used to specify the number of decimal places in the response geometries returned by the identify operation.
  • The returnZ and returnM parameters were introduced. If true, the parameters return z- and m-values, respectively.
  • JSON response contains an optional property, exceededTransferLimit. This property will be true only if the number of records exceeds the maximum number configured by the server administrator.
  • If map service resource lists hasLiveData as true, identify operations will default the value for the time parameter to be [<current server time - defaultTimeWindow>, <current server time>].

New at 10.0

Support for generalizing geometries returned by the identify operation was added.You can provide arguments to the identify operation as query parameters defined in the parameters table below.

Request parameters

Parameter

Details

f

The response format. The default response format is html.

Values: html | json

geometry

(Required)

The geometry to identify on. The type of the geometry is specified by the geometryType parameter. The structure of the geometries is same as the structure of the JSON geometry objects returned by the ArcGIS REST API. In addition to the JSON structures, for points and envelopes, you can specify the geometries with a simpler comma-separated syntax.

Syntax

//JSON structures
geometryType=<geometryType>&geometry={geometry} 

//Point simple syntax
geometryType=esriGeometryPoint&geometry=<x>,<y>

//Envelope simple syntax
geometryType=esriGeometryEnvelope&geometry=<xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>

Examples:

Examples

//JSON example
geometryType=esriGeometryPoint&geometry={x: -104, y: 35.6}

//Point example
geometryType=esriGeometryPoint&geometry=-104,35.6

//Envelope example
geometryType=esriGeometryEnvelope&geometry=-104,35.6,-94.32,41
NoteNote:

The coordinates must always use a period as the decimal separator, even in countries where a comma is traditionally used.

geometryType

The type of geometry specified by the geometry parameter. The geometry type could be a point, line, polygon, or envelope. The default geometry type is a point (esriGeometryPoint).

Values: esriGeometryPoint | esriGeometryMultipoint | esriGeometryPolyline | esriGeometryPolygon | esriGeometryEnvelope

sr

The well-known ID of the spatial reference of the input and output geometries as well as the mapExtent. If sr is not specified, the geometry and the mapExtent are assumed to be in the spatial reference of the map, and the output geometries are also in the spatial reference of the map.

layerDefs

Allows you to filter the features of individual layers in the exported map by specifying definition expressions for those layers. A definition expression for a layer that is published with the service will be always honored.

Syntax

//Where layerId1 and layerId2 are the layer IDs returned by the map service resource.
{"<layerId1>": "<layerDef1>", "<layerId2>": "<layerDef2>"}

Example

{"0":"POP2000 > 1000000","5":"AREA > 100000"}
NoteNote:

Simple syntax is no longer supported starting at 10.5.

time

The time instant or the time extent of the features to be identified.

NoteNote:

A null value specified for start time or end time will represent infinity for start or end time, respectively.

Syntax

//Time instant syntax
time=<timeInstant>

//Time extent syntax
time=<startTime>, <endTime>

Examples

//Time instant example (1 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT)
time=1199145600000

//Time extent example (1 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT to 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT)
time=1199145600000, 1230768000000
layerTimeOptions

The time options per layer. Users can indicate whether the layer should use the time extent specified by the time parameter, whether to draw the layer features cumulatively, and the time offsets for the layer.

Syntax

{
  "<layerId1>": {    
    "useTime": < true | false >,  //If true, use the time extent specified by the time parameter  
    "timeDataCumulative": < true | false >,  //If true, draw all the features from the beginning of time for that data    
    "timeOffset": <timeOffset1>,  //Time offset for this layer so that it can be overlaid on the top of a previous or future time period
    "timeOffsetUnits": "<esriTimeUnitsCenturies | esriTimeUnitsDays | esriTimeUnitsDecades | 
                       esriTimeUnitsHours | esriTimeUnitsMilliseconds | esriTimeUnitsMinutes | 
                       esriTimeUnitsMonths | esriTimeUnitsSeconds | esriTimeUnitsWeeks | esriTimeUnitsYears |
                       esriTimeUnitsUnknown>"
  },
  "<layerId2>": {
    "useTime": < true | false >,
    "timeDataCumulative": < true | false >,
    "timeOffsetOffset": <timeOffset2>,
    "timeOffsetUnits": "<timeOffsetUnits2>"
  }
}

Example

{
  "0": {
    "useTime": true,
    "timeDataCumulative": false,
    "timeOffset": 1,
    "timeOffsetUnits": "esriTimeUnitsYears"
  },
  "3": {
    "useTime": false
  }
}
layers

The layers to perform the identify operation on. The default value is top. There are three ways to specify which layers to identify on:

  • top: Only the topmost layer at the specified location
  • visible: All visible layers at the specified location
  • all: All layers at the specified location

You can either specify the layer options as mentioned above by themselves or specify the layer option in conjunction with a list of layer IDs. When both the layer option and the layer IDs are specified, the server treats it as a Boolean AND operator. For example, if the parameter is specified as visible:2,5, only layers with IDs 2 and 5, if visible, are identified.

Syntax

//Where layerId1 and layerId2 are the layer IDs returned by the  map service resource.
[top | visible | all]:layerId1,layerId2

Examples

layers=all

layers=visible:2,5

NoteNote:

In the case of dynamic layers, the layer list is ignored. It instead uses top or all (default) to identify the layers defined in the dynamicLayers parameter.

tolerance

(Required)

The distance in screen pixels from the specified geometry within which the identify operation should be performed. The value for the tolerance is an integer.

Example

tolerance=2
mapExtent

(Required)

The extent or bounding box of the map currently being viewed. Unless the sr parameter has been specified, the mapExtent is assumed to be in the spatial reference of the map. The mapExtent and the imageDisplay parameters are used by the server to determine the layers visible in the current extent. They are also used to calculate the distance on the map to search based on the tolerance in screen pixels.

Syntax

<xmin>, <ymin>, <xmax>, <ymax>

Example

mapExtent=-104,35.6,-94.32,41
imageDisplay

(Required)

The screen image display parameters (width, height, and DPI) of the map being currently viewed. The mapExtent and imageDisplay parameters are used by the server to determine the layers visible in the current extent. They are also used to calculate the distance on the map to search based on the tolerance in screen pixels.

Syntax

<width>, <height>, <dpi>

Example

imageDisplay=600,550,96
returnGeometry

If true, the result set will include the geometries associated with each result. The default is true.

Values: true | false

maxAllowableOffset

This option can be used to specify the maximum allowable offset to be used for generalizing geometries returned by the identify operation. The maxAllowableOffset is in the units of the sr. If sr is not specified, maxAllowableOffset is assumed to be in the unit of the spatial reference of the map.

Example

maxAllowableOffset=2
geometryPrecision

This option was added at 10.1. This option can be used to specify the number of decimal places in the response geometries returned by the identify operation. This applies to x- and y-values only (not m- or z-values).

Example

geometryPrecision=3
dynamicLayers

This option was added at 10.1. Use the dynamicLayers property to reorder layers and change the layer data source. The dynamicLayers property can also be used to add a new layer that was not defined in the map used to create the map service. The new layer should have its source pointing to one of the registered workspaces that was defined at the time the map service was created. The order of the dynamicLayers array defines the layer drawing order. The first element of the dynamicLayers is stacked on top of all other layers. When defining a dynamic layer, source is required.

Syntax

[
  {
    "id": <layerOrTableId>,
    "source": <layer source>,
    "definitionExpression": "<definitionExpression>",
    "layerTimeOptions": {
      "useTime": <true | false>,
      "timeDataCumulative": <true | false>,
      "timeOffset": <timeOffset>,
      "timeOffsetUnits": "<esriTimeUnitsCenturies | esriTimeUnitsDays | esriTimeUnitsDecades | 
                         esriTimeUnitsHours | esriTimeUnitsMilliseconds | esriTimeUnitsMinutes | 
                         esriTimeUnitsMonths | esriTimeUnitsSeconds | esriTimeUnitsWeeks | esriTimeUnitsYears |
                         esriTimeUnitsUnknown>"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": <layerOrTableId>,
    "source": <layer source>,
    "definitionExpression": "<definitionExpression>",
    "layerTimeOptions": {
      "useTime": <true | false>,
      "timeDataCumulative": <true | false>,
      "timeOffset": <timeOffset>,
      "timeOffsetUnits": "<esriTimeUnitsCenturies | esriTimeUnitsDays | esriTimeUnitsDecades | 
                         esriTimeUnitsHours | esriTimeUnitsMilliseconds | esriTimeUnitsMinutes | 
                         esriTimeUnitsMonths | esriTimeUnitsSeconds | esriTimeUnitsWeeks | esriTimeUnitsYears |
                         esriTimeUnitsUnknown>"
    }
  }
]

Example

[
  {  //disable time on existing map service layer
    "id": 501,
    "source": {
      "type": "mapLayer",
      "mapLayerId": 0
    },
    "layerTimeOptions": {
      "useTime": false
    }
  },
  {  //add a new layer from registered workspace
    "id": 502,
    "source": {
      "type": "dataLayer",
      "dataSource": {
        "type": "table",
        "workspaceId": "MAP",
        "dataSourceName": "MAP.user1.Taxlots"
      }
    }
  },
  {  //change the Version of existing map service layer
    "id": 503,
    "source": {
      "type": "mapLayer",
      "mapLayerId": 1,
      "version": "USER1"
    },
    "definitionExpression": "neighborhood = 'French Quarter'"
  }
]
returnZ

This option was added at 10.1. If true, z-values will be included in the results if the features have z-values. Otherwise, z-values are not returned. The default is false. This parameter only applies if returnGeometry=true.

Values: true | false

returnM

This option was added at 10.1. If true, m-values will be included in the results if the features have m-values. Otherwise, m-values are not returned. The default is false. This parameter only applies if returnGeometry=true.

Values: true | false

gdbVersion

This option was added at 10.1. Switch map layers to point to an alternate geodatabase version.

Syntax

gdbVersion=<geodatabase version>

Example

gdbVersion=sde.USER1
returnUnformattedValues

This option was added at 10.5. If true, the values in the result will not be formatted; in other words, numbers will be returned as is and dates will be returned as epoch values, and subtype and domain values are returned as numeric values instead of descriptions. The default value is false, formatting numbers and dates on the server's setting.

Values: true | false

returnFieldName

This option was added at 10.5. If true, field names will be returned instead of field aliases. The default value is false. In the case of layers with joins, fully qualified field names will be returned.

Values: true | false

datumTransformations

This option was added at 10.5. Use this parameter to apply one or more datum transformations to the map when sr is different than the map service's spatial reference. It is an array of transformation elements. Transformations specified here are used to project features from layers within a map service to sr.

NoteNote:
While specifying transformation, you need to think about which datum transformation is best applicable to project a layer (not the map service) to the sr. The sourceSpatialReference property in a layer resource reports which spatial reference features are stored in the source dataset.

For a list of valid datum transformation ID values and well-known text strings, see Geographic transformations. For more information on datum transformation, see the transformation parameter in the Project operation.

Syntax

//Syntax with WKID
datumTransformations=[wkid1, wkid2]

//Syntax with datum
datumTransformations=[{<dt1>}, {<dt2>}]

Examples

//Examples with WKID to apply multiple transformations
datumTransformations=[1623, 4078]

//Examples with datum to apply multiple transformations including a composite transformation
mapRangeValues

This option was added at 10.5. Allows you to filter features in the exported map from all layers that are within the specified range instant or extent.

NoteNote:
Check rangeInfos at the layer resources for the available ranges. Null, representing infinity, is allowed in value-ranges. For example, [null, 1500] means all features with values <=1500 and [1000, null] means all features with values >=1000
[
  {
    "name": "<rangeName1>",  //range id
    "value": <value> | [<value1>, <value2>]   //single value or a value-range
  },
  {
    "name": "<rangeName2>",
    "value": <value> | [<value3>, <value4>]
  }
]

Example

[
  {
    "name": "salinity",
    "value": 5            //a range instant (or single) value passed
  },
  {
    "name": "elevation",
    "value": [1000, 1500] //a range extent is passed
  }
]
layerRangeValues

This option was added at 10.5. Allows you to filter features for each individual layer that are within the specified range instant or extent.

NoteNote:
Check rangeInfos at the layer resources for the available ranges. Null, representing infinity, is allowed in value-ranges. For example, [null, 1500] means all features with values <=1500 and [1000, null] means all features with values >=1000

Syntax

{
  "<layerId1>": [
    {
      "name": "<rangeName1>",  //range id
      "value": <value> | [<value1>, <value2>]   //single value or a value-range
    },
    {
      "name": "<rangeName2>",
      "value": <value> | [<value3>, <value4>]
    }
  ],
  "<layerId2>": [
    {
      "name": "<rangeName1>",
      "value": <value> | [<value1>, <value2>]
    }
  ]
}

Example

{
  "0": [
    {
      "name": "salinity",
      "value": 5  //a range instant (or single) value passed
    },
    {
      "name": "elevation",
      "value": [1000, 1500] //a range extent is passed
    }
  ],
  "1": [
    {
      "name": "floor",
      "value": [null, 5]   //selects features with values <= 5
    }
  ]
}
layerParameterValues

This option was added at 10.5. Allows you to filter the features of individual layers by specifying values to an array of preauthored parameterized filters for those layers. When a value is not specified for any parameter in a request, the default value that is assigned during authoring time is used instead. When a parameterInfo allows multiple values, you must pass them in an array.

NoteNote:
Check parameterInfos at the layer resources for the available parameterized filters and their default values and expected data type.

Syntax

[
  {
    "<layerId1>": {
      "<parameterName1>": <value>,               //when the multipleValues=false in the parameterInfo
      "<parameterName2>": [<value1> | <value2>]  //when the multipleValues=true in the parameterInfo
    },
    "<layerId2>": {
      "<parameterName3>": <value>
    }
  }
]

Example

[
  {
    "0": {
      "floor": 10,
      "incidentDate": 1475877014000    //date time value needs to be passed in as epoch value
    },
    "1": {
      "crimeType": ["burglary", "theft"]
    }
  }
]
historicMoment

This option was added at 10.6.1. Features from the historic moment to identify. This parameter applies only if the layer is archiving enabled and the supportsQueryWithHistoricMoment property is set to true. This property is provided in the layer resource. If historicMoment is not specified, the identify will work with the current features.

Syntax

historicMoment=<Epoch time in milliseconds>

Example

historicMoment=1199145600000
clipping

This parameter was added at 10.8. It allows you to mask out layers outside of the clip polygon in the exported map. Clipping can mask out any layer type i.e. feature layers, raster layers, TIN layers etc. Optionally you can use excludedLayers to excludes layers from being clipped.

NoteNote:

geometry must be a polygon or an envelope.

Syntax

{
  "geometryType": "<esriGeometryPolygon | esriGeometryEnvelope>",
  "geometry": {<geometry>},
  "excludedLayers" : [<layerId>, <layerId>] //optional
}

Example

{
  "geometryType": "esriGeometryPolygon",
  "geometry": {
    "spatialReference": {
      "wkid": 102008
    },
    "rings": [
      [
        [-816126, 216280],
        [-565859, 199948],
        [-607349, -50318],
        [-785229, -38842],
        [-816126, 216280]
      ]
    ]
  },
  "excludedLayers": [ 1, 4 ] //optional
}
spatialFilter

This parameter was added at 10.8. It allows you to filter out features from all features layers based on the input spatial filter. It is like layerDefs but instead of using attribute filter, map service uses spatial filter to determine which features can be identified.

NoteNote:

Spatial filters only works against feature layers. When both clipping and spatialFilter are provided, clipping takes precedence and spatialFilter gets ignored.

Syntax

{
  "spatialRel": "<esriSpatialRelIntersects | esriSpatialRelContains | esriSpatialRelCrosses | esriSpatialRelEnvelopeIntersects 
                | esriSpatialRelIndexIntersects | esriSpatialRelOverlaps | esriSpatialRelTouches 
                | esriSpatialRelWithin | esriSpatialRelRelation>", //default = esriSpatialRelIntersects
  "geometryType": "<esriGeometryPoint | esriGeometryMultipoint | esriGeometryPolyline | esriGeometryPolygon | esriGeometryEnvelope >",
  "geometry": { <geometry> }
}

Example

{
  "spatialRel": "esriSpatialRelIntersects",
  "geometryType": "esriGeometryPolygon",
  "geometry": { 
    "spatialReference": {
      "wkid": 102008
    },
    "rings": [
      [
        [-816126, 216280],
        [-565859, 199948],
        [-607349, -50318],
        [-785229, -38842],
        [-816126, 216280]
      ]
    ]
  }
}

Example usage

Example 1: Identify that includes geometry using simple point syntax, tolerance, map extent, and image display. Default values for geometry type, spatial reference, layers, and returnGeometry are used. The response is in HTML format:

https://sampleserver1.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/Specialty/ESRI_StateCityHighway_USA/MapServer/identify?geometryType=esriGeometryPoint&geometry=-120,40&tolerance=10&mapExtent=-119,38,-121,41&imageDisplay=400,300,96

Example 2: Identify that includes geometry using a JSON structure. The response is in JSON format:

https://sampleserver1.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/Specialty/ESRI_StateCityHighway_USA/MapServer/identify?geometryType=esriGeometryPoint&geometry={x: -120, y:40}&tolerance=10&mapExtent=-119,38,-121,41&imageDisplay=400,300,96&f=json

Example 3: Identify that specifies a specific layer. In this example, only layer 2 is desired. Since this is not the top layer, the syntax layer=all:2 is used:

https://sampleserver1.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/Specialty/ESRI_StateCityHighway_USA/MapServer/identify?geometryType=esriGeometryPoint&geometry={x: -120, y:40}&layers=all:2&tolerance=10&mapExtent=-119,38,-121,41&imageDisplay=400,300,96&returnGeometry=true

Example 4: Identify operation using dynamicLayers:

https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/Census/MapServer/identify?geometry={"rings":[[[-406686.615,151348.621],[-277679.963,210564.789],[-152903.038,82615.569],[-334781.268,46662.895],[-406686.615,151348.621]]],"spatialReference":{"wkid":102003}}&geometryType=esriGeometryPolygon&sr=102003&layers=all&layerDefs=&time=&layerTimeOptions=&tolerance=2&mapExtent=-574325.931693231,-211967.870311805,154917.862982949,393469.077966946&imageDisplay=1056,816,96&returnGeometry=true&maxAllowableOffset=&dynamicLayers=[{"id":101,"source":{"type":"mapLayer","mapLayerId":3}}]&returnZ=false&returnM=false&gdbVersion=&f=pjson

JSON Response syntax

{
  "results": [
    {
      "layerId": <layerId1>,
      "layerName": "<layerName1>",
      "value": "<value1>",
      "displayFieldName": "<displayFieldName1>",
      "attributes": {
        "<fieldName11>": <fieldValue11>,
        "<fieldName12>": <fieldValue12>
      },
      "geometryType": "<geometryType1>",
      "hasZ": <true|false>, //added in 10.1
      "hasM": <true|false>, //added in 10.1
      "geometry": {<geometry1>}
    },
    {
      "layerId": <layerId2>,
      "layerName": "<layerName2>",
      "value": "<value2>",
      "displayFieldName": "<displayFieldName1>",
      "attributes": {
        "<fieldName21>": <fieldValue21>,
        "<fieldName22>": <fieldValue22>
      },
      "geometryType": "<geometryType2>",
      "hasZ": <true|false>, //added in 10.1
      "hasM": <true|false>, //added in 10.1
      "geometry" : {<geometry2>}
    }
  ]
}

JSON Response example

{
  "results": [
    {
      "layerId": 3,
      "layerName": "Cities",
      "value": "Joe City",
      "displayFieldName": "City Name",
      "attributes": {
        "City Name": "Joe City",
        "CLASS": "city",
        "ST": "CA"
      },
      "geometryType": "esriGeometryPoint",
      "geometry": {
        "x": -118.375,
        "y": 34.086,
        "spatialReference": {
          "wkid": 4326
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "layerId": 59,
      "layerName": "Parcel",
      "value": "Parcel 649",
      "displayFieldName": "NAME",
      "attributes": {
        "NAME": "Parcel 649",
        "SUB_REGION": "Pacific",
        "STATE_ABBR": "CA"
      },
      "geometryType": "esriGeometryPolygon",
      "geometry": {
        "spatialReference": {
          "wkid": 4326
        },
        "rings": [
          [
            [-118.35,32.81],
            [-118.42.806],
            [-118.511,32.892],
            [-118.35,32.81]
          ]
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}