Customizing Queries to ArcGIS Online

Owned by Cooper Labenske
Last updated: Apr 06, 2022
2 min read

Customers may want to index only their organization's account in ArcGIS Online and not all of ArcGIS Online. To make this possible, they can use the ArcGIS REST API to customize queries to an ArcGIS location. 

There are two steps in customizing an ArcGIS Online query:

  1. Add ArcGIS Online as a new location

  2. Enter query parameters to refine the query results (e.g. for a specific group or department)

Adding ArcGIS Online in Voyager Server

To add ArcGIS Online in Voyager Server:

  1. Go to Manage > Discovery > Locations

  2. Click New Location

  3. Select Web Services

  4. Choose ArcGIS Online / Portal for ArcGIS from the Type drop-down menu

  5. Click Add next to www.arcgis.com in the Examples section

  6. In the Configuration dialog, select Query under the Content heading

  7. Enter query terms in the Query field (see next section for more information)

  8. Click Save when you are done

When Voyager indexes the new ArcGIS Online location, it will apply the query settings added to the location's configuration.

Adding ArcGIS Online Query Parameters

ArcGIS query parameters are similar to most text search engines. Queries can be term-based (e.g. fire or earthquake) or field-based (e.g. group, owner or spatial reference), and Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) are accepted. For detailed information, click the ArcGIS Online Query Syntax link. 

Field Queries and Grouping

You can filter your searches on groups by using specific fields in your search string. Only public groups or groups to which you have access will be searched. To find the group fields available to you, login to your Portal for ArcGIS Online account. 

To query a field, use the following syntax:

fieldname:"field_value" - the quotes around the field value are required

type:"map service"

group:"MyGroup"

These can be combined with Boolean operators, for example

type:"layer" AND type:"feature service" AND group:"MyGroup"