When to enable View for empty selection in ArcGIS Experience Builder?

Answer

In ArcGIS Experience Builder, the 'View for empty selection' option is a view displayed when no data are selected in a selected features view. This function is useful when a web experience is opened and there is no selection from the user. It prevents misinterpretations or accidental interactions that can occur when data remains visible despite no active selection. Users assume a selection is still active when it is not.

Below are examples of when enabling 'View for empty selection' in the Data panel is the best option in ArcGIS Experience Builder.

Enable 'View for empty selection' when creating a view with no features selected in the Selected features view

When a web experience is first opened, the desired widget displays data for the default feature. Create a filter to ensure only pre-selected results are shown.

1. In ArcGIS Experience Builder, navigate to the Data panel.
2. In the Data panel, click the desired card. In this example, the 'POI v1' card is selected.

3. On the Layers tab, under the In use section, click the feature layer card. In this example, the 'Points of Interest v1' card is selected.

4. At the bottom of the pane, check the View for empty selection check box. Click the Settings icon.

5. In the View for empty selection window, on the Filter tab, click Add > Clause to configure the following parameters to create the expression.
   1. For the field selectors, select a field. In this example, 'OBJECTID' is selected.
   2. For the operator selector, select a functional operator. In this example, the 'is greater than' operator is selected.
   3. Click Select source type and select User input.
   4. For the value input box, select the desired values. In this example, '10' is specified.
   5. Click Apply changes.

6. Reconfigure the data selection in the desired widget to display the configured selection. In this example, reconfigure the List widget.
1. Click the List widget on the canvas to open the List panel.
2. On the Content tab, under Data, select the Selected features data view from the drop-down list.
3. In the List widget, remove the existing dynamic content and reconfigure a new dynamic content.

The image below shows the configured ‘View for empty selection’ in the List widget is displayed when none are selected in the map.

Enable 'View for empty selection' when creating an empty list in the List widget

When a List widget is added, it displays the first entry from the table by default. The dynamic data must remain empty until a feature is selected on the map. This behavior can be misleading because an item shown in the list might be accidentally deselected, causing the feature to revert to displaying the first data entry from the list. So, create a filter to ensure no results are found. The 'is blank' functional operator will consistently show no matches.

In ArcGIS Experience Builder, in the View for empty selection window, configure the following parameters to create the expression.

1. For the field selectors, select a field. In this example, 'OBJECTID' is selected.
2. For the operator selector, select a functional operator. In this example, the 'is blank' operator is selected.
3. Click Apply changes.

4. Reconfigure the data selection in the List widget to display the configured selection.
1. Click the List widget on the canvas to open the List panel.
2. On the Content tab, under Data, select the Selected features data view from the drop-down list.
3. In the List widget, remove the existing dynamic content and reconfigure a new dynamic content.

The image below shows the 'No data' message displayed in the empty List widget until records are selected.

Enable 'View for empty selection' when handling dynamic data in the List widget

When the data view in the widget on the canvas differs from the List widget panel, the dynamic text message displays a field name variable (in curly brackets) if no features are selected, as shown in the image below. In this example, the widget on the canvas is set to the Default data view, while the List widget panel is set to the 'Selected features' view.

To avoid curly bracket displays in dynamic text messages, enable the View for empty selection option. However, if the Filter data records action is enabled, both the action data and the data used on the List widget can revert to the default view.

The image below shows the dynamic text in the List widget displayed without the curly brackets when no features are selected.

Enable 'View for empty selection' when creating an expression in the Text widget

When attempting to create an expression in the Text widget, the expression is not displayed correctly because there are no selected features, as shown in the image below.

This is because the data view is set to Selected features but no features are currently selected. Therefore, by enabling the View for empty selection option in the Data panel, the dynamic value is displayed correctly even when no features are selected, as shown in the image below.