Identify a hosted feature layer referenced by a view layer using ArcGIS API for Python

Summary

In an organization, view layers are created to use or display the data contained within a hosted feature layer while removing the risk of accidental modifications or deletion of the original hosted feature layer. When a large amount of hosted feature layer views is involved, identifying the parent hosted feature layer becomes important as it avoids deletion, which affects the view layer. It is possible to identify the host layer through the ArcGIS Online REST Services Directory. To simplify identifying multiple views at a time, ArcGIS API for Python can be used to automate the process, and this article describes the workflow. The following script can be run using a stand-alone .py file or in ArcGIS Notebook.

Procedure

1. Import the necessary modules and specify the credentials.

from arcgis.gis import GIS
from arcgis.features import FeatureLayerCollection
import requests

gis = GIS("https://www.arcgis.com", "username", "password")

2. Specify the view layer id.

view_id = "<view_layer_id>"

3. Obtain the information details from the view layer using one of the following scripts.

• Identify the referenced hosted feature layer with the view layer id:

vw_item = gis.content.get(view_id)
relationships = vw_item.related_items(rel_type="Service2Data")

print (relationships)

• Identify the referenced hosted feature layer with the view layer source endpoint:

vw_item = gis.content.get(view_id)
sources_url = f"{vw_item.url}/sources"
data = {"token": gis._con.token, "f": "json"}
r = requests.post(sources_url, data=data)

print (r.json())

The code block below shows the full working script to identify the referenced hosted feature layer with the view layer id.

from arcgis.gis import GIS
from arcgis.features import FeatureLayerCollection
gis = GIS("https://www.arcgis.com", "user", "passwd")

view_id = "425b785aa3564a7d8dasfsevrsaef23rfwe"
vw_item = gis.content.get(view_id)
relationships = vw_item.related_items(rel_type="Service2Data")

print (relationships)