Mobile workers read, enter, and update forms to collect data and perform inspections. Ensure that mobile workers are successful in the field by configuring the form in the Field Maps web app. When configuring the form, you can do the following:
- Provide a title
- Order the entries on the form
- Group entries
- Update labels (Display names)
- Provide hint text
- Provide a description
- Provide read-only entries
- Format text entries
- Format date entries
- Format an entry that contains a list of values
- Format switch entries
- Format high-accuracy metadata display
- Configure required entries
- Configure conditional visibility
- Scan barcodes and QR codes
- Configure the required valid values
- Set default values
While collecting data, mobile workers may need access to information that's not included in the form. You can configure the layer's pop-up as follows:
- Format numbers and dates
- Calculate the title or entries using Arcade expressions
- Display attachments
- Display related information
Tip:
In general, GIS managers think of information contained in features and tables as fields, their values as attributes, and their display as a pop-up. However, mobile workers think about assets and observations, and conceptualize the information as a paper form with entries. The terminology used herein is that used by mobile workers to aid GIS managers in becoming familiar with their terms. The exception is when terms from the authoring experience are used.
Begin to configure the form
Configure the form using the Field Maps web app.
- In a browser, sign in to your organization and open the Field Maps
web app from the app launcher in ArcGIS Online or the app launcher in ArcGIS Enterprise.
The Maps page appears, showing maps that you own.
Note:
If you're an administrator, you have the option to view and configure any map within your organization. Click Filter and select All maps.
- Click a map to configure it.
The Overview page appears, displaying information about the map.
Tip:
You can also open a map in Field Maps from the map's item page. Browse to the map's item page and click Open in Field Maps.
- Click Content.
The Content page appears, listing the items in your map.
- Click an editable layer or table.
The Form builder appears with a blank form canvas.
- Begin to configure the form.
Once you've opened the Form builder, you can begin to configure the form in one of the following ways:
Convert the existing pop-up—If you configured the form as a pop-up in Map Viewer, you can configure the form in the Form builder using the existing pop-up configuration. Click Convert pop-up.
Editable attributes from the pop-up are added to the form canvas and placed in their original order. Attributes that are not part of the pop-up configuration appear in the Attributes list.
Add all attributes to the form—To include all the attributes in the form, click Add all in the Attributes list. All available attributes are added to the form.
- Add a selection of attributes to the form—To include a specific selection of attributes in the form, press the Ctrl key and click the attributes you want to include, then drag them to the form canvas.
Add attributes one by one—To add a single attribute to the form, click it or drag it to the form canvas.
Tip:
If the layer or table contains a large number of attributes, you can use the Find Attributes search bar in the Attributes list to locate a specific attribute.
Tip:
You can copy a form between maps using ArcGIS API for Python and the copy_form_between_maps Python script or ArcGIS Online Assistant. For step-by-step instructions, see the Duplicate maps and forms blog post.
Provide a title
Include identifying information in the title so mobile workers choose the correct form. By default, the title of the form is the name of the layer or table.
- While configuring the form, click the current title.
- Provide a title that mobile workers can easily identify.
- Click Save.
Tip:
You can click Add field in the Formatting pane to include a field value in the title.
Order the entries on the form
Order the form entries in a way that makes it easier for mobile workers to provide information in the field. If you have a long form, list the required entries first so mobile workers don't have to search for the key items.
- While configuring the form, drag attributes to order them on the form canvas or select an attribute and use the arrow keys to move it up or down.
- Click Save.
Tip:
You can select multiple form entries by pressing the Ctrl key and clicking each entry.
Group entries together
If you have related information in the form, you can group it, which is similar to sections of a paper form. Group attributes using the Group form element in the Form Elements list.
- While configuring the form, click a Group element from the Form Elements list.
A form element is added to the form canvas.
- Drag the attributes into the group.
- Select the group element to edit its properties.
The Properties pane appears, allowing you to edit the following information:
- Display name—Provide a name for the group that describes its attributes.
- Description—Provide a description for the group.
- Initial state—Check this check box if you want the initial state of the group to be expanded in the mobile app.
- Conditional visibility—Add an Arcade attribute expression to apply rules for when the group should appear in the form. See Conditional visibility for details.
- Click Save.
Tip:
You can remove all form entries from a group by selecting Ungroup from the group toolbar. You can remove multiple entries from the group by pressing Ctrl, selecting each entry you want to remove, and dragging them out of the group.
Update labels (display names)
In Field Maps, the Display name text is used as the label of the entry in the form. Provide a name or short question familiar to your mobile workers.
Tip:
Keep labels short and concise. While you can use a question, Field Maps scales the text to fit on a single line in the form.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, edit the Display name text to change the attribute's label on the form.
- Click Save.
Provide hints
In Field Maps, the Placeholder text is used to display informative hint text for an entry without a value. For example, you can provide information about where the mobile worker obtains the information or details about how to format the information when entered.
Note:
Placeholder text for date fields or fields with coded value domains does not display in the Field Maps mobile app.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, edit the Placeholder text to change the hint text for the entry.
- Click Save.
Provide a description
The Description text is used to provide contextual information that describes the purpose of a form entry.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, edit the Description text to change the description for the entry.
- Click Save.
Provide read-only entries
By default, attributes in the form are enabled for editing, however, you can change the setting so mobile workers cannot edit the attributes. Read-only entries allow mobile workers access to information, but prevent them from editing it.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, uncheck the Allow mobile users to edit check box to prevent mobile workers from editing the attribute.
- Click Save.
Format text entries
Text entries can be configured to use a text box or text area. A minimum and maximum character count can also be configured for each text entry.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute that requires a text entry to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, click the Input type drop-down menu and select one of the options.
- Text box—Allow the mobile worker to provide one line of text.
- Text area—Allow the mobile worker to provide multiple lines of text.
- In the Formatting section, set values for Min. length and Max. length for the entry.
- Click Save.
Format date entries
Date entries can be configured to use a date picker or a date and time picker. A range can also be set for each date entry.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute that requires a date entry to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, click the Input type drop-down menu and select one of the options.
- Date picker—Allow the mobile worker to provide a date.
- Date and time picker—Allow the mobile worker to provide a date and time.
- In the Formatting section, set values for Range start and Range end that mobile workers can choose from.
- Click Save.
Format an entry that contains a list of values
Entries that include a list of values can be configured to appear as a Combobox or Radio buttons in the form.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute that requires a text entry to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, click the Input type drop-down menu and select one of the options.
- Combobox—The mobile worker can tap the entry to choose a value from the list of available options.
- Radio buttons—The mobile worker can select a radio button value directly on the form.
- Click Save.
Note:
You create the list of values when you define the fields to prepare the form.
Format switch entries
Entries that include two values can be configured to appear as a Switch in the form.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute with two values.
The Properties pane appears.
- In the Formatting section, click the Input type drop-down menu and select Switch.
You can reorder the values by clicking the Switch order of values button next to the switch values.
Note:
For workers to view the entry as a switch in the mobile app, a default value must be set. The entry displays as a combobox for templates without a default value.
Format high-accuracy metadata display
Attributes that contain high-accuracy metadata don't appear in the form or in the Attributes list. If you are displaying high-accuracy metadata in the pop-up, format the numbers to use an appropriate number of decimal places. If you're displaying the fix time, format the date.
Configure required entries
If your data includes entries that mobile workers must provide, you can configure those entries so that they are required. For example, if all inspections require an inspection date, configure the inspection date entry to be required. Required entries are indicated in Field Maps by an asterisk next to the label and prevent submission until a value is provided.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, check the Required check box to make the attribute a required entry.
- Click Save.
Configure conditional visibility
If you have attributes or groups that only need to appear if a previous entry has a certain value, you can make those attributes or groups conditional. For example, a Building Assessment form includes an entry to indicate whether there is water damage. It also includes a group of entries related to water damage. A conditional visibility statement can be applied to the water damage group so it only appears if water damage is indicated in the earlier entry. To create a conditional visibility expression, use the Arcade editor in the Field Maps web app.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute or group to open the Properties pane.
- In the Conditional Visibility section, click + Add expression.
The Arcade editor appears. The editor allows you to write and test your expression before saving it to the selected attribute or group.
- Write the expression.
The Field Maps web app applies the Arcade Constraint profile to evaluate whether a feature meets the criteria defined in the expression. The expression should always be written to return a Boolean value of true or false.
For example, if a water damage group only needs to appear if water damage was indicated in an earlier entry, the following conditional visibility expression is written for the group:
$feature.water_damage != "No"For additional examples of constraint expressions, see the arcade-expressions GitHub repository.
- Click Edit next to the title and provide a title for the expression.
- Click OK.
The conditional visibility expression is applied to the group or attribute.
- Click Save.
Now that you've saved your expression, you can apply it to any form element by selecting the form element and clicking the expression you created. You can see which elements are using the Arcade expression by clicking the number next to the expression in the Properties pane under Conditional Visibility.
Note:
You can duplicate, edit, or delete the expression at any time from the Conditional Visibility menu.
Scan barcodes and QR codes
If your assets include barcodes or QR codes, you can scan the barcode or QR code with the Field Maps mobile app and populate one or more entries based on the scan. In Field Maps, text and numeric entries with the Barcode scanner input type contain an option for scanning a barcode or QR code. When a mobile worker chooses Scan barcode or QR code 
, the device's camera app opens and reads the barcode or QR code. The information it contains populates the selected entry when the scan is complete.
- While configuring the form, click an attribute that requires a barcode or QR code entry to open the Properties pane.
- In the Formatting section, click the Input type drop-down menu and select Barcode scanner.
- Click Save.
Note:
Field Maps supports the barcode and QR code formats supported by the operating system. For Android support, see Scan Barcodes with ML Kit on Android. For iOS support, see Machine-Readable Object Types.
Configure the required valid values
You can restrict the information that users enter into the form by setting choices or a range of values that must be honored for an entry. These are honored by Field Maps, but configured through your data.
To provide a set of choices for a field, create a list of values in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise or a coded value domain in ArcGIS Pro. In Field Maps, mobile workers see a list of values they can choose from.
To include a range of valid numeric values, provide the minimum and maximum values. If you're using ArcGIS Pro, this is done through a range domain. In Field Maps, mobile workers enter a value and it is flagged if it's outside the valid range.
If the form contains invalid values, mobile workers can't submit the form. For details regarding configuring your data to restrict the values entered in the form, see one of the following:
Set default values
You can set default values for entries in the form. There are two ways to provide default values: specify a default value for a field as part of designing your layer or provide a feature template to use for collecting data.
Default values that are specified as part of designing your layer are inherent to the data. The default value is applied to a field whenever a feature is created. To provide default values as part of designing your layer, see one of the following:
- Add or delete a field in ArcGIS Online
- Add or delete a field in ArcGIS Enterprise
- Create and manage fields in ArcGIS Pro
Default values that are specified as part of a feature template are applied to the field when the feature template is used to create a feature. This allows you to have different default values for a single field depending on the type of feature that is being created. If a field has an existing default value, the default for a feature template overrides it and is used. To provide default values for a feature template, see Manage feature templates.
Configure the pop-up
In new Map Viewer, configure the pop-up to provide mobile workers with additional information during data collection.
- In a browser, open your map in new Map Viewer.
Note:
If you haven't created your map, see Create a map.
- On the Contents toolbar, click Layers to open the Layers pane, and select the layer that contains the feature data you want to show in a pop-up.
- On the Settings toolbar, click Configure pop-ups.
Format numeric entries
You can configure numeric entries to use a specific number of decimal places as well as a thousands separator. Consider the size of the numbers your mobile workers need to provide.
- While configuring the pop-up, click Configure fields on the Settings toolbar.
- Click the field name of the numeric entry you want to format.
- Under Significant digits, choose the number of decimals you want the data to display, from 0 to 8.
- Optionally, turn on the Use 1000 Separator toggle button to include a thousands separator in the data.
- Click Done.
Format dates
Dates can appear in various formats. If time is important to your data, choose a date format that includes time and configure the time's format. If time isn't important, you can hide it.
- While configuring the pop-up, click Configure fields on the Settings toolbar.
- Click the field name of the date entry you want to format.
- Under Date format, choose the format for the date, for example, 12/21/1997 or Sunday, December 21, 1997.
Field Maps uses the locale of your device when displaying the date. The format you choose in the pop-up configuration determines the information included in the date, not the exact display. Choosing 12/21/1997 or 21/12/1997 in the pop-up configuration results in the same display in Field Maps, with the device's locale determining the final result.
- If your format supports time, and you want to display or edit it, turn on the Show time toggle button and choose the format, for example, 6:00 PM or 18:00:00.
Field Maps displays and edits using local time.
- Click Done.
Calculate the title or entries using Arcade expressions
You can calculate entries based on formulas and other parts of the form. For example, you can convert units, include trailing text to show units, combine multiple entries for a more intuitive read, or specify a custom format. Calculated entries are created by adding an Arcade attribute expression that performs the calculation. See Use attribute expressions in ArcGIS Online or Use attribute expressions in ArcGIS Enterprise.
For example, the steps below show how to make a calculated entry indicating whether an asset needs to be inspected. If not inspected in the past year, the title of the form updates to Inspection Required. Otherwise, the title shows the formatted date of the last inspection.
- While configuring the pop-up, click Manage expressions, and click + Add expression.
- In the editor window, provide the Arcade expression that creates the calculated entry as follows:
if (DateDiff(Date(), $feature.InspectionDate, 'years') > 1) 'Inspection Required' else 'Inspected ' + Text(ToLocal($feature.InspectionDate), 'M/D/YY')Note:
This expression requires a layer that includes the last inspection date in the InspectionDate entry.
- Click Edit next to Custom and name the calculated entry.
- Click OK to create the calculated entry.
- Delete the text for Title and click { } next to it. Select the new calculated entry.
- Click OK.
- View the pop-up on your map.
The title reflects your calculated entry. When you view the pop-up in Field Maps, the same title appears.
For help with Arcade, see the ArcGIS Arcade documentation. For additional example expressions, see the Arcade expressions repository on GitHub.
Display attachments
If your data supports attachments, you can configure them so your mobile workers can view them. Turn on the Show as list toggle button if you want the attachments to be visible when mobile workers are viewing forms. This doesn't affect a worker's ability to add attachments, but without it, they can only see attachments while editing.
Display related information
If your data includes related assets, observations, or reports (inspections), you can make them accessible to your mobile workers. Related reports must be accessed through the asset or observation to which they are related (tables can't be accessed directly). Related assets and observations can be accessed directly through the map or through the asset or observation to which they are related. Configure the form for the related information as well as for the feature to which it is related, specifying that it includes the related information.
Configure the form for the related information following the same guidelines you use to configure any form. All the settings and recommendations in this topic apply. Regarding the title of the form for the related information, if the feature or table it is related to includes multiple related forms, the mobile worker sees a list of the titles when choosing a related form. It is easier for mobile workers to choose the correct related form if the title includes distinguishing information.
Mobile workers access the related information when viewing the asset or observation to which it is related.
Known issues
Known issues for building a form in the Field Maps web app and instructions for how to resolve them are provided below.
Unable to configure the form for a table
If a table is related to a layer with GNSS fields, you cannot configure its form, however, you can configure the form for a copy of the table. To create a copy of a related table, complete the following steps:
- Browse to the item page for the layer that contains the GNSS fields and click the Visualization tab.
- Click Save as new layer and provide a title.
- Click Save.
A copy of the layer and the related table are created and added to My content.
- Return to the Field Maps web app.
You can now configure the form for the copy of the table.