Tuesday, August 10, 2021

ArcGIS Online Application Transparency Issue

Issue

I published a Map in ArcGIS Online, and converted it to an Application to add some custom functionality (splash disclaimer, print button, etc.). Unfortunately, there is a city boundary layer that is displaying with a 60% transparency, and the requestor wants this to be much darker. I cannot seem to adjust this at the Application level.

Application view

 

 The layer in the map has all transparency removed in the Symbology properties, as well as in the layer's Appearance settings. Despite removing and re-adding the hosted feature layer, the Application still renders the transparency.

Map view

Solution

 Check the settings at the feature layer level:
  • In ArcGIS Online/your Portal, navigate to Content 
  • Search for- and open the hosted feature layer
  • Navigate to the Visualization tab
  • Click the Change Style icon  
  • Click the Options button to open the symbol properties
  • Review the Overall Transparency setting and adjust if necessary
60% Transparency applied

Discussion

 In my case, this is where the issue originated. After I set the Overall Transparency to 0%, the property was able to propagate through to the Application level. Despite explicitly configuring the transparency in the Map that is directly consumed by the Application, the Application still reached across the Map and pulled the default transparency variable that was defined in the feature layer.

That is annoying because I had intended for the default City Boundary layer to render with a decent amount of transparency; and this application is an outlier from the otherwise uniform graphic standard I was hoping to implement.

Alternatively, I'll try to apply a transparency value inside the symbol fill/outline settings, rather than at the Overall layer transparency. 💁