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How to add the what3words Locator to Experience Builder for ArcGIS

intermediate

This tutorial will take you through the steps required to add the what3words ArcGIS Locator to a custom widget built using ArcGIS Experience Builder. This widget will help you to perform reverse geocoding (convert a point to a what3words address) on your ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS.

Further information on the features of the Locator can be found here.

Setting up the locator in ArcGIS Online takes a few minutes. Once set up, it will be available across the ArcGIS Online suite.

Resources: The what3words ArcGIS Experience Builder widget is available in our GitHub repository.

1

Prerequisites

  • An installed and configured instance of ArcGIS Experience Builder (Developer Edition);
  • A URL of your what3words ArcGIS Locator that has been added to your ArcGIS Online or your Portal for ArcGIS by following this instruction on the what3words developer site;
  • A copy of this widget what3words.
2

Installation & Configuration

  1. Deploy the widget by copying the what3words folder and its contents into your ArcGIS Experience Builder installation’s client/your-extensions/widgets/ folder and restart your watcher;
  2. Run both ArcGIS Experience Builder server and ArcGIS Experience Builder client in 2 separate terminals;
  3. Create your own Experience Application;
  4. Create your own experience application with a base map. You can now add the what3words widget to the map, on the side, or whichever you prefer. You can search the what3words widget by typing its name on the search bar at the top of the list of widgets or looking for the widget on the list.

Once you have found it you can drag and drop the widget onto your application whichever you prefer, next to the map, on top of it, or at the bottom of it.

On the widget, you can display the what3words address, the coordinates in WGS84, and the zoom, and copy buttons.

On the Content panel of the widget on the right-hand side, you have 3 sections:

  1. Select a map that you want your widget to work on;
  2. Set the what3words locator. Click on Set Locator and you will be able to select your what3words locator from ArcGIS Online or your Portal for ArcGIS.
  3. Display some widget options:
  • The Lat/Long coordinates options allow you to display the WGS84 coordinates of the related what3words address;
  • The Zoom button allows you to get 5000m closer to the point on the map;
  • The Copy button allows you to copy the what3words to your clipboard;
  • With the Popup message enabled you can display a popup message with the what3words address info above the map marker after tapping anywhere on the map.

Configure the widget with your what3words Locator URL. By using the what3words locator, you would be able to retrieve the correct what3words address in any coordinate systems used on your web map. Example of a what3words Locator: https://utility.arcgis.com/usrsvcs/servers/<MyGeocodingArcGISUniqueID>/rest/services/what3words_EN_English/GeocodeServer.

To find the what3words Locator URL, go to your ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS, click on the Content > My Organization tab. Search for your locator, you could filter by Item type > Tools > Locators as shown on this screenshot.

Then click on your Locator, scroll down to the bottom of the page, on the right-hand side, you will find the URL of your Locator. You need to copy and paste this URL to the configuration page of the what3words widget, as shown on this screenshot.

The widget is now ready to run inside your Experience Builder app. Click on the map to retrieve the what3words address at the clicked location. For example, the point selected on the map returned this what3words address: ///filled.count.soap.

3

Troubleshooting

If after installing correctly the what3words locator across your ArcGIS platform, you cannot display your what3words locator on your Experience app, it could be that your what3words locator hasn’t been put at the top of your Geocoding services.

To resolve this issue, please drag and drop the what3words locator at the top of the Geocoding service list, as it is shown on this screenshot. You can find this list under your Organisation > Utility services > Geocoding section.

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