The InstantAtlas Data Catalog Manager allows you to build your own data catalog in your ArcGIS Online account for anyone in your organization to use with Report Builder or Dashboard Builder or to quickly and easily find data to use in web maps.

If you are an InstantAtlas National Data Service customer and you have received an initial setup zip file from the support team you should start with the Data Catalog | National Data Service Integration page.

Getting Started

To build a data catalog you first need to purchase the InstantAtlas Data Catalog bundle from ArcGIS Marketplace. Then point your browser at https://hub.instantatlas.com/ and sign in. Then click on the Manage Catalog button .

If you don’t have a data catalog already, the Manager will give you the option to upload an empty catalog into your account. Follow the on-screen instructions – the page will refresh when your catalog is ready.

Setting up a New Catalog

By default your new catalog will be empty. You should work through the steps below in order to set up a basic catalog before attempting to use it with Web Map Builder, Data Explorer, Report Builder or Dashboard Builder.

1. Adding Core Layers

Before starting, you should read the rules. Then press the Add Layers button. Use the dialog to pick the feature layer (or feature service) containing your core layer(s). The page will then refresh and you should see a list of layers at the top of the page.

2. Adding Themes

Themes allow you to organize your indicators to make them easy to find. Themes are not layer-specific, so if you add a theme it is available for all core layers in your catalog. To add a root-level them simply click the Add Theme button just above the Data Model panel. You can rename the themes as you want.

To add a child theme first click on the parent theme to activate it. Then click the Add Child Theme  button that appears.

To re-order themes activate the theme you want to move then drag-and-drop it to its new position using the drag handles . If you want to add (as a child) a theme to another theme at the same level hold the SHIFT key as you drag. When a theme is ready to accept children it will turn green – release the mouse (drop) your theme then to add it as a child.

3. Adding Indicators

You can add indicators to themes in two ways. Activate a theme then with the Add Indicator button you can either add an empty (placeholder) indicator into which you link data later or an Indicator Service Connection . For simplicity only the Indicator Service Connection will be covered here.

Press Indicator Service Connection and then choose your data-providing feature layer in the dialog. When you then press Choose, the Data Manager will cross-check your chosen layer against your core layer to make sure they contain the same features. It then processes the fields in your data layer to find the indicators and instances (dates) within it. In the next popup dialog, you can choose which indicators you want to pull into your data catalog. The data catalog rules page contains information on how the Data Manager makes indicators from fields.

To move an indicator from one theme to another, click and drag it. To move an indicator into a new theme without removing it from the original theme hold the ALT key as you drag.

If you’ve got this far, Congratulations! You should now have a functioning InstantAtlas Data Catalog.

4. Organizing Dates

Activate an indicator by clicking on it, then click the Dates  button. In the popup dialog you will see a list of all the dates available for the current indicator for the current core layer. Just like in the main panel, you click on a date to activate it, then you can rename it, delete it or move it using drag-and-drop. There is also a button to allow you to Refresh  the connection to your underlying data layer, checking for new dates using the same rules for finding indicators and dates.