Services Overview

esri-gl provides service classes that integrate Esri ArcGIS REST services with MapLibre GL JS and Mapbox GL JS.

Architecture

Service-Source Pattern

Services create MapLibre/Mapbox GL sources and manage their lifecycle:

const service = new DynamicMapService('source-id', map, { url: '...' })
map.addLayer({ id: 'layer-id', type: 'raster', source: 'source-id' })

Universal Constructor

All services follow this signature:

new ServiceClass(sourceId: string, map: Map, esriOptions: Options, sourceOptions?: SourceOptions)

Service Comparison

Service	Data Type	Performance	Customization	Best For
DynamicMapService	Server raster	Moderate	Full	Interactive layers, real-time data
TiledMapService	Cached raster	Excellent	Limited	Basemaps, reference layers
ImageService	Analytical raster	Variable	Full	Satellite imagery, elevation
FeatureService	GeoJSON / Vector tiles	Good	Full	Editable features, client-side styling
VectorTileService	Vector tiles	Excellent	Full	Large vector datasets
VectorBasemapStyle	Style definition	Excellent	Themed	Professional basemaps

Common Patterns

Service Lifecycle

// Create
const service = new DynamicMapService('my-source', map, { url: '...' });
map.addLayer({ id: 'my-layer', type: 'raster', source: 'my-source' });

// Update
service.setLayerDefs({ 0: 'NEW_FILTER = 1' });

// Remove
service.remove();

Task-Based Operations

Services support identify and query operations:

// Identify at a click location
const results = await dynamicService.identify(e.lngLat, true);

// Standalone task with chaining
const results = await new IdentifyFeatures({ url: '...' })
  .at({ lng: -95, lat: 37 })
  .on(map)
  .layers('visible:0,1,2')
  .tolerance(5)
  .run();

See individual service pages for detailed documentation, live demos, and examples.