Data collection

A field deployment that opens a map plus editable layers and forms on a phone or tablet, with offline download, sync, and QR / link share.

basic

A data collection item is a field deployment. Authors bind a map, mark which layers are editable in the field, optionally bind a custom form per layer, and optionally prepare offline areas. Collectors open the field PWA on a phone or tablet, add and edit features with or without signal, then sync when they are back online.

It is not Esri Field Maps and not Survey123. The portal ships its own field PWA and form runtime. Survey-style capture without a map still uses a form item (and XLSForm import where it fits). See Coming from ArcGIS Online terminology for the honest Field Maps / Survey123 mapping.

What a deployment includes

A map. Layers, basemap, and default viewport the collector sees in field mode (/items/<id>/field).
Editable layers. Only layers marked editable for field deployments appear in Add / edit flows. View-only layers still draw.
Forms. By default each editable layer uses a form drawn from its schema. Optional per-layer form bindings override that.
Optional offline areas. Prepared extents and detail levels for basemap / tile warm-up on the item page. Feature download for offline still happens on the device (see below).

Opening on a phone

On the data collection item page, Open field-mode runtime starts the PWA on the device you are already using. For handoff from a desk:

Scan the QR code on the item page (built from the browser's public origin plus /items/<id>/field).
Or copy the link and send it.

Collectors must be able to sign in (or already have a session) on that phone. Sharing the data collection item controls who can open the deployment; editing still follows each data layer's permissions.

Adding, editing and deleting features

The map controls stay on screen while a form is open: the header, the GPS accuracy strip, Layers (with the basemap), search, zoom, the compass and Locate. Only the + button gives way.

Add. Tap + (pick a feature type first when the deployment has more than one). A point feature's form opens straight away, with the point at your GPS fix, or at the map centre when there is no fix. A line or polygon asks for its vertices first.
Tap a feature to open its details: Zoom to, Edit, Copy and Delete. Delete asks first.
Edit opens the feature's form with the row as the portal holds it. Change any field; Update sends only the fields you changed and the shape, if you moved it, in one save. Delete is at the foot of the form.
Shape. While an edit form is open, drag the vertices on the map. The form's Shape section says when the shape has changed.
Point position (point layers, add and edit). Choose Manual to tap the map or drag the point, or GPS to have the point, and the map, follow your position. Tapping or dragging switches back to Manual.
Related records. An edit form lists the rows of each related table for that feature. Open a row to update or delete it, or Add one with its link to the feature filled in (tables, and point records placed at your position). Back returns to the feature's form with its unsaved changes intact. A row tapped in a feature's details opens inside that feature's form. Rows still waiting to sync open too.
Compass. When the map is turned, the compass button puts north back up. When it is already north up, it turns the map with your heading, and a second tap goes back to north up. The blue GPS dot shows a cone in the direction you face. On iPhone, allow Motion & Orientation when asked.

All of this works offline: adds, edits and deletes go to the sync queue (below), and a feature captured offline and deleted before it synced never reaches the portal.

Offline: Download and Refresh

In the field runtime More menu (and on the Layers sheet):

Download for offline caches editable-layer features (scoped to the deployment bbox when configured), bound form schemas, and pick lists into IndexedDB on that device.
Refresh offline cache pulls again. When the device already has a sync cursor, refresh prefers the data layer delta API instead of re-downloading every feature. See Data layer (sync versions).
Partial downloads surface an honest incomplete warning (missing layers, forms, pick lists, or out of storage). Do not assume a "Cached" line means every layer landed.

Basemap tiles may still be empty offline if tiles were not warmed; feature capture and forms are the offline contract today. Remove from device wipes that deployment's local cache (and warns when unsynced edits would be lost).

Sync queue and conflicts

Edits made offline (and online writes that fall back to the queue) sit in a local queue. When online, the queue badge can Sync; offline it only shows that edits are waiting.

Queued updates and deletes dry-run with checkOnly=true before the real write. A conflict or schema refusal parks that edit on the device with the server reason. New creates upload without a dry-run. Review recent conflicts on the paired Data layer item (Layer data panel): Re-apply or Dismiss. That page's Sync versions and conflicts section is the full Re-apply / Dismiss guide.

What this is not

Not a Field Maps project import, offline geodatabase replica, or ArcGIS Mobile Map Package workflow.
Not Survey123 Connect / web designer parity; use a form item for survey-first flows.
Not a promise that every basemap tile works offline without preparing areas and warming tiles.
Not multi-user CRDT merge on drawings; sync conflicts are optimistic-concurrency artifacts you resolve on the layer.