Cannot add Layer with more than 500 Features

[CarstenVock]

Hi,

I´m using Web Parts 2.0 and have a question about adding Layer Data from an ArcGIS Server Layer.
Is it true that the Web Parts cannot display more than 500 Features in one Layer?
Would be nice to have that somewhere written in the documentation.

Thank you
Carsten

[RichZwaap]

Hi Carsten:

No, this is not true.  However, ArcGIS Server has a configurable limit on the maximum number of features that can be returned in a query.  Before version 10, this limit was 500 by default.  At 10, the default limit was raised to 1,000.  Refer to this blog post for a discussion of the feature limit and the implications for web API applications (such as the Map Web Part).  Refer to this help topic for version 10 or this one for version 9.3.1 for information on manipulating the MaxRecordCount parameter and service config files in general.

You should be aware, however, that showing this many features client-side can degrade application performance.  The degree to which this is the case will depend on the complexity of the feature geometries, the complexity of the symbols you are using, and the performance of the machine on which the map is being viewed.  You should carefully consider whether displaying this many features is really the best way to communicate what you are trying to with the map.  In many cases, this many features makes for a map that is difficult to understand.  It may be that your purpose is better served, for instance, by making a series of maps, each of which defines a different layer definition (i.e. query) for this dataset.  ArcGIS Mapping for SharePoint is well-suited to accommodating such scenarios very quickly and easily.