require(["esri/layers/GraphicsLayer", "esri/Graphic"], function(GraphicsLayer, Graphic){
  // Create graphics
  var graphicA = new Graphic();  // graphic with line geometry
  var graphicB = new Graphic();  // graphic with point geometry
  var graphicC = new Graphic();  // graphic with polygon geometry
  var graphicD = new Graphic();
  var graphicE = new Graphic();

  // Add graphic when GraphicsLayer is constructed
  var layer = new GraphicsLayer({
    graphics: [graphicA]
  });

  // Add graphic to graphics collection
  layer.graphics.add(graphicB);

  // Add graphic using add()
  layer.add(graphicC);
  layer.addMany([graphicD, graphicE]);

  // Add GraphicsLayer to map
  map.add(layer);
});

Property Overview

Property Details

declaredClassStringreadonly

The name of the class. The declared class name is formatted as esri.folder.className.

elevationInfoObject

Specifies how graphics are placed on the vertical axis (z). This property only has an effect in a SceneView. See the ElevationInfo sample for an example of how this property may be used.

Properties:

mode String Defines how the graphic is placed with respect to the terrain surface. If the geometry consists of multiple points (e.g. lines or polygons), the elevation is evaluated separately for each point. See the table below for a list of possible values. Mode Description on-the-ground Graphics are placed on the terrain surface. relative-to-ground The graphic is placed at an elevation relative to the terrain surface. The graphic's elevation is determined by summing up the terrain elevation, the offset value and the geometry's z-value (if present). absolute-height Graphics are placed at an absolute height above sea level. This height is determined by summing up the offset value and the geometry's z-value (if present). It doesn't take the elevation of the terrain into account. relative-to-scene Graphics are aligned to buildings and other objects part of 3D Object SceneLayer or IntegratedMeshLayer, depending on which has higher elevation. If the graphic is not directly above a building or any other feature, it is aligned to the terrain surface elevation. If present, z-values will be ignored.

offset Number optional An elevation offset in meters, which is added to the vertical position of the graphic. When mode = "on-the-ground", this property has no effect.

fullExtentExtent autocast

The full extent of the layer. By default, this is worldwide. This property may be used to set the extent of the view to match a layer's extent so that its features appear to fill the view. See the sample snippet below.

Example:

// Once the layer loads, set the view's extent to the layer's fullextent
layer.then(function(){
  view.extent = layer.fullExtent;
});

graphicsCollection autocast

A collection of graphics in the layer. Each graphic is a vector representation of the location of a real-world feature. Each graphic in a single GraphicsLayer may contain either a Point, Polyline, or Polygon geometry. In addition, each Graphic in the collection may contain its own attributes, Symbol, and PopupTemplate.

To add a graphic to the GraphicsLayer use add(), or GraphicsLayer.graphics.add().

See also:

• Graphic

Example:

// Add graphics to GraphicsLayer directly as an array
layer.graphics = [graphicA, graphicB];

// Add graphics to layer via Collection
layer.graphics.addMany([graphicC, graphicD]);

idString

The unique ID assigned to the layer. If not set by the developer, it is automatically generated when the layer is loaded.

listModeString

Indicates how the layer should display in the LayerList widget. The known values are listed below.

Value	Description
show	The layer is visible in the table of contents.
hide	The layer is hidden in the table of contents.
hide-children	If the layer is a GroupLayer, hide the children layers from the table of contents.

Default Value: show

loadedBooleanreadonly

Indicates whether the layer instance has loaded. When true, all the properties of the object can be accessed.

Default Value: false

loadErrorErrorreadonly

The Error object returned if an error occurred while loading.

Default Value: null

loadStatusStringreadonly

Represents the status of a load operation.

Value	Description
not-loaded	The object's resources have not loaded.
loading	The object's resources are currently loading.
loaded	The object's resources have loaded without errors.
failed	The object's resources failed to load. See loadError for more details.

Default Value: not-loaded

loadWarningsObject[]readonly

A list of warnings which occurred while loading.

maxScaleNumber

The maximum scale at which the layer is visible in the view. If the map is zoomed in beyond this scale, the layer will not be visible. A value of 0 means the layer does not have a maximum scale.

Default Value: 0

Examples:

//The layer will not be visible when the
//view is zoomed beyond a scale of 1:1,000
layer.maxScale = 1000;

//The layer's visibility is not restricted to a maximum scale.
layer.maxScale = 0;

minScaleNumber

The minimum scale at which the layer is visible in the view. If the map is zoomed out beyond this scale, the layer will not be visible. A value of 0 means the layer does not have a minimum scale.

Default Value: 0

Examples:

//The layer will not be visible when the view
//is zoomed beyond a scale of 1:3,000,000
layer.minScale = 3000000;

//The layer's visibility is not restricted to a minimum scale.
layer.minScale = 0;

opacityNumber

The opacity of the layer. This value can range between 1 and 0, where 0 is 100 percent transparent and 1 is completely opaque.

Default Value: 1

Example:

// Makes the layer 50% transparent
layer.opacity = 0.5;

screenSizePerspectiveEnabledBoolean

Since: ArcGIS API for JavaScript 4.4

Apply perspective scaling to screen-size point symbols in a SceneView. When true, screen sized objects such as icons, labels or callouts integrate better in the 3D scene by applying a certain perspective projection to the sizing of features. This only applies when using a SceneView.

layer.screenSizePerspectiveEnabled = true

layer.screenSizePerspectiveEnabled = false

Known Limitations

Screen size perspective is currently not optimized for situations where the camera is very near the ground, or for scenes with point features located far from the ground surface. In these cases it may be better to turn off screen size perspective.

Default Value: true

titleString

The title of the layer used to identify it in places such as the Legend and LayerList widgets.

typeStringreadonly

For GraphicsLayer the type is graphics.

visibleBoolean

Indicates if the layer is visible in the View. When false, the layer may still be added to a Map instance that is referenced in a view, but its features will not be visible in the view.

Default Value: true

Example:

// The layer is no longer visible in the view
layer.visible = false;

Method Overview

Method Details

add(graphic)

Adds a graphic to the layer.

Parameter:

graphic Graphic The graphic to add to the layer.

addMany(graphics)

Adds an array of graphics to the layer.

Parameter:

graphics Graphic[] The graphic(s) to add to the layer.

always(callbackOrErrback){Promise}inherited

An instance of this class is a Promise. Therefore always() may be used to execute a function if the promise is rejected or resolved. The input function will always execute no matter the response. For more information about promises, see the Working with Promises guide page.

Parameter:

callbackOrErrback Function optional The function to execute when the promise is rejected or resolved.

Returns:

Type	Description
Promise	Returns a new promise for the result of callbackOrErrback.

Example:

// Although this example uses MapView, any class instance that is a promise may use always() in the same way
var view = new MapView();
view.always(function(){
  // This function will always execute whether or not the promise is resolved or rejected
});

cancelLoad()inherited

Cancels a load() operation if it is already in progress.

hasEventListener(type){Boolean}inherited

Indicates whether there is an event listener on the instance that matches the provided event name.

Parameter:

type String The name of the event.

Returns:

Type	Description
Boolean	Returns true if the class supports the input event.

isFulfilled(){Boolean}inherited

An instance of this class is a Promise. Therefore isFulfilled() may be used to verify if the promise is fulfilled (either resolved or rejected). If it is fulfilled, true will be returned. See the Working with Promises guide page for more information about promises.

Returns:

Type	Description
Boolean	Indicates whether the promise has been fulfilled (either resolved or rejected).

isRejected(){Boolean}inherited

An instance of this class is a Promise. Therefore isRejected() may be used to verify if the promise is rejected. If it is rejected, true will be returned. See the Working with Promises guide page for more information about promises.

Returns:

Type	Description
Boolean	Indicates whether the promise has been rejected.

isResolved(){Boolean}inherited

An instance of this class is a Promise. Therefore isResolved() may be used to verify if the promise is resolved. If it is resolved, true will be returned. See the Working with Promises guide page for more information about promises.

Returns:

Type	Description
Boolean	Indicates whether the promise has been resolved.

load(){Promise}inherited

Loads the resources referenced by this class. This method automatically executes for a View and all of the resources it references in Map if the view is constructed with a map instance.

This method must be called by the developer when accessing a resource that will not be loaded in a View.

Returns:

Type	Description
Promise	Resolves when the resources have loaded.

on(type, listener){Object}inherited

Registers an event handler on the instance. Call this method to hook an event with a listener. See the Events summary table for a list of listened events.

Parameters:

type String The name of event to listen for.

listener Function The function to call when the event is fired.

Returns:

Type	Description
Object	Returns an event handler with a remove() method that can be called to stop listening for the event. Property Type Description remove Function When called, removes the listener from the event.

See also:

• dojo/on

Example:

view.on("click", function(event){
  // event is the event handle returned after the event fires.
  console.log(event.mapPoint);
});

otherwise(errback){Promise}inherited

An instance of this class is a Promise. Use otherwise() to call a function once the promise is rejected.

Parameter:

errback Function optional The function to execute when the promise fails.

Returns:

Type	Description
Promise	Returns a new promise for the result of errback.

Example:

// Although this example uses MapView, any class instance that is a promise may use otherwise() in the same way
var view = new MapView();
view.otherwise(function(error){
  // This function will execute if the promise is rejected due to an error
});

remove(graphic)

Removes a graphic from the layer.

Parameter:

graphic Graphic The graphic to remove from the layer.

removeAll()

Clears all the graphics from the layer.

removeMany(graphics)

Removes an array of graphics from the layer.

Parameter:

graphics Graphic[] The graphics to remove from the layer.

then(callback, errback, progback){Promise}inherited

An instance of this class is a Promise. Therefore then() may be leveraged once an instance of the class is created. This method takes two input parameters: a callback function and an errback function. The callback executes when the promise resolves (when the instance of the class loads). The errback executes if the promise fails. See the Working with Promises guide page for additional details.

Parameters:

callback Function optional The function to call when the promise resolves.

errback Function optional The function to execute when the promise fails.

progback Function optional The function to invoke when the promise emits a progress update.

Returns:

Type	Description
Promise	Returns a new promise for the result of callback that may be used to chain additional functions.

Example:

// Although this example uses MapView, any class instance that is a promise may use then() in the same way
var view = new MapView();
view.then(function(){
  // This function will execute once the promise is resolved
}, function(error){
  // This function will execute if the promise is rejected due to an error
});

Event Overview

{view: View,layerView: LayerView}

{view: View,layerView: LayerView}

Event Details

layerview-createinherited

Fires after the layer's LayerView is created and rendered in a view.

Properties:

view View The view in which the layerView was created.

layerView LayerView The LayerView rendered in the view representing the layer in layer.

See also:

• View.whenLayerView()

Example:

// This function will fire each time a layer view is created for this
// particular view.
layer.on("layerview-create", function(event){
  // The LayerView for the layer that emitted this event
  event.layerView;
});

layerview-destroyinherited

Fires after the layer's LayerView is destroyed and no longer renders in a view.

Properties:

view View The view in which the layerView was destroyed.

layerView LayerView The destroyed LayerView representing the layer.