Esri / Esri/esri-leaflet-vector

Add hitTest function for vector tile layers

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Dominant language
JavaScript
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Description

### Describe the problem

Querying the attributes of a vector tile layer is a popular workflow that is very clunky in Esri Leaflet Vector. You can currently query layer attributes, but you can *only* do so by manually accessing the `layer._maplibreGL._glMap` and using functions from MapLibre GL JS.

Not only is that confusing and unintuitive, it is also tricky to document and relies on developers having an understanding of a different, unrelated mapping library.

### Describe the proposed solution

I would like the ability to query the attributes of a vector tile layer using a new method specific to the layer.

The ArcGIS JS Maps SDK just added support for VTL hit tests as a method of the map object: https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/sample-code/layers-vectortilelayer-hittest/

MapLibre GL JS also supports this as a method of the map object: https://maplibre.org/maplibre-gl-js/docs/examples/queryrenderedfeatures/

^ this method in MapLibre is how I am currently querying vector tiles in Esri Leaflet, by calling `layer._maplibreGL._glMap.queryRenderedFeatures()`. I would like to add an exposed method to the vector tile layer class that invokes this MapLibre method under the hood.

Desired implementation: `const features = layer.hitTest() //features contains the returned maplibre features`

### Alternatives considered

_No response_

### Additional Information

Here's another example of using the underlying maplibre map for a different purpose (styling the layer): https://developers.arcgis.com/documentation/mapping-apis-and-services/maps/basemap-places/#filter-places-by-style-category

This is a similar workflow that has to access the same private data variable, definitely not best practice either. And unfortunately not resolved by this feature request :(

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Start with the vector tile layer class and inspect how its private _maplibreGL._glMap is used. Compare that existing queryRenderedFeatures workflow with the referenced MapLibre and ArcGIS examples; done means the layer exposes hitTest() and returns the underlying MapLibre features.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
frontend, web-dev
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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