Publish and consume services with a utility network

Available with Standard or Advanced license.

When you publish or consume a service that contains a utility network and related network feature classes, some conditions and restrictions apply. These are dependent on the layers that are present in the map view, how the map service is configured, and where the service will be consumed. To prevent publishing when prerequisites are not met, analyzer errors are returned when these rules are broken. Additional analyzer warnings alert you if your intention is to consume services using ArcGIS Pro.

A published feature service that contains the utility network layer automatically includes the Utility Network and Network Diagram services to support trace analysis and network diagrams. See Utility Network services to learn more.

Prepare for publishing

When you publish and consume a feature service that contains a utility network, the following conditions and prerequisites apply.

To prepare the environment for the publishing process, complete the following steps:

Prerequisite:

• Utility network layers must be from a database connection established as the database utility network owner.
• The connected ArcGIS Enterprise portal account must be the portal utility network owner.

  License:

  The active portal account must be licensed with the ArcGIS Advanced Editing user type extension to create, publish, and edit a utility network in an enterprise geodatabase. Query and trace operations do not require the user type extension.

1. Set the versioning type of the geodatabase connection to Branch before you add the utility network to the map.
   1. Right-click the database connection in the Catalog pane, and click Geodatabase Connection Properties.
   2. On the Geodatabase Connection Properties dialog box, choose Branch under Versioning Type, and click OK.

   Note:

   Branch versions can only be edited using feature services. If the versioning type of the geodatabase connection is not set to branch versioning, you cannot publish a utility network.

   Learn more about working with branch versioned data

2. Register the feature dataset as versioned by doing the following
   1. Right-click the feature dataset, and click Manage to open the Feature Dataset Properties dialog box.
   2. Check the Versioning check box, and ensure that Branch is chosen.
   3. Click OK to register the feature dataset as branch versioned.

      Learn more about registering a dataset as branch versioned

      The utility network feature dataset and nonspatial junction and edge object tables are registered as branch versioned.

3. Right-click the utility network in the Catalog pane, and click Add To New Map to add the utility network and its associated layers to a new map.
4. When prompted whether you want to add all classes that participate in the utility network to the map, click Yes.

   Note:

   • While the service can still be consumed from the web, to consume the utility network in ArcGIS Pro, the map must contain all of the layers that participate in the network; otherwise, analyzer warning 24099 will be returned.
   • Definition queries and hidden fields set using the Visible layer field property are not supported; analyzer error 00270 will be returned if these conditions exist.

5. Ensure that layer IDs have been preserved in the map document.

   It is recommended that you manually assign layer IDs before publishing if you intend to overwrite the web layer or service in the future. Otherwise, service sublayer IDs can potentially change when the web layer or service is overwritten. This can cause problems with web clients accessing these services referencing specific layer IDs. You can enable this with the Allow assignment of unique numeric IDs for sharing web layers setting on the Map Properties dialog box.

   1. Right-click the map document heading in the Contents pane, and click Properties.
   2. On the Map Properties dialog box, choose Allow assignment of unique numeric IDs for sharing web layers on the General tab, and click OK.

If you choose not to manually assign layer IDs, uncheck the Ensure map is set to allow assignment of unique IDs check box. If the box is checked, an analyzer error will be returned if the Allow assignment of unique numeric IDs for sharing web layers option in Map Properties is not enabled. If the box is unchecked, the analyzer is skipped. See Configure a web feature layer to learn more.

Learn more about publishing branch versioned data

Publish the utility network as a feature service

To publish a utility network as a editable feature service that supports analytic functionality such as tracing and diagram creation, complete the following steps:

1. Ensure that the utility network and all its associated layers are added to the current map view.

   Note:

   The publishing map used to create a utility network feature service must not contain subtype group layers. Additionally, do not change the configuration of the unique value renderer for the layers in the map. The subtype definition that controls the behavior and properties for the layer is impacted if this references a field other than the asset group.

2. Click the Web Layer drop-down menu on the Share tab, and click Publish Web Layer.
3. In the Share As Web Layer pane, on the General tab , provide a name for the web layer, and optionally, provide values for the Summary and Tags parameters.
4. Under Data and Layer Type, choose Map Image, and check the Feature check box under Reference registered data.

   The Version Management setting is enabled on the Configuration tab under Configure Layers .

5. Under Location, under Portal Folder and Server and Folder, specify where the data will be shared.

   You can share the data to the root folder or create a folder.

6. For Sharing Level, specify how the utility network will be shared.
7. On the Configuration tab, under Configure Layers , confirm that Version Management is enabled under Capabilities.

   Note:

   The Version Management option is not available if the Feature option is not enabled, or the feature dataset containing the utility network is not branch versioned.

8. On the Configuration tab, under Layers, click the Configure Web Layer Properties button next to Feature to open Feature Properties, and ensure that the Allow update of true curves and Only allow true curve updates by true curve clients options are checked under Properties.
9. If you are publishing the utility network as a feature service for offline use, check Enable Sync under Operations, and choose a Version Creation option from the Sync drop-down list.

   Learn more about how to publish the utility network as a feature service for offline editing

10. Click Analyze to identify potential issues or errors.

    Two types of analyzer messages appear on the Messages tab. Errors are issues that must be fixed before you can publish web layers. Warnings are issues in which performance, appearance, or data access may be affected. Double-click the error or warning for a solution or access to a help topic. Right-click the error or warning for suggestions on how to address the issue.

    Tip:

    You can register an enterprise geodatabase as a data store when publishing or analyzing the data. An analyzer error message appears in the Share As Web Layer pane if the database is not registered with the server. To register a geodatabase, click Options, and click Register Data Source with Server on the error message.

11. Click Publish to publish the utility network.
12. Add the utility network web layer to the map.

    Learn how to build effective maps for viewing and editing your utility network data

For more information about the specific steps required to use a utility network in a multiuser environment, see the Configure a multiuser environment example workflow.

Publish utility network feature classes without a utility network layer

When sharing web feature layers for network feature classes without the utility network layer, the restrictions are lessened; however, this also limits the ability to work with the full functionality of a utility network in web, desktop, and mobile applications. When you do not need the full capabilities of the utility network, you can configure the active map view to include a subset of layers using definition queries, make a subset of fields visible, and so on. This allows an organization to share the services and maps with users who require limited access to a subset of utility network classes.

When the utility network layer is not present in the active map view, the application conditions and restrictions for sharing are as follows:

• The published feature service will not include the Utility Network or Network Diagram secondary services. Performing trace analysis or working with network diagrams will not be supported.
• The map layers being published can support definition queries and hidden fields set using the Visible layer field property.
• This feature service will behave in the same way as any other feature service. Any edits will still apply utility network behavior behind the service (such as dirty area creation), but dirty areas and errors will not be visible on the map.
• The version management capability is optionally supported.

Publish the utility network as a feature service for offline editing

The utility network data can be taken offline from a web map to view, edit, or perform traces in ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps to support workflows which require access to data when internet connectivity is inconsistent or unavailable through the use of offline map areas created ahead of time or by creating offline map areas on demand. To work with your utility network data offline, you must enable the sync capability on all web layers. To do this, both editing and sync must be enabled on the Configuration tab in the Feature Properties pane in the Share As Web Layer pane. With editing and sync enabled on the feature service, clients can edit a local copy of the data and synchronize when connectivity is available.

Note:

To publish and work with your utility network data offline, the Service territory feature class must be present in the published service.

When publishing a utility network for offline use, choose Create a version for each downloaded map for Version Creation under the Sync drop-down arrow to review edits and synchronize with a replica version.

Learn more about taking a utility network offline

Learn more about working with offline maps and branch versioned data

Workflow examples

To understand the requirements and conditions for working with services and the utility network, consider the following workflow examples based on an electric utility with electric distribution and electric transmission data. The example utility network in these workflows contains two domain networks for electric distribution and electric transmission and a structure network.

GIS editor workflows

A GIS editor working on electric distribution is performing maintenance edits on distribution data. That editor needs to see dirty areas and errors created by edits. The editor will use a feature service created with all the data and the utility network layer. The ArcGIS Pro project created for this user contains only the electric distribution domain network, the structure network, and the utility network layer.

Similarly, a GIS editor working on electric transmission is also performing maintenance edits on transmission data. That editor needs to see dirty areas and errors created by edits. The editor will use a feature service created with all the data and the utility network layer. The ArcGIS Pro project created for this user contains only the electric transmission domain network, the structure network, and the utility network layer.

GIS analyst workflows

A GIS analyst working on electric distribution needs to perform tracing, other analysis, and map production. The analyst uses a feature service created with all the data and the utility network layer. The ArcGIS Pro project for this analyst contains only the electric distribution domain network, the structure network, and the utility network layer.

Similarly, a GIS analyst working on electric transmission also needs to perform tracing, other analysis, and map production. The analyst uses a feature service created with all the data and the utility network layer. The ArcGIS Pro project for this analyst contains only the electric transmission domain network, the structure network, and the utility network layer.

An analyst working on both electric distribution and electric transmission will work with an ArcGIS Pro project containing the electric distribution domain network, the electric transmission domain network, the structure network, and the utility network layer.

In these three GIS analysis workflows, the GIS analyst needs permission to the whole feature service.

Web access and field editor workflows

Casual users may use web maps configured for specific tasks and workflows. These web maps are usually configured from feature services with a reduced set of layers and may include definition queries or a reduced set of visible fields on some layers. When a user only needs to view or query data, the web map can use a feature service without a utility network layer.

Field editors typically use either Esri apps, or apps created by Esri partners using ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps for field operations such as inventory inspection. If a workflow requires tracing or network diagrams, the web map must use a feature service that includes the utility network service and network diagram service. As with general web access workflows, simple field editing workflows may consume a web map that contains a feature service without the utility network layer, as it will not be necessary in this workflow to display dirty areas or errors.