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.

Publish a utility network layer

There are conditions and restrictions for sharing utility network and related feature classes as web layers. Analyzer errors are returned when these rules are broken, to prevent publishing. 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.

When the utility network layer is present in the active map view, the applicable conditions and restrictions for sharing are as follows:

  • Map 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 work with a utility network in an enterprise geodatabase.
  • Definition queries and hidden fields set using the Visible field property are not supported—analyzer errors will be returned if these exist.
  • The map must contain all of the layers that participate in the utility network if the intent is to consume in ArcGIS Pro.
    • An analyzer warning will be returned if a subset of utility network layers is provided. This is displayed to warn about issues that will arise when consuming services in ArcGIS Pro that were published with a subset of utility network layers.
  • Web layers must reference data from registered data sources; in the Share As Web Layer pane, on the General tab and under Data and Layer Type, ensure that Map Image is selected under Reference registered data.
  • Include Feature to have access to the utility network layer, the ability to make edits on the default branch version, or the ability to enable the version management capability.
  • Optionally, 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.
  • All network layers must be registered as branch versioned.
    • Version Management is an optional supported capability. Review Share branch versioned data to understand the conditions enforced by analyzers for branch versioned datasets.

Publish utility network feature classes without a utility network layer

When sharing network feature classes without the utility network layer, the restrictions are lessened. In this case, 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 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 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.

Workflow examples

To understand these 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 mobile apps or runtime apps created by Esri partners to perform limited edits for processes such as inventory inspection. If a workflow requires tracing or network diagrams, the web map will need to 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.

Some workflows may also require access to data when internet connectivity is inconsistent or unavailable. When the utility network layer itself is not needed, utility network data can be taken offline for viewing or editing using a web map. Taking web maps offline allows you to view, collect, and update features when you are disconnected from the internet. To work with your utility network data offline, you must first enable the sync capability on all web layers used in your map's feature services by checking the Enable Sync check box on the Configuration tab of the Share As Web Layer pane. The sync capability has operations that allow clients to work with a local copy of the data. When editing is enabled on the feature service, clients can edit the local copy of the data and synchronize when connectivity is available.

Learn more about working with offline maps and branch versioned data