Monotonicity

Available with ArcGIS Pro Standard and Data Reviewer licenses.

Summary

The Monotonicity check finds polyline features that contain monotonic errors in either elevation or measurement values (z-values or m-values).

Supported workflows

ArcGIS Data Reviewer checks support multiple methods for implementing automated review of data. The following table identifies the supported implementation methods for this check:

ValidationConstraint

Reviewer batch job

Attribute (validation) rule

Yes

(ArcGIS Pro 2.4 or later)

Yes

Yes

(ArcGIS Pro 2.5 and ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8 or later)

Note:

Map-based Reviewer rules are deprecated and are no longer available for use. It is recommended that you migrate automated review workflows to Data Reviewer capabilities available in attribute rules. Opening or saving a map document (.aprx) at ArcGIS Pro 3.0 or later removes all the existing map rules from the document.

Overview

The Monotonicity check identifies features that contain z-values or m-values that are not strictly increasing or decreasing in value. Features that contain nonmonotonic values can impact the results of your analysis and models.

Features can also be evaluated to decide whether they are trending in a specific manner. Features that contain node values that do not trend as expected can impact the results of your analysis.

Features that are multipart and have equal m-values at consecutive parts are considered monotonic and ignored by the check. However, the calibration methods set for linear referencing system (LRS) routes affects whether the route feature is monotonic or non-monotonic.

When configured as a constraint rule, an error notification is returned when a feature is created or modified based on the conditions defined in the parameters of the rule.

When configured as a validation rule, an error is created during validation when a feature contains either a vertex that is nonmonotonic or meets other conditions specified in the rule. In m-value validations, vertices that don't contain measure values (NaN) are also returned as errors.

Industry scenarios

  • In water resource management, elevation values stored in streamline features are used to add detail to digital elevation models (hydro DEM conditioning) to enforce known drainage patterns.
  • In roadway management, roadway routes that have two or more consecutive vertices with the same measurement can adversely affect length calculations, for example, United States Department of Transportation mileage reports.

Examples

Non-monotonic—The following image illustrates two line features with z-values and m-values that are not strictly increasing or decreasing in value:

Monotonicity z-values and m-values

The following diagram illustrates a gapped route. This route is monotonic when the gap calibration method is Step=0 or Add=0. This same route is non-monotonic when the gap calibration method is Euclidean or when Step>0 or Add>0.

A gapped LRS route

Syntax

ParameterRequiredDescriptionWorkflows

Subtype

No

The subtype to which the rule is applied.

Constraint

Validation

Attribute

No

A query that identifies the features to which the rule is applied.

Validation

Evaluate

Yes

The property to be evaluated.

Choose either z-values or m-values for evaluation.

Constraint

Validation

Search Goal

Yes

Error conditions evaluated by the rule. Any feature whose values match those defined in the rule is returned as an error.

  • Non-Monotonic Features—Feature vertices are returned when vertices are not strictly increasing or decreasing in value.
  • Level Values (From = To)—Features are returned when the From node is equal to the To node.
  • Decreasing Values (From > To)—Features are returned when the From node is greater than the To node.
  • Increasing Values (From < To)—Features are returned when the From node is less than the To node.
  • Ignore duplicate measures between parts—Multipart features with duplicate measure values that exist between consecutive parts are ignored.

Constraint

Note:

The Ignore duplicate measures between parts parameter is not available with constraint attribute rule workflows.

Validation

Triggers

Yes

The editing events that trigger the rule to take effect.

  • Insert—Triggers the rule when a new feature is added.
  • Update—Triggers the rule when a feature is updated.
  • Delete—Triggers the rule when a feature is deleted.

Constraint

Name

Yes

A unique name for the rule.

This information is used to support data quality requirement traceability, automated reporting, and corrective workflows.

Constraint

Validation

Description

No

A description of the error you define when a noncompliant feature is found.

This information is used to provide guidance to facilitate corrective workflows.

Constraint

Validation

Severity

No

The severity of the error assigned when a noncompliant feature is found.

This value indicates the importance of the Reviewer result relative to other results. Values range from 1 to 5, with 1 being the highest priority and 5 being the lowest.

Validation

Tags

No

Tag property of the Reviewer rule.

This information is used in rule authoring and management workflows to support traceability and reporting of data quality requirements.

Constraint

Validation

Notes

  • Polyline features must be either z-enabled or m-enabled to be used in this check.
  • Differences in z-values or m-values between adjacent vertices that are within the respective tolerance are not compared when evaluated for monotonicity.
  • Polyline features must have a defined vertical coordinate system to be used in this check for evaluating z-values.
  • A feature’s From node and To node values are used to decide whether z-values or m-values should be strictly increasing or decreasing when evaluated for monotonicity.
  • Multipart features are evaluated in part order (Part 0, Part 1, and so on) when evaluated for monotonicity.
  • When this check is authored as an attribute (validation) rule and multiple error conditions are detected on a feature (for example, non-monotonic and increasing), a single error feature is created. When this check is contained in a Reviewer batch job, an error result is created for each condition.
  • The Attribute filter parameter is limited to comparison (=, <>, >, <, >=, <=) and logical (AND/OR, IN/NOT IN, LIKE/NOT LIKE, IS NULL) operators.
  • The Ignore duplicate measures between parts check box is optional and only enabled if the Evaluate option for m-values is checked. This option is not available for z-values.
  • The Attribute filter parameter does not support the following field types: Big Integer, Date Only, Time Only, and Timestamp Offset. If selected, the row header will turn red and will not allow the rule to save.

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