Set a subnetwork controller

A subnetwork controller defines the origin of a subnetwork. The type of subnetwork controller defines how a resource flows through a network. Subnetwork controllers are set on the terminal of a device or junction object to represent the origin of a subnetwork.

To set a terminal as a subnetwork controller, properties and conditions must be met. To learn more, see Subnetwork controllers.

You can use the Modify Subnetwork Controller pane or Python to set terminals as subnetwork controllers. The type of terminal is determined by the tier specified in the pane.

Dive-in:

For partitioned domain networks, the terminals drop-down menu in the Modify Subnetwork Controllers pane is filtered when setting a subnetwork controller based on the subnetwork controller type as follows:

• Source-based domain networks— Only downstream terminals are listed in the terminals drop-down menu for features with a directional terminal configuration.
• Sink-based domain networks— Only upstream terminals are listed in the terminals drop-down menu for features with a directional terminal configuration.

Requirements

The following requirements must be met to set a subnetwork controller:

• The selected feature or object has an available terminal with the correct terminal configuration assigned: directional for partitioned tiers, and either directional or bidirectional for hierarchical tiers.
• The feature or object (with the terminal of interest) has an asset type that has been assigned the Subnetwork Controller network category.
• The asset type for the feature or object is set as Valid Subnetwork Controller in the subnetwork definition.
• The Subnetwork Name parameter must be unique in the utility network.
• The Subnetwork Controller Name parameter must be unique in the tier.
• If a subnetwork controller is set for a subnetwork with other subnetwork controllers present, the Subnetwork Name specified for the new subnetwork controller must match the name of the subnetwork on the existing controller or controllers.

Configuration steps

Before you can set a device or junction object as a subnetwork controller, you must configure the asset group and asset type it belongs to. Review the following steps, which include the operations to configure an asset group and asset type to support subnetwork controllers:

1. Create and assign a terminal configuration to the asset group and asset type that will be set as a subnetwork controller.
   In a domain network with a partitioned tier definition, the terminal configuration must be a directional terminal configuration with a minimum of one upstream and one downstream terminal.

   • Create a terminal configuration
   • Set a terminal configuration

2. Set the subnetwork definition for the tier to include the asset group and asset type as Valid Subnetwork Controller.
3. Set the Subnetwork Controller network category for the asset group and asset type.

After the configuration steps are completed, you can set a feature or object as a subnetwork controller using the Modify Controller pane.

Set a feature as a subnetwork controller

To set a device or junction object's terminal as a subnetwork controller, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Utility Network tab.
2. In the Subnetwork group, click Modify Controller .
3. In the Modify Subnetwork Controller pane, choose one of the following to add a selected feature to the pane:
   • Click the Select feature tool and select a feature on the map from the device feature class.
   • Click the Add selected tool to add a selected row from the junction object or device attribute table.

   The Modify Subnetwork Controller pane is populated with the selected feature or object.

4. In the pane, click the Terminal drop-down arrow to select the terminal to be set as the subnetwork controller.
5. For the Tier parameter, click the drop-down arrow to choose the tier for the subnetwork controller.

   The tiers listed are those that allow the asset type of the feature or object selected in step 3 to be a subnetwork controller. To learn more, see Architecture.

6. For the Subnetwork Controller Name and Subnetwork Name parameters, specify a name for the controller and subnetwork.

   The subnetwork controller name must be unique for the tier and the subnetwork name must be unique for the utility network. The names may not exceed 64 characters, and may not start or end with a colon (:). The following special characters are invalid:

   • Grave accent (`)
   • Tilde (~)
   • At sign (@)
   • Dollar sign ($)
   • Percent sign (%)
   • Caret (^)
   • Asterisk (*)
   • Plus sign (+)
   • Equal sign (=)
   • Vertical bar (|)
   • Backslash (\)
   • Open-angle bracket (<)
   • Close-angle bracket (>)
   • Question mark (?)
   • Open brace ({)
   • Close brace (})
   • Period (.)
   • Exclamation point (!)
   • Single quotation mark (')
   • Open bracket ([)
   • Close bracket (])
   • Semicolon (;)
   • Carriage return (\r)
   • New line (\n)
   • Double colon (::)

7. Optionally, for the Description parameter, enter a description for the subnetwork controller.
8. Optionally, for the Notes parameter, enter any notes for the subnetwork controller.
9. Click Apply.

The feature or object now has its terminal set as a subnetwork network controller. Validate the network topology so that analytic operations will treat this terminal as a subnetwork controller. Run the Update Subnetwork tool to update the subnetwork name for features in that subnetwork.

Use Python scripting to remove the subnetwork controller assignment

Editors can use Python scripting to perform edit operations which include setting terminals on a device or junction object as a subnetwork controller. To do this, you must first import arcpy and start an edit operation to run the EnableSubnetworkController function.