ArcGIS Pro 2.5 is now available! With this release comes updates to improve both the performance and user experience when working with the ArcGIS Utility Network.   

The ArcGIS Utility Network is now supported on the file geodatabase

One of the items we are most excited about with this release is that the full analytic capability of the utility network is now offered in a file geodatabase.   That’s right, you can now build and work with the utility network in a file geodatabase.  With this release, the latest Utility Network Package Tools can also be used to load your asset packages into a file geodatabase.  This is not a trimmed down version of the utility network but a full implementation.  This is important because this now provides utilities and municipalities with a single-user environment to enable more efficient planning, prototyping, and testing with their network design.

It goes without saying that you should prototype everything: your maps, schema, rules, and functionality, etc.; however, prior to the 2.5 release, prototyping your schema and network rules required a multistep process to configure and publish changes.  This had to be repeated with each change that was made.  Using the file geodatabase, we have placed the capability to test and adjust rules, edit schema, and work through these changes all within ArcGIS Pro.  This allows you to more easily arrive at that happy place with the model you’ve created.

New Utility Network Association API for Arcade

We’ve developed the new utility specific `FeatureSetByAssociation` Arcade API to improve your experience when working with associations in the 2.5 release.

Here is the signature:

featureSetByAssociation(feature,
associationType,
terminalName? string = “” (null can be used)) -> FeatureSet

Learn more about using FeatureSetByAssociation to work with associations in the utility network

Extent-based clipping of dirty areas

Changes have been made to how we handle validation of the network topology to improve performance during editing workflows.  When validating a network topology, dirty areas are clipped based on the extent used during validation. This is important because it allows you to edit without having to interact with work not relevant to the task at hand.

Prior to this change, validation of an extent may have also attempted validation of a dirty area covering a larger extent, leading to longer validation times. This change ensures that only features within the specified extent are validated.

Check out the following video that helps explain changes at ArcGIS Pro 2.5 to the Validate Network Topology operation:

Learn more about dirty area management with the utility network in ArcGIS Pro 2.5

We hope that these new features and capabilities help you to get started, or become more efficient interacting with the ArcGIS Utility Network.  Join us in the Utility Network GeoNet community and let us know what you think!