Using the Utility Network Analyst toolbar

The Utility Network Analyst toolbar is divided into two sections. The left side of the toolbar lets you choose a network with which to work and set and display its flow direction. The right side of the toolbar lets you set up and perform trace operations on the current network.

To add the toolbar to ArcMap, click Customize > Toolbars > Utility Network Analyst. Dock the toolbar to the ArcMap window.

Now, each time you start ArcMap, the toolbar will be displayed.

Network drop-down list

The Network drop-down list contains all the geometric networks that are currently loaded in ArcMap. To work with a network in ArcMap—for example, set the flow direction or perform a trace operation—when you have more than one network loaded, you must choose the network you want to work with from the list.

Flow menu

The Flow menu contains items for displaying the flow direction of the features in the network. Clicking the Flow menu reveals three items: Display Arrows, Display Arrows For, and Properties. These commands allow you to see the flow direction of each edge.

Clicking Display Arrows For produces a list of the edge feature classes in your network. By checking items in this list, you can specify for which layers to display flow direction. The Display Arrows command is a toggle button that turns on or off the display of flow direction arrows for your network. Clicking the Properties command opens the Flow Display Properties dialog box. The Arrow Symbol tab lets you specify the symbol, size, and color of the arrows used to indicate flow direction. The Scale tab lets you specify the scale range in which the arrows are displayed.

Learn more about flow direction

Set Flow Direction button

The Set Flow Direction button establishes flow direction in the network. This button is enabled when your network contains feature classes that you designated as containing persistent sources and sinks.

Analysis menu

The Analysis menu contains commands for setting up your network to perform trace operations. Clicking the Analysis menu reveals five commands: Disable Layers, Clear Flags, Clear Results, Clear Barriers, and Options.

Clicking Disable Layers displays a list of feature classes contained in the geometric network. By checking feature classes in this list, you can disable feature classes in trace operations, making trace operations treat all the features in those feature classes as unavailable. The Clear Flags and Clear Barriers menu items remove flags and barriers, respectively, from the network. Clicking Clear Results clears the results of the previous trace operation.

Clicking Options opens the Analysis Options dialog box, allowing you to specify options for subsequent trace operations.

The General tab of the Analysis Options dialog box lets you specify on which features trace tasks are performed. You can perform trace tasks on all the features in the network, only the selected features, or only the unselected features. You can specify whether trace tasks that consider flow direction include edges with indeterminate or unspecified flow direction. You can also use this tab to specify the snapping tolerance for placing flags and barriers on the map.

The Weights tab lets you specify which network weights are used when tracing. For example, the Find Path trace task uses weights to determine the cost of including a network feature in the result of the trace task.

The Weight Filter tab lets you specify which network features can be traced based on weights assigned to the network features. For both edges and junctions, you can specify valid ranges of weights for features that may be traced.

With the Results tab, you can determine in which format you want to receive the results of trace operations. Results can be given as drawings overlaid on the map or as a set of selected features. If you choose to draw the results, you can render only the parts of complex edges that are actually traced rather than the entire complex feature. You can also specify whether the results will include features that are traced during the operation or features stopping the trace. Finally, you can specify whether the results include both edge and junction features.

Trace Task drop-down list

The Trace Task drop-down list contains a list of all of the trace operations that you can perform using the Utility Network Analyst toolbar. ArcGIS comes with nine built-in trace operations.

Solve button

While the Trace Task drop-down list is used to select the trace task, the Solve button is used to perform the trace operation once you have finished configuring your trace operation using the toolbar. The Solve button performs the trace operation that you selected in the Trace Task drop-down list by using the parameters that you specified on the Analysis Options dialog box and the placement of flags and barriers on the network.

Related Topics

6/4/2014