Can someone describe for me a use case for Network Topology?

JustinJohnston

I am trying to understand the purpose of Network Topology better.  Can someone provide me with a use case scenario and how validation works?  I am being asked to "validate topology" for a project that involves georeferencing some rasters and digitizing some polygons by tracing from the georeferenced rasters.  I really don't understand the purpose and need, much less how to do this validation of topology.  

Cheers,

Justin

Erika_ess

I found 4 articles that may be helpful. 

1. About Network Topology 
2. Network Restrictions and Rules 
3. Set Edge Connectivity for Line Features 
4. Feature Restrictions 

Topology allows you to preserve your data's spatial relationships and identify errors in the data. It doesn't fix the errors, it just identifies them so that you can edit however you need to. You can set rules for your data i.e. how features interact, if they can overlap, where/how they connect. After you create your topology rules, you then validate your topology which will examine your data and let you know if any of it goes against the topology rules. Those "errors" will be easier to manage through this process.