Pro SDK (.NET) console app + Utility Network: can’t see/edit branch versions (only DEFAULT returned)

OscarYam — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 03:32:16 GMT

Hi all,

I’ve been asked to build a .NET console application using the ArcGIS Pro SDK to edit features in a Utility Network. Since UN uses branch versioning, I shouldn’t edit DEFAULT directly—I need to connect to and edit a named branch version.

Environment

ArcGIS Pro: 3.1.4
.NET: 6.0
Database: SQL Server
Connection: Enterprise Geodatabase direct connect

What I tried (Enterprise Geodatabase connection)

I create a Geodatabase using DatabaseConnectionProperties and specify a version name in the connection properties. I tried different version name formats such as:

versionName
user@domain.versionName (and similar fully-qualified formats)

But when I do that, the constructor throws:

Exception: “The specified version does not exist.”

The version definitely exists (it’s created in Pro before I run the test).

What I observed

If I create the Geodatabase without specifying a version and then call:

Geodatabase.GetVersions()

…it returns only one version: DEFAULT. No child versions show up under DEFAULT either.

I also checked whether the geodatabase supports versioning and what versioning type it is. It reports:

Supports versioning: Yes
Versioning type: Traditional

Attempted alternative (service-based)

Since branch versions are tied to services, I tried using a service geodatabase approach, but in my console project Visual Studio shows:

Compile error: ‘ServiceGeodatabase’ is inaccessible due to its protection level

So I can’t even instantiate/use ServiceGeodatabase from my code.

Questions

Is this likely a database/enterprise geodatabase configuration issue (or expected behavior when using direct connect with branch versioning)?
Is there a supported alternative to connect/edit a specific branch version besides direct connect + version in DatabaseConnectionProperties?
For testing with ServiceGeodatabase: is there any way to resolve the compile error, or is this class intentionally not public? If it’s not meant to be used, what is the correct public API to use instead?

Re: Pro SDK (.NET) console app + Utility Network: can’t see/edit branch versions (only DEFAULT returned)

RichRuh — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:16:00 GMT

Branch versioning only works through a feature service connection.

Instructions for creating a connection to a feature service geodatabase can be found here: https://github.com/Esri/arcgis-pro-sdk/wiki/ProConcepts-Geodatabase#geodatabase