Using Field Maps to Inspect Infrastructure Multiple Times?

[dquinn_jia_conservation]

I have an issue that is easier to explain if I use the below hypothetical.

My goal as a supervisor for NoName Power Company is to inspect power lines for maintenance needs. Let's say I have a polyline feature layer for power transmission lines throughout my region. Each line has a unique ID (no idea how this works IRL, but assume that there are multiple lines with unique ID's). I want to send my technicians out armed with Field Maps so they can find each unique line in the layer that hasn't been surveyed yet this quarter, and update it with whether or not it needs maintenance. Easy to do, right? Just create a field that they can edit that states whether or not the line they're looking at needs maintenance. However, I want to keep track of each time a technician surveys each unique line and what they found. That is, I don't want them to simply update a field each time (effectively erasing the previous edit), but to add their inspection to the feature each time.

One option would be to connect the polyline feature to a survey in S123 and use the same unique line ID to collect this data over time (I've done this - each feature has a S123 connected to it). This is a great solution, except for one thing - Field Maps will not show that the line has been surveyed or edited! How are my technicians to know if they or someone else has already completed inspecting the line they're looking at by just looking at the layer in Field Maps? The editdate field does not change just because you filled out a survey in S123, even if it was linked to the feature in Field Maps. That is, my technicians don't know that "Line 323" has already been inspected unless they go into S123 and look it up there and verify the last inspection date.

So, am I missing something? I feel like infrastructure like this needs to be monitored and surveyed all the time, so surely ESRI has a product or workflow that would work here? I just need my technicians to see a power line on a map (i.e., so they can find it), know when the last time it was updated, and then inspect it when needed without losing past inspection data. The only thing I can think to do is have them click the feature (i.e., power line), fill out the S123 survey I've connected it to, and also edit a field in field maps that states when they filled out the survey last (which they would have to do manually). This is not very clean though and requires technicians to remember to fill out the survey in S123 AND edit a field in Field Maps.

Thoughts on any easier way?

[DanGruber · Accepted solution]

Set up a related table to the polyline feature layer - easy to do in Pro - and then upload to AGOL. Use Field Maps Designer to create a form for the related table. Then in the field the techs just click on a powerline and add a record to the related table. IIRC there is a way to change the symbology of the powerline layer based on the related table entry - I seem to recall a YouTube video about that related to inspecting fire hydrants.

[mejohnson22]

I am in the process of working on something similar. We are looking at using our line layer (transmission in your scenario) and then using a related table for inspections all within field maps. This way a user can select the feature and fill out a condition report in one application. Then  configure the pop-up for the feature so it shows all the previous inspections 

• Designing Related Records in ArcGIS Pro for use in ArcGIS Online
• Enhancing Field Workflows with ArcGIS Field Maps using Related Tables - GEO Jobe (geo-jobe.com)

With how you are currently set up, you could configure the pop-up in field maps to display the last survey date from your survey123 layer using Arcade. Access attributes from another layer with ArcGIS Arcade | Documentation

[PaulLohr]

If you don't have a data model figured out, I'd get that worked out first.

We have been doing this for about 5 years using ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Online. We are having to use Collector on Android since Field Maps and Collector on iOS do not fully support relationships.

DanGruber's idea is helpful in that a related table is a good way to handle your inspections. I use 1:M relationships for this kind of thing.

A field named something like Date Last Inspected is key to a lot of this. You can probably see why.

You may want to symbolize power lines using Date Last Inspected (and maybe another attribute). We have to put this field in both the parent feature class and child table since messaging isn't built into ArcGIS Server or Desktop. The root cause for having to add this duplicate field is mentioned later. We would like the Date Last Inspected value entered into the child table to set the Date Last Inspected in the parent feature class but that's not easily accomplished. So the same information is being stored in two places (not a good practice). You might use Editor Tracking to set the Date Last Inspected value in the child table so it is only being set once by the end user but it still will be stored twice (although the values won't be identical). This is necessary since ESRI software in general cannot symbolize through 1:M relationships. The root cause for this shortcut: we want to symbolize using Date Last Inspected from the child table, but the software won't do that. So we have to put that field in the parent feature class.

In our environment, the software is barely capable of handling this type of thing.

mejohnson22 had a good idea: Can you symbolize your power lines using Arcade to query for related inspection records created within the last 30 days or so? That could be a big help. I would thoroughly test that if it does work.