Make Route Analysis Layer generates strange/random FD an FC names

[NevinMcIntyre]

I created a new route analysis layer by using the Make Route Analysis Layer tool today and the feature dataset and feature class names are different than I expected.

They used to be simple names such as: 

Route 1 (as feature dataset name) Barriers, Polygons Barriers, ect.

They now look like this: 

I tried looking up in the patch notes to see if this was addressed in 2.6, I couldn't find anything.

Does anyone know if this is intentional? I would ideally like to change the feature dataset name, however that doesn't seem possible (regardless of the sudden naming convention change).

[MelindaMorang]

This is correct and intentional.  Older versions of Pro used sequential integers, but for a variety of reasons to avoid conflicts, we updated it to use a random string.  You should not rely on the feature dataset and feature class names for anything in your analysis or code you're writing.  That was never the intended use.  If you're having trouble with your code, please add more details to your question, and I can help you out.

[Anonymous User]

I'm in the process of creating routes for our garbage trucks. Is there a reason that the Route Layer feature datasets and subsequent feature classes cannot be renamed? I didn't realize this was an issue until I went ahead and renamed everything, made a few edits, clicked the Run button and ran into a bunch of errors. For now I have been adding all of my routes to a single Route Layer/feature dataset but I think eventually I would like to break them out by weekday. Every now and then I need to look at the features in the gdb and imagine it won't be so easy to identify which is which once they are stored in separate routes. 

[MelindaMorang]

Hello.  As explained above, each network analysis layer produces its own feature dataset and feature classes with a randomly generated unique name.

If you need to figure out which feature dataset or feature class goes with which layer, you can check the Source tab of the layer properties.

In Python, if you need access to the sublayer, you can use arcpy.na.GetNASublayer(), and you can get its catalog path using the .dataSource property of the sublayer object.