Save parameters for "Ready to Run" Generate Service Areas

[JayJohnsonWashoeCounty]

The "Ready to Run" tool "Generate Service Areas" should have the option to save your parameters so that we can easily re-run the tool with different input points, but the same parameters.

[MelindaMorang]

The Network Analyst Ready-to-Use Services tools will be deprecated in ArcGIS Pro 3.0, so we will not make any further enhancements to them.

However, in general, you can re-open any geoprocessing tool from the History pane, and it will automatically populate with the settings you used in that prior tool run. I think that will work for your needs.

[MelindaMorang]

Sorry, should have marked this as "Already Offered".

[WashoeCounty]

I suppose "Already Offered" is true as far as it goes.  But if you run several different analyses using different assumptions, it can become difficult to tell which "history" result is which representing which settings.  I'll give in on this idea, not that big a deal.

More concerning @MelindaMorang  is the statement that the whole set of Network Analyst Ready-to-Use Services tools will be deprecated in ArcGIS Pro 3.0.  Is there a blog or something explaining why this is happening and what our future alternatives are?  These are my go-to tools for drive time analysis...

[MelindaMorang]

Okay, I understand your point about it being difficult to tell which tool history item is which. If you have an idea about how this could be made less confusing, I suggest you post a fresh Idea, but frame it as a generic Geoprocessing request. It would have to be addressed at that broader level, rather than anything specific to a given tool. (In other words, this Idea got my attention because the request is specific to a tool I own, but ultimately a different team would have to evaluate and address it at a level that affects all tools.)

Regarding the Network Analyst Ready-to-Use tool deprecation: Yes, once Pro 3.0 is released, there will be some documentation and further information about this. Essentially, these tools were ported over from ArcMap at the very beginning of ArcGIS Pro, but they represent an older way of interacting with the ArcGIS Online Services that we no longer wish to support.  You may notice, for instance, that the tools have a million input parameters, and some of these, like restrictions and impedance attribute, are wrapped up in the concept of travel modes, which were invented later. Users also frequently experience confusion over the fact that these tools always hit the ArcGIS Online services even if the user's active portal is set to an Enterprise portal, and they accidentally burn credits.

Long story short, these tools are no longer the way we want users to interact with services. The preferred method is to do your network analysis workflows the same as you do with local data: Create a network analysis layer (referencing the service), Add Locations, and Solve, all using a standard network analysis layer in the map. These layer-based workflows work seamlessly with services, and we hope they are easy to use. If you're not familiar with this procedure, please check out this tutorial, which will run just the same with either the tutorial network dataset or a service.

As far as comparing one analysis with another, Pro 3.0 will also include a new tool for copying a network analysis layer, which will make it easier for you to set up a layer with the settings you want, duplicate it, and then add different data to each one. You can run both analyses and compare the results.

[WashoeCounty]

Great explanation - thanks for taking time to lay this out.  Makes total sense.