Add new field to utility network

[mshanaghan]

Is it best practice to disable network topology before adding a new field to a class in the utility network?

If so, do you disable network topology against the feature service or the un owner database connection?

I do not want to add a network attribute, just a regular text field.

[gis_KIWI4]

@mshanaghan - I don't believe you need to disable topology when it comes to adding a field. (if you want to set it as a network attribute then you may need to turn off the topology)
You can use GUI in the table view or the Add Fields geoprocessing tool.
https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/3.3/help/data/utility-network/tools-used-to-configure-a-utility-ne...

You will need to stop the services so there are no locks on the schema.
Also you will need to add the field when connected in direct database connection.

Just a note - Disable Network Topology is supported against the service and direct database connection. I am not aware of any difference in functionality. 

[EstherSmith_Dev]

You do not need to disable network topology to add a new field. Just stop the UNM service(s), add new field with attribute domain if necessary and start the UNM service(s). You may need minor additional steps e.g. reconfigure pop-ups, adjust feature creation templates etc.  

[RobertKrisher · Accepted solution]

I can confirm that you do not need to disable the network topology to add a field. You only need to disable the network topology to make a schema change when that schema change affects the utility network.

You can read the Utility Network Management tasks page in the online help for a complete list of what tasks require you to disable the network topology, and which tasks can't be undone.

[mshanaghan]

Thank you Robert!

[LexAdove]

Is there a way to disable network topology ( in ArcPro) before editing a vertex of a feature, specifically a communications line? 

[RobertKrisher]

You can disable snapping or use the disconnect tool to temporarily suspend the snapping/rubber banding behavior while editing in Pro.

Disabling the network topology requires dropping and rebuilding the topology for the entire network, which requires stopping services, so it's not feasible to do that for a single edit.

[LexAdove]

Nope, that does not work. The longest I waited for the editing tool to finish initializing was an hour, and it was still going, so I had to end the task 😞 . This only happens to new machines (new laptop and newly installed Windows) that had a fresh install of ArcPro 3+: (all Windows and drivers are up to date. The specs are all beyond ArcPro requirements, including the dedicated GPU. )

This same error (same feature service, even same GUID) does not seem to have the same issue on those old computers that had ArcPro 2.5 installed and then later upgraded to different versions (Arc 2.9 - where the rubberbanding addon (created by ESRI) was installed and used ) and then Arc 3+.  

This is the edit tool on those new (machines + Windows) 

vs the editing tool on old machines that started with ArcPro 2.5 then upgraded to several versions before upgrading to ArcPro 3+. 

I have logged a ticket to ESRI, and it seems it is just being dragged for too long. 

1. No issues on the network

2. Same Windows version

3. Same ArcPro version

4. Asked other users to log in on my machine and do the same thing.

5. New laptop = better specs

6. Tried various installation method of ArcPro using highest privi

7. Tried installing old ArcPro version but since Enterprise was upgraded, I was not able to use the rubberbanding addon to remove the 2 icons (stretch topology and disconnect).