Feature class names in Utility Network

[OliviaGill3]

Is it possible to change the specific Utility Network feature classes to something else ie. 

WaterJunction > WJunc

I am not sure how strict the naming convention is. Any info is appreciated.

Olivia

[LizAbbey]

Hi Olivia,

The feature class names in your UN are based on the name of your domain network. From the "Add Domain Network" Tool Help: "The domain network name will prefix the feature class names that are created. For example, a domain named ElectricDistribution would include a feature class named Electric distributionJunction." Add Domain Network (Utility Network)—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

It appears that "Line", "Junction", "Boundary", "Device", "Assembly", etc are all baked into the UN schema when you do the initial staging. You could potentially add your domain and name it "W" (Add Domain Network (Utility Network)—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation) and get as short as "WJunction" without any issues, but I would hesitate to manually change the base name from "Junction" to "Junc".

If your UN is based on the foundation model and you don't want to rebuild your domain network from scratch for the sake of a few letters, you could methodically go through the Asset Package tables and change every feature class name reference. And then I would want to test this on a subset and run some analyses to make sure you've identified all the locations where the feature class names are part of the configurations. 

The above all sounds like a lot of work to me and lots of rework when a new foundation package is released, so I don't actually recommend this as a solution. Some clever reader might have an elegant solution to do this in an automated way, in which case updating to future asset packages is not an issue.

A workaround could be to change the feature class aliases in your UN so that the shortened name is all you see in your maps (https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geodatabases/overview/defining-feature-class-prop...).

Cheers

Liz

[Isaac_King]

I would definitely advise against changing the names of the feature classes directly. There will certainly be a number of downstream impacts that will quickly offset the potential "simplification."

However, there is a tool that can accomplish the same thing from a user perspective. Use the Create Asset Package Rename Table GP tool from the Utility Network Asset Package toolbox. You'll need to add a new field and alias - I would suggest something like "<your company name> alias."

This will output a D_Rename table into your asset packge. Do a select-by on PropertyType field to include values equal to Table Alias. In the Heirarchy1 column, find the name of the feature class you'd like to modify and input your new desired alias into the new field you created in the previous step. The next time you Apply Asset Package you'll see a new dropdown field called "Rename Using." Specify your new field as the input - and your resultant Utility Network will now have your very own Feature Class names.