Trace Network User Type Extension for Branch Editing?

Brownschuh · ‎03-14-2024

Our organization is experimenting with migrating from a geometric network to a trace network. We have a dedicated development environment set up, which includes enterprise at the 10.9.1 level. Currently we have an SDE database with a full-blown trace network to play with; branch versioning is set up and a feature service is deployed for editing. The hang up we are encountering is licensing; if we try to edit we encounter the following error.

Now it's our understanding that a user type extension must be assigned for branch editing a trace network in an enterprise deployment. However, we don't understand how to obtain this license and how to deploy/assign? A search online came up dry as well as a search within the MyEsri site. Is this something we have to directly reach out to one of our ESRI representatives about? And if so, is there a cost associated with it?

I know this is baked in with ArcGIS Advanced Editing at the 11.1 level, but we are at the 10.9.1 for the moment.

VanessaSimps · ‎03-15-2024

I know I had to have the license assigned to me in order to use it.

also remember that you have to pull the service in to edit, not the feature class from the data base connection. I am currently trying to unlearn alllll the things that I have been doing for the past 20 years so I can wrap my head around all of this!

Brownschuh · ‎03-19-2024

Yup, I know you need the service in order to edit. We are simply missing the licenses. How was it assigned to you? Was it done by your organization? Or were you able to reach out to ESRI to get that license?

I can't find much information online, MyESRI isn't showing anything promising, and I'm waiting to hear back from our rep. Really puts a massive halt on our testing project.

Brownschuh · ‎03-25-2024

Ok, found some more information. For us to explore the Trace Network in an enterprise geodatabase with versioning we would need at least one GIS Professional Advanced user type. This allows you to use Trace Network, plus Utility Network and Parcel Fabric. Apparently, this was introduced at version 11.2 and you have to purchase these individually or they are included if you already have the GIS Professional Standard or Advanced user types. So it looks like we would need to purchase some additional licenses for us to test the Trace Network (which honestly was just going to be a band aid test environment for our end users to move off of Geometric Network and explore branch versioned editing in ArcGIS Pro). Personally, I think this is a bit confusing for the end user and it makes testing extremely difficult when you have to make a purchase before even getting a chance to test something out.

VanessaSimps · ‎03-25-2024

Have you talked to your Esri Rep? in the past, I was able to get a trial of licensing for other extensions ect. to see if what we were testing out was going to work for us. Not sure if they still do that sort of thing, but if you don't ask, you'll never know!

I will say that we are doing the testing with Trace Network for our sewer/storm networks and so far, I am happy with what I am seeing. UN seemed like over kill for us at this point in time. My only concern is that the out of the box trace widgets in ExB aren't going to be available to us, so that might be an issue for those end users who have gotten used to doing traces in the web apps.

Good luck!

Brownschuh · ‎03-27-2024

We have spoken with our Esri rep but because we are a utility they are suggesting we go to the Utility Network. Honestly this is a bit of a bummer because we are currently on the Geometric Network so we are stuck on ArcMap. We have plans to upgrade to the Utility Network but as everyone knows that's a gigantic task. In the meantime we'd love to give our end users experience with editing using ArcGIS Pro and using branch versioning instead of traditional. Those two things alone are going to be a culture shock to many of our editors, let alone moving to the UN. So we are trying to make the transition smoother.

VanessaSimps · ‎03-28-2024

We are also a utility- sewer/storm, but have decided that the TN will work for us for now. Trust me, I feel you on all of this migration business, it's a lot.

We might in the future, move to UN, but because of the major shifts in schema and the general complicatedness of UN, we are giving TN a go. So far, it seems to provide what we want/need. I am still in early stages of migration to TN. I like that I didn't have to change up my entire schema, and could for the most part, easily convert the data from GN to TN. I would be happy to chat about what we are doing and the workflow we are using with you if you want? We still had to have the licensing for TN, so there is that. This is giving us the option however to get out of ArcMap and over to ArcPro.

The one thing that we have found that is a little irritating is that the up/down Trace widget that is in ExB will not work with TN. It is UN specific (I haven't tried to use it yet, but have talked to the ExB team and this is what they are telling me). This could be an issue for end users as they have gotten used to being able to run traces for themselves within our WAB Dev Apps.

Feel free to drop me a message if you want to discuss more about what we are doing.

Vanessa-

MikeRatcliffe · ‎10-02-2024

VanessaSimps,

I'm very interested in how TN is going for you as a semi-permanent solution to GN. We are in the same boat. Our 25+ years of customized schema does not transition well under UN. Would be interested in where you are in this process, especially how TN affects EDITING workflow. We could even share experiences outside of this forum in MS Teams, if you had the time or interest. -Thanks mratcliffe (Water Works, Montgomery AL.)

VanessaSimps · ‎10-03-2024

Hi Mike-

We are in our testing phase right now and it's going well. I have a good feeling that this will move us off of ArcMap and into Pro until we can fully get ourselves together to move into the UN in the next couple of years. It is not a perfect solution, but it is a stopgap.

Biggest shift is remembering that editing is now done via services and branch versioning. that is a bit of a mind melt for both me as the administrator and for our editors who are so used to direct connecting to the database. But now that I have it set up in our testing environment, I am hopeful to have us moving forward in the next 6 months in production.

One thing to be aware of, TN cannot be used in a web map/app, the layers can be used in web maps/apps, but the trace network itself can not be. This can only be utilized within ArcPro. Any up/down tracing can only be done in ArcPro and not within a web application. Be aware of this as it has thrown my Project Managers for a loop when I gave them this news...

I would be happy to discuss further with you if you have questions on what we are doing or if you would like to see steps I have documented for our testing environment.

Vanessa-

NathanGEOregon · ‎11-12-2024

We are in the exact same boat. Eventual goal is to migrate our Water/Sewer/Stormwater utility GIS data to the Utility Network, but competing projects and resources likely won't see that come to fruition for the next year or so.

We are actively planning to migrate to the Trace Network as a stopgap and to retire ArcMap, move our utility editing to Pro, and get comfortable with Branch Versioning, Attribute Rules, etc.

We are currently going through an ArcGIS infrastructure upgrade (moving from Enterprise 10.9.1 to 11.3, from Pro 2.9.x to 3.3, upgrading our geodatabase version, upgrading our CCTV software to support Enterprise 11.3 and Trace Network version 4, and hopefully implementing Trace Network, all concurrently).

We're building out our test environment now, and hope to move to production by the end of January. If the anything slips, we could always delay the Trace Network part of the project for a few months.

@VanessaSimps I'm interested to hear how testing has been going, it sounds like overall it's been positive. Any lessons learned or specifics that you wish you would have known going in?