Latest Contributions by TomDeWitte

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte We were struck recently in reading NACE International’s estimate of the money spent each year on corrosion-related costs for monitoring, replacing, and maintaining U.S. metallic pipe networks. The estimated annual tab is $7 billion for gathering and transmission pipelines and another $5 billion for gas distribution pipelines. That’s $12 billion each year!   Metallic pipe has been around for a long time. It has been used by the gas utility and pipeline industries since the 1800s when cast iron pipe first replaced wooden pipe. Advances in metallurgy through the years have steadily resulted in different types and better quality of metal for pipe networks. Today there is a lot of metallic pipe of one kind or the other in the ground. In fact, even after much cast iron and other metallic distribution pipe have been replaced by plastic pipe, there remains today several hundred thousand miles of in-service metallic pipe in America’s gas and hazardous liquids transmission and distribution networks. Much of it is old, and all of it is subject to corrosion.   Most people understand that if you put iron or steel in contact with moisture and oxygen, the metal will begin to rust or corrode. What most people do not understand is that this basic electro-chemical process can be slowed or even halted.   Gas utilities and pipelines understand that, though. That’s why today they dedicate considerable human and financial resources to the cause of cathodic protection. They do it because they are committed to safe operations, and they do it for regulatory compliance as cathodic protection has been required for much of America’s pipe networks since 1971. This is the first blog of a series that explores how ArcGIS provides capabilities for the management of cathodic protection networks.   Protecting the Pipe from Corrosion There are several methods to protect metallic pipe buried in the ground. One method is to apply a coating to the pipe to form a barrier between the metal pipe and the corrosion-causing mixture of water and air. Coated Metallic Pipe This is very common for natural gas and hazardous liquid carrying pipelines.  But it is not perfect, as a single scratch through the coating layer diminishes the protection.  A second method is to manipulate the same electro-chemical process which causes corrosion to instead protect the pipe from corrosion.  This method is called cathodic protection. Two common forms of cathodic protection are galvanically-protected and impressed-current protection. Galvanically Protected We Need a Sacrifice A galvanically-protected cathodic protection system is also called a passive-cathodic protection system.  It is passive in that no foreign electrical energy is needed.  Galvanic protection works by connecting a more electrochemically active metal into the system than the pipe system which is being protected.  This electrochemically active metal is simply a hunk of metal buried in the ground near the pipe system. This component is called an anode. Common materials for anodes are zinc and magnesium. In a galvanic protection system, the anode gives up electrons to the pipe system.  This sacrifice of electrons results in the anode corroding instead of the pipe system. Impressed Current Cathodic Protection Charge It Impressed-current cathodic protection systems are typically used to protect large pipe systems such as transmission pipelines.  The rectifier inserts direct current (DC) voltage into the cathodic protection system.  A rectifier cable connects the rectifier’s positive terminal to the anodes within the anode bed.  A second rectifier cable connects the rectifier’s negative terminal to the pipe system.   The Electric Circuit The foundational concept to keep in mind when trying to understand cathodic protection is that the components of a cathodic protection system are connected to form an electric circuit.  If the circuit is broken, then the metallic pipe system components will lose their protection and the rate of corrosion will accelerate. If not corrected, the pipe system components will weaken and eventually fail.   Soil Is A Conductor With cathodic protection, it is important to remember that the soil between the anode and the metallic pipe acts as a conductor.  The soil as a conductor of electricity completes the electric circuit connecting the anode to the metallic pipe.   Material Type Matters The material of the pipe system components is critical to a cathodic protection system.  Some materials such as polyethylene (Plastic PE) are non-conducting and act as insulators. These insulating materials break the electric circuit. Cathodic Protection System With Insulating Plastic Pipe In addition to plastic pipes and plastic components acting as insulators and breaking the electric circuit, metallic components can be manufactured so that they, too, can be insulating devices or junctions. Cathodic Protection Systems Separated By An Insulating Valve Managing Cathodic Protection Data with UPDM Management of the cathodic protection components in a Geodatabase is not difficult.  The anodes, rectifiers, and test points are typically modeled as point features.  The test lead wires; bonding lines, and rectifier cables are modeled as line features. Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) 2019 provides a template data model for managing these cathodic protection components.   Where data management of the cathodic protection systems gets challenging is the defining and maintaining of the cathodic protection zone.  The cathodic protection zone is the combination of pipeline, pipe devices, pipe junctions, cathodic protection devices, and cathodic protection lines, which together form an electric circuit. Cathodic Protection System Conclusion Data management and analysis of cathodic protection systems was a challenge in legacy geospatial systems.  Entering the information has always been a straight forward process.  Maintaining an intelligent representation of the cathodic protection system has historically been the challenge. With the utility network combined with the UPDM 2019 configuration, maintaining and analyzing a cathodic protection system is now an intuitive process.    About This Blog Series This blog article is the first of a three-part series explaining how the Esri ArcGIS platform with the Utility Network Management Extension and the Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) can be utilized to manage a digital representation of a cathodic protection system.  It is intended to provide GIS professionals and IT administrators with enough knowledge of how a cathodic protection system works to be able to correctly configure and deploy UPDM and the utility network.   The second blog article will go into detail on the configuration of UPDM to manage the components which makes up the cathodic protection system.   The third blog article will explain how the utility network uses its capabilities to model the cathodic protection system. PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are our own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte Gas utility and pipeline GIS data management is increasingly important.  With a pipe network typically geographically widespread, topologically complex, and buried underground, the performance of many tasks and workflows, in a wide range of functional areas and roles, necessarily involves application software operating on a digital model of the pipe network and the surroundings through which it passes.   These models are only as good as the data available to them.  Today’s pipe network GIS typically contains extensive and detailed information about each and every component of the physical network, what is going on within it, the natural and man-made surroundings through which the pipe network passes, and activity occurring around it. Models most often are built from that data in one of two ways – depending upon whether the objective being examined is around “where is it located” or “how is it connected.”  Linear referencing is the model building method for the first, connectivity modeling for the second.  While both methods create a network model, they do it in different ways.   Before arrival of the shared centerline feature class with ArcGIS 10.8/Pro 2.5, pipe network modelers to satisfy both modeling needs had to create and maintain multiple digital mirror representations of their real pipe network.  One of these was defined by linear referencing.  Linear referencing is a language that expresses pipeline attribute and event locations in terms of measurements along a pipeline, from a defined starting point.  The network model in Pipeline Referencing is established by the sequence of strictly increasing or decreasing measures on a continuous, unbroken non-branching run of physical pipe. Another was defined by connectivity.  Connectivity describes the state where two or more features either share a connectivity association, or the collection of features are geometrically coincident at an endpoint (or midspan at a vertex), and a connectivity rule exists that supports the relationship.  For those to whom connectivity associations is a new term, they are used to model connectivity between two point features (Device or Junction) that are not necessarily geometrically coincident. An example of this in a pipe system is a flange bolted to a valve.  There is no pipe component between the flange and the valve in the physical world.  Now with connectivity associations in the utility network, this point to point connectivity can be correctly modeled in the digital world. Traditionally, each of these ways was enabled by a separate set of data – one for linear referencing and another for connectivity modeling.   Multiple types of operators manage natural gas or hazardous liquids pipe networks and face the challenge of needing to create and maintain multiple models.  One type is vertically-integrated gas companies.  They span all or part of the way from the wellhead to the customer meter and typically operate an integrated pipe network that includes multiple subsystems – for example, transmission and distribution subsystems.  Historically, these subsystems have been modeled separately.   Transmission pipelines also face the same challenge, not because they operate multiple subsystems, but because the range of application software their GIS needs to support requires access to both kinds of models.   Moreover, all types of operators are searching for better interoperability among software systems at the enterprise level.  They also are experiencing the convergence of information technology and operations technology systems.   For all these reasons, a better solution to the need to create and maintain multiple digital models of the real pipe network is needed. The Solution: Unified Pipe Data Management Esri’s vision for pipe network operators is to create a single representation of the entire pipe network that mirrors the real network and can support both types of model building.  This removes the traditional barriers between industry subsystems – for example, between transmission and distribution subsystems – that result in data silos.  A single representation also enables users to work with that digital network just as they do with the real network.  Linear referencing and connectivity modeling now can be performed on the same single network representation.  We call this new data management capability: Unified Pipe Data Management. The solution for vertically-integrated gas companies also is the solution for standalone transmission pipeline operators that, while they don’t operate multiple industry subsystems, have a need for both types of models to satisfy the data input requirements of the range of application software being supported by their GIS.   A single representation of the pipe network requires a unique data organization approach to store the entire pipe system—from wellhead to meter—and support the information model requirements of the ArcGIS Utility Network Management extension and Pipeline Referencing. Esri’s Utility & Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) 2019 is a data model template that provides this data organization. Benefits Of Both Extensions Working On the Same Geodatabase The ability for Pipeline Referencing and the ArcGIS Utility Network Management extensions to work on not just the same geodatabase but the same feature classes within the enterprise geodatabase, provides important benefits to pipe network operators.  First, the two extensions bring important advancements in essential industry-specific data management into Esri’s core technology.  This relieves the need for Esri business partners to fill capability gaps and frees them to extend the capabilities further and focus on adding value to uses of the data.  At the same time, it gives pipe network operators the opportunity to mix and match application software built on ArcGIS from multiple Esri business partners.  In addition, the ability for both extensions to work on the same geodatabase simplifies staff training, provides better management of high-pressure distribution pipe, and improves scalability and performance for operators of larger pipe networks. Summary For decades pipe organizations have had to either implement multiple models stored in separate data repositories or had to settle for one data management method over the other.  With the release of ArcGIS 10.8/Pro 2.5, a single digital representation of the physical pipe system can be created and maintained.  This reduces IT administration and support costs by allowing server systems and database licenses to be consolidated.  For data editors, the process is simplified by providing a single editing experience regardless of where the edit occurs across the vertically-integrated pipe system.  For end users, using the pipe system data is simpler because there is only one representation of the pipe system to work from.   One is better than more. PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are our own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte   Pipe network modelers have several important enhancements available to them at ArcGIS Pro 2.5 with ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8. ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and Utility Network Integration Enhanced In an earlier blog post, we discussed the introduction of the shared centerline feature class as a key that enables the ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and ArcGIS Utility Network Management extensions to work on the same geodatabase.  A shared centerline feature allows users to utilize those features to create and maintain LRS networks, with routes that are linear referenced, while also continuing to have the centerlines participate in and take advantage of utility network capabilities.  In Pipeline Referencing, an LRS network is a collection of routes measured to a specific location referencing method.  Availability of the shared centerline feature class is the first step in integrating Pipeline Referencing and the utility network.   With the release of ArcGIS Pro 2.5/ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8, support for measures on centerlines has been added to enhance integration with a utility network.  Start and end measures now are stored on centerline pipeline segments.  Also, calibration points are added at these centerline endpoints when a user utilizes centerlines in the create, extend, and realign route tools.   In addition, at ArcGIS Pro 2.5/ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8, two new geoprocessing tools are added to support ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and utility network integration.  One is the Configure Utility Network Feature Class tool.  This tool configures a utility network pipeline feature class for use with a linear referencing system.  Another is the Update Measures From LRS tool.  This tool populates or updates the measures and route ID on utility network features such as pipes, devices, and junctions.   Taken together, these capabilities further strengthen the data management integration essential to the new pipe network modeling era ahead. Benefits Of Both Extensions Working On The Same Data The ability for the ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and the ArcGIS Utility Network Management extensions to work on not just the same geodatabase, but the same feature classes within the same enterprise geodatabase, provides important benefits to all transmission pipe network operators. This is the case regardless of whether the transmission pipe is part of a standalone or vertically-integrated operator. Those benefits are amplified as the ability is enabled by industry-specific capabilities in Esri’s core technology.   The year ahead promises to be a rewarding one as pipe network modelers take advantage of these new capabilities! PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte Earlier this year, I was walking down a street in mid-Manhattan. During the walk I noticed a surprising amount of steel plates covering active excavation projects under the streets and sidewalks. There were also many open trenches which exposed an amazing number of pipes and wires.  Not being from New York City, I was surprised at the shear volume and complexity of buried infrastructure. This got me to pondering about recent gas events and the questions an organization asks itself. -Could the damage to the pipe system have been prevented? -What organization processes could have performed better to prevent the damage? This leads to an organization self-examination of processes to determine where improvements need to be made. These self-exams are important and valuable, but they are also reactive.  Typical reactive questions which are commonly asked include:  Did the locator group correctly mark the location? Was the locator provided with accurate and timely information to assist with the locate? Were the correct engineering and construction documents provided? These reactive self-exams often overlook a root cause: inaccurate data gathering methods. The American Gas Association recently published a white paper titled “Implementing Damage Prevention in Field Operations.” The white paper can be accessed at: https://www.aga.org/contentassets/11def1ef52f844b4b06935276b911010/implementing-damage-prevention-in-field-operations-whitepaper--final-for-publish.pdf Included in the white paper is a section on “Mapping/As-Builts” that resonates with important aspects of the role of geographic information systems (GIS) in gas utilities. This blog touches on those important aspects. Inaccurate data gathering with relative offsets The AGA whitepaper allocates two of the nine sections to address the importance of data gathering techniques around the construction and mapping/as-built processes for documenting “where” the pipe components were installed. Inaccurate data gathering methods have persisted in the gas industry since its founding. In early gas company days, locating a buried pipe was based on “relative offsets”.  A relative offset is a measurement from an identifiable above ground feature to the location of the buried pipe asset.  It was not uncommon to see measurements, such as 45ft NNE of the Old Oak Tree. But what happens when the tree falls over after a storm and is removed? Later relative offset techniques switched to using street curb edges or house corners, such as 12ft South of the North curb.  This too is subject to change over time.  How accurate is this measurement when an additional lane is added to the north side of the street? As pointed out in the previously mentioned AGA white paper, these methods are inaccurate over time.  Yet, many in the industry are still using these centuries-old methods to document the location of newly installed pipe. How to proactively prevent damage Now there is an opportunity to be proactive.  To use current cost-effective data gathering tools such as Global Positioning System (GPS), lightweight digital collection tools such as mobile phones and tablets, and data management systems such as GIS.  This allows the location of buried assets to be based on its absolute location instead of its relative location.  Using absolute location eliminates the historical issues of relative features changing over time. An opportunity to improve Today’s gas organizations are undergoing a massive capital improvement process to replace or abandon many old and inaccurately mapped gas pipe components. This increase in capital projects provides the opportunity to accurately locate new infrastructure and decrease future damages.  Gas organizations can update data gathering methods to cost-effectively collect new construction with a sub-foot absolute accuracy. They can implement a geospatial system that is capable of electronically collecting and storing this information. Future engineering, construction, and locate organizations will have the confidence in knowing that their mapped pipe components are spatially accurate and reliable. If you haven’t already read the recently published AGA white paper, we encourage you to do so. It’s well worth your time. There are many other points worth noting. The next time I visit a major city and again see the steel plates and excavation pits, I hope to have the confidence in knowing that the local gas organization has been proactive and is using current data gathering tools and techniques to prevent future damage. PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte   It’s always a joy for us to see the amazing work our customers are doing with ArcGIS for the betterment of their organizations and those they serve. It’s even sweeter when a customer is in a position where they can freely share that work with others so they, too, can put it to work. That’s the case with GTI and the work they have been doing to create Survey123 templates for the natural gas industry.   For those of you who may not know, GTI is a leading non-profit research, development, and training organization addressing global energy and environmental challenges. Among their hundreds of initiatives across the energy value chain, they develop and implement tools, methodologies, and technologies for maintaining a safe and intelligent natural gas infrastructure. The GIS department within GTI has been working to encourage electronic field data collection with GIS to optimize the entire data management process for utility and pipeline operations, significantly reducing the cost and complexity of capturing real-time high-accuracy information.   With these common goals in supporting the natural gas industry, Esri and GTI collaborate to help natural gas utilities be successful in their efforts to implement and leverage geospatial solutions to address industry business challenges. More specifically, recently, we have been looking at ways to make it easier for the natural gas industry to use the robust geospatial tools that are available today.   Through this collaboration, GTI now is publishing Survey123 form templates that they have created. The first survey form to be published is Indoor Gas Meter Set Risk Assessment. This form assigns a risk score to indoor meter set evaluations in real time based on user input. The capabilities embedded in this first template are impressive. It includes examples for:                 -Using HTML tags to set text color                 -Performing calculations based on the user’s response to the questions.                 -Hidden fields                 -Context driven logic                 -pick lists   You can review this survey123 template yourself following these steps: Open Survey123 Connect    If you do not already have Survey123 Connect, you can download it from this location:    https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/survey123/resources    2. Click on the “New Survey” option     3. Within the New Survey dialogue, select the “Community” radio button   4. Scroll through the list of posted surveys to find the survey named: GTI/OTD – Indoor Gas Meter Set Risk Assessment   5. Select GTI survey and click on the Create Survey button     6. Review the newly created survey The indoor meter set risk assessment is the first of many surveys to be posted by the GIS team at GTI.  These survey templates will help natural gas organizations of all sizes to deploy this powerful mobile data collection application.  Take a look at these surveys and see if they can help your organization improve its data collection activities.   PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte   Today’s Collector and ArcGIS Enterprise provide new enhancements and capabilities. These enhancements include; improved user interface, better GPS antenna support, direct capture of barcode via the mobile device camera, and allow for a more streamlined workflow for field users.  In addition to those important enhancements, the enterprise geodatabase capability of attribute rules allows for the automatic decoding of the barcode and the derived barcode data to be automatically written to the appropriate attributes.  This automatic decoding and attribute population provides significant productivity gains for field users and allows for a simpler deployment pattern for administrators. In this blog we will take a deeper dive into how to configure and deploy the ArcGIS platform and collector to address the industry need of Tracking and Traceability. For an introductory explanation of how the ArcGIS platform addresses Tracking and Traceabiliy, please read the first blog of this 2 blog series: Tracking & Traceability – Part 1   Like any good recipe for success, we need to know the required ingredients.  The Tracking and Traceability solution requires the following software: Collector for ArcGIS ArcGIS Enterprise 10.6.1 or higher Additionally, we will need arcade scripts which provide the logic of how to decode the ASTM F2897 barcode 16-character string and use the derived data to automatically populate the appropriate attributes.   Though not required, most deployments also include a GPS Antenna to improve spatial accuracy.   The Basic deployment steps Deploying the ArcGIS Platform to meet the needs of Tracking and Traceability can be broken down into 5 steps.  These steps are: Preparing the enterprise geodatabase Creation of staging geodatabase layers Application of attribute rules Publication of staging geodatabase layers as a feature service Creation of web map for Collector   The overall data flow process for Tracking and Traceability is to have Collector post the field collected features directly to the staging geodatabase.  There is NO translation or conversion of the field collected data.  Once the field collected data is submitted to the staging geodatabase a GIS mapping technician can review the new features and append them into the enterprise geodatabase. Preparing the Enterprise Geodatabase The first step to setting up this workflow is ensuring your Enterprise Geodatabase has the required feature classes, feature class attributes and coded value domains to store the information collected in the field.   If you are starting a new enterprise geodatabase, it is recommended that you use the Esri provided pipe system data model called Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM). The 2019 edition of UPDM includes everything needed to store the information collected in the field. You can download this data model with this link:  UPDM 2019 Edition download  If you have an existing enterprise geodatabase, then you need to make sure the asset feature classes have the correct attributes to store the field collected data. Examples of assets captured by field staff include, fittings, valves, and pipe segments. Here is a specific listing of the minimally required attributes: Point Asset Featureclasses Field Name Field Definition Coded Value Domain barcode Text(16)   manufacturer Text(2) Pipeline_ASTM_Manufacturer manufacturerlotno Long Integer   manufacturedate Date   manufacturecomponent Text(2) Pipeline_ASTM_Manufacture Component material Text(2) Pipeline_ASTM_Material diameter Double Pipeline_Fitting_Diameter diameter2 Double Pipeline_Fitting_Diameter wallthickness Double   wallthickness2 Double     Line Asset Featureclasses Field Name Field Definition Coded Value Domain barcode Text(16)   manufacturer Text(2) Pipeline_ASTM_Manufacturer manufacturerlotno Long Integer   manufacturedate Date   manufacturecomponent Text(2) Pipeline_ASTM_Pipe_Manufacture Component Material Text(2) Pipeline_ASTM_Material nominaldiameter Double Pipeline_Pipe_Diameter wallthickness Double Pipeline_Pipe_Wall Thickness   After your Enterprise Geodatabase is ready to accept the decoded barcode values and the appropriate ASTM F2897 coded value domains have been assigned, you are ready to create the staging geodatabase. Creating the Staging GDB This step involves setting up your staging geodatabase layers.  These layers should be a schema duplicate of the enterprise geodatabase asset layers. Being a schema duplicate will simplify the appending of data from the staging geodatabase to the enterprise geodatabase.   The simplest approach to setting up the staging geodatabase is to create schema duplicate feature classes in the enterprise geodatabase.  I recommend creating a new feature dataset to store these duplicate layers.  If using the UPDM 2019 edition data model the feature classes to duplicate are: PipelineDevice PipelineJunction PipelineLine To help keep the staging layers uniquely separate from the production layers I like to rename the layers as follows: StagingDevice StagingJunction StagingLine These duplicate layers should not have any features/records.   To properly support disconnected field capabilities, you should use the “Add GlobalID” tool to add a GlobalID field to every staging feature class.   Additionally, though not required, it is recommended that you enable “Editor Tracking” to allow all edits to have a date/time stamp and the ArcGIS platform user ID of who created and last updated the feature/record.   A final step not to be overlooked is to decide whether you want to include photos as part of the new construction data collection process.  It the answer is “yes” then remember to “Enable Attachments” for each of the layers you want to have field staff capturing photos.   With the staging geodatabase layers now created it is time for attribute rules. Application of attribute rules With ArcGIS Enterprise 10.6.1 the attribute rule capability has evolved to provide a robust automation capability for managing attributes. For Tracking and Traceability, attribute rules provide the ability to automatically read the barcode value, decode the barcode and automatically populate the derived attribute fields (manufacturer, manufacture lot #, manufacture component type, manufacture date, material, diameter, and wall thickness). When this capability is applied to the staging geodatabase layers, the auto-population occurs when Collector submits the new feature.  This means a connected mobile device running Collector to capture new construction will be able to see the decoded information while they are documenting the new assets in the field.   The following link provides the arcade attribute rule scripts and detailed documentation on how to apply them. ASTM F2897 barcode decode attribute rules  The way attribute rules work is to assign them to a single attribute field. This means the decoding of the barcode is broken out into 9 separate arcade scripts.  Here is a breakdown of how the arcade scripts are applied to the staging geodatabase layers.    StagingDevice Featureclass Attribute Fields Arcade attribute rule script manufacturer Device_Manufacturer.txt manufacturerlotno Device_Manufacturelotno.txt manufacturedate Device_ManufactureDate.txt manufacturecomponent Device_ManufactureModel.txt material Device_Material.txt diameter Device_Diameter.txt diameter2 Device_Diameter2.txt wallthickness Device_Wallthickness.txt wallthickness2 Device_Wallthickness2.txt    StagingJunction Featureclass Attribute Fields Arcade attribute rule script manufacturer Junction_Manufacturer.txt manufacturerlotno Junction_Manufacturelotno.txt manufacturedate Junction_ManufactureDate.txt manufacturecomponent Junction_ManufactureModel.txt material Junction_Material.txt diameter Junction_Diameter.txt diameter2 Junction_Diameter2.txt wallthickness Junction_Wallthickness.txt wallthickness2 Junction_Wallthickness2.txt   StagingLine Featureclass Attribute Fields Arcade attribute rule script manufacturer Line_Manufacturer.txt manufacturerlotno Line_Manufacturelotno.txt manufacturedate Line_ManufactureDate.txt manufacturecomponent Line_ManufactureComponent.txt material Line_Material.txt nominaldiameter Line_NominalDiameter.txt wallthickness Line_Wallthickness.txt   Once the attribute rules are successfully applied to your enterprise geodatabase staging layers you are ready to publish the staging layers as a feature service. Publication of staging geodatabase layers as a feature service Publishing the staging layers from ArcGIS Pro is a very straight forward process. The steps are as follows: Create a new Map Add staging gdb layers to map Symbolize layers as desired Publish map as a feature service After the map is created and the staging geodatabase layers are added to you map you will have a ArcGIS Pro map which looks like the following: I find using ArcPro for defining the symbology to be easier and quicker than using the ArcGIS Enterprise Portal map viewer tools.  Additionally, I can use more advanced symbology such as the UPDM2019_Symbols style set that is included in the UPDM 2019 Edition download.  When the layers are symbolized as desired, remove the basemaps and prepare to publish. To publish the staging layers as a feature service, use the sharing ribbons’ web layer – Publish Web Layer tool to create the feature service. With the feature service now published your staging geodatabase layers are ready for the final step which is to create the web map for Collector. Creation of web map for Collector Creating a web map for Collector is the opportunity to fine tune the interface your field staff will use for documenting the new construction.  Items to think about when creating the web map are: Scale Constraints of layers Which data fields will be exposed to the field staff Which fields will be exposed during editing Which field will be exposed during viewing Both the ArcGIS Enterprise portal map viewer or the ArcGIS Pro desktop tool can be used to accomplish this task.   When the web map is defined and saved you are now ready to take Collector to the field to being collecting your new gas pipe construction. Summary With the latest enhancements to Collector and the new attribute rule capability for enterprise geodatabases. Deploying the ArcGIS platform to address the needs of tracking and traceability is easier than ever. Five basic steps  are all that it takes to enable your field staff to efficiently capture new construction digitally and retire the time consuming and inefficient historical paper based process. Preparing the enterprise geodatabase Creation of staging geodatabase layers Application of attribute rules Publication of staging geodatabase layers as a feature service Creation of web map for Collector PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions ... View more