Configuring the Standard builder to build diagrams from network features

The Standard builder is generally used to operate from a set of GIS features that comprise a geometric network or network dataset which is highlighted in a map document after any selection operation or geometric network trace operation. In this case, the content of the diagrams generated from the same network features set can then be different depending on the properties that have been configured on the Standard builder properties page.

The steps below focus on the configuration of the Standard builder properties page.

• To learn about how to display the schematic builder properties page, load the Editing schematic builder properties topic.
• To learn about how to create a schematic diagram template and specify its schematic builder, load the Creating a schematic diagram template topic.

The first time the Standard builder properties page displays, the Builder Properties dialog box opens as follows:

The Standard Builder Property Page tab is organized into three sections:

• The Topology options section regroups parameters to define whether the schematic feature links created for the network edges highlighted in the map without their connected junctions being highlighted must be included in the generated diagrams.
• The Geometry options section concerns the management of vertices along the schematic feature links that will be created.
• The Miscellaneous section concerns the creation of new schematic feature classes during the diagram generation/update process.

Caution:

When a diagram template based on the Standard builder is configured to build schematic diagrams whose entire content is managed by custom queries, the properties on the Standard Builder Property Page tab have no meaning. The steps in the section below that detail how to configure the Standard builder properties only concern Standard builder diagram templates that are expected to work with network features.

Steps:

1. On the Topology options section, you need to specify how the builder is supposed to deal with network edges that are highlighted in the map without their endpoints also being highlighted:
   • Choose Add connected nodes to include all edge end points in the generated schematic diagram, whether they are highlighted or not.
   • Choose Remove link if not connected at each extremity only if you want to include network edges in the schematic diagram if both endpoints are highlighted.

   The Add connected nodes option is selected by default.

   With the Add connected nodes option, the Standard builder will try to deal with all network edges specified in input. Even if their endpoints are not highlighted, it will try to build the associated schematic feature links and nodes. With the Remove link if not connected at each extremity option, the Standard builder will ignore network edges specified in input when one or both of their endpoints are not also highlighted.

   Tip:

   To avoid selecting edges without their extremity junctions, click Selection > Selection options in the ArcMap menu and choose Select features completely within the box or graphic(s) in the Interactive selection section.

   Note:

   Working with the Remove link if not connected at each extremity option also prevents users from generating diagrams with disconnected schematic links—that is, without extremity or origin schematic nodes. For example, this may happen when there is no node schematic feature class associated with some of the feature classes added in your map and some features related to those feature classes without associated node schematic feature classes are in input.

2. Check Initialize links vertices on the Geometry options section to generate schematic diagrams in which schematic feature links associated with the network edges highlighted in the map will automatically display with their initial vertices.

   When this box is unchecked (default state), schematic links will be drawn as straight lines between the endpoints.

   Caution:

   Some schematic layout algorithms execute from the real orientation of the segments in the diagram—for example, Geo - Partial Overlapping Links, Relative Main Line. If you plan to execute such algorithms on your diagram content, you need to check the Initialize links vertices to get good results.

3. Check Simplify lines if you know that among the input network features used for your diagram generations, you can have polylines or polygons with a large number of vertices and you want the associated schematic features to be simplified in the generated diagrams. Then, configure how this simplification must be done:
   1. Specify the Maximum allowable offset under which vertices can be eliminated.
   2. Select the offset unit in the drop-down list at the right.
      Note:

      • The Simplify lines check box is enabled only when Initialize links vertices is checked.
      • The Maximum allowable offset text box and the offset unit drop-down list at its right is enabled only when Simplify lines is checked.

   The Schematics lines simplification applies the same Douglas-Peuker algorithm implemented for the Simplify Line geoprocessing tool when it is configured to work with the Point remove operator. This simplification removes extraneous bends and small intrusions and extrusions on a schematic line without destroying its essential shape. It keeps critical points that depict the essential shape of a schematic line and removes all other points.

   Note:

   • The Simplify lines option has no impact on the GIS network features in your geodatabase. It only impacts the shape of the schematic lines in your schematic diagrams.
   • If you have relationship or spatial query rules configured on your diagram template and the builder is configured to simplify lines, any new schematic line created by those rules will also be automatically simplified.
   Caution:

   In most cases, since polyline and polygon features are often simplified when building the GIS network data, there are no reasons to configure the simplification of the associated schematic lines during the generation/update of your diagrams. Configuring the simplification of the schematic lines is only recommended when you have a very large number of vertices along the network line features you want to use as input for your diagram generation—for example, if you have more than 300 vertices along some of those network lines. In that case, nothing will prevent you from generating diagrams by keeping a large number of vertices on the associated schematic lines, but you will have some slowing during the diagram generation/update, when applying schematic layout algorithms, and so on, that can be avoided with line simplification.

4. Check Automatic schematic feature class creation on the Miscellaneous section if you want the Standard builder to automatically create schematic feature classes that could be missing from the schematic diagram template when it operates.

   When this box is unchecked (default state), no new schematic feature classes are created when the Standard builder operates. This means that if, among the data in input, the Standard builder detects a feature based on a feature class for which there is no associated schematic feature class for the schematic diagram template, no schematic feature will be created in the schematic dataset for that feature, and no schematic feature will be contained in the resulting diagram for that feature.

   Note:

   • Keeping this option unchecked prevents the generation of diagrams with unexpected schematic features in them.
   • On the contrary, checking this option prevents the generation of empty diagrams or with partial contents.