Create your first app

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There are two ways to create a UNE app. You can use a previously defined template from which the data, web map, and app configuration are auto generated. Or you can create an app from scratch based on a Utility Network feature layer within your ArcGIS Organisation.

Creating an app using a template

To create a UNE app using a template:

  1. Select the plus button to start creating your app.
  2. Use the Find templates in your Portal option to show a list of available templates on your Portal. Select one of them. Alternatively, use the Import Template option to import a template definition from a local ZIP file.
  3. If you want the new app to use existing feature layers on your Portal, these can be selected in the next step. Or leave this option as No to use the feature layers as configured in the template.
  4. Now give your app a name, at least one tag, and a description. You can also choose where you want the app to be saved in your content.
  5. After selecting create, the app will open in the UNE builder. It will also appear in your list of apps on the UNE home page.

Creating an app using a feature layer

To create an app from a feature layer in your ArcGIS Organisation:

  1. Select the plus button to start creating your app.
  2. Now select UNE for ArcGIS to open up the feature layer search dialog.
  3. You can search for a feature layer within your own content or a feature layer shared in your organisation (or one that is publicly available). Select the feature layer you want to use.
  4. Now give your app a name, at least one tag, and a description. You can also choose where you want the app to be saved in your content.
  5. After selecting create, the app will open in the UNE builder. It will also appear in your list of apps on the UNE home page.

Modifying the web map

UNE uses web maps. When creating an app, the Builder user will have automatically added a web map with the Utility Network data layers loaded in. The web map can be modified, allowing layer renderers to be changed, new layers to be added and scale thresholds changed. There are however a number of factors which must be considered when changing the web map:

  1. The web map used by the Utility Network must include all domain and structure network layers, even if the end user will not edit them. The editor app requires full access to this data, and it can only detect layers that are present in the web map. Layers may be set to not visible and can be hidden from the Legend and Selection tools in the Builder but they must still remain in the web map.
  2. Performance will be affected by the number of layers in the web map. Ideally, the web map will contain just the standard domain and structure layers and a few additional layers. UNE has custom behaviour for layers that have subtype information in, which means they do not need to be split into separate layers in the web map. This custom behaviour will support the switching on/off of layers and setting scale dependent thresholds per subtype. Arcade can be used to create complex renderers on Utility data, based on Asset Group and Asset Type.
  3. The symbology in the web map can be edited. It should not however cluster the Utility Network data, as this will prevent the editor from knowing about individual features.
  4. Definition or filter expressions should not be applied to Utility Network layers, as they prevent the editor from accessing all features and can lead to incorrect data edits.
  5. Removing and re‑adding layers in the web map can break UNE because newly added layers are assigned new unique IDs. UNE relies on these IDs to link rules and behaviour to the correct data.

It is recommended to author the web map and its configuration including symbology, layer visibility and labelling etc. in a compatible version of ArcGIS Pro in line with the UNE for ArcGIS Product Lifecycle.

Next steps

Once you’ve created a UNE app, you can use the builder to configure the app and then share it with editors using the ArcGIS Online / Enterprise sharing options. Below are just some of the ways to tailor an app to suit business requirements: