A network category is a tag used to represent a characteristic of an asset in your network. They are created and assigned to network features for specific asset group and asset type combinations.
Every utility network model includes a set of system-provided network categories that incorporate semantics in the utility network for subnetwork management, circuit management, and tracing operations. These system-provided network categories cannot be deleted from the utility network; you can decide whether you want to assign them to assets in your network.
You can add additional user-defined network categories (for example, protective) to a utility network and assign them to network features at the asset group and asset type levels. There is no limit to the number of categories that you can set for each asset group and asset type combination.
User-defined network categories are created using the Add Network Category tool. Use the Set Network Category tool to assign a user-defined or system-provided category to a network feature at the asset group and asset type levels. All features or objects belonging to that asset type will have the assigned network category.
The system-provided network categories added to your utility network differ depending on whether you are using a traditional or telecom domain network, and are used by various tools to configure which features are considered, including Update Subnetwork, Export Subnetwork, Verify Circuits, Export Circuits, and Trace.
System-provided categories in a traditional domain network
The system-provided network categories for a traditional domain network are as follows:
- Subnetwork controller—This network category is required to allow a terminal on a device or junction object feature to be set as a subnetwork controller to define the origin of a subnetwork.
- Subnetwork tap—This network category is used in tracing to model features that are tapped off a midspan vertex on a main line or edge object. Tapped network features allow a network commodity to continue to flow through the feature, without interruption, to the other side of the main line or edge object. Secondary features attached to the tap are influenced by the attribute substitution value defined for the tap.
- Attribute substitution—This network category is assigned to attributes to indicate that a substitution value for subnetwork tap features is to be used during a trace.
Subnetworks are a required component of subnetwork management in traditional domain networks, and subnetwork controllers must be set in your network for subnetworks to be used. Propagation and attribute substitution are advanced functionality used in tracing; it is optional to define features with the network attributes of subnetwork tap or attribute substitution.
System-provided categories in a telecom domain network
The system-provided network categories for a telecom domain network are as follows:
- Circuit Point—This network category is used for circuit management to define the active ports in the network which define the circuit. A feature or object must be assigned the Circuit Point network category to serve as the starting or stopping point for a circuit or circuit section. During validation, a trace is performed as part of the operation which starts and stops at objects with this category assignment.
- Connector Junction—This network category is assigned to junction objects to facilitate transition between grouped edge objects and ungrouped junction objects, and to maintain integrity when modeling the network topology and aid transition. Objects assigned this category are generic grouped junction objects that can be shared by multiple edge objects and do not typically represent real-world assets.
- Root Container—This network category is assigned to container features to indicate the top (or root) of a containment hierarchy. During reconcile operations, features assigned this category are used to report logical conflicts to the user in a conflict set. Only a single Root Container feature may be defined within the same containment hierarchy. This is necessary because logical conflicts are not identified and reported using traditional conflict detection. Consider an example of grouped fibers inside of a cable which are divided in different ways between default and a version. The divided fibers would be created as inserts in new rows; however, on reconcile these would conflict logically at the container level.
- Splitter—This network category is assigned to splitter ports to support circuit management and optimize the validate operation to mark circuits as dirty. When junction objects assigned this category are encountered in the trace during validate, traversals are limited to a single hop and cannot return to another feature with the category before first traversing an edge object.
- Unit Container—This network category is used to manage unit identifiers (unit IDs) on grouped objects assigned the Unit Identifiable network category in a container's containment hierarchy and to support connectivity inference with path traces. When used to infer connectivity, features assigned this category specify the point up to which a trace will traverse the containment hierarchy to infer connectivity for content features assigned as Unit Identifiable. This is only valid on asset types that have been assigned the Container association role.
- Unit Identifiable—This network category is used to support management of unit IDs on grouped junction objects which are content of unit container features, and to support connectivity inference with path traces. When objects are assigned this category, the unit container feature in the object's containment hierarchy is used to manage unit IDs for the object. When used for connectivity inference as part of a trace, objects with a single connected edge are considered candidates for traversal in a trace.