Validating a topology

You can validate a topology in ArcCatalog by selecting the topology in the tree view panel, right-clicking it, and clicking Validate on the context menu:

In ArcCatalog, right-click on the topology to validate it.

This will validate the whole topology if it is new or, in most other situations, just the dirty areas in which updates have been made.

You can validate your topology in ArcMap during editing.

First, start editing.

Add the topology toolbar by clicking Toolbars on the View menu and clicking the Topology toolbar.

Three Validate options are always available as part of topology editing.

Select one of three validate tool options during editing in ArcMap.

ArcToolbox contains a series of geoprocessing tools for topology. The Topology toolset is located in the Data Management toolbox:

Geoprocessing tools for topology in the Topology toolset for Data Management

The Validate Topology tool can be used to validate a topology as part of an automated workflow. Scripts can be useful for automating a series of tasks and for building repeatable workflows.

You have the freedom to choose when and how often you validate your topology. Typically, each topology must be validated in its entirety only once. All other validations will only revalidate dirty areas (i.e., areas in which changes have occurred).

ArcGIS will automatically track dirty areas for you as you edit your data and if you change your topology definition. When you revalidate your topology, ArcGIS will automatically know the dirty areas that have to be validated.

How often should you validate your topology? It is best to revalidate your topology after you have edited your feature dataset. You may also choose to validate portions of your dataset during editing so that you can find and fix errors during the editing process.

If you change your topology definition, you may need to revalidate your topology. For example, if you change the topology rule set or the coordinate ranks, the whole topology will be flagged as dirty and will be revalidated the next time you run validation.

Revalidating your topology does not mean that cluster processing will cause your coordinates to move more in each subsequent validation. Once you have clustered your coordinates in the initial validation, they will not move in subsequent validations unless new geometries have been added that fall within the xy tolerance of existing features (e.g., when you connect a new road to a street network, split a parcel, and so forth). In these cases, only the changed areas where vertices fall within the cluster tolerance of other features will be clustered and, therefore, potentially adjusted.

The feature classes that participate in a topology are always available for use within ArcGIS regardless of whether or not the topology has been recently validated. If the topology has not been validated, some of your features may not adhere to your integrity rules. However, they are available for use with or without errors.

When you validate your topology, it generates an error report so you can be aware of issues and have the opportunity to repair serious errors. In this way, topology helps you know about the integrity of your datasets and their suitability for use in various applications.

Validating a topology

Validating a topology

Validation and dirty areas

Validating topology in ArcCatalog

Validating topology in ArcMap

Validating topology using geoprocessing

Tips on topology validation

Validating a topology
Release 9.3