About Soft Split and Hard Split

Because geometry and attributes are stored separately, one geometry feature class such as a point, can represent various attribute feature classes such as armature and fitting. For line features, there are two different line splitting methods: soft split and hard split.

Gas data model: Relation between pipe and line feature class

In a workflow you can specify whether the line is soft split or hard split. This determine how the system handles the attribute data of the two resulting features.

Split Type	Description
Soft Split	With soft split, the line is split into two separate features. Each has its own geometry (GA_LINE), but they both use the same attribute data (GA_PIPE). Use soft split for point features of minor importance and when the attributes of the pipe do not change, such as armatures.
Hard Split	With hard split, the line is split into two separate features. Each has its own geometry (GA_LINE) and each has its own attribute data (GA_PIPE). Use hard split for point features of major importance, such as a pump or a valve. Use hard split if the attributes of the pipe change, such as diameter, material, or model.

Split Type

Description

Soft Split

With soft split, the line is split into two separate features. Each has its own geometry (GA_LINE), but they both use the same attribute data (GA_PIPE).

Use soft split for point features of minor importance and when the attributes of the pipe do not change, such as armatures.

Hard Split

With hard split, the line is split into two separate features. Each has its own geometry (GA_LINE) and each has its own attribute data (GA_PIPE).

Use hard split for point features of major importance, such as a pump or a valve. Use hard split if the attributes of the pipe change, such as diameter, material, or model.

Gas data model: Soft and hard split