Object naming conventions

You should adopt strict naming conventions when identifying the objects in a network. Some suggested conventions are given here.

Each node in the network must be identified by a unique label. This label can be up to 30 characters long, consisting of any combination of numbers and letters, with no spaces or other characters. Any user-defined system of labelling may be used.

In the UK, the usual convention is to use the Ordnance Survey 100-metre grid reference of the node as the first six characters; use the last two characters to identify the nodes within the 100-metre square. For example, if two nodes both have a grid reference to the nearest 100 metres of SO543538, their labels could be 54353801 and 54353802.

In a similar way, each link must have a unique label but this is allocated by the system. A link joins two nodes and is given a direction of flow. The link label is based on the label for the node at the upstream end of the link. A decimal value is added to the node label to identify the link. For example, if water from node 54353801 flows out through two links, these links will be labelled 54353801.1 and 54353801.2. The links are labelled in order of invert level, with the first link being the lowest.

You may attach an asset ID to any node or link (on its definition page or property sheet). The main use of the asset ID is as a cross-reference to a name used by some other system, such as an asset maintenance database.