The feature(s) cannot be moved

Error Message

Note:
This article pertains to ArcGIS versions 8.x and 9.x only. Later versions of ArcGIS may contain different functionality, as well as different names and locations for menus, commands and geoprocessing tools.

With a geometric network that contains a weight that corresponds to the shape length field for a complex edge, when snapping a detached junction at the end point of one edge to a detached junction at the end point or along another edge, the following error may be raised:

Error:
The feature(s) cannot be moved.

The error message may also include:

Error:
The operation was attempted on an empty geometry.

Cause

Snapping a detached junction, that is connected to a complex edge feature with a weight assigned to its shape length field, to a detached junction connected to another edge feature, raises the above error and aborts the operation.

Solution or Workaround

If the purpose of snapping the detached junction was to eventually subsume it with a standard junction, subsume the detached junction with a standard, user-defined junction prior to snapping it to the other detached junction.

If the purpose of snapping the detached junction was to establish connectivity, the following steps can be used to work around this error:

1. Set snapping at the vertex level for the detached junction feature class.
2. Select one of the edges connected to the detached junction which you have tried to move and disconnect it with the Disconnect command.
3. Change the Edit Task to Modify Feature.
4. Move the vertex of the disconnected edge that is coincident with the detached junction being moved and snap it to the detached junction to which it should be connected.
5. Select any other edges connected to the detached junction being moved and repeat the steps above.