Trimble Business Centre efficiency and QA/QC tool

True North | Spring 2018

By Babak Amjadiparvar

The *.job or *.jxl files are Trimble’s proprietary formats derived from the field software, Trimble Access (TA), to be imported into Trimble Business Center (TBC). These file formats carry the coordinate system specifications with themselves to a blank/metric TBC project. This means that if the surveyor makes a mistake in the field with the coordinate system, this error could be missed in the office unless the computer operator does the proper checks. This scenario can become riskier if a project has a calibrated coordinate system and the surveyor decides to tie in the existing survey pin instead of using the original calibration agreed upon for the site. Therefore, when the survey data is imported into a blank/Metric TBC project, the coordinate system will be different than what it is intended and required.

This risk can be minimized by having a standard procedure throughout the organization to ensure all the survey office staff use one of the existing TBC project templates to start a new TBC project. The project templates can also carry the desired settings for computations, default standard errors, network adjustment, baseline processing etc. By adopting these settings, it can be ensured that the desired settings of the organization are applied to every single TBC project where required. The project templates can also contain drafting templates if the organization is using TBC for generating final deliverables.

TBC project templates can be created through File>Save as Project Template:

At TBC project creation, the list of available templates shows up and the appropriate one can be selected:

By importing the *.job or *.jxl file into the TBC project, a warning shows up explaining that there are some differences between the coordinated system of the imported file and the TBC project templates:

This standardization will create efficiencies in your business. If your field and office staff follow this disciplined procedure you can rest assured that your coordinate system will always produce the desired results and costly errors will be avoided.