WorksManager

Background: Legacy machine control devices (CB4x0 running GCS900) do not have the construct of projects  inside the Machine Control Data folder (unlike Earthworks/ Siteworks/ Groundworks). Hence, designs of all projects exist together inside the parent folder. In an attempt to bring the project context, when we introduced WorksManager for GCS, we prefixed the project name before the design name. While this was valuable, it resulted in longer design names in the control box, with the operator struggling to find the right design/ version (as the entire design name was not visible).  We need a way to give project context to GCS designs, while keeping the design length manageable.

Introducing project short name - You can now assign a short name to the project. This would have <project name> as the default value, with a flexibility for you to edit. As an example, if the project name is ‘Trimble Construction Project Phase I’, the short name can be ‘TCP1’. 

This short name goes as a prefix to any design published to legacy machine control devices. As an example, if the design name in WorksManager is ‘Finish Grade’, the design name in the legacy control box would read as ‘TCP1-Finish Grade.V01’.

Key takeaway - If the project short name is set as ‘TCP1’ in WorksManager, and design name is ‘Finish Grade’, the design in legacy machine control box would read as ‘TCP1-Finish Grade.V01’

In summary, with this feature, you can

• Add a custom project short name - WorksManager would use this as a prefix to GCS designs,  keeping the design name length manageable in the field.
• Keep the default value - WorksManager would use the full project name as prefix for GCS designs

Important note: 

• This change is applicable to only the new designs/ design versions created via WorksManager - this means that the older designs/ design versions would continue to exist as they are (in TCC, and hence on the device). 
  • We did not do the data fix for older designs since we observed many designs in multiple projects having the same name, and clearing them might cause confusion.
  • However, note that as you create newer design versions, the auto archive functionality would clear up the older versions and eventually in a few weeks, all design versions would have the prefix. Alternatively, you can use the manual archive functionality as well.
  • And for designs, you can choose to use the manual archive functionality to do the same.
• This change DOES NOT impact any other device models like Earthworks, Siteworks or Groundworks - this means they would continue to use the full project name in their internal folder structure, and in TCC.