TerraFlex Desktop add-in v5.4

A new version of the TerraFlex Desktop add-in for ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap) is available for download here (with required coordinate system files available here). The add-in supports TerraFlex on Connect field workflows and replaces all previous versions. Please see additional information below regarding new features, improvements, and bug fixes.

This is a required upgrade in order to continue publishing projects and downloading data after August 31, 2021.

New Features & Improvements

1. Support for Trimble Identity v4 and new sign-in pattern. This version adds support for the Trimble Identity v4 service. This is a required upgrade for all add-in users of TerraFlex on Connect workflows. All previous versions will no longer be able to sign-in after August 31st.
   
   For more information, please refer to the informative posts on trimble.com and geospatial.trimble.com.
   
   For a short set of instructions on how to login with the new pattern, please see this article on Trimble Community.
2. New TerraFlex Feature Geometry Integrity Checker tool. In order to help users check for incorrect feature geometries, a new tool has been included and can be added to the add-in toolbar. This tool allows a user to check all previously downloaded forms within each project and layer.
   
   For more information on this tool, please see this article on Trimble Community.
3. Improvements to user experience for downloading TerraFlex forms. In order to facilitate more efficient form download workflows, the default behavior has been changed to always mark downloaded forms as downloaded. In this way, a form need only be downloaded once. In a default workflow then, there is no need to take the extra step of marking forms as downloaded. However, the default behavior can be changed to allow for an operation similar to previous versions where this was a two step process.
4. Improvements to ability to store photo URLs in an attribute. In lieu of storing photos as attachments, it is possible to store photo URLs in an attribute. In the system.config file for the add-in, there is an entry called <StringFieldNameForPhotoAttribute> and the value here represents an attribute name that the add-in will look for when publishing a layer as a template. If it finds a string field (>200 characters in length) with this name, it will configure the project to store photo URLs there when a form is downloaded. If the field length is between 200 and 600 characters in length, the template will allow a single photo. If the field is longer than 600 characters in length, the template will allow multiple photos and URLs will be stored in a pipe (|) separated list. Plan for up 200 characters per photo URL that you intend to store.
5. Configurable handling for non-simple geometries in form uploads. Previously, non-simple geometries could not be uploaded in tasks at all. In this version, the user can turn on geometry simplification for feature uploads if so desired. This should be used carefully as if a feature geometry is simplified and taken to the field for attribute-only editing, then the simplified geometry will end up replacing the original geometry in the geodatabase when the edited form is downloaded. You will be able to see in the log file if non-simple features fail to upload. To enable geometry simplification here, open the add-in database (Jet/Access, SQLite, or ODBC), locate the KEA_SYSTEMPROPERTIES table, and add a record with PropertyName = SimplifyOfficeToFieldGeometries and PropertyValue = true. To turn it back off, remove this record from the table.
6. Improved task workflow nomenclature for consistency with Trimble Connect Map Viewer. In order to provide a consistent user experience with the Map Viewer, nomenclature for task progression has changed. Tasks can be Closed and then Deleted. Tasks are only Completed in the context of the TerraFlex field app.
7. Improved accuracy configuration authoring experience. In an effort to simplify the project and template authoring user experience, we have removed references to Basic or Advanced feature download workflows and instead only present the choice of accuracy source shown below. The last page of the Project Wizard also now contains a summary of workflow choices made on earlier pages.
   

   Source of accuracy	How data is downloaded
   Real-time Corrections Only	Standalone forms

8. Notification when a selected field configuration uses a datum with a null transformation. For users of the Classic/WGS84 geodetic workflow, choice of datum in a field configuration is very important. In some cases, the selected datum may have a null transformation to WGS84. The user is now notified of this to make sure they are aware of it.
9. Deprecation of TerraFlex on InSphere workflows. As Trimble InSphere has now been shut down, support for these workflows has been removed from this version of the add-in.

Bug Fixes

1. Forms with null geometries not handled well in form-based downloads. In some cases, forms with null geometries can get collected or otherwise stored in the cloud. Such forms presented a problem in recent versions of the add-in and they would functionally get stuck. This has now been resolved and forms with null geometries will flow through correctly.
2. Form download list did not clear when changing projects. Previously, the list of downloaded forms would remain even if the project was changed. This could present problems if the user then tried to work with the forms in the list. This has been resolved and now the list is cleared when the project changes.
3. Form download list is not wide enough to see status. The list previously had a static width and if the name of the layer was sufficiently long, it was not possible to see the full form download information (inserted or updated) in the list. This has been resolved and the width is now dynamic.
4. Configured geoid name does not display on the Project Geodetics page for existing projects. In some cases, when viewing existing projects (either in View… or Edit… mode) in the Project Wizard, existing geoid settings were not visible. This has been resolved. Note: The Project Geodetics page in the wizard will always be read-only for stored projects.
5. Inconsistent management of coordinate systems with the same datum and zone but different units. If customers work with different units in the same coordinate system datum and zone, then in some cases projects would have incorrect settings. This has been resolved.
6. Delay when add-in or ArcMap is ready after opening a new project; performance degrades over time. For customers with a large number of projects, there was a noticeable delay when the ArcMap UI would become responsive after switching projects or map documents. This delay would increase over the time ArcMap was open. This has been resolved.
7. Inconsistent handling and persistence of vertical units. The solution for interpreting desired vertical units (depends on VCS if present, PCS if not) did not always yield the expected result and so projects could get created with an incorrect vertical unit. This has been resolved.
8. Project initialization fails in some cases when manually enabling the extension. It is possible for users to manually enable the extension with a map document already open. Sometimes, this would cause a failure in initialization of the expected project loading. This has been resolved.
9. Bad error message if the database connection is invalid. If the connection to the desktop database cannot be made, a bad error message would be displayed instead of a proper one as expected. This was due to a change in call sequence and has been resolved; a proper connection failure message will now be displayed.
10. Many duplicate messages in log files. Logging was generally improved to avoid unnecessary duplication and to filter out incorrectly formatted messages that don’t provide helpful information to the user. The log file continues to be the most important place to look when problems are encountered.