Hi Scott,
Thank you for the open and honest criticism of things where we may have missed the mark.
Siteworks v1.50 just released two weeks ago has made significant enhancements in now using new VCL libraries that are more up to date with the TBC libraries which should fix some of the issues you mention. It also has a fix for the undefined elevation value "?" for points in a VCL file, which is a now feature that moved from the dreaded "backlog" to the release.
I understand the frustration and lost time and inefficiencies that these annoying issues can cause, and know that these have real dollar and schedule impacts to companies like Flatiron. While I can't claim that this latest version of Siteworks v1.50 fixes "all" the VCL incompatibility issues, I can say that of the items you specifically mention those have been fixed, and also that we here at Trimble make significant efforts with every release of every software product, from the office to the cloud to the field to continually improve. We're not perfect by any means, but we are always trying our best to manage through the well over one million lines of source code between TBC and Siteworks and the Works suite, and keeping things updated, for example when TBC makes a change to the libraries, that has to be then propagated to the Siteworks libraries.
I went back and got the data from the support case that was submitted, and for both of the datasets, I am pleased to report, now seem to work as intended. The "RedBird" VCL now shows the stakeout points and the "CHCW" opens in Siteworks without throwing the unsupported error. I did try to go back to v1.30 and open both those designs and got the same errors I did with 1.44, which is expected since the VCL libraries were the same from Siteworks 1.20, when VCL support was first introduced, up through v1.44, the last release prior to v1.50 where the libraries were updated to better match what TBC uses. So I'm not quite sure what might have been going on if those files worked in older versions of Siteworks, but it is very rare that a newer release will break something that was working in an older one, as we check for backwards compatibility with every release, and don't actively ever remove something unless there is a good reason (e.g. security risk).
As for the double underscore linestring issue, I have not heard of this, nor seen a support case, so if you want to DM me a copy of an example file, I can take a look at it to see if there is anything that can be done. I would also at least try running it through Siteworks v1.50 to see if that might help.
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Steve DiBenedetto
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-01-2022 08:29
From: scott threet
Subject: Trimble Business Center not Supported by Trimble SiteWorks per Trimble Support
Recently I received this response to a support issue I was having concerning Siteworks 1.43-1.45 having issues using .vcl formatted exports or rather using the Works Manager tools provided inside of Trimble Business Center to publish a Works Manager Design. The issue I was encountering was as follows:
Inside of TBC I would navigate to the "Works Manager" tab, select "Design Manager", choose my design to update, choose my desired surface and it's boundary, select my stakeout points and add, select my line work and add, the "Publish". Then navigating to an internet browser I would log onto and/or open "Works Manager" to verify the design had been updated. After verifying with the field the new design version was available I would then be informed of an error message. Using "Remote Assistant" I to could see the error message ".vcl not supported". However, this very same design was supported in Sitework collectors using version 1.3x, but the ones using 1.4x would all show the same error.
"We recently provided a solution to your Support Case 429214.
Subject: Siteworks - Unsupported Data Error When Loading VCL
Solution: ISSUE #1 RESOLUTION:
This caused because Siteworks doesn't handle elevations with the value (?). The Product Management team has indicated this is in the backlog of enhancements. "?" in TBC means 'undefined', as there is no elevation defined for a particular line because elevated items are not and never have been the only items that require field location. "Backlog of enhancements"(?) really v1.3x and earlier recognize this but v1.4x does not and when Siteworks does this again in the future it will be an enhancement?
ISSUE #2 RESOLUTION:
I've just got some feedback from engineering on this and the short story is that the error message is correct, that what is happening is that the newer versions of TBC are now outputting objects in the VCL file that the older VCL libraries that Siteworks uses are not able to interpret or otherwise understand.
In this particular case it seems to be an element defined by station-offset as the new objects that are not compatible with Siteworks using a .vcl. So Siteworks cannot understand a linestring and its possible variations, a Trimble proprietary data type that has been around since the release of TBC (it is just a set, so really it was around in Terra Model too).
This object type is only present on a few layers, for example on the SWLK layer. Without going through each layer and turning them off/on and re-exporting it's not known exactly what layers are problematic.
Unfortunately there is no fix at this time coming in Siteworks as we are waiting for TBC to update their low-level language to become Android compatible and for Siteworks to update some other low level stuff. Both Works Manager and Siteworks are reboots of TCC and SCS, sold on the premise that the work flow is simpler, cleaner, and the files would allow for more capable and enhanced field usage. But instead what we get is Siteworks pointing the finger at TBC? Clearly one hand isn't washing the other.
The current workaround would be to output designs giving this error using the .ttm/.dxf/.csv file formats. We were all told five or six years ago this was the old way and once everything was updated this was out, but now the solution is to return to the methods Trimble used when we actually got something for our warranty update money. I can't track by TBC or Siteworks update how frequently .vcl formatting has worked and has not, but it seems as though every other update this changes.
Please take a moment to complete this short survey. Your time is greatly appreciated, know that we will use this information to help drive process and product improvement.
Thank you,
Trimble Support"
An additional issue not addressed is the "underscore underscore Linestring name" where you give a line a begin distance is no longer supported in Siteworks either.
Every year employees go to owners and justify warranty service cost to be paid for TBC, Siteworks, Earthworks, and a subscription to Works Manager, we all do this to get updates, and we expect those updates to add features which enhance our abilities and make our companies more profitable. We don't pay those fees to have features taken away and then restored months later. The Product Manager's for TBC, Siteworks, Earthworks, and Works Manager should book that conference room next to the giant picture of the Roadtech paver using the beta PCS300 and figure out how to work together moving forward. Because that is what all of those products are supposed to do!
PS I didn't see a Siteworks or Earthworks community so I couldn't post this there.
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[Scott] [Threet]
[Flatiron]
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