Liz Gaines posted here a month or so ago about a deleted file from the TSC2, and Glenn Borkenhagen posted about a utility that will backup the data to a removable card.
Well, I got burned yesterday. We have two TSC2's, but one is like new, and hardly ever used. We had the occasion to use both of them on the same job, one for RTK and the other for total station work, simultaneously. This happens very rarely. Up til now we did not have a set of rules for naming files, as it was never really necessary. We both called the job the same thing in the respective data collectors, "EB" (East Branch). That is fairly typical, we call the USACE jobs by the name of the project. On a job where we are there more than one day, we name the job as the date, for example 04282011.
So, I always download dat files and dc files to a root directory, and then move the file to the project directory. I had gotten up at 5:30, driven 3 hours, and then worked until 7 PM. We then drove another 45 minutes to a hotel. So, by then I am quite tired. I downloaded both data collectors, as well as 4 GPS units, and never realized that the dc files had the same name.
Since the the first file was overwritten on the laptop and not deleted, I have not been able to recover it.
So, all of the total station work has to be redone.
One problem was that data transfer was set to "delete files after transfer" and was not set to "query file overwrites". Probably either of these would have saved the day.
So, new policy:
1) Name all data collector jobs with a unique name. We decided on date+initials+job number. For example:04282011JVH11032
2) Keep all files on the data collector until the project is completed and backed-up, They have plenty of memory.
3) install PIM Manager, as Glenn Borkenhagen described in a post on 4/4/11.
I also name my files by date and client. 110428BLK.RW5. If it was like your situation, I would call the second file 110428BLK1.RW5.
The reason I put the year first; the file goes to the bottom if I sort by name.
Dugger
>...
> 1) Name all data collector jobs with a unique name. We decided on date+initials+job number. For example:04282011JVH11032
> ...
That is similar to how we name collection files however, we use YYYMMDD for the date format. That way files will sort by date when listed in alphabetical order.
Peter Lazio
I've always exported a .csv point file each day to a thumb drive via the usb port, then copied it to the laptop. I never touch the project files until the job is completed and the files are copied and backed up. I always had the files in three places. I also used control files for specific areas, like a small town, and copied one or two points and calibration to the project. Naming was never issue, just used name and location like CVS50th&ShartelOKC.
I'm guessing you also deleted the files from the DC? I NEVER delete anything from the DC directly. Every 3 or 4 months, I connect the PC via activesnyc, and copy all the files over to a "Ranger Backup" folder, with a subfolder like "2011 March". Then I delete about 3/4 of the files, leaving the last month or so of work.
If I have to open a new job with the same name (I go by job numbers), I'll add a letter, like I might have 110500A, 110500B, 110500C, etc. I try to not overwrite old coordinate or raw files in the DC, even if they are already downloaded.
I reread your post and I see it was software setting that deleted your file from the DC and didn't ask if you wanted to overwrite ... geez, why is that even an option with download software?
I typically had the "delete files on device" checked to keep the GPS receivers clean. On those, you CAN recover deleted files. But, it is not selectable by device, just a global option. Now I will just occasionally hook up GPS configurator to clean off the GPS receivers.
Ha!
I lived on 89th and shartel
> I've always exported a .csv point file each day to a thumb drive via the usb port, then copied it to the laptop. I never touch the project files until the job is completed and the files are copied and backed up. I always had the files in three places. I also used control files for specific areas, like a small town, and copied one or two points and calibration to the project. Naming was never issue, just used name and location like CVS50th&ShartelOKC.
