Custom format with Trimble Survey Controller

This is best accomplished using custom export style sheets. These are data export instructions that sit directly on the controller.

There are a number of them prebuilt and available to download at the above link. The 'Quality Control Report' looks like it will do exactly what you want and more.

Copy the style sheet (an xsl file) into the Trimble data folder on the collector. To use it, select "Import/Export" from the Files menu then "Export custom format files". In the file format drop down list, select the style sheet name. Enter an export name for the text file and select the desired output options if shown.

There is documentation on the style sheet format at the bottom of the web page at the link I provided. By downloading other formats and examining them (they are XML format) you can quickly learn how to build your own.

Thanks Scott,

ASCIIFileGenInstall.exe - 2419 KB

The QC report is nice and professional looking. But a plain excel style sheet is what I prefer at present time. I think this program above should do the trick.

I tried getting this install file from Trimble's website (2 different browsers) - no go. If you know of any other source where obtain it, please let me know.

Thanks,

Georges

Other custom style sheets you can download from the site do generate CSV or tab delimited text files. You can examine them in any text editor to see how to modify the 'Quality Control' report to get the simple text output that you want.

Thanks,

I got the *.exe downloaded (from another computer). This utility does not appear to give options for customization. From what I can see, it's a list of predefined ones.

I will try your suggested method. Thanks for the tip,

Georges

Georges,
keep us posted about your findings,
I'll have to make some myself too.
chr.

Hello,

In the end, with the help of Scott's note, I found a report called "GPS points" (I think it's called) that do pretty much what I had in mind. Unfortunately, it does not include the rover antenna height. You would think that antenna height would be in that QC list, it would fit right in. A lot of blunders can be attributed to wrong antenna heights.

As far as customizing LandXML files (to add the antenna height field for example), I do not have enough expertise in this area.

For this task of creating custom export files, it appears that the Leica' LGO software (with its easy to build format files of almost any kind) is more user-friendly than Trimble's.

Cheers,

Georges

I found it easier to just write my own trimble.dc file extractor (in QBASIC).

Here is the output from it on a RTK Shot:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RTK Solution Data NAD83(2011) Epoch 2010.0000   Raw file = 2010-06-09 TSH.dc  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  -1858417.7784  -4498648.2243   4110303.2979 Base Station BAUER_2004         
         0.0010         0.0013         0.0013 Base Coord rms values     METERS
  Receiver = Trimble 4700  Antenna = Zephyr (TRM41249)   HI(ARP) 1.6524 METERS
  -6097160.6392 -14759319.0302  13485223.7317 Base     L1 Phase/Center US FEET
     12156.8367     -1210.8613      4139.9077 RTK Vector WGS84(G1150)  US FEET
                         Error Scale  0.0429350957274                         
                     x                 y                 z                    
        x     0.0000068984600                                                 
        y     0.0000040264745   0.0000122497140                               
        z     0.0000014339532   0.0000001350774   0.0000054642947             
    Vector & Precision estimates from Trimble TSC1 and v10.70 RTK Software    
Satellites = 10  PDOP =  1.107 HDOP =  0.620 VDOP =  0.917   Date = 06/09/2010
    Epochs =  183   RTK Solution = FIXED       Classification = Normal        
    Precision Horizontal = 0.0273     Precision Vertical = 0.0405      US FEET
  -6085003.8025 -14760529.8915  13489363.6394 Rover    L1 Phase/Center US FEET
   Receiver Trimble R8  Antenna = Trimble R8 (TRM_R8)    HI(ARP) 2.1000 METERS
  -1854712.2318  -4499016.9646   4111564.8395 Rover Station GRP/Mon.    METERS
 Pt.   Latitude     Longitude    E-Height     Rover Station Description       
  36 40.384302334 -112.403823579 1516.615 QC E OF 16 NEW CAP*                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's pretty much all there, along with some additional data unique to our own "system" (way of doing things). I don't like the mixing of feet & meters, but Trimble (for whatever reason) stores the vector data in whatever units that the coordinate system is expressed in. Instead of converting the "raw data" units, I elected to just return it as, and "show my work" so to speak.

Loyal

Will this work?

Job Name                      : 20111024A
GPS Method                    : RTK
Operator name                 : Lon G. Toody
Data-collection software      : Trimble Survey Controller v12.46
Antenna Type                  : R8 GNSS/SPS88x Internal
Antenna Measurement Method    : Bottom of antenna mount
Measurement Type              : Raw

    Point            North          East      Elev            Code           AntHt  HzPre  VtPre PDOP
       10010    467481.253    894263.302  5027.996  MELTED ALUMINUM CAP      3.281  0.041  0.061  2.4
       10011    467481.242    894263.306  5027.661  GOAT STAKE               3.609  0.033  0.054  2.5
       10012    467481.237    894263.306  5027.358  PREHISTORIC ROCK MOUND   3.937  0.031  0.051  2.0
       10013    467481.247    894263.306  5027.011  GRIZZLY SCAT             4.265  0.027  0.045  1.9
       10014    467481.241    894263.302  5026.682  MISCELLANEOUS ARTIFACTS  4.593  0.026  0.046  2.0
       10015    467481.247    894263.300  5026.383  MASTADON BONE            4.921  0.018  0.034  1.9
       10016    467481.251    894263.300  5026.060  SHARK TOOTH              5.249  0.028  0.048  1.9
       10017    467481.254    894263.296  5025.740  BUR OAK                  5.577  0.032  0.060  2.3
       10018    467481.253    894263.301  5025.408  CL INTERSECTION          5.906  0.029  0.057  2.1
       10019    467481.250    894263.301  5025.045  FENCE CORNER             6.234  0.027  0.054  2.3
       10020    467481.245    894263.292  5029.308  PIPELINE MARKER          6.890  0.019  0.033  2.0
       10021    467481.247    894263.291  5029.309  FORD WHEELCOVER          6.890  0.023  0.040  1.8

If this will suit your requirements, I will post the XSL file someplace from where you can download it and provide a link.

This stylesheet reports only on the RTK points, i.e. those with ECEF Deltas. It will not report on keyed-in points, the base point, etc., which points will not have the requested QC information anyway.

Did you really want/need the comma field delimiters as indicated by your reference to a CSV file? Those could be added to the XSL, or you could also import into Excel and export as CSV to add the commas. Seems like having straight columns would be of more value for reviewing work but commas can be added as well.
GB

Will this work?

This looks excellent as is, nicely done.

If you are interested in sharing a copy of this format file, please e-mail to [email protected]

Thank you very much,

Georges

Will this work?

Georges -

You (as well as anyone else who may want to try/use this) can download the XLS file from here.

It is the file named "Georges PNEZD+QC_A.xsl", the only file in that directory as of today.

Change the name of the XSL file (keeping the extension as .xsl) to whatever you want to appear in the selection list on your data collector running Survey Controller and in ASCII File Generator.

As Scott described above, upload the XSL into the "Trimble Data" folder on your Survey Controller data collector and it should be ready to go, the name will appear in the selection list when you follow the menu path Files > Import / Export > Export custom format files.

On the PC running ASCII File Generator, you can either put the XSL in the folder with the other XSLs (C:Trimble Survey ControllerCustom ASCII Files) or put it someplace else and use the browse button to select it.

Let me know if you find any problems and we'll try to get it right.

GB

Will this work?

Thanks Glenn,

That works perfectly. A simple text file with columns is a really quick way to review survey data. Preparing the P,N,E,Z,D file for the next task is a breeze.

I just did a random test with an old job from the summer (as-built of run-of-quarry rock) sitting on a TSC2. By glancing at the exported text file, I can see that the V&H and PDOP values are satisfactory; the choice of feature codes are reasonable and three different HI values were keyed in for the HI: 2.00m, couple of shots at 2.15m, a few other shots at 2.38m. Now the question is: Why was the antenna height set to 2.15 and 2.38? There must be reasons. Let's find out why.

Thank again for sharing this custom format file, generous gesture.

Georges

Will this work?

Hey Glenn,

I had a question about how you created your xsl file.

Did you use any particular program, or just a basic thing like notepad or textpad?

And if so how did you debug your code if issues arose?

I'm a newb to creating an xsl style sheet but am just going to start having a go at it.

Thanks,
George

Will this work?

I cannot claim any real proficiency with this XSL stuff. As with most things in life, anything I may have accomplished is the result of brute force and persistence.

Out of habit I use UltraEdit-32 for working with text files, but did not use anything in the program that would not be provided by any text editor that has a usable "Find" function and an indication of the row and column numbers.

For debugging, my non-solution is to simply take small steps between tests of the output. That way if something goes astray it is pretty obvious where to start looking for the problem.

Trimble has provided quite a few style sheets already, so in most cases you can find one that includes either the actual item you want to add or something very similar. Sometimes you may have to change some of the language from German or another to whatever you need, but that is no big deal. Cut > Paste > Test > Repeat.

One bit of learned wisdom I would like to pass along to anyone getting started on this is that it can be extremely helpful to generate and study the JXL file (select "Trimble JobXML" in the list of available output formats in Trimble ASCII File Generator). The JXL file is the plain-text XML-format version of the JOB file, and it will reveal where the data you want in the output is stored and how it is labeled.

As you study the style sheets, you will find the term "Node" one or more times in each style sheet and each node will have its own name.

In the JXL file you will not see the word Node, but you will find the names of the nodes, generally "FieldBook" and "Reductions". As one would suspect, the FieldBook node is where you will find the detailed information that is often desired in reports. I wasted more time than I care to admit learning this lesson - you can't get data from a node where it does not exist!

One thing that I have not figured out how to do is add a column-heading line to the second and subsequent pages when the output requires more than one page. In most cases it is pretty obvious from the values what is in each column, but there will come a time when the column headings would be handy. There is something called XSL-FO (Formatting Objects) that may be key to achieving this, I dunno.

If you get stuck on something, post back here and someone can probably provide the help you need.

Good luck!

GB

Will this work? one more question

Glenn,

thanks for sharing the stylesheets ...
I'm struggling with another problem regarding the custom exports.
We set up our coding system and we use the standard Code field but some parameters are added as a note after the point is stored. We start our own notes with a dot "."
Currently we use TGO and are able to read the dc for the notes and the point it is attached to and we store it in the TGO description field in the Points table. From there we can edit and export all data Pt,E,N,Elev,Code,Note

Looking to change to TBC now ... Data tables are no longer accessible? or am I wrong on this. (can't open a vce file)

If we could make a style sheet that gives us Pt,E,N,Elev,Code,Note we could work this way, but Pt,E,N,Elev,Code are found in the Reductions part (some points may be averaged so we need the reductions part I think) and the notes must be looked up in the Fieldbook part. How do I combine these two parts of data in 1 line of output in 1 file?

got stuck on this ... maybe there's another approach for working in TBC ... all advise is welcome.

chr.

Will this work?

Thanks Glenn for posting all that info.

One more question about the code......

The thing I'm wanting to do will involve circle centre calculations and then providing deltas between circle centre and design points.

I tried a fair few googles to find out how to what some functions are. Like what i'm trying to ask is how to type in sin and cos and tan. Is there a list like that out there which will show me things like that??

I'm pretty confident that'll i'll be able to crack this. I have a user function in excel which does exactly what i want to do in the tsc2, this difference being i want to be able to do this calc in the field not in the office.

unfortunately everything i've ever learnt or done has only been through brute force, so i've got a few weeks ahead of me with this stuff!! 🙁

Struggling to generate the right export txt format as well.

I'm trying to get something like this for my exports using Trimble GNSS RTK (Trimble access)

Name,Easting,Northing,Elevation,Code,Date(YYYY-MM-DD),Time(HH:MM:SS),Hz,Prec,Vt,Prec,PDOP,Sats

I found some .xsl stylesheet on trimble website but I cant find one that would produce something like this exactly.

I asked chatGPT to edit or produce a stylesheet but it doesnt seem to work.

any tips on how to get this?

Thanks a lot!

@tonyduky 

Best way is to modify existing or write from scratch to create your own.

Other option is to hire a developer - Trimble used to have a custom XSLT development service, but I can't find the link again. It's also way, way cheaper to just write my own.

I am looking to have the "CSV with attributes.sxl" modified for just "PN,N,E,Z,CODE". So i am looking to remove the attribute prompt and also the header line.

I realize that the controller can do this through the export csv option, but i am using "file and report generator" program. In conjunction with the "AutoConvertJobFile" program. it prompts for "include attribute name" for every file. Very annoying after 50 files!

Thanks,

Reece