Copy Field Data to a USB Flash Drive

Use the Copy Field Data To USB Flash Drive command to copy job site and job site design data from your project onto a USB flash drive so it can be used on a GCS machine in the field.

The job site design can have multiple controllers assigned, and you can export the data for one or all the machines at a time. The machines are controller type and software version specific.

You can export design data to:

• the specific machine's folder
• a common folder, called "\All", accessible to any machine

Exported data written onto the USB flash drive is located in the \Machine Control Data folder.

Prerequisites:

• License; See the Subscription Plans page. For a license matrix by command, see the License page in the TBC Community. Also see View and manage licensed features.
• This command only applies to machines with GCS/AccuGrade and Cat Grade Control (CGC) Machine Control software version 12.0 and PCS900 version 2.0.

To access the command:

• Select Copy Field Data to USB Flash Drive in Construction Data > Publish Data.
• Right-click a job site, job site design, or GCS machine in the Project Explorer and select Copy Field Data To USB Flash Drive from the context menu.

  The Copy Field Data To USB Flash Drive dialog displays.

Options:

• Copy data to specific machine folder - Select the machines for which you want to copy data by checking the boxes in the Controllers list. You can export multiple machines.

  The information relating to the specific machines will be exported to the machine folder in the Machine Control Data folder. If the machine folder does not exist, it will be created. 

  Data copied to machine's folder includes:

  • all designs assigned to that machine
  • any .mch or .dsp files assigned to the machine
  • a site map, if the site has one
  • an avoidance zone, if the site has one (not applicable to PCS900 machines)

    Note: The data needs to include at least one job site design to be copied to the controller folder.

  The data in the individual folders will be available to the specific machine in the field.

• Copy Job Site's designs to a common folder - Check the Copy Designs to "\ALL" folder box. In this case you need to specify the Controller Type and Controller software version for the exported files. Select from the drop-down menus. By selecting this option, designs from the job site will be exported to the \All folder in the Machine Control Data folder. If the \All folder does not exist, it will be created.

  Data copied to \All folder includes:

  • all designs in the site, regardless of whether they are assigned to a machine or not

    Note: Any other files, like .mch, .dsp, site map or avoidance zone files, are NOT copied.

  If the same design is associated with multiple machines, only one copy will be written in the \All folder.

  The \Machine Control Data\All\ folder will be available to any machine in the field.

To copy field data to a USB flash drive:

1. Access the Copy Field Data to USB Flash Drivecommand.
2. Select your options, as described above. You can select any one or both options at once.
3. Select the destination. Accept the default path in the USB Flash Drive Folder box, or click the Browse button to browse for the USB flash drive.

   If the Machine Control Data folder already exists, it will automatically be selected; otherwise the folder will be created. The default path is "<Drive>:\Machine Control Data".

   Note: Data can only be copied to USB flash drive for GCS, CGC, or PCS machines, not to SCS site controllers.

4. Click OK. The data is copied onto the USB flash drive.

   Note: The Copy Field Data To USB Flash Drive command will only overwrite existing files (after a warning). Other Machine Control folders and files existing on the USB flash drive will NOT be deleted.

Related topics

Manage GCS and SCS Controllers

Copy Field Data To a Data Card