Working with TerraFlex projects: collecting data

To get the best possible position accuracy in the field, follow the Achieving best possible accuracy guidelines as best you can as you complete your fieldwork.

When collecting data in TerraFlex, you can work either in:

  • Cloud Projects, created from a map workspace in a Trimble Connect project.

  • Local Projects, created from a TFIN (TerraFlex-in) file imported from the Terra Office add-in for ArcMap or the Terra Office add-in for ArcGIS Pro, or from a TerraFlex Local Project Template file (.tfproj) created in Terra Office.

Once you have signed in to TerraFlex:

  • If you do not have Cloud Projects associated with your Trimble ID and you want to work with Local Projects, tap Switch to Local Mode. If you have any Local Projects on the device already, they are listed; if there are no Local Projects on the device, you must create one. See Working with Local Projects below.

  • If you have Cloud Projects associated with your Trimble ID, the Cloud Project list displays.

    • If you want to work with a Cloud Project, select it. See Working with Cloud Projects below.

    • If you want to work with a Local Project, tap Local at the top of the Project list screen, then tap Continue. If you have any Local Projects on the device already, they are listed; if there are no Local Projects on the device, you must create one. See Working with Local Projects below.

You can easily switch between Cloud and Local Projects by tapping Cloud or Local at the top of the Project list screen.

  1. In TerraFlex, tap Projects to display the Select Project screen. Select the project you want to work in.

  2. If you are using a Trimble GNSS receiver, connect to the receiver. See Connecting to a Trimble GNSS receiver.

There are three workflows in TerraFlex for collecting data in the field:

When completing a form in TerraFlex, you can save the form as a draft to come back to it at any time.

  1. Next to , tap .

  2. Tap Save As Draft.

Draft forms remain on the device and are not sync'd to Map Viewer while in draft state.

A draft form can also be deleted, as long as it has not been saved and was not imported as part of a task / ToDo.

  1. On the Home screen, tap Forms, tap the form you want to delete.

  2. Tap . Tap DELETE.

If the form has previously been saved or was imported as part of a task / ToDo, the option is not available.

To remove forms from TerraFlex once they have been uploaded (synchronized) to Trimble Connect , tap and tap Remove Forms. In the Remove Forms dialog, tap Yes.

If you have Local Projects on your device already:

  1. In the Select Project screen, select the Local Project you want to work in.

  2. If you are using a Trimble GNSS receiver, connect to the receiver. See Connecting to a Trimble GNSS receiver.

  3. Then follow one of these workflows to collect data:

To create a Local Project, you must do one of the following, as described below:

  • import a TFIN (TerraFlex-in) file.

  • import a .tfproj (TerraFlex Project Template) file.

To create a project with data from Terra Office add-in for ArcMap or Terra Office add-in for ArcGIS Pro (using the TerraFlex Local workflow), you must import the required TFIN file to TerraFlex. The required TFIN file must be stored in the Downloads folder on your device that is running TerraFlex.

Terra Office can automatically send the TFIN file to the device if it is connected to your computer via USB cable.

For more information, see the TerraFlex Local workflow topic in the Trimble Terra Office Help.

To import the TFIN file:

  1. Once the TFIN file is in the Downloads folder on the device, make sure you are in Local Projects mode, then on the Local Projects screen, tap Select a File.

  2. The last used file location you used opens; if required, navigate to the Downloads folder, then select the TFIN file you want to import.

  3. Once the TFIN is loaded, you can collect data as required.

When you have completed your data collection, you must export the forms from TerraFlex and check them back into the Terra Office Local workspace.

  1. From the Project menu, tap Export Forms.

  2. Tap Yes to confirm.

The data is zipped to a TFOUT file stored on the device.

The TFOUT file can then be imported to a Terra Office Local workspace; see the TerraFlex Local workflow topic in the Trimble Terra Office Help for details.

Before you can create a Local Project from a .tfproj file:

You can have multiple Project Template files (.tfproj) on your device, as needed.

  1. On the Local Projects screen, tap Select a File.

  2. Navigate to and select the .tfproj file that you want to create the Local Project from.

  3. In the Create Local Project dialog, enter a name for your new project and tap CREATE.

  4. Select the newly created project from your project list to open it.

  5. Follow one of these workflows to collect data:

  6. Once you are done collecting data, export your data in your chosen format—CSV, Shapefile or TFOUT. See Exporting data from a Local Project below.

You can create multiple Local Projects using the same .tfproj file on your device, as needed.

When completing a form in TerraFlex, you can save the form as a draft to come back to it at any time.

  1. Next to , tap .

  2. Tap Save As Draft.

Draft forms are not exported; TerraFlex only exports forms that are saved.

Data collected in a Local Project is never synchronized to the cloud, so when you have collected data in a Local Project, export it in your chosen format:

  • as a CSV or Shapefile.

  • as a TFOUT file to transfer it back to Terra Office, where you can export it to richer file formats such as FileGDB or DXF.

Only saved forms, not Drafts, can be exported; check that the forms you want to export do not show as Draft in the Form list.

  1. Tap then tap Settings, and in the Export Forms Format field, select which format you want to export your data as.

  2. Navigate back to the Home screen.

  3. Tap then tap Export.

  4. In the Export Forms dialog, select which forms you want to export:

  5. Export New Forms exports only forms which have never previously been exported.

  6. Export All Forms exports all the forms within your project.

  7. Tap Export.

  8. Once the export has completed successfully, a confirmation dialog showing the number of forms successfully exported (and a number of draft forms that were not exported) displays.

  9. If you are using:

    • an Android device, do one of the following:

      • Tap OK. The exported file will be available in the downloads folder of your device.

      • Tap SHARE. The Share option enables you quickly share the file using email, Google Drive, One Drive, etc.

    • an iOS device, tap SHARE, to share the file using email, Google Drive, One Drive, etc.

Original forms remain in the project on your device.

To see Local Project data in Map Viewer, export it as Shapefile then import the zipped file into your Map Viewer project.

You can delete Local Projects if you no longer need them.

Tap then tap Delete Project . A message warns you if you have any data that you have not yet exported. To export any forms, tap CANCEL, and export your forms as described above.

TerraFlex enables you to pin up to five projects to the top of your project list for quick access.

To pin a project, tap on the project; the project is moved from the project list to the top of the project screen. Scroll horizontally on the pinned project tiles to see all the pinned projects.

To remove a pinned project from the pinned list, tap on the project. The project is moved from the pinned list at the top of the project screen back to the project list.

When you have the maximum five projects pinned, the icons disappear until you unpin a project.

You can work from the Map screen to collect new data or update existing forms, and to navigate to a selected feature or to specific coordinates.

See Using the navigation options for details.

If you are working in a remote environment and are not able to connect to the internet, you can use a cached version of a map that has been created in Map Viewer.

To work with a cached map in TerraFlex:

  1. On the Home screen, tap Map.

  2. Tap, then tap Base Maps.

  3. Any map caches are listed on the Base Maps popup. Select the cached map you want to use, and tap OK.

Whether you are working from the Map or the Forms screen, you can filter what forms / data layers are visible; tap then select / deselect the options as required. You can filter forms by status ( Not Updated, Updated, Collected, Draft), and choose which data layers (forms) are visible.

To quickly select all statuses or layers, tap All.

To quickly deselect all statuses or layers, tap None.