1Overview
2Introduction
This guide has been developed to assist users in creating a basic project with OpenGround Professional and importing data for use with other tutorials or for a sandbox environment for other uses.
This will be done in the format of a tutorial, which can be followed along with to produce a replica project while introducing core concepts and ideas.
Users are expected to have a basic understanding of how OpenGround is setup and how configurations function within the scope of configuration packs.
It is also expected that users have sufficient access to OpenGround to be able to create and administer projects.
Note that this guide has been created with the US market in mind, hence the dimensions and outputs being suited to a US output. Due to this, the US configuration pack has been used.
However, this guide can be adapted to users across the world if needed.
3Accompanying Files
The example project used has the Project ID of SEQ-BEN-000 and can be found here;
- SEQ-BEN-000.zip
The configuration pack used is the US Standard configuration pack which can be found here;
- US_US0101_20221104_20241011.hbp
4Creating a Project and Importing Data
At the end of this tutorial, a user should be able to create a new project in OpenGround Professional and import the relevant data to populate the project with data.
Please note that the SEQ-BEN-000 example project is used in this tutorial.
4.1Starting Professional
Professional is launched from the OpenGround Launcher. Assuming that no updates are available for the application (if they are, install them if appropriate), press the Launch button next to the Professional application to launch the software.
4.2Creating a Project
When loading Professional, the user will be presented with a grid of projects. This may have one project (Example Project) if the cloud has been newly created or may have a list of a number of projects if the cloud is well established.
To create a new project, select the Create Project option on either the System or Grid tools ribbons.
Note that the ribbon in OpenGround is context sensitive. This means that when certain items are selected in the grid, or elsewhere, certain tabs may become available.
If the project list appears completely empty, then the user that is logging in does not have project access to any projects.
If the Create Project button is not available on the ribbon then the user does not have access to create new projects.
In either case, it is recommended to contact the OpenGround System Administrator for the cloud for further assistance.
The Add Project window will then appear where information for the project can be added. Any of the fields where the label is in bold are mandatory fields and will need a value in order for the project to be created.
Enter the following information against the corresponding fields.
- Project ID – SEQ-BEN-000
- Project Title – Hawthorns Redevelopment
- Status – Open
- Category Default
Note that the Status and Category options appear as a dropdown list. These are know as Picklists in OpenGround and are managed within the Configuration Pack.
- Location of Site – Birmingham Road
- Client name – Aston Homes and Villas
- Contractos name – Bigger and Digger
- Project Engineer – Jeff Jordan
- Office – Empty
The Office dropdown is controlled by the offices that are listed in the cloud. If no offices are available then none have been setup within OpenGround.
Do not worry about putting a value against the latitude or longitude fields as these will be autocalculated once data is imported at a later stage.
Once completed, select the Configurations tab at the top of the window to set some further information about the project.
Enter the following information against the corresponding fields.
- Configuration Pack – US – Standard
This is the list of all the active Configuration Packs in the cloud. A suggested configuration pack is listed in the accompanying files section but if the cloud has a different configuration pack available, it maybe best to use that pack with this tutorial.
- Coordinate System – NAD 1983 StatePlane Florida North
This will list all of the active Coordinate Systems in the cloud. If the listed coordinate system is not available then it will need to be enabled.
- Time Zone – Empty
Once completed, select the Save option to create the project.
If the project fails to save, then any problems will be highlighted with a red exclamation mark next to the offending field. Hover over the warning to see details on why the project has failed to save.
4.3Opening a Project
Once the project has been created, it will then appear within the Projects list.
Select the required project and then open it by either selecting the Open Project option in the ribbon, Right clicking on the project and selecting Open Project or by double clicking on the project in the list.
The project will then open and the grids will appear empty as no data will have been introduced at this stage.
4.4Navigating the Project
The project interface can generally be split into 4 different sections.
- The Ribbon – This section of the interface shows interactions that can be made by the user. On certain occasions, when items are selected in The Workspace, a grid tools section of the ribbon can appear. This is known as a Context Sensitive ribbon.
- Project Explorer – This section of the interface shows information about the project, including a count of information against each grid.
- The Workspace – The workspace will show any of the grids or tabs that are open. This includes windows like data grids, log outputs, mapping and other information.
- Information Bar – The information bar shows information about the current item in The Workspace. In this case, it shows the paging information and how many records are visible out of all of the data available.
4.5Importing Data
It is possible to import different types of data into Professional. In this tutorial, a zipped CSV file will be imported.
Other types of data that can be imported include AGS files, gINT files and data from other providers.
Select the Data tab in the ribbon and then select the Import Data option and change the type from AGS 4 to CSV.
Note that there is a navigation section on the left hand side of the Data Import Wizard. Select a previous step when moving through the wizard if changes are needed.
Select the Add button, and then browse through and select the required zipped CSV file, then select Open.
The Data Import window will then update with the file listed in the center section of the window. Select the Next option to continue to the next stage.
The Overwrite with Empty Values option will overwrite any existing data with blank values if the those values are empty in the incoming file. If data is only being updated, and not overwritten, its recommend to leave this option off.
The application will then start processing the imported file and calculate what changes will be needed. This can take a little while if the cloud is busy or if a large file is selected.
A list of warnings and errors for the incoming data will then appear. Many of these will be messages stating that information that is incoming is being ignored because the destination is a calculated field. Press Next to continue.
Calculated Field Warnings can generally be ignored as Openground will calculate a value for those fields when the data is imported.
The Data Import window will then update to show a list of the locations that will be imported as part of the incoming dataset. It is possible to select or unselect relevant locations if required. In this case, leave all of the data selected and select Next to continue.
The Data Import window will then update to show a list of the groups that will be updated as part of the import. It is possible to select or unselect relevant groups if required. In this case, leave all of the data selected and select Next to continue.
The wizard will then continue to process the file and compare it against the existing data in the project. This can show how many updates, additions and how many rows of unaffected data there are. Press Next to continue.
The data will then be imported into the project and all of the planned changes in the previous steps will be applied. This can take a few minutes depending on a number of factors. Once completed, select the Finish button and the Data Import wizard will close and The Workspace will update with the imported data.
