Projects & jobs

A project is a folder for grouping Origin jobs and the files used by those jobs, including control points, road or alignment RXL files, background images or surfaces, and reference files for the project such as site or health and safety information.

A job contains the raw survey data from one or more surveys, and the configuration settings for the job including coordinate system, calibration, and measurement unit settings. Images captured during the survey are stored in separate files and linked to the job. A job may also contain control points if you have imported them into the job instead of using a linked file from the project folder.

To start a survey you must have at least one project and one job.

Projects and jobs can be local to the controller or they can reside on the Trimble Connect cloud collaboration platform, from which they can be downloaded to the controller. On the controller, jobs are stored in the appropriate project folder in the Spectra Geospatial Data folder. For more information on how files and folders are organized on the controller, see Data folders and files.

When creating a job, you can save the settings as a template and then create subsequent jobs using the template. Jobs in the same project usually have the same settings but this is not essential.

Who creates the project and jobs and how they do this depends on your organization. The options are:

  • Projects and jobs are created in the office using Sync Manager and sent to the cloud, from which they are downloaded to the controller. Project and job data on the controller can be uploaded to the cloud at any time.

    If required, new jobs can be created locally on the controller and then uploaded to the cloud.

  • Projects are created in the office using Sync Manager and sent to the cloud, from which they are downloaded to the controller. Jobs are created locally on the controller and uploaded to the cloud. Project and job data on the controller can be uploaded to the cloud at any time.

  • Projects and jobs are created locally on the controller.

    Local projects and jobs can be uploaded to the cloud later, as required.

Creating projects and jobs in the office

Create cloud projects and jobs using Sync Manager and Survey Office

Use the Send to Sync tool in to Survey Office to create projects and jobs using data from your Survey Office project. You can send data as well as project settings straight to Sync Manager from your project in the Survey Office software. Use the Sync Manager desktop application to create the job with fully configured job properties inherited from the Survey Office project. For more information, see Sync Manager Help .

Create cloud projects and jobs using Sync Manager

If you use other survey and civil engineering software such as Autodesk Civil 3D, 12d Model, or Bentley civil software, you can download the Sync Manager desktop application from the Sync Manager Installation webpage. Use your usual surveying and civil engineering software to export the data for the field and then use Sync Manager to organize the data into projects and jobs. All job properties can be configured in Sync Manager and, if required, saved as a template to speed up the creation of subsequent jobs. For more information, see Sync Manager Help .

Create cloud projects in Trimble Connect

To easily retain the same file and folder structure you use in your organization's network, you can upload files and folders to your Trimble Connect project directly, for example using the Trimble Connect Sync desktop app. In Origin you can browse the files and folders published to the Trimble Connect project and select them for download. For more information, refer to the Trimble Connect Sync User Guide.

Jobs can be created in Origin. Job files synchronized to the cloud are shown in Sync Manager as usual. For more information, see Sync Manager Help .

Only .job files created in Origin or in Sync Manager can be downloaded to the controller. Any .job files uploaded to the Trimble Connect project directly (for example using the Trimble Connect Sync desktop app) cannot be downloaded to the controller.

Working on cloud projects and jobs on the controller

To synchronize Origin field data with the cloud, the signed in user must have a Trimble Connect license. If you are using a controller with a perpetual license, then the controller must have a current Origin Software Maintenance Agreement.

To synchronize data, Trimble recommends that all users have a Trimble Connect Business subscription because it allows users to create more projects and synchronize data with more projects than a Trimble Connect Personal subscription. Origin users can obtain a Trimble Connect Business subscription at no cost in the following ways:

  • Trimble Connect Business subscriptions are automatically included with Origin subscriptions. For those users no further action is needed.

  • For Origin perpetual license users, a Trimble Connect Business subscription is available with each current Software Maintenance Agreement. However, your organization's License Administrator must assign the Trimble Connect Business subscription to the specific user using the License Manager web app. Until the Trimble Connect Business subscription is assigned to the user, then that user will have a Trimble Connect Personal subscription and can create or synchronize data only to a limited number of projects.

    To assign Trimble Connect Business subscription licenses to users in your organization, sign in to the License Manager web app as a License Administrator. For more information, see the License Manager Help.

For more information about the different types of Trimble Connect licenses, see Understanding Connect Licensing in the Trimble Connect Knowledge Center.

To see projects and jobs from the cloud, the controller must be connected to the internet and you must be signed in using your Trimble ID. The Sign in icon in the title bar is grayed out if you are not signed in. Tap the Sign in icon to sign in.

When you are signed in, projects and jobs that reside in the Trimble Connect cloud collaboration platform and assigned to you are shown in the Projects and Jobs screens of the Origin software. You are also notified by email when a job is assigned to you from Trimble Connect.

The cloud icons next to the project or job name indicate if there are changes to be uploaded or downloaded. For more information, see Synchronizing data with the cloud.

Creating local projects

You can create local projects on the controller, as required. See Creating a project.

You will need to manually transfer data files that you want to use to the project folder on the controller. See Transferring files to and from the controller and Data folders and files.

You can upload a project you have created on the controller to the cloud later, if required. See Uploading a local project to the cloud.

Creating local jobs

You can create local jobs on the controller as required.

The process for creating a local job is the same, whether the job is part of a local project or a project that resides in the cloud. As long as a local job is in a cloud project you can upload the local job to the cloud at any time after you have created it. To do this, tap in the details panel and select Upload.

You can create local jobs from:

  • the last used job in the current project
  • a template, including templates you have created from previous jobs
  • a JobXML or DC file in one of these formats:
    • JobXML
    • SDR33 DC
    • Trimble DC v10.7
    • SC Exchange

Importing from a JobXML file to a Origin job file is mainly used to transfer the coordinate system definition and design information. A JobXML file generated from a Origin job contains all the raw data in the FieldBook section, and "the best" coordinate for each point from the job in the Reductions section. Only the data from the Reductions section is read into the new Origin job file, raw observations are not imported.