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The software for the easy assessment of pipe inspection data on mobile workstations
User Manual
Version 23.0.0
Date 0329.08.20222023
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Introduction
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Windows 8.1 PRO, 64bit: all updates provided by Microsoft must be downloaded and installed.
Windows 10 PRO, 64bit: all updates provided by Microsoft must be downloaded and installed.
Windows 11 PRO, 64bit: all updates provided by Microsoft must be downloaded and installed.
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Download the software installation package under www.wincan.com\Downloads and double-click on the installation file ProTouch_SETUPProTouchSetup.exe to run the installation. Confirm all the steps given by the installation wizard hitting the button Next accordingly. Click on the corresponding desktop icon to run the application: the control monitor opens and shows the live video signal and 3 main control buttons located below:
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Above the videoscreen on the right hand side you will find the control icons of the battery status, the internet connection as well as a direct access to the most important commands (foto/video gallery, report preview etc.) listed in a standard menu.
Hitting the button Go To Dashboard opens the Home Screen that provides all basic commands/.
At first, you will be welcomed by the License activation popup, if the license was not activated yet. Please input a correct activation code and alias and then hit Activate. If the license is correct, a activation succesfull notification should appear.
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The first screen you will see is the Home Screen that provides all basic commands/functionalities you will need to work with ProTouch:
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Direct access to existing ProTouch projects which are ready to be uploaded to the WinCan cloud.
Re-open the most recent project.
Create a new project: you must at least enter a name and set the damage recording standard used in your country (PACP, WRC, WSA, NZPIM).
Manage the addresses of all project participants (i.e. customers, project managers and contractors)
Hit this button directly after the software installation to make sure all basic configurations have been done before you start your inspection job.
Quit the software
General Program Settings
Hitting the button Settings provides a list Above the main dashboard on the right-hand side you will find the control icons (1) of the battery status, the internet connection as well as a direct access (2) to the most important commands (foto/video gallery, report preview etc.) listed in a standard menu:
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General Program Settings
Hitting the button Settings provides a list of categories that contain configuration options you will have to check or uncheck accordingly. All the settings are organized in categories and sub-categories to make the navigation easier. The most important settings options are described below.
General > Options
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Make sure all options provided in this sub-category are checked. The option Virtual Keyboard Enabled is especially important, if ProTouch has been installed on a tablet computer.
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If the Live Video Start option is checked, then the first screen you will see after opening application will be the control monitor that shows the live video signal and 3 main control buttons located below:
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General > Language
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Use this sub-category to set the language of your ProTouch installation on the current computer (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish etc.).:
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General > Contacts
This sub-category allows to change default contractor that will be automatically selected when creating new project.
General > Themes
This sub-category allows to change application theme to Dark or Light theme.
Auto naming
Select a predefined combination for the section names which the software will enter automatically: . The entry NONE allows the user to type the section name manually:
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Once the camera is connected to a compatible video encoding device (i.e. Sensoray 2253, Dazzle DVD-Videorecorder or DFG/USB2pro etc.) and switched on the LiveVideo signal appears in the preview panel and the camera thus is ready for recording:
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Under Video source you can change whether you want to choose PTStreamer (camera connected) or UDP as a video source. |
Video > OSD devices
This sub-category provides a list of OSD-devices that are currently supported by ProTouch. Select the desired device and the corresponding COM-port which the device is connected to:
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Device Control
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These settings allows to turn one of the ProTouch Api Panels, if needed.
WinCan Web
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Enter your credentials for the usage of the cloud service WinCan WEB. Mind that you have to register your company and your web-account before under web.wincan.com.
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Updates
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Connect to the internet, select this category and hit the Update Check button in order to check whether a new version of ProTouch is available.
Licence:
Check the status of your ProTouch license.
Release Notes button allow to check the latest features and bug fixes. The tab Special allows to input special version code that will download given application version.
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Licence
Check the status of your ProTouch license. Here you will also find license related information like its number, ID, duration etc.
Help
In case of technical problems write an e-mail to support@wincan.com and type the corresponding ticket number (e.g. WGS-8459) that you will find in the automatic reply. As soon as someone from the technical service is available, he will contact you.
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Hitting the blue button Create is going to generate the corresponding project structure in the background and switches to the Project Start Screen which is shown below. Hitting the button Project data entry Overview then opens the interface for section and inspection data entry:
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Entering section and inspection data
First select the object category SECTIONS and create a new section pushing the green button Add New on the left part of the interface:
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Use the pen icon (1) to edit or correct existing data. Hitting the corresponding trash icon (2) on the other hand is going to delete sections, inspections or observations:
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Entering observations and defects
Click on the command button Enter Observations (3) to open the defect catalogue (4) the current project is based on:
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The observation entry interface shows the main chapters of the observation catalogue (1). You can manually navigate through the catalogue or use the search field (2) and enter the OP-Code or the beginning of the observation text - this will help you finding the desired observation more quickly:
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Start entering stepwise all observations or defects for the current section and confirm each observation using one of the blue buttons (5).Observation entry can 3). Parameters highlighted in red are always mandatory.
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In case you have chosen the wrong observation, simply get back to the main chapter view hitting the checkerboard icon (1a).
Observation entry can be done via an imported video clip or via a LiveVideo signal from a TV camera as a part of the mobile inspection equipment.
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1a: Import existing video clips.
1b: Run video recording directly from the inspection camera.
1c: Start and pause video playback.
1d: Stop or restart video playback.
Push the button Go Back to get back to the overview that will show you all sections and the list of observations per section inspection listed on the right part of the panel:
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When you enter a new observation afterwards, all open continuous defects will be listed inside a separate field (1) below the observation catalogue. Simply highlight the desired continuous defect, complete the observation picking the list item Finish (2) and finally confirm the observation entry (3):
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Control of text display
Observation entry based on a LiveVideo signal allows the user to control the text display if the corresponding text generator of the camera equipment is supported by ProTouch. Click on the main button OSD, then select the command button OSD -Panelpanel to get the most important text display control buttons shown below the video screen:
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The button Objects gets information like the current date, time, inclination and distance displayed at the bottom of the video screen: the software obtains these data directly from the camera equipment.
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ProTouch provides configuration modes to have object data from the camera (date, time, inclination, distance , pressure, temperature etc.) placed and displayed as close to the lower edge of the video screen as possible before you start recording a video clip. Push the button Objects (1) to open the object configuration panel.
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Hitting the button Show changes returns a preview of the object display. Click on Save if you agree with the result (2).
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If you want to customize your OSD panel you must have the expert mode activated: additional panels can then be selected via the list box Select panel: |
Open photo/video gallery
Selecting the standard menu command Photo/Video Gallery is going to list you all media files (i.e. photos and videos) which are available in the current project. So you can check at any time whether all sections have really been assigned their specific videoclips:
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You may also change the media filenames hitting the pencil icon or delete a media file via the trash symbol.
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Managing project
All projects you created on your mobile computer are saved per default into the folder C:\WinCan_Projects:
Get back to the Home Screen and hit the button Project Management to easily look for a specific project available on the list:
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The most important function buttons of this panel are briefly described below:
Enter a part of a project name into the search field and run the search process via the magnifier icon.
Update project list: invalid entries to deleted projects will be removed and the project list thus cleaned up.
Create a new project
Open an existing project from the list
Add a project to list, that you have previously copied into the folder C:\WinCan_Projects. Therefore you always must browse for the project database in the project sub-folder \DB an (e.g. Test_ProTouch_EN.db3).
Copy a project to a removable drive
Rename the selected project
Delete the project from the list
Managing addresses of project participants (contact)
The addresses of all project participants (clients, managers and contractors) will be saved in the address database C:\WinCan_Projects\Meta.db3 and are automatically available for all future projects on the current computer.
Get back to the Home Screen and hit the button Contact Management to easily look for a specific address available on the list:
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The most important function buttons of this panel are briefly described below:
1.) Enter a part of a contact name into the search field and run the search process via the magnifier icon.
2.) Click on this button to create a new address.
3.) Run the import of an existing address database saved as a ZIP file from another computer.
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4.) Run the export of an existing address database on the current computer and save it as a ZIP file.
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5.) Select and edit an address from the list. Use the input mask (contact details) on the right to modify the current contact or select a specific contractor address to assign the logo file via the corresponding text field (6). To delete the contact the user needs to select it from the list and click on the trash icon in contact details bar.
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Mind that you cannot restore contacts which have been deleted previously! |
Assigning existing addresses to a project
You can assign contacts to existing projects via the contact management: select the desired contact (1) and hit the button Append (2) to link it to the current project:
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If you like to assign a contact to a new project already before the project has been created, you will have to pick existing address data (2) provided by the correspond list fields for clients, managers or contractors (1) and confirm with the button Apply (3):
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Note: You can create new addresses only in the contact management hitting the button Create Contact. |
Forwarding project data
There are two possibilities to forward projects you created with the software ProTouch:
Copy the project on a removable drive, open it in WinCanVX on an office computer and upload it to the WinCan cloud.
Upload the project directly from your mobile equipment to the WinCan cloud.
1.) Check whether you have assigned all contacts (i.e. client, manager and contractor (with logo)) to the current project.
2.) Create a report preview via the standard menu (1) ans save the protocol as a PDF file hitting the corresponding button (3):
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3.) Check the status of your internet connection.
4.) Switch to the Home Screen, click on the button Settings and make sure you have entered a valid account to make full use of the cloud service WinCan-WEB.
5.) Get back to the Home Screen and click on button Project Management to see the list of all projects that are available on your local disk.
6.) Select the desired ProTouch project, hit the gear icon and choose the command Send to Cloud from the menu:
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Editing plots or maps with the drawing program
You can assign a plot either to your project or to a single section and draw the geografic location of the inspected objects accordingly. Open the project and click on the button Project data entry. Next click on the button Drawings (1) left to the Observation Entry button. Select the type Project drawing (2) in the pop-up panel to draw the location of all sections on one single page:
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The drawing module in ProTouch supports the formats JPG, PNG or PDF for the import of existing plots or maps. So you can draw the inspected sections on a background layer (1) and have them adjusted automatically to the corresponding scale:
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The button Shapes (2) provides curved and straight lines, arrows, circles, rectangles, polygones and a huge number of predefined symbols for access points (3) that you can select and draw directly on the plot.
Adding captions to drawing elements is done with the button Text (4) whereas all formatting commands can be found in the symbol bar (5) above the drawing area.
The drawing program is automatically saving any modification in small intervals. Hitting the diskette icon (6) will also save your work manually.
Expert mode (unavailable in official version)
To allow user to modify the default OSD settings the ProTouch license has to contain a feature called:
“ProTouch Expert”. It has to be called exactly this way to make it work. After a second check the application will add a new tab in the General part of Settings. This tab is called “MODE” and it allows the user to get into the Expert mode.
So far all the changed that the expert mode gives are visible in the OSD tab of Settings. The user in this mode is able to change all the settings connected with object configuration, common settings, masks settings, function and values assignment add create a favorite free texts. In this mode one more tab is available. It is called “Panels” and gives the possibility to specify additional OSD panels as well as giving them custom naming and elements. What is more – ProTouch in the Expert mode has got a possibility to connect into more than one OSD device. It could be for example hardware OSD IP08 and ProTouch Software OSD to display some additional elements that are not available from the first device. To specify which device is being controlled there is a need to specify the correct function assignment from the corresponding pop-up. It can be found on the “SETTINGS” tab of the OSD part in the Settings (Figure 30).
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As you can see on the Figure 30 “OSD functions” and “OSD objects” has been switched into “2” device. It means that the configurations and changes will be applied into the second device on the list visible on first page (Figure 31).
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This screen has been already described in the previous part of the document. It allows user to select OSD devices, add additional ones and specify the connection parameters and port. On the right hand side the user can see the video stream and control the changes done on the configuration.
Configuration of OSD objects
Another very useful window is “Object configuration” (Figure 32) it gives user a possibility to manipulate OSD objects visible on the screen.
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The position can be specified using a coordinates of the elements or by drag&drop. The second possibility needs to be enabled to be used. To do that the user needs to switch into “Drag on screen” mode and then select the object you want to displace directly via Drag and Drop. After that the blue rectangle will appear on the screen and the user will be able to manipulate elements position. What is needed to be done is to place the desired object on the specified location. The changes are automatically visible on the live video stream.
General settings
Next pop-up (Figure 33) is concerned on the most important settings of the OSD. It contains all the major values like: colors of objects, timing of visibility time, etc. those settings are global – which means that those values will be same for every connected device and the change is automatically sent to all of them at the same time.
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Masks settings
On this window the user can specify the OSD masks. This feature allows to display database values on a specified moment on the video. When the user adds an observation it will be displayed on the screen, when there will be a recording started the video will be filled with the section details, etc. There are 6 masks and every one of them can be added into the OSD Panel to be displayed on demand.
The masks pop-up (Figure 34) consists of couple main parts:
Mask selector,
Colors selector,
Values provider,
Video preview
The values provider is divided into two parts. The first allows the user to enter any single text from keyboard, and the second one allows to select a database field. If the user clicks on the “Select from DB” button the pop-up (Figure 35) is being opened.
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Function assignment
This pop-up (Figure 36) gives user a possibility to specify multidevice support details. On the left hand side there are OSD functions. All of them can be used by one of the connected devices. If the user specifies that some function should be used by second device – it will be. The number of the device corresponds with the order on the “DEVICE” tab of OSD settings.
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Value assignment
This pop-up gives user a possibility to specify multidevice support details. This one Is similar to the “function assignment” one but it is connected with the OSD values that are delivered into the application. Those could be: meter counter, inclination, or camera angles.
Free text favourites
This pop-up (Figure 37) allows user to specify the free texts. This functionality provides a possibility to show on the screen texts that has been provided by user. Settings entered in this screen can be then added into the OSD panel as a button (description provided in OSD Panels section) and shown on the video during inspection. This pop-up contains one box per text on the left hand side and a preview video that can be maximized to preview changes. Every box consists of coordinates, visibility time, colors and text itself. All those settings has to be specified to allow saving.
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Panels
Last option that is getting visible on Expert mode is “PANELS” tab (Figure 29). In this section there is a possibility to add, remove, name and manipulate with the OSD Panels visible on the inspection screen.
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To edit specified panel the user should click on its name. From this screen the user is able to add objects into the OSD Panel, remove them and change its position on the panel.
To add an object – Double click on its name.
To remove an object – Click on the corresponding “x” button.
To change its position press and hold the object and move it as soon as its color change.
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Measurements
Hitting the Measurements button will open sub-menu containig a range of measurement tools that can help measure certain values like clock position, bend angle, water level etc.
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Editing plots or maps with the drawing program
You can assign a plot either to your project or to a single section and draw the geografic location of the inspected objects accordingly. Open the project and click on the button Project data entry. Next click on the button Drawings (1) in the data entry interface and select the type Project drawing (2) in the pop-up panel to draw the location of all sections on one single page:
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The drawing module in ProTouch supports the formats JPG, PNG or PDF for the import of existing plots or maps. So you can draw the inspected sections on a added background layer or selected map tile (1) and have them adjusted automatically to the corresponding scale:
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The button Shapes (2) provides curved and straight lines, arrows, circles, rectangles, polygones and a huge number of predefined symbols for access points (3) that you can select and draw directly on the plot.
Adding captions to drawing elements is done with the button Text (4) whereas all formatting commands can be found in the symbol bar (5) above the drawing area.
The drawing program is automatically saving any modification in small intervals. Hitting the diskette icon (6) will also save your work manually.
Report preview
Button Report Preview will enter a screen where you can preview and print to file a PDF report of given project. On the left-hand side, you will find options which sections to include in the PDF report. After clicking Generate Report (1) button, a preview will be generated and possible to inspect using previous/next page arrows (3)(4). Save to PDF (2) button allows creating .pdf file inside projects files (C:\WinCan_Projects\[project_name]\Misc\Docu):
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Open photo/video gallery
Selecting the standard menu command Photo/Video Gallery is going to list you all media files (i.e. photos, videos and drawings) which are available in the current project. You can check at any time whether all sections have really been assigned their specific videoclips:
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You may also change the media filenames hitting the pencil icon or delete a media file via the trash symbol:
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You may also filter (1) and sort (2) gallery files:
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Managing projects
All projects you created on your mobile computer are saved per default into the folder C:\WinCan_Projects.
Get back to the Home Screen and hit the button Project Management to easily look for a specific project available on the list:
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The most important function buttons of this panel are briefly described below:
Enter a part of a project name into the search field and corresponding project will be shown on the list. The rest of projects will be filtered out.
Update project list: invalid entries to deleted projects will be removed and the project list thus cleaned up.
Create a new project.
Open an existing project from the list.
Add a project to list, that you have previously copied into the folder C:\WinCan_Projects. Therefore you always must browse for the project database in the project sub-folder \DB an (e.g. Test_ProTouch_EN.db3).
Copy a project to a removable drive.
Rename the selected project.
Delete the project from the list.
Managing addresses of project participants (contacts)
The addresses of all project participants (clients, managers and contractors) will be saved in the address database C:\WinCan_Projects\Meta.db3 and are automatically available for all future projects on the current computer.
Get back to the Home Screen and hit the button Contact Management to easily look for a specific address available on the list:
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The most important function buttons of this panel are briefly described below:
1. Enter a part of a contact name into the search field and corresponding contact will be shown on the list. The rest of contacts will be filtered out.
2. Click on this button to create a new address.
3. Run the import of an existing address database saved as a ZIP file from another computer.
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4. Run the export of an existing address database on the current computer and save it as a ZIP file.
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5. Select and edit an address from the list. Use the input mask (contact details) on the right to modify the current contact or select a specific contractor address to assign the logo file via the corresponding text field. 6. To delete the attached logo to the contact the user needs to select contact from the list and click on the trash icon on the right of the logo name under the Logo File field.
7. To delete the contact the user needs to select it from the list and click on the trash icon on the right of contact details bar.
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Mind that you cannot restore contacts which have been deleted previously! |
Assigning existing addresses to a project
You can assign contacts to existing projects via the contact management, remember that the project must be active. Select the desired contact (1) and hit the button Append (2) to link it to the current project:
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If you like to assign a contact to a new project already before the project has been created, you will have to pick existing address data (2) provided by the correspond list fields for clients, managers or contractors (1) and confirm with the button Apply (3):
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You can create new addresses only in the contact management hitting the button Create Contact. |
Forwarding project data
There are two possibilities to forward projects you created with the software ProTouch:
Copy the project on a removable drive, open it in WinCanVX on an office computer and upload it to the WinCan cloud.
Upload the project directly from your mobile equipment to the WinCan cloud.
1. Check whether you have assigned all contacts (i.e. client, manager and contractor (with logo)) to the current project.
2. Create a report preview via the standard menu (1) and save the protocol as a PDF file hitting the corresponding button (3):
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3. Check the status of your internet connection.
4. Switch to the Home Screen, click on the button Settings and make sure you have entered a valid account to make full use of the cloud service WinCan-WEB.
5. Get back to the Home Screen and click on button Project Management to see the list of all projects that are available on your local disk.
6. Select the desired ProTouch project, hit the gear icon and choose the command Send to Cloud from the menu:
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Photo/video file sharing
Another option to forward project data is to export (1) or share via e-mail (2) an individual gallery files. To do so, just use correct buttons that can be found on a gallery file preview inside the gallery screen:
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Clicking the up arrow icon will open a popup where you can choose the export location. Use given buttons on the left (1) to move around the different folders (i.e. Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Projects). Then, use Apply button and the file will be exported to choosen location:
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On the other hand, the share file button allows to share given file via link sent to e-mail. After clicking cloud icon a popup will appear, where you can input receiver e-mail address. Using Share button will start uploading the file and after that, a link allowing to download the file will be sent to the e-mail address.
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For the following two options to be available, you need to be logged to WinCan Web and choose a project from the list that is available on the web. |
Downloading data
When connected to WinCan Web, a project list will also contain projects available on the web. If the project is available on the web, it will be signaled by a highlighted cloud icon (1). If you want to download it for local use, just hit the gear icon and you can choose to download the project (2) from the cloud to your local device.
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Sharing project link
Another option is sharing the project via link sent to e-mail. To do so, choose the Share Link option (3). After that, a below popup will appear that allows you to specify the receiver's email, whether the project can be downloaded, and the expiration date for a link to the project. The Send button will send an e-mail with a link to a project uploaded on the Web that can be inspected and downloaded if the correct option is checked.
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