Tally

A pipeline tally is the process of collecting details about each joint. This is usually done once the joints have been delivered to the job site.

Details recorded for each joint are stenciled onto the joint and typically include a joint number, heat number, length, size, and coating. Where the joint number provided by the manufacturer is not unique, an additional "unique" joint ID must be assigned to the pipe. This unique number is sometimes assigned in the office and will exist in the manifest, or it can be added in real time in the field during the tally process.

The tally is completed on a controller such as a TSC7 or tablet and there is no need to be connected to any survey equipment to do this. The position of a joint can also be recorded. You can use the controller's integrated GNSS to do this, or you can connect to an external GNSS receiver. If you have a GNSS position from a connected Trimble GNSS receiver than this position is always used in preference to the coarse position from the controller's GNSS.

The Pipelines software supports the creation of a completely new tally file, or you can use the pipe manufacturer’s manifest or mill data CSV file to assist with data collection. When using a manifest you can either simply check the manifest, adding a new unique ID if required and editing the joint details as necessary. Or if the manufacturer manifest data is likely to contain data errors and you want to be more rigorous in detecting those errors, you can create a new tally file where you enter the attributes for each joint and have the Pipelines software automatically compare them to the pipe manufacturer's manifest. This method enables you to quickly and easily locate data entry errors in both the tally file and the manifest file. The software warns if any details entered for a joint are different, and allows you to easily view the differences. Tap Add to confirm that the data entered in the tally file is correct, or tap Back to correct the data entered in the tally file. You can specify the manifest file to check the new tally against in the Pipeline options screen.

Use the following Pipeline tally menu options:

There is one tally file per Pipelines project. If you switch between Create tally and Check tally, you are editing the same tally file. The tally file should be stored in the Trimble Data\Common\Tally folder. The Tally folder is created the first time you run the Pipelines software.

The tally file is a CSV file. The first row in the file is the header, which contains the names of the fields. When a new unique ID field is added to the tally, it must be labeled in the header and there must be an empty column to store that information. You can use Microsoft Excel to create the new column before saving the CSV file and using it in Pipelines.

If required, you can edit the CSV file on the controller. However, you should always close the Pipelines software before using other software to edit any CSV files such as the tally or joint map file. When you run the Pipelines software, the CSV files are loaded into memory and if you edit the files outside the Pipelines software you risk losing any changes you have made.

In Pipeline options, you must select the Unique tally ID name from the header of the tally CSV file. This identifies the column in the tally file that the Pipelines software searches for when looking up the unique joint ID.

The manifest used in the field should contain the attribute information you want to store with your points. If the manifest contains more attributes than you need, you may wish to remove some columns before you use it in Pipelines. If you need to create a new file, you can create the headers in Microsoft Excel, or you can create the file on the controller the first time you create a tally record.

To make the tally entry form smarter in Create tally or Check tally, for example with drop‑down fields for selecting values and with required field settings, use a feature library FXL file that has attribute fields that match the column names in the tally file. These attribute fields should be associated with the feature code named Tally. Each time the Pipelines software builds the tally entry form the software searches the FXL file for a feature code named Tally and then locates attribute fields that match the tally column names. If an attribute exists in the FXL file that matches a field name, then the properties of the attribute from the FXL file are applied to the field, giving you, for example, a drop‑down list of available values and applying other properties such as whether the field is a required field.

The FXL file must have attribute names that match the column names in the tally file, although the matching is not case sensitive. In addition, when creating a list attribute in the Feature Definition Manager to define a drop-down field, you must ensure that the items defined in the list cover all the potential values to be used in the matching tally file column.

If there is no matching attribute name in the FXL file, then the field is a text field.

One master set of tally and joint map files should be maintained per pipeline project and shared among multiple crews. For more information, see To merge tally and joint map updates from the field.