Setting Up a New Database for a Tagging Project – LDARtools

This article walks through the process of setting up a new, blank Chateau database for a tagging project. It covers creating the first seed tag a technician can copy from in the field, and the steps required before those field created tags become active components in the database. It is intended as a guide for new sites during onboarding.

Before You Start

A site typically requests a new database. New databases come standard with some default picklist values already populated as a starting point, but additional setup is required before field tagging can begin.

Phase 1: Creating the Seed Tag and Preparing the Field Team

Before a technician can begin adding tags out in the field, the database needs a seed tag: a tag placed in a tour that the technician can use as a copy source, via Copy to Add or Add Via Photo, to start adding new tags.

Step by Step

Create the LUnit in Resources / LUnit, if it does not already exist. See How to Add Location Units, Plants or Facilities.
Confirm the component type picklist has the right items. Type, SubType, and SubSubType picklists work a bit differently since they are a tiered hierarchy. See Managing Type, SubType, and SubSubType Picklists.
Confirm all picklists for properties have been set up. See Picklists for how to edit these.
Set up your streams. See How to Add a New Stream.
Create the first component in the component grid using Add Component from Scratch. This may be a sample or placeholder component; actual or corrected values can be entered once in the field.
Fill in the required fields and Save.
On the component grid, select the new component and add it to a tour containing just that component. See Build a Tour from the Component Grid.
Make sure the technician is registered in Resources / People and marked as a Suggester.
Go to Tours / Current Tours.
Assign that tour to the technician. See Assign Tours in this Current Tours article.
Go to Settings / Chateau Mobile Fields to design which properties display in Chateau Mobile for the technicians to populate for the tagging project and how. This is also where the fields designated as Primary Properties for the Add Via Photo feature are set up.
Set up Chateau Mobile for this database. See Installing and Updating Chateau Mobile.
On the mobile device, have the technician open Chateau Mobile, select their name from the technician list, and check out the tour.

Adding a Component via Copy to Add

Once the tour is checked out on the handheld, the technician can use Copy to Add to start adding new tags from the seed tag:

Find your seed component.
Tap the 3-dot icon to open the Action Menu, and select Copy to Add.
Select an appropriate Active Why.
Chateau Mobile copies the exact specs and adds an “x” behind the tag number. Enter a real tag number and edit any properties that do not match the new component.
Confirm by clicking Save in the top-right corner.
Repeat for every new component.

Adding Components via Add Via Photo

Add Via Photo is an alternative to Copy to Add, also used by the technician in the field once the tour is checked out. Video demo: Add Via Photo (4:45).

Enter the Quick View of any tag to access the 3-dot icon for the Action Menu. Tap it and select Add Via Photo.
Take a photo of the general vicinity where the batch of new components is located.
Fill in all property fields on the Primary Properties page, and tap Continue. These apply to all components added in the next steps. Note: Every property designated as a Primary Property in Settings / Chateau Mobile Fields is entered once here and applied to all components added from this photo. Location Description works this way too, with an additional per-component option — see step 6.
Select an appropriate tag numbering method:
Automatic: Chateau Mobile assigns tag numbers from dates and other elements. Useful as a placeholder, to be indexed later with a real tag number.
Series: Best for bulk-adding consecutive tags.
Manual: Enter tag numbers manually. Good when the workload is manageable and tag numbers are non-consecutive.
Turn on SubTag Logic to add connectors, associate them with parent valves, and automatically advance their tag numbers behind the decimal point.
If Series was selected, define the start and end tag numbers. Integers are required. Tap Create Components once defined.
In the photo, identify the valves, mark them, and enter their details individually. Tag numbers automatically advance from the first tag number. If Location Description is set up as a Primary Property, the value entered on the Primary Properties page is applied to every component in the photo. As you enter each component's details, Chateau Mobile displays a read-only Location Description field showing the shared value, and an Add to Location Description field beneath it. Text entered there is appended to the end of the shared value for that one component only — a shared value of 2nd Level Pipe Rack plus North End saves as 2nd Level Pipe Rack North End. Use this to make each component's location unique and more descriptive without retyping the full description. Leave it blank to keep the shared value as-is. The same field is available if you edit a component later from the Review New Components screen.
1. After adding valves, add other components between them, such as connectors.
Tap Review to view or edit the newly created components.
On the Review New Components screen, tap Save and Add New Photo to save these components and start another photo, or tap Save and Inspect to finalize and begin initial inspections.
If Save and Add New Photo was used, a New Components tour can be found later to perform initial inspections on them.

Phase 2: Getting Tags Into the Database as Active Components

Once components are created in the field, the technician checks in. As long as the technician is only a Suggester and not also an Approver, the new components land in the New Component Porch rather than going live immediately. This is by design: it gives someone the chance to QA/QC the components before they are processed live into the database.

Before processing components live from the New Component Porch, check the following:

Rules are set up.

This may already have been done during onboarding, but not always. The site can set up rules on their own or reach out to support for help. It is recommended they have their site permits on hand so they know which regulations apply.

Articles for setting up rules:

Check the Date Added (Suggested Date).

On the New Component Porch, this field displays as the Suggested Date. Some sites leave components on the porch for months before processing them. Sites should be aware that the Date Added on a component is set to the date it was created or uploaded to the database, even if it is not approved until months later, and this date cannot be changed once the component is approved and live. If a site wants the date to reflect the approval date instead, it must be changed while the component is still on the porch. Bulk edit can be used for this if needed.

DRAFT - TO COMPLETE: Phase 2 checklist is not yet complete. Additional items to check on the New Component Porch before processing components live still need to be gathered. Additional database setup needed for active components.