QEST Platform 5.8 Documentation
Applies to QESTLab, QESTField Forms

This article outlines some special considerations when reviewing and distributing forms that makes this process slightly different than reviewing native test reports and external test reports. It also outlines these differences as well as the process for forms review and distribution from QESTLab.

Forms in QESTLab

Forms in QESTLab behave in many ways like external and native test reports and should be included in the same report review filters such that they appear in the same workflows for users. Given the required user rights, it is possible to undertake the following actions on forms in QESTLab:

Opening, editing and saving changes
Changing distribution lists
Exporting
Printing
Signing
Publishing

Viewing a Form

When a form is opened in QESTLab it will be shown as a report similiar to external test reports (i.e. Microsoft Excel or Word based reports). All form fields will be disabled in the preview displayed in QESTLab. The form can be edited via the Open and Re-upload buttons if corrections are required. Forms will always appear as direct children of a work order but may be grouped under a sample type (see Creating New Forms for more details).

When a form is signed, the name of the signatory as well as the date that it was signed will be shown next to the signatory checkbox. It should be noted that the date shown here will be representative of the date on the device on which the form was signed. If the QESTField app was used to sign the form, the date signed will be taken from the device's date and time settings.

Editing

Open for Editing

If corrections are required to a form prior to signing, the form can be opened for editing by clicking the Open button, on the bottom right hand side, immediately below the form preview. Clicking the Open button will open the PDF directly on the same machine that QESTLab is running on, using the default PDF editor (usually Adobe Reader).

Changes can be made in this opened application and then saved, once saved the file can be closed.

Saving in Adobe Reader

QESTLab creates a temporary file for the form in the user's temporary directory and asks Adobe Reader to open this file. When the user saves, Adobe Reader will, by default, initiate the "Save As" action instead. If this occurs and the save action requests that a folder be selected prior to saving, click the first option presented and elect to save over the existing file (that is, do not change the presented file name).

The default Adobe Reader behavior described can be disabled by unchecking the option Enable Protected Mode at Startup through Edit → Preferences → Security (Enhanced). IT Administrators can roll-out this behavior company wide through group policy modification of the machine registry or through using a customized Adobe Reader installer with the option disabled when installing Adobe Reader on the appropriate machines. Customized installers can be put together to exclude certain defaults and features. See Adobe's documentation for more information.

A Note on Image Attachments

Any image attachments on forms are currently completed using the PDF editing software used to fill out the form, rather than through any functionality within the QEST Platform itself. When adding large images to a form, the app will resize those images on upload if they are larger than the specified target size and quality. This will result in less bandwidth being uses to sync the form to and from the server. Other than this resizing, QESTLab is unable to modify or change any images included in, or attached to forms. If changes do need to be made, they will need to be completed outside of QESTLab using third party products.

Re-upload

Once the temporary file has been modified and saved, the Re-upload () button can be clicked to upload the modified file back into the QEST Platform database. The right hand pane view will refresh to show the changes or corrections. Each page will have the page numbers updated automatically. Existing page numbers will be updated if they exist, are one contiguous piece of text (i.e. not in a field or separated into multiple text areas) and are of the form "Page X of Y", otherwise a new page number will be added to the footer. All images on the form will be resized if they exceed the specified target size and quality.

Deleting Pages

Individual pages can be previewed and deleted by clicking the Edit Pages button on the right hand side immediately below the form preview which will open the Edit Pages window. As with re-upload, page numbers will be updated once the window is completed and closed.

Refreshing Fields

When field values that are mapped to a form have been changed after a form has been created (e.g. the Work Date on a Work Order has been changed) the value on the form is not updated (e.g. the form will still display the old Work Date), until a refresh is triggered so that the new data is shown on the form. A Refresh fields button is now available when viewing a form in QESTLab and when shown, will appear to the left of the Re-upload button. After pressing the Refresh fields button, the form previewer will be reloaded so that any changes are immediately visible.

Export and Print

Much like a normal QESTLab report or external test report, forms can be exported to a flattened PDF from QESTLab and printed by using the appropriate toolbar buttons ( and respectively). The export and print actions will flatten the PDF prior to export but will not display a draft watermark if it is not signed.

When exporting, the user will need to select an appropriate folder to save the PDF file to. Exporting to PDF also requires the user to have the general "export" right.

Signing and Un-signing

The form can be signed or un-signed depending on its state, if the user has signatory rights for the form in question. The action of signing a form will:

Flatten the form and lock out the Open and Re-upload buttons so that changes cannot be made. The form will also be locked for users that open it in the QESTField app or web view after this point.
Create an archived test report instance for the signed form.
If the form has any signatory details mapped to its fields (such as date, name, title or signature image), these will be applied to the form at this time.
Update the issue number on the form if it is currently mapped on the form. The issue number can also be set manually in QESTLab, any change here will only be seen after signing the form.

These changes will be reflected in the form preview pane immediately after signing.

The action of un-signing a form will:

Enable the Open and Re-upload buttons, allowing changes to be made to the form. The form will also be editable for users that open it in the QESTField app or web view after this point.
Remove the mapped signatory details (if any).

Distribution Lists and Publishing

Distribution Lists

Distribution lists for forms function in exactly the same way as they do for native and external test reports. Contacts that exist on the project can be added to the distribution list for a form using the button at the bottom right hand pane. Changes to the distribution will cause a remapping which will produce a new version of the form, including an updated recipients list if recipients are mapped to the form.

Publishing

A form can be published via email or published to Construction Hive using the Publish Report () button in the toolbar when viewing a form. The availability of the Email or Portal (Construction Hive) options in the publish dialog will be dependent on the configuration of the QESTLab instance being used. The form will be sent as a read-only PDF.

If an un-signed form is published from QESTLab, a DRAFT watermark will be applied and overlaid on the PDF itself.

Products described on these pages, including but not limited to QESTLab®, QESTNet, QESTField, QEST Web App, Construction Hive, and associated products are Trademarks (™) of Spectra QEST Australia Pty Ltd and/or related companies.

The content of this page is confidential. Do not share, duplicate or distribute without permission.

QEST Platform 5.8 Documentation

Reviewing & Distributing Forms in the Lab

Contents