You can change the value and description of an existing Spot data field in both the Android and iOS apps. The change is saved to the Spot’s shared information and is also visible to other users who have permission to view that Spot.
Requirements and editing limits
You need viewing and editing permissions for the Spot, as well as an internet connection to save changes. Viewing permission alone is not enough: the edit icon on the field row is only shown if you have editing permission. If the icon is missing, ask your organization’s admin user to check your permissions.
A disabled Spot cannot be handled using this mobile workflow. However, the statuses Inactive and Faulty do not, on their own, prevent you from editing a data field. Changing a field does not change the Spot’s status.
In this view, you edit the contents of a field for an individual Spot. This function does not change the Spot’s name, its general description, the field’s name or type, or the device card structure. If a field is missing, ask an admin user to check the Spot’s fields and the folder’s device card, if it has one. See also Editing a Spot’s information in the browser and Defining device card fields.
Open the field you want to edit
- Open the correct Spot in the mobile app. If needed, follow the instructions for Finding a Spot’s information.
- In the Spot’s information, select View Device Card.
- Find the data field you want to edit and tap the edit icon on the right-hand side of its row. The editor opens for that field.
- Check the Spot’s name and the field’s name before changing the information.
The value and description are separate pieces of information
The value is the field’s actual content, such as a serial number, a date, or a selected option. The description is text that supplements this value. For example, you can enter SN-12345 as the value of a serial number field and Checked against the device’s nameplate as its description.
On Android, a value you type is entered under Add value, and the value of a drop-down field is under Value. On iOS, the value heading is Value. The description heading is Description in both apps. This Description applies only to the selected field, not to the Spot’s general description. You can change just the value or just the description and leave the other unchanged.
Enter content appropriate for the field type
- Text and email address: type the content in the value input. Enter the description separately under Description.
- Number: enter a number without a unit or any other explanatory text. When typing, iOS accepts up to 10 digits in total, one decimal separator, and an optional minus sign at the beginning. You can use either a comma or a period as the decimal separator; for example, 12,5 is saved as 12.5. This conversion does not round the number. Android opens a phone keypad for number fields; the available characters depend on the keyboard.
- Date: tap the value and select a date from the date picker. On iOS, confirm your selection with the picker’s Done button. Check the displayed date before saving.
- Drop-down menu: tap the current value and select an option from the list that opens. You can narrow down the options using the list’s search field. Select an option defined for the field; you cannot add a new option from this view.
- Link: type the address, preferably in full, such as https://example.com. If the address is missing a protocol, the server adds http:// at the beginning. An invalid address format may prevent saving.
The value and description can each contain a maximum of 10,240 characters. The Android device card list displays up to 200 characters of the value; open the field’s editing view to check longer content.
Speech and text recognized using the camera
The microphone and text recognition icon next to a value or description you can type opens the options Record text with voice and Use camera to scan text. The actual value of a date or drop-down field is selected using a picker; its description can be supplemented with text.
The camera requires camera access permission. The speech function requires available speech recognition and the microphone permissions it needs. When using the camera function, photograph the text, crop the area to recognize, and check the recognition result. Accept the corrected text using the button in the bottom-right corner of the recognition window.
On Android, recognized text replaces the contents of the selected input. On iOS, text recognized from speech is appended to the existing text, while text recognized using the camera replaces the contents after you accept it. Always check the final value and description. Accepting text into an input does not yet save the Spot’s information.
Save or cancel
- Select Save in the top-right corner of the editing view.
- The app asks Are you sure you want to save? Confirm using OK on Android or OK on iOS. The information is only submitted for saving after you confirm.
- If you still want to correct the information, select Cancel on Android or CANCEL on iOS in the confirmation dialog. You return to editing.
To leave without saving, use the back arrow in the top-left corner of the editing view on Android, or the Cancel button in the top-left corner on iOS.
What happens when you clear the contents?
On Android, clearing a value or description you can type changes the content submitted to a dash -. On iOS, typed text and descriptions can be submitted empty. Address formatting also applies to links.
Clearing the contents does not remove the data field’s row, change its type, or restore an earlier value. The picker for date and drop-down fields does not offer a separate option to delete the field. To remove a field from the structure, use the browser administration function intended for that purpose.
Verify the save result
After a successful save, Android displays Spot saved! and updates the field list with the information returned by the server. iOS returns to the field list, but a save error can also close the editing view. The view closing alone therefore does not indicate that saving succeeded.
Leave the Spot’s information and reopen the same Spot so that its information is fetched from the server. Open View Device Card and check both the value and the description. Do not judge the result solely by the text shown in the editing view.
If the change is missing, check your internet connection, any error message, your editing permission, and the field’s contents. A drop-down value must be one of the allowed options, and neither the value nor the description may exceed the maximum length. Establish what content was saved before trying again.
Saved changes to the field are recorded in its history. You can check earlier values in the browser by following Checking a Spot data field’s value history. This is separate from the history of adding or removing device card fields.