Replacing email, Drive and hard-disk delivery of survey data
Survey deliverables usually reach a client as an email attachment, a shared drive link or a disk in a courier bag, and none of the three records which version arrived, who opened it or whether anything was downloaded at all. GISweaver replaces that hand-off with a numbered release delivered to the client’s own organisation, where the delivery and the downloads are recorded on both sides.
What the usual hand-off leaves you unable to answer
- Which version they have. An attachment and a link carry a filename, so a correction becomes a second file with a similar name and the question is settled by searching a mailbox.
- Who has it. A link works for whoever holds the address, and an attachment works for whoever the mail was forwarded to.
- Whether they took it. Nothing in a mailbox or a courier docket records that the client opened the survey, or which of the files they actually pulled down.
- Whether what they hold is what you sent. Without a per-file checksum there is nothing to check a saved copy against, and a truncated download looks like a file.
What replaces it
- Upload the survey to a project. The file is identified by its leading bytes rather than by its name, checked against the validator for its format, and refused at intake if it is not one of the accepted formats.
- Publish it as a release: a numbered snapshot with a checksum, which never changes once published. A correction is a new release that supersedes it.
- Deliver that release to the client’s organisation, named by the code they read off their own settings page, for a period you choose — a year by default. A cooling period follows, a day by default, in which you can still withdraw.
- The client signs in to their own organisation, reviews the release in a browser and downloads the files. No link is forwarded and no password is shared.
What you can show afterwards
- Which files have been downloaded. The client sees their own file-by-file record; you see how many of the files have been taken, and not which person in their office took them.
- A receipt, written once the server has recorded a completed download of every file, naming both organisations, the release with its publication date and checksum, and every file with its size and SHA-256 checksum.
- Delivery and account activity in each organisation’s own records: when it was delivered, when it became available, when it was accepted or declined, when files were downloaded, when the window was extended.
What it is not, before you plan around it
- There is no guest link and no address that grants access on its own. The client needs a GISweaver organisation of their own — receiving is free and uses none of their storage — so a recipient who will not create one cannot be delivered to this way.
- Only some formats are accepted at all. GeoJSON and ASCII DXF become map layers a client can measure against; ZIP archives, uncompressed LAS files and PDF documents are kept for download and are not drawn on the map. Nothing else is accepted as a delivery today.
- Files are not scanned for malware during this pilot. They are identified by type and checked against their upload checksum, and a ZIP is also checked for structure.
- A delivery stays on one deployment. It does not cross from one regional cell to another, so both organisations have to be on the same one.
The step-by-step instructions
The documentation walks through sending a release to another organisation, checking a delivery afterwards and what to do when one needs attention, with the screens as they appear.
DocumentationQuestions firms ask about this
- Do our clients have to buy GISweaver to receive a survey?
- They need a GISweaver organisation of their own, which can be on the free plan. Receiving a delivery is refused on no plan and uses none of the receiving organisation’s storage; the files count against the sending firm’s.
- Can we send a link to somebody who has no account?
- No. A delivery is made to a named organisation and is read inside a session in that organisation, so there is nothing to forward and no address that opens the survey on its own.
- Which files can we deliver?
- GeoJSON and ASCII DXF become map layers. ZIP archives, uncompressed LAS files and PDF documents are accepted and kept for download without being drawn on the map. Nothing else is accepted as a delivery today.
- How long does the client keep access?
- For the period you set when you deliver — a year by default, up to two years at the outset — and you can extend it later at no cost. Downloading everything does not close it; it runs until it ends or you retire the files.
Ready to look at the product?
The plans page lists what each plan includes and what it costs. If you would rather ask a person first, the support page is the way to reach one.