SketchMapp Round-Trips: Field Edits That Keep Their Identity From Android to Windows
When a drawing travels from the office to the field, the drawing itself is only part of the problem.
The harder requirement is preserving the identity of every object inside it.
A tank shell location, CML, nozzle, opening, NDE callout, or finding marker must remain recognizable after the project moves from Windows to Android, receives field edits, and returns to Windows for review. If those objects come back as disconnected shapes or newly recreated records, the inspection team has to reconcile the drawing manually.
That is the gap this SketchMapp round-trip update addresses.
As part of the API/NDE 2.0 release-note series, NDT Integrity has strengthened how SketchMapp objects travel between Windows and Android. Objects can be added, moved, resized, edited, and deleted in the field while retaining their identity through the return workflow.
The screenshots in this update show what that means in practice. SketchMapp produces structured inspection drawings for vessel heads, vessel shells, tank shells, and tank internals with the actual inspection elements your team has to manage: heads, shells, courses, nozzles, manways, CMLs, findings, tables, and inspection notes.
For tank inspection teams, the improvements extend into Tank SketchMapp, with stronger object tools, selection behavior, repeat placement, rotation, resizing, lock and unlock controls, line-weight settings, and persistence of drawing entities.
The practical result is straightforward: you can work on the actual inspection drawing in the field without turning the return trip into a redraw exercise.
The round trip is part of the inspection, not an export step
A typical inspection project does not stay on one computer.
You may create the project and establish the equipment drawing on Windows. A supervisor may assign specific scopes to technicians using Android devices. Field personnel then add readings, findings, photos, CMLs, and NDE callouts before returning the work for QC and reporting.
SketchMapp is designed around that sequence:
Windows project → Android assignment → field edits → return to Windows → QC and approval → final report
The drawing is not treated as a flat image that gets exported and reattached later. The drawing entities remain part of the inspection workflow.
That distinction matters when several people contribute to one project. A technician may add an inspection location on Android. Another person may review it on Windows. A supervisor may adjust the final report order or confirm the drawing during approval.
If each stage creates a new version of the same object, you end up with duplicate locations, conflicting labels, and office revisions that have to be checked against field notes. Stable object identity keeps the work connected to the project instead.
This is consistent with the broader API/NDE 2.0 model: perform the inspection once and use the same connected data through QC, approval, and reporting. You can read more about the complete workflow in NDT Integrity API/NDE 2.0: One Platform. One Project. One Source of Truth..
What stable identity changes in the field
Field conditions rarely allow you to work from a perfectly finished drawing.
You may discover that a CML needs to move after you confirm its physical location. You may need to resize a symbol so it is readable on the tablet. A finding may need to be edited after an additional observation. An object that was placed during planning may need to be removed because it does not exist on the asset.
The strengthened round-trip behavior supports those practical corrections.
Add
You can add drawing entities on Android as the inspection progresses. A new CML, opening, NDE callout, or finding marker remains connected to the drawing and project when the work returns to Windows.
Move
When the physical location does not match the initial layout, you can move the object in the field instead of writing a note for an office drafter to interpret later. The object remains the same entity after the position changes.
Resize
Object size can be adjusted to suit the drawing and field view. Resizing changes the presentation of the entity without requiring the team to recreate the underlying object.
Edit
Field edits stay attached to the object being edited. That keeps the drawing aligned with the inspection work instead of forcing the office team to compare a revised sketch with a separate set of notes.
Delete
If an object was placed in error or is no longer applicable, it can be deleted as part of the field workflow. Removing the object is more controlled than leaving an obsolete marker in the drawing and relying on a later email to explain why it should be ignored.
These controls do not remove the need for inspection judgment. They remove the need to guess which drawing object a field note refers to after the project returns to the office.
Tank SketchMapp improvements built around real drawing work
Tank drawings contain repeated and highly structured elements. Shell courses, roof features, floor areas, openings, CMLs, and NDE locations often need to be represented consistently across a project.
Tank SketchMapp improvements focus on the editing actions inspectors use repeatedly.
Repeat placement reduces repetitive setup
When similar objects must be placed across a tank drawing, repeat placement helps you continue adding the same type of entity without rebuilding the tool configuration each time.
This is useful for repeated CML layouts and recurring inspection markers. You can place the object, continue the placement workflow, and build the drawing with fewer interruptions.
The value is not simply fewer clicks. Repeat placement keeps a repeated inspection layout consistent, which makes the final drawing easier to review.
Object tools support direct editing
Tank SketchMapp now provides stronger object-tool behavior for selecting and modifying drawing entities. You can work with individual objects instead of treating the tank drawing as one uneditable illustration.
Selection behavior is especially important on a dense tank layout. When multiple markers are close together, you need to identify the intended entity, apply the edit, and continue without disturbing unrelated objects.
That matters on structured drawings like these. A vessel head sketch has to keep its nozzles, manways, CMLs, findings, and notes tied to the correct head location. A vessel shell or tank shell sketch has to preserve the identity of shell bands, courses, openings, and inspection points after field edits. A tank internal drawing has to return with the same markers, tables, and notes the technician worked on in the field, not a disconnected redraw.
The strengthened tools support that direct interaction through:
- Object selection and editing
- Move and resize controls
- Rotation
- Lock and unlock behavior
- Line-weight adjustments
- Improved object-tool handling
- More persistent drawing entities
These controls give you a practical way to maintain the drawing in the field while preserving the structure needed for Windows review and report generation.
Lock and unlock behavior protects completed work
Not every object should remain available for accidental editing.
Once a tank outline, reference feature, or completed layout has been checked, locking helps protect it while other field work continues. When a legitimate change is required, the object can be unlocked, edited, and returned to its controlled state.
This is a simple control, but it addresses a familiar field problem: a technician needs to update one part of a drawing without unintentionally moving or resizing another.
Lock and unlock behavior separates stable reference information from active inspection work. That makes the drawing easier to manage when several types of data occupy the same view.
Rotation, resizing, and line weight improve drawing clarity
A technical drawing has to remain readable at different zoom levels and on different screens.
Rotation helps align objects with the tank feature or inspection direction they represent. Resizing helps keep markers visible without changing their intended location. Line-weight controls help distinguish major equipment geometry from secondary callouts and inspection details.
These are presentation controls, but they directly support inspection communication. A drawing that accurately reflects the equipment but is difficult to read still creates review work.
With the updated Tank SketchMapp tools, you can adjust the drawing entity itself rather than sending a markup request back to the office. The field version and the returned Windows version remain connected to the same project structure.
Persistence keeps the drawing connected to reporting
The point of these structured visuals is not just cleaner presentation. It is stable object identity.
When a nozzle, manway, shell course reference, CML, or finding is created in SketchMapp, that object has to survive the trip from desktop setup to Android field work and back to Windows review without becoming a separate shape that someone has to interpret by hand.
A SketchMapp drawing is most useful when it remains connected to the rest of the inspection record.
The tank drawing may support CML management, thickness readings, findings, photos, NDE results, and API 653 reporting. If the drawing entities do not persist through the workflow, the report team has to reconstruct those relationships manually.
NDT Integrity’s inspection workflow connects field data, calculations, digital drawings, and reporting in one project. The SketchMapp module is built for inspector-level drawings of tanks, vessels, and piping without requiring a heavy CAD workflow.
That means the drawing can be created or updated where the work happens, while the returned project remains available for Windows-based QC, approvals, and professional report production.
It also supports a more controlled folder-based workflow. Project documentation can be placed in the project folder, field contributions can be returned to the central record, and the completed project can be used to produce the report without copying drawing data into a separate system.
The software supplies the connected inspection entities and automated workflow structure. It does not ask you to speculate about which version of a sketch is current or which field note belongs to which marker.
One drawing, carried through the inspection
The purpose of SketchMapp round-trip support is not to make the drawing look more sophisticated.
It is to keep the drawing useful after it leaves the office.
When objects retain their identity from Windows to Android and back again, you can make the corrections that real inspections require:
- Add an object when the field scope expands.
- Move a CML to its verified physical location.
- Resize a marker for clarity.
- Edit an object after confirming the inspection result.
- Delete an obsolete or incorrect entity.
- Repeat placements across a tank layout.
- Rotate and resize drawing components.
- Lock completed elements while active work continues.
- Adjust line weight and selection behavior for a readable result.
Those changes are part of the inspection record instead of disconnected markup.
That is the central improvement in this release: the field drawing remains an active, structured part of the project from assignment through report.
With API inspection workflows, SketchMapp, and the connected API/NDE 2.0 project model, NDT Integrity keeps the work aligned across Android and Windows.
You edit the drawing where the inspection happens. The project brings those edits back with their identity intact. The final report uses the same verified inspection data.
No redraw loop. No guessing which object changed. No separate sketch that has to be reconciled by hand.
Just a field-built drawing that remains connected to the inspection it represents.