Guide / Validation

Choosing the check template for a TMH 18 survey file

You pick the check template on the upload form. Learn what it controls, what a file type warning means, and how to check a file against the right template.

TMH18 Validator • 3 min read • Reviewed

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About 2 minutes. A narrated explainer; the same words are below.

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  1. 0:00Sending a survey file for checking is like choosing which exam paper to sit.
  2. 0:05Pick the wrong paper, and the result can look tidy while answering the wrong questions.
  3. 0:11A check template is a description of one type of survey file.
  4. 0:15It sets out the columns, the file format, and the checks to run.
  5. 0:20TMH 18 defines many file types, each with its own layout.
  6. 0:26So the template is how TMH18 Validator knows what to look for.
  7. 0:33Here is the rule. You choose the template.
  8. 0:35TMH18 Validator does not guess the file's type, so the result is only as relevant as your choice.
  9. 0:43The template decides which checks run. Results count those checks only: errors, warnings, passed and skipped.
  10. 0:51A skipped check did not run, so it is not a pass.
  11. 0:59On the upload page, find the field called Check template. Once you pick one, it shows the file type it expects.
  12. 1:07Compare that with your file. You can read every template first, under Check templates.
  13. 1:14Choose the template, then the file, then select Upload and validate.
  14. 1:19If the file type differs, you get a warning, not a refusal.
  15. 1:24Say your file is a dot CID roughness file, but you picked a deflection template that expects dot FWD.
  16. 1:33The checks still run, with a file type warning. Stop and look. You may have chosen the wrong template.
  17. 1:40But silence is not proof. A CSV file never raises that warning, and templates can share a file type.
  18. 1:47A version label is only a name. TMH18 Validator does not link it to TMH 18, version four.
  19. 1:55If you chose wrongly, Reupload will not help. It keeps the template already on the file.
  20. 2:01Send it again from Upload a file, and choose the right template.
  21. 2:07You choose the template, and it decides which checks run. A skipped check is not a pass.
  22. 2:13A mismatch warning is a prompt to look, and a version label is not the standard.
  23. 2:19Read the template before you upload.
  24. 2:23The full guide is at TMH18 dot com, slash articles.

Where do you choose the check template?

On the upload page, called "Send a file for validation", you will find a field named Check template. It starts with the prompt "Choose the rule set…". You must pick one before you send the file.

The choice is yours. TMH18 Validator does not look at the file and work out which survey type it holds. This is why a TMH 18 data validation run is only as relevant as the template you picked. A check template describes the columns, the file format and the checks for one type of survey file.

Once you select a template, the help text under the field shows the file type it expects, for example "Expected file type: .cid". Compare that with the file you are about to send. You can read every template in advance under Check templates.

  • Open Check templates and read the template for your survey type.
  • Note the expected file type shown under the field.
  • Pick the template before you choose the file.

What does the template decide?

The template decides which checks run on your file. The results are then counted for those checks only, and shown as Errors, Warnings, Passed and Skipped. A different template would run different checks on the same file.

A skipped check did not run, so it is not a pass. If a template skips many checks, the result tells you less than a clean total suggests. Read the Skipped count as part of the result, not as a footnote.

What happens if the file type does not match

Suppose you choose a template that expects one file type and send a file with a different extension. If the extension is one the upload accepts, the checks still run and nothing is refused. The file gets one extra Warning, with the reference UPLOAD-EXT-MISMATCH. A file with no extension, or one outside the accepted list, is refused.

A CSV file never triggers this warning. It is allowed with any template. Treat the warning as a prompt to stop and look. It may be harmless, or it may mean you picked the wrong template and the results describe the wrong checks. No warning does not prove you picked the right template: a CSV file never warns, and different templates can expect the same extension.

Do not read a version label as the standard

Templates carry a version label. That label is a name for the template. TMH18 Validator does not state that a label means the template implements COTO TMH 18, version 4 (headed 'Draft Version 4', October 2014).

If your contract names a version of the standard, read the template itself and compare it with the standard. Do not rely on the label alone.

What if you picked the wrong template?

Reupload cannot fix this. It replaces the file's data but keeps the check template already on the file. To check the file against the right template, send it again from Upload a file and choose the right Check template there.

Use Reupload only when the file itself was wrong. It validates the new file in a queue, and the new file becomes the file of record only when that analysis finishes. The old findings are deleted and rebuilt, so any exception you recorded earlier does not carry over.

Before you reupload, note which exceptions you recorded and why, so you can decide again on the new findings. Reupload is not available once a file is Certified or Rejected.

Put it into practice

Browse check templates

Sign-in and the relevant account permissions are required.

File preparation

Prepare your survey CSV for validation

Match the check template, protect your source values and check the exported text before uploading.

Validation

What errors, warnings and skipped checks mean

Read a validation result in context and decide whether to correct the source, investigate further or record an allowed exception.

Certification

From reviewed survey file to certificate

Understand the co-sign and final certification steps, who can act, and what to include in the handover.

Standard

TMH 18 data validation: from survey file to certificate

TMH 18 data validation explained: what version 4 of the standard defines, what TMH18 Validator accepts and checks, and what a certificate does and does not tell you.

File preparation

TMH 18 file format: semicolons, UTF-8 and empty fields

The TMH 18 file format has three record rules: UTF-8 text, a semicolon between fields and no missing fields. See how to follow them and what the check menu offers.

Standard

Why every TMH 18 record must fit inside the network kilometres

The TMH 18 network file sets each road's km range. See what the standard says about data outside it, and what TMH18 Validator does not confirm.

Certification

What a TMH18 Validator certificate tells the client

Road survey data certification here is a review decision plus a SHA-256 fingerprint of one file. See what it proves, what it does not, and how to check it.

Certification

When nobody in your team can issue the final certificate

Separation of duties for survey files: who may certify, the warnings TMH18 Validator shows early, and how to invite a second certifier.

Validation

When to record an exception on a finding, and what to write

Record exception clears a finding so a file can move on, but you cannot undo it. See who can use it, what reason to write, and why a Reupload or a new run of the checks drops every exception.

File preparation

Why an upload is refused before any checks run

A wrong file type, UTF-16 text, an empty file or a file over the size limit is refused before any checks run. Here is how to fix each.