Capturing GPS Coordinates using your Mobile Device

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With GoCanvas, you can capture GPS coordinates in your form using your mobile device.

Adding a GPS Field to Your Form

First you have to add a field to your form in either of the Form Builders.

Legacy Builder

  1. Launch the Legacy Builder from the Forms page either by editing an existing form or choosing Web Form under the Create New drop down.
  2. Click to add or drag and drop a GPS field from the Field Library into the center workspace. LB_GPS Field.png

The Builder

  1. Launch the Builder from the Forms page either by editing an existing form or choosing Web Form under the Create New drop down.
  2. Add a GPS field from the Field Library into the center workspace using one of the three methods:
    1. Click to add;
    2. Drag and drop;
    3. Smart Fields recognition by selecting + Add Field and typing GPS.Builder_GPS Smart Field .gif

GPS Field Settings

When adding the GPS field to your form, there are a few settings which can be customized.

The Legacy Builder

After you've added your field, select the field to open the Field Settings in the left panel.

Field Settings More Field Settings
LB_GPS Field Settings.png
Hidden

You can set a GPS field to be "hidden" from the Legacy Builder. This allows the field to collect GPS data without displaying to the user. To learn more about Hidden GPS fields, visit the Help Center article, "Hide a GPS Field on Mobile in the Builder" or "Hide a GPS Field on Mobile in the Legacy Builder."

Display on PDF and Web

Once GPS location has been captured and uploaded, it can be seen in four different ways:

  • Small Map: Embedded map image that links to Google Maps for the captured location;
  • Large Map: Embedded map image that links to Google Maps for the captured location;
  • Lat/Long: Coordinates of the location;
  • Map Link.
Map Zoom
When a map is displayed within the browser or in PDF form, this field specifies how zoomed in the map will be on the captured location.
 
  • Farthest (state),
  • Farther,
  • Far,
  • Middle (city),
  • Close,
  • Closer (street),
  • Closest.
Accuracy(m)

Allows you to specify how accurate the GPS location must be in meters for the location. When acquiring a location from satellites, the first points reported by the hardware can often be inaccurate.

By choosing a focus on accuracy, GoCanvas will reject any reported location coordinates until the desired accuracy is met or until the timeout expires.

Timeout(ms)

Allows you to decide the maximum amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait for location coordinates. If it takes to long, and accuracy hasn't been met, the location will be reported.

You can change this by turning on Force Accuracy.

Force Accuracy
If you choose Force Accuracy, if the mobile application doesn't get the accurate location before timing out, no location will be captured.

The Builder

After you've added your field, select the gear icon associated with the field to open the Field Settings modal. The settings in the Legacy Builder are the same in the Builder.

Field Settings More Field Settings
Builder_GPS Field Settings.png

GPS Capture on Mobile

On the mobile device, the GPS field is seen as a button. Simply tap the button to capture the location.

Below are examples of what the button looks like on iOS before and after the location is captured.

Before Capture After Capture
iOS_GPS Field.png

 

You can preview the GPS capture on a map by clicking on the captured coordinates.

iOS_GPS Field_Map Preview.png

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