Cases and messages on Android

Follow your cases from the field: see what is active, open a case and its files, and talk to the rest of the team about it.

On Android you can browse, search, create, edit and archive cases, and message on them. Changing the location of a case that already exists is done in the Highlighter web app.

Dashboard

The Dashboard is the first screen after signing in.

• Four stat cards — Total Cases, Ready, Processing and Completed. The counts cover the cases the app has loaded so far. A + after a number means there are more cases still to load, so the true figure is at least that.
• Recent Messages — the newest messages from any of your cases. View All opens the full message list.
• Cases — the first four cases in the Cases tab's order, under a heading that names it: Nearest Cases, Recent Cases or Most Important Cases. View All opens the Cases tab.

The Dashboard shows the same list of cases as the Cases tab. If you have searched or re-sorted there, the counts and cases here reflect that. The status filter does not change the Dashboard.

Tap the refresh control in the header to reload; beside it the header shows how long ago the cases were last updated. If the cases cannot be loaded, the screen shows Couldn't load dashboard and a Try Again button.

The Cases list

The Cases tab lists every case you have access to. Each row shows a thumbnail, the case title, its status and importance, its location and how far away it is, its date, and the newest message on it, when there is one. The case's reference is shown beside the date when it differs from the title.

• Search — typing in the search box searches on the server, so it matches cases that have not been loaded yet.
• Sort — the ranking is done by Highlighter across all your cases, not just the ones loaded so far.
  • Nearest — closest to where the device is now, with the distance on each row, such as 6.5 km away. A case is measured by its location, so cases with no location come last. This is the order the list opens in.
  • Most Recent — most recently discussed first.
  • Importance — most important first.
• Filter — narrows the list to a single status, or All. The statuses are Draft, Ready, Processing, Paused, Completed, Cancelled and Failed.
• Pull down to refresh. Scrolling to the end loads more cases.

If a refresh fails, the cases you already had stay on screen under the notice "Couldn't refresh. These cases are from earlier." If the next page fails to load, the list ends with "Couldn't load more cases. Try Again".

When a search or filter matches nothing, Clear Search and Filters resets both.

Nearest and location access

Nearest needs the device's position. The first time you open the Cases tab, Android asks whether Highlighter may use this device's location. While the app works out where the device is, the sort control shows a spinner.

If you refuse, or no position can be found, the list falls back to Most Recent. When you chose Nearest yourself, the app also says why: "Nearest needs this device's location." or "Couldn't find this device's position." The app only reads the location while it is open; it does not track the device in the background.

Swiping a case

• Swipe a row right to edit the case. See Editing a case.
• Swipe a row left to archive it. Archiving sets the case to Cancelled in Highlighter, and the app says Case archived. A case that is already Cancelled only swipes right; to bring it back, edit it and change its status.

TalkBack offers Edit and Archive as actions on the row.

Creating a case

Tap the + beside the Cases heading, or Create Case when you have no cases yet. The Create New Case form asks for:

• Case Title — required.
• Description — optional.
• Workflow Order — required. Pick a workflow, then one of its orders. The form remembers the last order you used, so the next case starts with it.
• Location — optional. This is the entity the case is about. Search for it, choose No location, or tap New location to create one. It cannot be changed after the case is created.
• Importance — Very Low, Low, Medium, High or Critical. Starts at Low.
• Status — Draft, Ready, Processing, Paused, Completed, Cancelled or Failed. Starts at Draft.

Create Case is enabled once the title and workflow order are filled in. When the case is saved the form closes and the app says Case created. If Highlighter refuses it, the form stays open and shows why.

Creating a location

New location opens a New Location form:

• Name — required, for example Shed 14. A name has to be unique within its object class.
• Object Class — opens a searchable list of your account's object classes, with the current choice ticked. It starts on your account's default class, when it has one. No class is allowed, but the web app's class filters will not find the location.

Tap Create Location. The new location is created in Highlighter straight away and chosen for the case. It has no coordinates, so the case does not appear on the map or show a distance.

Closing the form

If you have filled in or changed anything, closing the form — with Close, the Back gesture or a keyboard's Escape key — asks Discard this case? (or Discard changes? when editing) first. Keep Editing returns to the form; Discard throws away what you entered.

Editing a case

Swipe the case right on the Cases list, or open it, tap the ⋮ menu in its header and choose Edit Case. The Edit Case form changes the title, description, importance and status. The location is shown but cannot be changed.

Tap Save Changes. If nothing was changed, the form just closes. Otherwise the app says Case saved, or keeps the form open and shows why the change was refused. If the refusal arrives after you have closed the form, the app shows Case not saved with the reason.

Inside a case

Tapping a case opens it. The header carries the case title and a Share button, which hands a text summary of the case — reference, status, location and file counts — to another app. Below it are four tabs. A case reopens on the tab you last left it on.

Overview

Case info — the case's location and its coordinates, when it has one, and its importance.

Summary — the number of data points on the case (its attached files) and the number of devices those files came from.

Messages

The conversation on the case. See Case messages below.

Data

Every file attached to the case; the tab's label carries the count. Each row shows where and when the file was captured.

Tapping a row opens the data point screen:

• A preview of the photo, which you can pinch to zoom.
• Its Location, when it was Captured, and the Device it came from. A detail the file does not carry reads Not recorded.
• Open Original hands the full file to another app on the device. If none can open it, the app says so.
• Share hands a text summary of the data point to another app.

Map

The case's location and its files that carry coordinates, on a map with Map and Satellite styles. See Map and locations on Android.

Case messages

Open a case and choose the Messages tab. Messages appear as a conversation, oldest first, your own on one side and everyone else's on the other.

Only the most recent messages are loaded. When a case has older ones, the conversation starts with Showing the most recent messages. A case with no conversation yet reads No messages yet.

To add a message, type into the Message field at the bottom and tap the send arrow. The message is posted to Highlighter, so it is visible to everyone else on the case — on the web as well as on mobile. Pull down to refresh the conversation.

A message you have started typing is kept if you switch tabs or leave the case, and is waiting when you open that case again.

If the conversation cannot be loaded, the tab shows the reason and a Try Again button.

All messages

View All beside Recent Messages on the Dashboard opens the Messages list: messages from every case you have access to, newest first, each row naming the case it belongs to.

• Tap a row to open that case with its Messages tab selected. Back returns to the list with your search still in place.
• Search matches message text, author and case name. It searches the messages loaded so far, so clear the search and scroll to load older ones.
• Scrolling to the end loads older messages.
• If a refresh fails, the messages you already had stay on screen under "Couldn't refresh. These messages are from earlier."

The Dashboard refreshes Recent Messages every time you return to it.