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WIMS App for Android

Many people have said that it would be nice to have a standalone App that doesn't require an Internet connection to reliably record parameters. Security concerns are another reason why companies often prefer to handle important data internally.

There are also compromises on the screen presentation when designing web applications that are easier to overcome with a dedicated App.

The Android version can be installed from the Google Play Store.

Quick Start

When the program is launched, there is a standard disclaimer that the user needs to agree before proceeding. The App will then create its database and preload the Consumables table with some examples.

(In the unlikely event that the internal database is ever corrupted, it is likely that the user will not be able to proceed past this screen, even when "I Agree" is pressed. Therefore an additional button is provided to allow the user to proceed to the "Re-Initialise" Screen, which would allow the database to be deleted and re-created the next time the App is run)

The user is then taken to the Main Screen, and may then wish to access the Consumables table to input their own preferences, via the 3 Dots menu drop-down at top right.

Leaving that aside for now, the first thing to consider for most parameter records will be their identification. Press the Details icon

to access these:-

Set the "Parameter Type" and enter any other required details. Then press the back arrow at top left to return to the Main Screen.

When the welder starts welding, press the "Start" button. This will re-initialise the Record Time and set the stop-watch running.

Press the "Stop" button when welding ends. Note that you can re-start the Stop-Watch if you are recording a total weld length with several stop/starts. Restarting will not alter the Record Time, shown in blue. Every time you press "Stop", the Stop-Watch elapsed time is pasted into the "Arc Time" field.

Notice that when you press "Stop", the "Close Keyboard" button

changes to a "Reset" one. This doesn't alter the value in the "Arc Time" field.

(I added this close-keyboard button because I dislike scrolling containers, but hate faffing around looking for the standard close-keyboard icon at the bottom of the screen - it always seems too close to the bottom system buttons. Pressing any button will close the screen keyboard - this just ensures that there's always one you can use)

Whilst the Stop-Watch is running (or at any time), the user can fill in the other fields to enable the final calculations to be made with the "Calc All" button.

When all calculations and data input are complete, pressing the "New" button will create a new record.

If the "Pass" or "No" fields have a value in them, the new record will have these filled in. The "No" field will be incremented if it has a value, otherwise the "Pass" field will be if it has a number. If the "No" field is incrementing, then the user will need to manually alter the "Pass" field and change the "No" field back to 1 when recording the next weld "Pass". The "No" field is designed to represent individual electrodes, so it will often be left blank when recording over full weld lengths.

It will be noticed that the Consumables are selected from a drop-down that includes the diameter, rather than separating these variables. This is to make it easier to use the short-cut volumetric heat input estimates as it avoids input errors. These drop-down values are shown in exports along with all the relevant consumable data, including Welding Process, Consumable Name, Consumable Diameter. There is therefore no need to input Consumable, Diameter, and Process separately.

It's important to note that when the user presses the "New" record button, it is that record that defines the information that is copied to the new record. This will include:

Main Screen - "Side", "Weld Area", Incremented "Pass" and "No", "Position" "Consumable" drop-down value, "Input Speed", & "Polarity" drop-down value
Details Screen - "Parameter Type" drop-down value, "WPS/PQR/SWIS Reference", "Welder", "Project", but NOT "Notes"
Settings Screen - All values

The "Parameter Type", "Reference", and "Welder" are shown on the Main Screen in blue to alert the user if they need to change any of the details when creating new records.

GTAW/TIG (141) Reminder

High frequency (HF) starts on TIG machines can damage electronic equipment. When monitoring this process, do not allow your phone to contact the workpiece, workbench, welding machine/cables, or welder, either directly or through contact with you while you are holding it.

Differences from the Web Version

The Android version has a few deliberate changes to the website operation.

Firstly, all data is stored on the user's phone/tablet. There is no connection to the web, other than if the user opts to send the parameters via the Android "Share" feature.

Secondly, all parameter records are in a single table that can handle all unit types; the units are recorded along with all other inputs in the Parameters table. This allows the user to work in different units for some records, and then change back for new records at a later date.

The Settings Screen is accessed via the Cogs icon

The AE/HI (Arc Energy/Heat Input) selection is a special case. If you leave it on "derive", then these units will be based on the selected Energy and Length units. However, you can override this with the "kJ/mm" or "J/in" options.

The "WFS Threshold" value is used when the "Auto Convert WFS" toggle switch is on. It's not unusual for fabricators to use a range of wire feeders / welding sets, and therefore no guarantee that they will use the same wire feed speed settings. When this function is enabled the user can convert the WFS at the time of entry by pressing the enter key. So for example, if the WFS units were set to "m/min" and the user entered 400 and pressed the Enter key, this will be converted to 10.16 m/min as it is greater than the "WFS Threshold" of 39. Similarly if the default units are in "in/min" and the user inputs 9, pressing enter converts this to 354.3 because it was less than 39.

Use the back arrow icon at top left to return to the Main Screen.

Record Locking

On the Main Screen is a toggle switch called "Record Lock". This switch will appear On whenever the user moves to a previously saved record, but only if that record has an Arc Energy / Heat Input value saved. This is to prevent accidental modification of records when moving around.

When the Record-Locked toggle switch is On, the user is not prevented from making changes on-screen or carrying out calculations; the changes just won't be saved. This is intended behaviour because it allows temporary changing of calculated figure units, without changing the underlying record.

If the user does want to make changes to a record (including Details and Settings), they just need to switch this toggle Off before moving off the record.

Calculation Priority

It is often possible to calculate the Arc Energy and Heat Input in several ways when the user fills in all available fields.

The calculation method obeys the following priority (Highest First)

Calculation from "Input Energy" and "ROL"
Calculation from "Volts", "Amps", and "Input Spd"
Calculation from ""Volts", "Amps", "Time", and "ROL"
Estimation from "ROL" and "Stub Length" for SMAW Electrodes
Estimation from "Arc Time", "ROL", and WFS for GMAW/FCAW Wires, unless the user enters an "Input Spd" to overwrite the Travel Speed calculated from "Arc Time" and "ROL"

Note that "ROL" stands for Run-Out Length. This may be the whole weld length or a single bead, depending on the types of readings required.

The calculation or estimation method is shown on the Details screen, and is also exported with the parameter record.

Here is a screenshot, showing the result of a Wirefeed Speed vs Travel Speed estimate:-

As the Amps is missing in the above calculation, WIMS has estimated the Arc Energy and Heat Input from the wire feed speed (WFS) and the Speed derived from the Arc Time and ROL (weld length).

However, if you input the welding current (Amps), a full calculation can be performed, and this takes priority when the "Calc All" button is pressed again:-

Consumables

The Consumables Screen is accessed via the 3 Dots drop-down menu at top-right (note that depending on the size of your screen and magnification, this may appear alongside the Top Manu Bar icons)

The Drop-Down selector at the top of the screen can be used to move to any existing consumable record, or the Left and Right pointing buttons move to the Previous or Next record accordingly.

When the user presses the "New" record button, the new Consumable Name has to be unique, and should include the diameter for easy reference.

USA users may opt to input Arc "Efficiency" figures of 1.0, as this differentiation is of ISO origin, and rarely used there.

If volumetric methods may be used for electrodes, it is essential to input the correct "Diameter" and "Electrode Length" in mm.

The "Wire Factor" and "Wire Constant" values shown above are a good starting point for 1.2mm FCAW(136) wires of most steel and nickel types, but will need to be determined from PQR/Parameter Check records for other metals and Solid Wires or Metal-Cored Wires.

For more details on this, please refer to the infomation given on this website; in particular the PDF presentation at the top of this page list.

The "Priority" field is used to set an order for the consumables as they appear in drop-down lists. The example consumables are initialised with a priority of 100 so that the appear at the end of the list after the user's inputs.

Filtering Parameter Records

Pressing the filter icon

brings up a query dialog. If the query is successful, the icon turns red to show that the record set is being filtered. This means you can browse through just the matching records. Pressing the red filtered icon

again turns it back to the WIMS theme colour, and all records can continue being browsed.

This feature makes it easy to review the readings for a single PQR, all welder monitoring checks, or just one specific welder. By using the filters, the user can easily switch from one activity to another and back again.

Deleting Records

The SQLite database used by the WIMS App is capable of handling thousands of records, but the user will inevitably want to delete records that are no-longer required.

WIMS provides a single record or query-based filter that is used to delete multiple records in one operation. The "Delete Parameters" selection on the 3 Dots drop-down menu is used to access this.

As it would be easy to delete all records accidentally, delete operations are a 2-stage process; the "Confirm Delete" button only appears when you press the "This Record" button or the "Query" button. The query to be used, and the expected result are shown in the multiline text box.

(the actual SQL differs slightly to avoid SQL injection attacks using the "Reference" field but the number of records affected is derived from the same WHERE clause. I'm not sure why anyone would want to try and hack their own phone, but this is always good practice)

If the user presses the "This Record" button, the "Confirm Delete" button will appear and show that just the current record will be deleted. Press it to confirm.

The "Parameter Type" and "Reference" drop-downs can be used with the "Before Date" and "After Date" buttons in any combination. Just use the "Query" button to display the expected result. If you are certain that you want the deletion to occur, press the "Confirm Delete" button.

Carbon Equivalents and Preheat Calculations

This screen is accessed from the "Tools" menu and will perform the 3 main carbon-equivalent calculations; CEQ (IIW), CET, and Pcm.

Input the Steel Composition on the left and press the "Calc CE" button.

Then input the Thickness, Hydrogen Level, Heat Input, and press "Calc Preheat" to predict the minimum preheat using Method B from EN 1011-2 / ISO/TR 17671-2.

A couple of things to note:

If you already know the CET value, you can put the figure directly in the CET field. The light blue background indicates that it can be calculated or will take a direct input.
If you put a value in the chemical composition or the Thickness / Hydrogen / Heat Input fields that is outside the specified range of applicability, the background will turn pink to indicate a high value and light blue to indicate a low value. You can still perform a calculation but it's unsupported.
Similarly the CET field will change colour if it is too high or low to be supported.

When you press the "Calc Preheat" button, the 800-500 deg. C Cooling Time is also calculated. The actual "Preheat" field can be changed to carry out "What-If?" experiments.

If you fill in the H2 (Hydrogen) level, but omit the Thickness and/or Heat Input values, the App will assume that you want to determine the correct Method A diagram and report that along with the hydrogen scale as follows:-

Screen showing method A preheat figure selection

Colour-coded Fields

On the Preheat screen the Method B calculations are expecting input variables within certain ranges. If the input value falls outside the expected range, low values are indicated by the field background changing to pale blue and high values to pink as shown below for the carbon (C) and silicon (Si) fields:

Exporting Records

Xojo didn't make this easy, though I expect this procedure will improve with future versions.

To export Parameters, the WIMS App uses the built-in Android "Share" feature, or can download the data to the user's Downloads folder.. Exports are basically text in CSV or tab-delimited format.

The "TXT" and "TAB" options both produce tab-delimited text. CSV produces comma-separated values enclosed in double quotes (").

"Parameter Type", "Reference", "Before Date", and "After Date" can be used independently or in any combination - very similar to the delete screen. If you leave these alone, all parameter records will be shared.

Unlike the "Delete" screen, the user is not shown the result before the share; it's not critical as we're not deleting anything, though the result will be shown afterwards, even if you cancel.

1. When the "Download" button is pressed, the file is saved to the user's Downloads folder.

If "Add TimeStamp to Name" is selected, this will be "WIMS Export YYYYMMDD HHMMSS".<ext>

Note that if the TimeStamp is not used, the file is just called "WIMS Export.<ext>". It will be overwritten if it already exists, unlike the ShareIt option where it would typically be renamed to "WIMS Export(2).<ext>" etc.

Generally the user should leave the TimeStamp on, but there can be applications where it is more useful to overwrite.

2. When the "Share It" button is pressed, the standard Android Share feature is activated.

The types of share available will depend on the other applications installed on the user's device, but will always include copy to clipboard. However, the most obvious way to share the data is to copy it to the user's Google Drive. When you do this, it will always be shared as a UTF-8 standard text file.

The snag is that the default filename is always "Subject Here" - moderately useful if you are copying the data to Google's "Keep Notes", but not that useful otherwise - you don't even get a file extension. In Xojo the only way to change the default filename is to write a plug-in in Android Studio, which doesn't keep the code that tidy. I am fairly confident that the Xojo developers will sort this eventually, but for now I have implemented the following workaround:

The "Add Proposed Filename to Clipboard" toggle switch is recommended. When this is on, a subject is created called "WIMS Export".<ext>

If "Add TimeStamp to Name" is selected, this will be "WIMS Export YYYYMMDD HHMMSS".<ext>

<ext> will be the "Text to File Target" selected.

When the share to Google Drive dialog appears, press and hold "Subject Here" and select "Paste" to use the generated filename. It's a bit clumsy, but it becomes 2nd nature after a couple of exports, and it does retain flexibility in the Share options.

The options you select will be saved in your preferences - they aren't linked to parameter records.

Importing Records to LibreOffice Calc

LibreOffice Calc will open any of the 3 file extensions (*.TXT, *.TAB, and *.CSV). I recommend the TAB option. This has the benefit that you can associate this file type with LibreOffice Calc, and import the file just by double-clicking it. When you do so, you are greeted with this dialog:

As you can see, Calc automatically recognises the Android UTF-8 text decoding, tab separator, and clicking OK will produce a nicely formatted sheet like this:

Notice that the degree symbol in column L has been correctly recognised by default.

Behaviour with CSV files is similar, but any *.TXT file will be opened with LibreOffice Writer unless you open Calc first and open the file from there.

Importing Records to Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel will open any of the 3 file extensions (*.TXT, *.TAB, and *.CSV), but associating any of these extensions with Excel doesn't work quite as well as LibreOffice Calc.

The problem is that any text files opened by association or using File Explorer's "Open With..." option, will be opened with a Windows ANSI text encoding. This means that degree symbols or any other extended characters will not appear correctly:

It can be seen that column L has an extra character inserted before the degree symbol.

Note that there's nothing wrong with the (Record)DateTime in column B; the column width just needs to be increased.

There is a more robust way to import text files from within Excel however. Click on the Data tab in Excel, and then select "Get Data" | "From File" | From Text/CSV:

Select the WIMS Export.* file, and the following dialog appears:

If you selected a TAB or TXT file, the tab-delimiter will be correctly identified automatically, but if you selected a CSV file then you will need to select "Comma".

Pressing the "Load" button will then import the exported file as a data connection and convert it to an Excel table:

Now the degree symbol is understood correctly and the column widths are correct.

Importing into Google Sheets

Google Sheets will import any of the three extension files with little effort. However, you need to create a new blank spreadsheet first, and then use the "File" | Import" menu option:

It takes a little while to do the import, but the results are as expected:

Importing into Mac Numbers

For Apple Mac, the best way to import the data is to save as a tab-delimited TXT file. This can be opened directly with Apple Numbers:

Importing Consumables

In a typical fabrication shop, it would be very inconvenient for the consumables to have to be input on every individual device, particularly if there are several inspectors, or if the App is used by the welders themselves.

The shortcut methods require some analysis of the fabricator's weld procedure parameter data, and this makes it unrealistic to attempt to maintain the calculation constants within the WIMS development environment. If nothing else, there are the intellectual property rights, which most companies will want to retain within their organisation.

The WIMS app therefore allows companies to create tab-delimited text files that can be hosted via a secure URL. This can be on the internet or reside within a company intranet.

Under the tools menu, there is an option to save the current device consumables to a text file via the iOS share facility. The company welding engineer or coordinator can then host this file and use its URL to update individual inspectors' devices.

It's a 2-stage process; the user presses the Preview button to test the input and WIMS displays the result along with an analysis of whether the file looks suitable for import.

The Import button is only enabled if this is the case.

To enable testing of this feature, there are some additional consumable examples on the wims.org.uk site, and the URL is pre-filled.

However, once setup in a company, a successful import from another URL will set this up as the new default, making it easy for inspectors to update with any new consumables later.

Planned Improvements

Better export functions
Ability to import consumable settings (DONE in 1.04)
PREN calcs
High/Low acceptance criteria for welder monitoring
Cooling rate calculations - They are in v0.3 onwards, using Bayoumi method for carbon steels in the Preheat screen, but an additional screen is planned for other materials with a choice of calculation methods.

Revision History

1.0.5 1st January 2025

Fixed text description in the Reinitialise Screen when the user doesn't have a backup file available.
Added functionality to the Preheat Screen so that if the Heat Input and/or Thickness field are missing, a dialog is displaying indicating the correct Method A figure to use.

1.0.4 24th November 2024

Added option to backup the database to the user's Downloads folder. If the database is re-initialised, the App will try to restore an existing backup before creating new tables. It's also possible to copy this file to a Desktop computer and open it with a database management program that can open SQLite files. However, it should be noted that the file cannot be opened by WIMS on another device due to Android Scoped Storage constraints.
Added option to export the Consumables table. This is really intended for supervisors. To import the table, it has to be made available from a URL that can be located on the internet or a company intranet. The file is checked for valid headers and the right number of columns before allowing the import.
Moved a few routines around to separate device-specific and reusable code.
Note: if you're using a very old Android device, you may need to grant the App storage permissions in order to use the backup feature.

1.0.3 1st Public Release - Approved for Play Store

Moved logo to toolbar.
Improved visibility of the More icon (3 dots)
Added status messages to Consumables screen
Other small cosmetic changes intended to achieve compliance with Google Play Policies

1.0.2

Added status line so that users can easily see the result of using the database navigation controls in the main screen

1.0.1 Public Release

Update to version number only.

0.5 RC2

I managed to break 0.4RC1 for tablets by changing the default screen. Fixed in this version.
Modified the display slightly for the Settings screen.
User Request: Added search query for Parameters. The search routine is actually a filter, so when 1 or more records are matched, you can step through them using the First, Prev, Next, & Last record buttons.
Pressing the filter icon brings up a query dialog. If the query is successful, the icon turns red to show that the record set is being filtered. This means you can browse through just the matching records. Pressing the red filtered icon again turns it back to the WIMS theme colour and all records can continue being browsed.
Added a status line below the controls to show the current record Type / Reference / Welder
Sorted the Reference & Welder drop-down lists in all query screens.

0.4 RC1

Added 3 second splash screen in response to a user-suggestion. It does look pretty, but I gave the user the option of switching it off in the Tools screen (I like apps to open as quickly as possible)
Colour-coded the input fields to guide the user. Light grey fields are override values, eg. Input Speed and Input Energy. Light Yellow fields are calculated fields that are read-only. Light cyan fields normally receive calculations, but can be overwritten to test what-if scenarios, eg. on the Preheat screen.
Put range checking into the Preheat steel composition and other parameters to ensure they are within the specified ranges of applicability. If the user inputs a value that's too low, the field background will appear light blue. If the value is too high then it will appear light red (pink).
Added a button on the Share screen to download the TXT/TAB/CSV export file to the user's Downloads folder, instead of using the Android Share text routine.
Changed the Title font colour for readability.
Minor change to stopwatch behaviour when it hasn't been reset and a new record is created.
Added Hide Keyboard Toolbar Button to several screens
Changed order of main screen toolbar menu items so that "About WIMS" is at the bottom as per standard practice. (It was in the middle to prevent the Re-Initialise option from being accidentally pressed, but no longer necessary as this is now on the Tools screen)

0.3

Display: Improved small screen handling of Details screen (also means there's more room for notes on larger screens).
Accessibility: Altered the Theme and Accent colours to increase screen contrast. Will eventually redo this website to match the App colour scheme.
UI: Database controls in Consumables screen altered to look more like the Parameters DB controls.
UI: As the Consumables table requires use of the Save button when editing a record, a warning is shown on screen reminding the user to save the record before moving off it. (Note: as the consumables data is something that only requires updating occasionally, I made the design choice to do it this way, to avoid accidental changes when browsing the data).
Display: Consumables screen did not look good on small screens.
Improvement: 'Priority' field added to Consumables table, so that users can choose the order they appear in the drop-down lists.
Bug: Disclaimer screen allowed user to progress to main screen and use the App if the back arrow was used instead of the Close button - Fixed
UI Improvement: "Re-Initialise" database screen moved from Toolbar menu and onto a "Tools" Screen to avoid accidental access.
Preheat Calculations and Bayoumi Cooling Times screen added:

0.2 Closed Test Released

Parameter calculations with Details screen.
Consumables table with examples
Settings screen for preferred Units
Share screen to export text in tab-delimited or CSV format with querying.
Delete parameters screen with querying and result preview before commit.
About screen with suport email MailTo:, link to Author's LinkedIn profile, and link to (this) online manual.

Licence & Costs

The WIMS for Android App is free for individuals to use, including business use.

However, if companies wish to deploy the App as part of their quality system (eg. for regular recording of parameters by Welding Engineers, Inspectors, or Welders), or require a customised version, please contact the author using the email link within the App, or message me on LinkedIn.

Conditions of use remain as per the Disclaimer agreement included in the App.