ISOBUS Yield Data: What’s Inside the TASKDATA Folder, and Why TLG and BIN Files Matter

After harvest, you copy yield data off the monitor onto a USB stick. A folder called TASKDATA appears. Inside are files with names like TLG00001.xml and TLG00001.bin, and nothing on your computer will open them. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re looking at, or why your yield data won’t import, this article explains how ISOBUS yield data is structured and how the files fit together.

What is ISOBUS task data?

ISOBUS is the international standard, ISO 11783, that lets tractors, implements and monitors from different brands talk to each other. Part 10 of that standard covers how the job data is exchanged between farm software and the machine. You’ll often hear that format called ISOXML.

In practice it means yield monitors from different manufacturers can write their data in a common structure, so it can be read by software from other brands. The structure is a TASKDATA folder, usually delivered as a folder or a zip file, and it’s worth knowing what’s inside.

What’s in a TASKDATA folder?

A typical TASKDATA folder contains:

• TASKDATA.XML, the main task file
• Time log files, written as a pair: TLG00001.xml and TLG00001.bin
• Optionally, grid files such as GRD00001.bin, which are often used for prescriptions
• Optionally, a LINKLIST.XML (version 4 only), which maps internal IDs to external systems

The XML files carry the description. The BIN files carry the bulk data, such as thousands of GPS positions and sensor readings that would be far too large to store as plain text.

TASKDATA.XML: the job record

This is a readable text file that describes the work. It lists the farms, fields, customers, operators, products and crops, along with the machine, which the standard calls a device, and the parts of the machine, which it calls device elements. It also holds each task, which is one work order or job.

When a task has recorded data attached, it points to it by file name. For example, a task referring to TLG00001 tells the software to look for TLG00001.xml and TLG00001.bin sitting beside it.

TLG XML files: the template

The small XML file beside each BIN file is not a second copy of the job, and it contains no yield figures. It’s a template that describes what each row in the BIN file contains: a time, a GPS position and a list of data columns.

Each column names the type of measurement, identified by a standard code called a DDI, and the machine part that produced it, such as a yield sensor or a moisture sensor. Those machine parts are defined back in TASKDATA.XML, so the two files always depend on each other.

BIN files: the recorded data

The BIN file holds the actual recorded rows, packed together in a compact binary format. Each row follows the layout in the template. Because the values are stored as raw numbers, the BIN file can’t be read on its own, and without the BIN file the template is just a description with nothing in it.

That’s why the TLG XML and BIN files are always a pair, and why one without the other is useless.

How a yield map is built from these files

Software that reads ISOBUS yield data works through it in stages:

1. It finds the task in TASKDATA.XML, along with the field and the machine.
2. It follows the time log reference to the TLG XML template and the BIN file.
3. It reads each row’s GPS position, which anchors the value to a spot in the paddock.
4. It picks a data column, for example yield, using the DDI and machine part.
5. It looks up the unit and scaling for that column in the machine description.
6. It converts the raw number into a real value, using the scale and offset (display value = raw value × scale + offset).
7. It draws the points or cells as a map.

If any link in that chain is missing, the map either fails to build or shows values that don’t make sense.

How often is yield data recorded?

The task includes a logging rule that tells the monitor when to write a row. It can record at a set time interval, a set distance, when a value changes, or as a running total. That’s why two machines can produce yield files with very different point spacing from the same paddock, and both be correct.

Why ISOBUS yield data won’t open or import

The same few problems come up again and again:

• Only the TASKDATA.XML file was copied. The TLG XML and BIN files need to come with it, and the whole folder or zip should be opened, not a single file.
• A TLG file was separated from its partner, or one was renamed, so the link from the task is broken.
• The copy was interrupted, or the card was pulled too early.
• The folder structure was changed. Many converters and import tools need the TASKDATA folder with its files inside it, or they won’t process it.
• Different brands write different optional fields, so a valid file from one monitor can import differently in another program.

If you’ve run into these, the data is rarely lost. It’s usually a handoff problem between the monitor and the software.

How to open and use ISOBUS yield data

Keep the entire TASKDATA folder together, and copy it rather than moving it, so you always have the original. Farm management software that supports ISOXML will import the whole folder and let you choose which data columns to use, for example yield and moisture, and set the units. Converters also exist that turn ISOXML into shapefiles, which many mapping and analysis tools can use. Whichever route you take, work from a copy.

Frequently asked questions

What is a TLG file?

A TLG file is a time log, written as two files: an XML file describing the layout of each row, and a BIN file holding the recorded values. Together they hold the time, position and sensor readings for a job.

Can I open a BIN file on its own?

No. A BIN file needs its matching TLG XML template, and that template points back to the machine details in TASKDATA.XML. You need all three to read it properly.

What is ISOXML?

ISOXML is the common name for the task data format defined in ISO 11783 part 10. It lets farm software and machine monitors from different brands exchange fields, tasks and recorded data.

Why won’t my yield data import?

Most often a file is missing, renamed or separated from its partner, or the folder structure has been changed. Check that the full TASKDATA folder is intact first.

Getting farm data to land where it should

Farm data only helps when it reaches the system that needs it. If your yield files won’t import, or the data isn’t showing up in the right place, Agri-IT can help sort it out. Visit www.agri-it.com.au to get in touch.

Sources: ISO 11783-10, task controller and management information system data interchange; ISOXML.tools documentation on TASKDATA.XML, time logs and heatmaps.