HQ Reports – HTML vs. PDF (why is my report empty?)

Created by Guy Smith, Modified on Tue, 22 Oct at 5:32 PM by Guy Smith

If you've tried to email your customer the "Report.html" file that's part of a SeeSnake inspection job on USB, you know it doesn't work – the report is empty. If you want to to know why I'll explain at the end of this article.

How to deliver reports electronically

Bring your inspection job into the HQ software app for Windows and export it as a PDF file. PDF has several advantages over HTML:

Contains images and graphics
Email-friendly
Universal format, opens on ANY phone, tablet, or computer
Looks great when printed
Doesn't contain video (files are too large – but there's an easy workaround)

PDF documents are small enough to send via email and they work well with cloud storage (Google Drive, One Drive, etc.) because you can also include the inspection video, jobsite photos, etc. This article shows how to use HQ with cloud storage: https://seescan.freshdesk.com/a/solutions/articles/150000076038?portalId=150000011908

Why is the "report.html file" empty when you email it to your customer?

HTML is a file format/document type used for web pages – and for inspection reports created on SeeSnake monitors. HTML has many advantages and one large disadvantage: HTML documents can ONLY store text – no images, videos, or graphics. These elements live outside the HTML document, and when you open a web page the HTML code tells your browser where to find the images, videos, etc. used on that page.

SeeSnake monitors store videos and images in the Media folder on the USB drive.

If "Report.html" and the media that go with it are on the same USB drive everything works because the web browser knows exactly where to find the images and videos
If you send the "Report.html" file to your customer the report will be empty because the thumb drive with all the videos and images is sitting on your desk – your customer's web browser can't access it so the report is empty