Overview

When working with collection links in IKE Office Pro, you may notice that some links appear greyed out on the photo measure page. This article explains what greyed-out collection links indicate and how to resolve them.

What are greyed-out collection links?

Greyed-out collection links are links that appear disabled in the IKE Office Pro interface. They indicate that the pole being referenced by the collection link is located outside of your current job.

When viewing these links on the photo measure page, they display in a disabled state because the system cannot fully access or reference the poles they point to, as those poles exist in a different job than the one you're currently working with.

Why do greyed-out collection links occur?

Common Scenario: Duplicating and Moving Poles

The most common cause of greyed-out collection links occurs when you:

1. Duplicate poles from one job to another job
2. Move the duplicated poles to work in a different job

When poles are duplicated and moved between jobs, the system retains the original collection link references. These links are not automatically updated to point to poles within the new job, so they continue referencing poles that now exist in the source job instead of the current job.

Result

After this process, the duplicated poles still reference their original linked poles, which are now outside the current job. This is why the collection links appear greyed out.

How to identify greyed-out collection links

On the Photo Measure Page

1. Open a pole in the photo measure interface
2. Look for collection links that appear faded or disabled
3. Compare them to active links, which appear bold or highlighted
4. Greyed-out links will be visually distinct from active connections

During Export

If you attempt to export a job with greyed-out collection links, you may see warnings such as:

"Linked collection is not part of the export. Creating a Stand-In pole instead"

or

"Span is invalid - The pole [ID] needs to be collection linked to [external pole ID] to enable span connectivity"

These warnings indicate that the system cannot resolve the collection links because the referenced poles are outside your current job.

How to resolve greyed-out collection links

Step 1: Identify which poles are linked

When you encounter a greyed-out collection link:

1. Note the pole ID with the greyed-out link
2. Identify which pole the link is trying to reference
3. Determine if that pole exists in the current job or in another job

Step 2: Verify poles are in different jobs

Check your IKE Office workspace to confirm:

• Is the referenced pole in the current job?
• Is the referenced pole in a different job?
• Does the referenced pole still exist in the original job?

Step 3: Update the collection links

You have two options depending on your workflow:

Option A: Link to poles within the current job

If you have the corresponding poles within your current job:

1. Open the pole with the greyed-out link
2. Navigate to the collection links section
3. Update the link to point to the correct pole within your current job
4. Save the changes

Option B: Re-link to external poles

If the referenced poles should remain in a different job:

1. Open the pole with the greyed-out link
2. Update the collection link with the correct external pole reference
3. Ensure the external pole ID is accurate
4. Save the changes

Step 4: Test the Export

After updating your collection links:

1. Attempt to export your job to PDF
2. Monitor for export warnings
3. Verify that "Span is invalid" and "Creating a Stand-In pole" warnings have decreased or been eliminated
4. If warnings persist, review additional collection links for similar issues

Prevention: Best Practices

To avoid greyed-out collection links in the future:

1. Update collection links after duplication - When you duplicate poles to a new job, review and update all collection links to reference poles within the new job
2. Verify links before export - Before exporting, check the photo measure page for any greyed-out links
3. Document external references - If you intentionally reference poles in other jobs, document which external job contains those poles
4. Use consistent job structure - Keep related poles and their collection links within the same job when possible

Example Resolution

Scenario: You duplicated poles from Job A to Job B. The poles in Job B now have greyed-out collection links pointing back to poles in Job A.

Resolution:

1. In Job B, open the pole with the greyed-out link
2. Note the pole ID it's trying to reference (e.g., Pole 33798)
3. Check if Pole 33798 exists in Job B
4. If it does, update the collection link to reference the Job B version
5. If it doesn't, either import that pole or remove the collection link
6. Attempt export again

After correcting these links, the greyed-out appearance should clear, and export warnings related to collection connectivity will resolve.

Related Articles

• Working with Collection Links in IKE Office
• Duplicating Poles Between Jobs