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Sharing data

Data packages – share exercises and master data

With data packages you put together exactly the data others need in NauticTools2 – for example the waypoints, reference ports and tasks of an exercise – and pass them on as a single file. Intended for instructors at universities and sailing schools, for groups sharing master data, and as a backup to transfer your own data between Windows and Android.

• Explorer-style selection
• .nautictools file
• Preview before import
• New versions
• Remove again
• Backup

What a data package can contain

• Waypoints
• Deviation tables
• Tides ATT: standard ports, secondary ports, seasonal changes and tidal curves
• Tides BSH: reference ports, secondary ports and My Sailing Area stations
• Saved inputs of all tools – i.e. ready-made tasks

Settings such as language, appearance or variation are not transferred.

How many packages? – planning the split

Before you create your first package, it is worth thinking briefly about how to split your material. Each package appears on the students' devices as a separate entry under “Installed data packages” and can be updated or removed on its own.

The variants can also be combined, e.g. one permanent package with the master data (waypoints, reference ports, deviation tables) plus separate packages for exam preparation or special tasks.

Creating a package

1. Open the export

   In Settings, choose the Data tab and tap Export data.

2. Describe the package

   Under Package, choose “New package”. The package name is what students see in the preview and under “Installed data packages” – for a package you will maintain for a long time, a general name such as “Navigation winter term 2026/27” or “Navigation – full syllabus” works well; for a single task, a specific one such as “Exercise 3 – radar plotting”. As the sender, e.g. your name and university or sailing school. The description is shown before import: this is the place for notes on the task and, in later versions, what has changed, e.g. “Version 3: exercise 7 added, deviation table corrected”.

3. Select the data

   Each type of data has its own block. A tick on the block selects everything in it; tapping the title expands it so each entry can be selected individually. “None” starts with an empty selection.

4. Export

   On Windows, NauticTools2 asks where to save the file, suggesting the Downloads folder. On Android, the share menu opens, e.g. for e-mail, WhatsApp or “Save to Files”.

5. Pass it on

   Distribute the file with the extension .nautictools by e-mail, learning platform (Moodle …), messenger or USB stick. The file name does not matter – name, sender and content are stored in the file itself.

Opening a package

1. Open the file

   On Windows, double-click the file; on Android, tap the attachment in your e-mail or messenger. If Android asks which app to use, choose “NauticTools2”, ideally “Always”. Alternatively: Settings → Data → Import data and select the file.

2. Check the preview

   NauticTools2 shows the package name, sender, date and description, and below them all the data included. Entries that already exist on the device are marked “present”. Simply deselect anything you do not want.

3. Import

   If entries already exist with different content, the app asks once whether to replace them. Identical entries are left untouched. Finally it shows what was added.

The package then appears under Settings → Data → Installed data packages.

Distributing a new version

To extend or correct an exercise, choose “New version of …” under Package when exporting. Name, sender, description and the previous selection are carried over and can be adjusted. On the recipient's device NauticTools2 recognises the update (“you have version 1, this file contains version 2”): unchanged entries are updated and entries no longer included are removed – your own changes are always kept.

This is also how teams work together: a colleague extends a package they received, exports it as a new version, and everyone else simply imports it.

Removing a package

Under Settings → Data → Installed data packages, every package has a “Remove” button. Only what the package brought along and has not been changed since is deleted. Entries that were on the device before and your own changes remain; the message shows how many entries were removed and how many were kept. Packages you created on the device yourself do not appear in this list – so “Remove” can never delete an instructor's own data.

Backup and changing devices

Choose “Backup” under Package: all data is selected automatically and the list of installed data packages is included. A backup is for safekeeping and for transferring all your data between your own devices, for example from your Windows PC to your phone and back. Restoring adds to the existing data, nothing is deleted, and the installed packages are listed individually again. The backup itself never appears as a package.

Good to know

• How to split your material into packages is described above under “How many packages?”.
• Keep the extension .nautictools so that double-click and “Open with” work.
• Older export files (.json) can still be read via “Import data”.
• There is no server and no cloud: a data package is a plain file that is only passed on when you send it yourself.

Related tools

• Tides ATT – standard and secondary ports that can be shared as a package
• All tools – their saved inputs can be distributed as exercises