http://forum.etakeoff.com/ eTakeoff community forums en-US Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:03:07 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://forum.etakeoff.com/search.php http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/multiple-select-selecting-a-subset-of-points-instead-of-all-points#post-364 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:11:11 +0000 Xiao Geng 364@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Hi,</p> <p>I have been playing around with the software, and would like to know if there is a way to select a subset of counts. For example, device A was counted 20 times. When I choose the "Select measurement or annotation", it highlights and selects all 20 markers assigned to device A. I can individually remove a marker by right clicking and deleting it. I was wondering if there is a way to click and drag a portion, (i.e. 12 markers) from the drawing and deleting all the selected markers only. This would save me the trouble of selecting 12 markers individually.</p> <p>I tried using multiple select, it also did not allow me to do this.</p> <p>Another benefit I can see is how I can select 12 device A, and add this count to Item A in the quantity worksheet window, select another 5 Device A, add it to Item B, and so on. This would give me a lot of room to break counts down much faster than if I had to create a new trace for each device A. </p> <p>Thanks! </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/copy-to-clipboard-shortcut-button-key#post-34 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:49:15 +0000 GRSDub 34@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>It would be nice if you added a shortcut button &amp; shorcut key for Copy To Clipboard. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/can-not-install-version-26-16#post-283 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:19:11 +0000 angelsanz 283@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>When I click to install the new version, it tell me that I have this version already installed,but I do not have it, I can not change the name of the drawings as it call to be. I got a message telling me that I have to unistall this version in order to re-install it but the bottom line is that I do not have the new version. I have the program in my house and I did it is working find but here in my office is not.<br /> Please respond.<br /> Thanks. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/excel-integration-separate-by-bid-code-per-sheet#post-360 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:47:04 +0000 Xiao Geng 360@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Currently there are three ways to transfer from eTakeOff to excel:<br /> 1) Click and Drag<br /> 2) eTakeOff internal code<br /> 3) Bid Code</p> <p>I would like to suggest a 4th, and is Bid Code per area. It would output exactly like 2, except that the output formula could be along the lines of '=eTkoMeasQty("Bid Code-Area01", "Count")', '=eTkoMeasQty("Bid Code-Area02", "Count")' etc.</p> <p>Where each individual count is separated by it's bid code and area. This way, we can use a script to find all non-zero Bid Codes, and manipulate their area suffix. </p> <p>Thank you. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/advanced-live-excel-link-with-multiple-sheets#post-357 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:44:44 +0000 Xiao Geng 357@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Hi, I am trying to make a spreadsheet that links with the measurement list window on a real time basis. Our spreadsheet will contain all of our traces. For example, in column A, row 1 will have Trace01, row 2 will have Trace02, and so on and so on. We use the formula =eTakeOff("BID CODE", "COUNT")</p> <p>Whenever the measurement list is updated, we can just press F9 in the excel spreadsheet, and the counts will automatically be updated. This works great, unless we have multiple drawings.</p> <p>Is there a way to separate the counts from the same bid code, but different drawing? For example, if the bid code is AA, and AA on sheet 1 is 4, and AA on sheet 2 is 7, we would like there to be a way to separate the two so that the output is something like:</p> <p>AA-Sheet1 = 4<br /> AA-Sheet2 = 7</p> <p>At the moment, all we get is 11. On the measurement window, we notice that the counts are separate, and not a sum.</p> <p>We also tried the other code, =eTakeOff("1.6", "Count"), but we simply do not know if there is a pattern to the internal "1.6" code used by eTakeOff.</p> <p>Thank you </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/setting-global-variables-within-a-drawing-sheet-or-detail-drawing-area#post-355 Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:48:53 +0000 SILVIA888 355@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>I often have to measure Condos and Hotels and have to constantly change the number of floors for each type of unit. Since i call so many different extensions within one page, it would be nice to be able to set a global variable that will set the number of floors to a predetermined value by drawing and will automatically change the number of floors for all extensions called within that drawing.</p> <p>ie. It will change the number of floors for Floors, base, walls, ceilings, borders, etc. without me having to retype number of floors in each extension. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/extensions#post-339 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:35:01 +0000 Caddy Shack Productions 339@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Recently, I described eTakeoff extensions as painting with a brush where you define not only the brush width/size/shape but you are able to define each bristle for size, color, texture, capability. This enables the user to “paint” a takeoff with one stroke. I have written close to 100 extensions in eTakeoff that range from very simple to very comprehensive and complicated. For me they are more than assemblies because they are capable of being dynamic through the use of drop down boxes within the extension. This allows changes to a takeoff on the fly, and afterwards, to change the output based on plan updates, editing requirements by the estimator and many other reasons. I have found extensions to be the most powerful feature of eTakeoff. Does anyone have questions regarding extensions? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/trace-description-display-for-active-trace#post-352 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:27:26 +0000 Hillcrest Contracting 352@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Currently the trace description displays while hovering the pointer over the desired trace. Would it be possible to display an active or selected trace description in the control panel along with the quantity information? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/drawing-link-link-back#post-349 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:35:30 +0000 Hillcrest Contracting 349@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Often when I am adding a drawing link from a plan view to a detail or linking sheets on a match line location, I add a link from location 1 to location 2 and then another linking back. Would it be possible to add a feature to the drawing link that automatically links back? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/sharing-a-takeoff#post-341 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:59:10 +0000 J.D. 341@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Want know how. I swear there was a way to share, looked again and couldn't find it. As I remember, you were to e-mail a link, but I never quite got it up and running. Several tries proved fruitless.</p> <p>Looking at this from a couple different angles. First, I do this beautiful color coded take-off and I want to put it in the estimating file so when/if it becomes our job. Project Management can access it, see what I have taken off and understand what I have in each line item of my proposal.</p> <p>While I know the idea is to sell more licenses for the product, I think it would be a valuable tool for a company to be able to see what estimating saw. A superintendent or even a project manager doesn't need much more than the viewer and its simple measuring tools when looking at a takeoff. Seeing what is and might not be in a scope of work would be very helpful. Printing it in color for the field guys would be even better. But the way things are going right now, it won't be long before guys in the field can access plans from their phone or pad. (Hint: Where the App for that?)</p> <p>It would also be a real asset to be able to share a takeoff with a sub or GC depending on your point of view. As a sub, I sometimes get a scope of work from the GC. Often it is vague and contains extranious stuff that sends me on a wild goose chase. If I could send them the marked up sheets where I found my scope pre bid, they maybe able to more quckly see if I am correct, forgot something or found something they didn't see. A GC who may not use e-Takeoff could still view my e-Takeoff.</p> <p>Finally, on a big bid, having extra eyes review your takeoff would be great. We have a new guy who struggles a bit. If his takeoff was available in the bid folder for me to access, I could probably fill in the blanks. Also, it might help to be able to divide up the work. Estimator 1 is responsible for x, y &amp; z, estimator 2 for a, b &amp; c. Togther they produce the comlete take off and hopefullly catch missed items by the other. Takeoff items could be tagged by the person doing the take-off. Would be a great teaching tool for less experienced estimators.</p> <p>O.K., so I turned this question into a wish list, but still interested in how can I share my work with others? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/standard-bid-codes#post-257 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:47:56 +0000 plamb 257@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Is it possible for Bid Codes to be project specific instead of standard across all projects? The problem I'm having is that I use the Bid Codes to seperate my take-off traces into areas. The problem comes in when I leave one project and go on to the next. When i change the bid codes on the next project in order to seperate the take-off into specific areas for the second project, that also affects the bid codes on the previous project. Therefore, when i go back to the first project for reference of what I did, its all jacked up because the areas (bid codes) are showing the areas (bid codes) for the second project. Is it possible to make a button asking if the user wants to standardize his bid codes across all project or make his bid codes specific to that particular project? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/time-delay#post-322 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:05:53 +0000 mike 322@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>more and more of the drawings that i download and put into etakeoff have a 15-30 second time delay between the time that i initiate an action until the time that it actually performs or finishes that action. this is very disconcerting and it makes taking off a job impossible. this problem isn't directly proportionate to file size. a file with 300 pages may work just fine whereas a program with only 20 pages will have this time delay. there is no real association of this problem to file size. i have been told i could take a multiple step procedure to put a sheet into a different pdf and then convert it to another pdf and then re-enter it in to the etakeoff program again. this is all very time consuming and confusing. i was also told i could parce (?) out each individual drawing and then re-enter it into my program. this is also unacceptable ! does anyone else have this problem? it is becoming more and more prevalent. fully 50% of the drawings I look at now have this problem and makes them unusable. this really defeats the purpose of etakeoff. i was told that the company that does the downloads for etakeoff is the problem and that they are dragging their heels in putting a fix into effect. they are aware of the problem they just haven't considered it to be much of a problem. maybe if their jobs were dependant upon production as is mine they would be more motivated to initiate a fix.</p> <p>has anyone searched fo a takeoff program that works without all of these bugs?<br /> if so and one was found please post it so that those of us whose jobs are dependant upon taking off projects from electronic drawings can continue to work. </p> <p>thanks,</p> <p>mike </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/converting-slow-pdfs-to-tiffs#post-323 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:19:06 +0000 mike 323@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>how do you do this?<br /> can you download a set of drawings and convert the whole set?<br /> please give detailed description.</p> <p>thanks,<br /> mike </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/spliting-take-offs#post-310 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:27:35 +0000 Dhoppe 310@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Often when doing a take off, we are later asked to break it out into pieces.. some projects have hundreds of points such as on paving. So it literally becomes quicker to delete the complete take off and make it in to separate areas. Auto Cad had a feature where you could drop a line and truncate anything to the left and right of the line. Making them two separate lines or 2 separate areas. Other times the slabs may be changed up where the breaks are made, during engineering.. and again, I have to start over just to make a minor change.</p> <p>I talked to Mary about this and showed here what I was looking for. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/copying-measurements-on-drawings-with-different-sizes#post-173 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:10:02 +0000 SILVIA888 173@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>I frequently receive updated drawings that are different in size to the originals. I need to be able to copy from old to new (even with different sizes) That would save me lots of time and grief because i wouldn't have to re-measure up to 100 measurements.</p> <p>It should also prompt me to enter the scale just to make sure there are no discrepancies.</p> <p>Thanks.</p> <p>Silvia </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/points#post-72 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:42:08 +0000 gshaffer@mitchellestimating 72@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>In the drop down box in the measurement window, points is one of the entries. I frequently measure walls that require an extra stud at the corners. Yet there is no way to select points as one of the available items in the drop down box in the formula bar on the quantity worksheet. Is there any way that this could be added so that I could use points as one of the selections when creating a formula for a wall? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/menu-lock-option#post-309 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:22:36 +0000 Dhoppe 309@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Can we get a feature to lock the menu once we have it set up the way we like it? To often when clicking, it drags the menu down and really become frustrating. It would be nice like Windows menu bar that you can right click and lock or unlock.</p> <p>Thanks<br /> Dan </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/copy-traces-to-another-trace#post-304 Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:26:54 +0000 dlewis@division7inc.com 304@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>I frequently trace a square footage area and then need to go back and trace the perimeter. One quick way that I have found to accomplish this is to use the Move command while holding the Control key to copy the measurement to a new location, then change the new copy to the trace that I want it to be. Then I move the new trace back to overlap the old one. It would be handy to actually be able to COPY the trace instead of Moving it. Then if you could also add the option to COPY to another Trace it would take out 7-8 mouse clicks. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/trace-import-from-excel#post-297 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:30:42 +0000 WattsCon 297@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>I have 10 to 12 thousand traces in my estimating system which are available in Excel. I would like to be able to import those traces into eTakeoff directly from Excel. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/subfolders-in-drawing-list#post-296 Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:33:44 +0000 plamb 296@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Is there a way to organize drawings in my drawing list into sub-folders? For example, If I wanted all my architectural drawings in a subfolder under "Architecturals" and all my civil drawings in a subfolder under "Civil". Also, is this Forum Topic Q&amp;A supposed to send me a notification once my posted question has been answered? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/how-do-i-delete-a-project-name-from-the-project-list#post-298 Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:44:56 +0000 spacebeagle 298@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>How do I delete a Project Name from the Project List if the underlying files are deleted from the hard drive? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/on-line-plan-rooms#post-294 Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:33:51 +0000 newmilldave 294@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Disappointing to see the low level of involvement with these forums, but here goes. I am "considering" the use of this software, but I can't find any resource that explains the limitations or availability of specific approved/acceptable plan services. My main question and I have emailed your support department, is whether or not this software will interface with the Builders Exchanges that use the "On-Line PlanRooms" that seem to be associated with the OnCenter software services.</p> <p>thanks </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/trace-menu-at-the-control-panel#post-291 Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:38:54 +0000 angelsanz 291@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>It will be good for the user that when you are using the trace list menu at the control panel, you avoid going the the new measurement icon at the top bar when need to change the measurement or create a new one, instead I rather that the program can regonize the new measuremen when you click directely on the trace that you want on the menu displayed in the control panel, that way you reduce the clicking time. Is this something you can do?<br /> Thanks. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/legend#post-285 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:16:04 +0000 John Sass 285@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Just purchased E takeoff, and realized that the Legend option is not available in the pro version. We would really like to have the legend function in the pro version. We don't need all of the other option in the premier version. Thanks </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/project-specific-traces#post-289 Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:59:09 +0000 John at eTakeoff 289@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Some users create special traces for a particular material on a project. They would like to re-use this trace on multiple measurements in that project. But they don't want to create a standard trace because the material is rarely used outside of the project.</p> <p>What if we added an option in Trace Selection Dialog and the Control Panel Trace Selection Control to include all custom traces created for the current project? In trace lists, they would be inserted alphabetically. In trace trees, there would be a "Project" branch.</p> <p>We could also use a different font for project traces to make them different. Should they be emphasized (bold font) or de-emphasized (lighter colored text)? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/multiples-extension-display-in-the-measurement-list#post-284 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:58:15 +0000 angelsanz 284@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>I will be a great enhancement if you could modify the way the measurement list display.<br /> I would like to see multiples extensions out of a single measurement for example:</p> <p>Bid code Description trace type base qty extension(area) Extension(Vol)<br /> CCurb Concrete Curb 125 LF 230 SF 5 CY</p> <p>This will avoid the time coping measurement and changing traces, also you will have all the information in one line item,or even better, you can display also in the measurement list all the quantity list as it does in the control panel so you have all the information and we choose with one to print or copy to excel and if we are doing a summary we will not have to returning to the drawing for information.</p> <p>I hope I explained my self. I looking forware for this enhancement..<br /> Thank you. </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/djvu-file-extensions#post-281 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:26:31 +0000 mwguerry 281@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>From time to time I download drawings and specifications with a file extension using DJVU. Is eTakeoff planning on adding this to the list of common file types currently recognized in eTakeoff? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/drawing-comparison#post-252 Tue, 17 May 2011 13:19:10 +0000 plamb 252@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>Drawing Comparison is great except when the drawings are loaded in with a different Orientation. For example, I had a revised drawing that I needed to compare to the original drawing, but I couldn't do it because the revised drawing was saved with a different orientation than the original drawing (90 degrees rotated). Why can't you rotate the revised drawings 90 degrees? Its wierd because there is already a "Clockwise rotation" button, but it doesn't rotate the new drawing like you'd expect. I expected to hit the button and rotate the new drawing clockwise 90 degrees, but apparently it only rotates the new drawing clockwise a fraction of a degree. Long story short, "make a 90 degree rotation for new drawings." </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/not-downloading-from-the-bluebook#post-272 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:47:52 +0000 normcarlson 272@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>When I go to download plans from thebluebook.com, a small window pops up and says "waiting on bluebook" but then it disappears and nothing happens. I checked my preferences and they are correct. I have version 2.05-66 and am running Windows 7.</p> <p>Anyone else having a problem? </p> http://forum.etakeoff.com/topic/not-downloading-from-the-bluebook-1#post-273 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:03:26 +0000 normcarlson 273@http://forum.etakeoff.com/ <p>I have been unable to download from The Bluebook. After selecting files, I click on view and a small window flashes that says "waiting on bluebook." But, nothing happens. My preferences are set correctly.</p> <p>I'm running version 2.05-66 on Windows 7. Haven't had this problem in the past, and can't figure out how to correct it. Any ideas? </p>