Template Variables

Hi Bryan. Good input. We've been planning to add a feature to allow viewing/editing all variables for items within a takeoff.

Maybe in the Materials & Labor panel, we can have each item expandable to show the variables within it (for editing)? We've been discussing internally. Do you think if we show them here, it would solve what you're after. We're open to input for how to make it as easy as possible.

Heber, Yes, I think that would be what I am looking for, here is what I have built in planswift for the editing of the variables. When I choose that Item from my templates, then I can add this information before starting the takeoff, so that would be very similar to imputing info in the Materials & Labor area.

Heber, It would also be nice to be able to link a column in the reports tab to correlate with that particular variable. In PS, as long as the variable and column name is Exactly the same, then its available on the report and it can be visible/ hidden and then exported if needed.

Awesome. Thanks for the additional details.

For adding custom columns to reports, you can go to "Settings", then "Custom Properties" and add a custom property where the name perfectly matches the variable name. Then the column will be available in reports 🙂

Also, you can define "Custom Properties" that are dropdowns with "Value + Name". If the variable name perfectly matches the custom property, the variables will auto convert to dropdowns. You can enter a list of values available in the dropdown. The "Name" is what will be visible in the dropdown and the "Value" will be what it inserts into the formula for calculation. We will be building more videos & documentation about this.

We will be also adding ways to generate the Global Custom Properties on the fly without having to bounce back & forth between Settings and the Template/Takeoff Properties.

Heber, thank you for the information. Do you have a way to custom sort these items after they are made?, it seems like they are locked in the position or order that I made them. ie. I would like the "location" to be the first but that was not the first one I made.

Hi Bryan, good feature request. I'll discuss with the developers and we'll work on some solutions.

Do you expect the order of these properties could be set globally for all takeoffs, or do you want to be able to do a different sort order per template?

I think for my work flow I could make "the properties to be set globally for all" work for me now, but I do see the benefit of being able to sort them per template.