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Constructware Search Capabilities

First let me start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year!  I'm happy to share that searching in Constructware has been enhanced for 2009. 

You can now search content (text strings) in Word, PDF, Excel and DWF formatted files.

You can now search on:

·        Uploaded documents (Word, PDF, Excel, and .DWF)

·        Metadata

·        Multiple digits like 23,44,999

·        Enter wildcard to perform a search. For example, sea* will find season.

·        Boolean operators help define the relationships between words or groups of words.

Use            To

AND           Narrow search and retrieve records containing all of the words it separates

OR             Broaden search and retrieve records containing any of the words it separates

NEAR         Narrow a search by specifying a proximity  relationship of fewer than 10 words between search terms.

Check out the CW help menu: Reporting --> Search for more details.  Really helpful when your in a bind and need to find that needle in a haystack! 

Cost Item Update in Constructware

When using Cost Management in Constructware the basic unit that carries the currency amount is a Cost Item. In some instances Cost Items are created by the document creator and in other instances the Cost Item is said to be Auto Generated. Auto Generated Cost Items are created in specific cases.

Here are the details:

Constructware automatically creates Cost Items for certain scenarios:

• Tax and Other Charges: On POs, POCOs, and Invoices, Tax and Other Charges amounts create Cost Items.
• Markups: Because the Cost Item is the only mechanism for relating to the Budget, markups also are Cost Items. Thus, all direct and indirect cost, and all markups become Cost Items on documents. Examples of documents with markups are Cost Events, RCOs, and OCOs. Purchasing documents such as POs and Contracts do not have markups.
• Budget Adjustments: Transferring money between budget codes or making other adjustments creates Cost Items.
• Tracking Items: You can track receiving against Purchase Order Cost Items either through the Daily Reports module on the Daily Materials tab or through the PO Tracking module available through the Tracking button in the Purchase Order module. These partial receipt Cost Items are referred to as Tracking Items.
• Invoices: Cost Items added directly to Invoices are considered Auto-Generated Items because of the way Tracking Items are handled, as described previously.
• Pay Apps and Contractor Pay Apps: Creates Cost Items for Pay Apps and Contractor Pay Apps when the Allow Cost Item Creation option in Module Customization is enabled for the module, you have assigned a Budget Code to the SOV Heading Items, and you click Update.

A cost item is a cost item except that in certain instances, such as Auto Generated Cost Items, the whole Cost Item input screen is not visible. Field values were hidden given the use of the Cost Item. The recent rollout now allows Auto Generated Cost Items to be viewed with all fields exposed. To view an Auto Generated Cost Item go to the Cost Item Module. You will notice the Cost Item log contains a filter checkbox to show Auto-Generated Items. Select this checkbox to get the items to show. Select the desired item and select the Edit button on the toolbar. You won't be able to edit the item, but you can see the fields in a read only mode.

Advanced Tip:

The Cost Items Log system report has an option that allows the report to show Adjustments. In this case Adjustments are Budget Adjustments that have been created. When the adjustment is created it can have a text string associated with it. In this way certain budget adjustments can be isolated and reported on using this element of the report. As noted above, the Budget Adjustment is an Auto Generated Cost Item.

Scratch that - Constructware almost runs on Chrome

I tried File Director in Chrome...not so much. I did confirm that it's definitely not using IETab however. Pretty amazing that it was able to render the pages correctly even when Firefox doesn't!

Constructware on Chrome

Like every blogger worth his salt, I'm posting about Google Chrome today (Chrome is Google's new, reinvent-everything browser.)

I've downloaded it and wow is it fast. I was surprised to see that Constructware opens in Chrome flawlessly, probably due to the fact that it is using my IETab settings from Firefox? Not sure if that is what's happening, but anyway color me impressed.

(This post was created in Chrome also.)

Cost to Complete Report Printing

Constructware has the ability to track a project budget. The budget information is reported in the Cost to Complete (CTC) report. The report compares budget/cost and over/under for the project. The report can be exported to Microsoft Excel using the Export feature. The attached file is a macro that can be executed in conjunction with the CTC. The instructions for using the macro are contained in the first worksheet of the workbook. The macro enhances the formatting of the report by adding color, and provides additional print options. Autodesk does not support the macro, however you might find that it provides a little something extra.

Download CTCPrinting.xls

Are You Using Quick Add?

We're big fans of anything that makes using CPM tools easier. That's why I wanted to make sure all you Constructware users know about Quick Add. It went live in January and has been quietly reducing clicks and pop-ups for users since then, just like it was designed to do.

To use Quick Add, just look for it anywhere you are asked to choose a user to add to a document, such as an RFI or Change Order. It looks like this:

When you click it, a pop-up window appears right in place. Just type a name (or part of a name) and click "Add". Constructware will try to match the name and add it to your list, without any additional clicks on your part. Nice! (And if it can't find the match, it will bring up the filter screen so you can adjust your search further. Double nice!)

Let us know what you think about Quick Add in the comments, please. Sorry, no Quick Add available for Typepad comments.

New White Paper: How to Keep Your Data Secure

Our Ops team just put out a new white paper that should help you understand the level of seriousness with which we treat the security and availability of our customers' data on Constructware and Buzzsaw.

Enjoy! 

Download autodesk_cre_ops_sec_whitepaper.pdf

Firefox (IE Tab) and Constructware, not such a great fit afterall

A few months back there was a post highlighting how Constructware could be run inside of Firefox using a plug-in called IETab.  You can read the original post here.  I recently made the switch myself as I really like the way that Firefox treated the Constructware windows as tabs.  But last week I discovered a flaw that has made me switch back to Internet Explorer. 

If you are using Firefox with IETab you may experience issues trying to download files from the File Director.  You can view just fine, but downloads don't seem to work properly.  Additionally, you may have found that in the Submittals module there is no scroll bar to scroll to the right. 

So my recommendation is that you continue to use Internet Explorer when accessing Constructware. 

Constructware in Firefox

You're going to love this one.

Mike Gemmell and Steve Williams have been holding out on us. They both were rocking the IETab extension for Mozilla Firefox, which goes a step beyond our old friend IEView. IETab (from Taiwan!) lets you open IE-only sites (like Buzzsaw and Constructware) right inside your Firefox session. And from what I was able to gather, Mike and Steve have both been using this little goodie for some time.

Check it out below. Make sure you set up *.constructware.com* and *.buzzsaw.com* as site filters in the IETab options dialog. If I hadn't been in a demo with Mike, I never would have known about this. Exactly when were you planning on sharing this information with our loyal readers, guys?!?

Readers: you know who loves you.