Connected

Add points/vertices to a QTO 2010 Takeoff

QTO 2010 Add Vertices from Jason Pratt on Vimeo.

Click the outwards arrows next to the word "vimeo" to expand the view!

Got Link?

No, I'm not talking about Zelda.  I'm referring to the ability to link files to forms in Buzzsaw Professional.  We had a release a while back that included this great enhancement and I wanted to make sure everyone knew about it and what it offered. 

Previously you could attach a file to a form, but not link to a file that lived in the folder structure.  What this meant was that a copy of the file was attached to the form and it was a reflection of where that file was at that moment in time.  This works great for many situations, but others call for a more flexible option. This is where file linking comes in.

With links you have the option to associate a form to specific file.  Essentially the form will include a pointer that directs the user back to where the file lives in the folder structure.  This offers lots of advantages.  For one, the user can follow the link to the file and then use the Buzzsaw viewing and markup tools to redline it.  The redline is then saved in the normal Buzzsaw Markup tab.  Additionally the link can point to either the most current version or a specific version of the file.  This way if the file is updated with a new version, the link will automatically point to the new version. 

As you can see there are situations where both links and attachments have their advantages...and now you have both options!

 

Have you hidden a group yet?

If you haven't used the new hidden group feature to hide some of your groups, you might want to consider it.  This new group type allows you to create a group that can't be seen and therefor emailed by anyone other than an admin.  So for instance if you have an "all users" group to share standard documents with everyone you might wnat to consider hiding it.  This way, nobody can just decide to send an email to everyone on your site. 

You can read the details about this group and the other two group types here:

In a site level, private or hidden group the members can only be seen by site administrators and the owner of the group. In a project level private or hidden group the members can be seen by the site administrators, groups owners, and project administrators with access to that project. Private and hidden groups are distinguished from general groups by a different icon. A private or hidden group cannot be expanded unless you are the owner of the group or are a site administrator.

Open group — the group and its members can be seen by everyone who has access to the same projects.

Private group — the group can be seen by everyone. However the members of the group can only be seen by site administrators, the group owner, and project administrators associated with that project (if a project level group).

Hidden group — the group and its members cannot be seen by anyone except site administrators, the group owner, and project administrators associated with that project (if a project level group).

In a private or hidden group, members of the group cannot see each other's name or contact information. Private and hidden groups can be created by site administrators and project administrators (who have the privilege to create members and groups). Project administrators can edit and delete groups that have been defined for thier project. Group owners can edit and delete groups that they own. Site administrators can edit and delete all groups.

When used in conjunction with the deposit permission, a private or hidden group is useful if you want members to be able to update project files but you don't want them to see who else is updating documents. For example, if you are asking members to bid on a project, you want them to be able to add a document detailing their bid, but you don't want them to see who the other bidders are, or their contact information. Thus, creating a private or hidden group, used in conjunction with the deposit permission, allows you to do this. Private or hidden group members can add a document to the project, but they can't see other documents in the project nor can they see who the other members in the group are. Note that they can still see other project members, but not the other members of the private or hidden group.

When sending email through Buzzsaw, a private or hidden group is automatically placed in the BCC field. This prevents the names and email addresses from being exposed to other mail recipients. It is not recommended that you assign a form to a private or hidden group. Doing so exposes the names and email addresses of private or hidden group members in the routing tab of forms and in various dashboards. When a private or hidden group is added to a discussion only the group name is displayed in the participants field.

Limitations of Using Private and Hidden Groups

While a private or hidden group can be an effective way of maintaining confidentiality, there are limitations. The member names of a private or hidden group do appear in certain places across the site (such as a document's author). In order to maintain confidentiality within the private or hidden group, you must give each member deposit permission. In this way, when a document is added to a project, the private or hidden group members can not see the document or the author. The author's name can be seen by members who are not in the private or hidden group.

It is also recommended that you do not assign a form to a private or hidden group. Doing so exposes the names and email addresses of private or hidden group members in email notifications. Forms can only be assigned to hidden groups by administrators of the project containing the form log.

Converting 2D Construction Documents into a Building Information Model (BIM) for Construction

New BIM in Construction Series

We have been hard at work getting ready to tell a lifecycle BIM in Construction story where a Building Information Model (BIM) created by Architects can be leveraged by applications like Navisworks and QTO (Quantity Takeoff) to assist with pre-construction efforts.  A few of our construction customers have asked about easy ways to convert a 2D set of drawings into 3D BIM for use in construction.  These construction customers are working on building projects not created with BIM tools like Revit, but the advantages that BIM extends to pre-construction with estimating, presentations, clash detection, and general constructibility analysis seem to warrant spending the time and money required to create a construction model for themselves. 

Well of course there is no 'easy' button to do this so I've decided to set off on a journey to try and accomplish this for myself.  I'll document what I find here on Connected in the Tips & Tricks Category. 

Converting DWF sheets to DWG
The first challenge is to find a way to convert DWF drawing sheets to DWG format so we can import and trace the sheets with Revit Architecture .  Here's an excellent post from JTB World that explains one simple way to do this. 

Selecting Multiple Files in Buzzsaw

Sometimes Buzzsaw customers are frustrated by trying to select multiple files from the directory tree.  You'll quickly find that it's only one at a time from this area however you can select multiple files by:

• Selecting the folder the files are located in the directory tree
• Using your Ctrl or Shift key to select multiple files in the folder list on the right

Hope this helps, happy downloading!

What to do if your computer starts randomly playing Fur Elise

Seriously?

It's a Microsoft Support Knowledgebase article. Wow.

Everything I need to know, I learned in Tech Support

Here's a great take on life as a tech support agent.

Colibri

http://colibri.leetspeak.org/

 

This little utility has finally gotten to the point where I can recommend it.

 

Install it. Once it's running, press Control + Spacebar on your computer.

 

Now type the name of any application on your PC. Once it shows up, hit Enter to run it.

 

Handy!

Why do people love Apple?

Maybe things like this have something to do with it.

Would your company do this for its customers?

Setting Permissions in Buzzsaw

Buzzsaw has a very nice interface that allows project and site administrators to set user access permissions to different project levels.  Graphics are used to depict different permission levels.

Permission level definitions are explained in our Buzzsaw online help, simply select F1 while in the Permissions tab.

Setting Permssions