2.2 Reviewing Element Data

To view the Quantities Info palette, click the menu item CI Tools > Quantities > Quantity Take-off Palette…

 

The palette is headed up in a similar way to ARCHICAD’s Info palette, showing the number of selected and editable elements. The adjacent Live Edit checkbox markedly changes how the palette is used:

• When Live Edit is on, it works in much the same was as ARCHICAD’s Info palette:

  • The contents update dynamically based on the current selection;

  • If no elements are selected but a tool is selected, the settings of that tool are displayed;

  • Editing immediately updates either the selected elements or the active tool settings;

  • If no tool or element is selected, it simply displays No selection and does nothing;

  • The element selection can be filtered to a subset matching selected traits;

  • The element selection can be extended to add elements matching selected traits.

• When Live Edit is off, the palette has a passive role in managing or transferring settings:

  • The content can only be changed by the palette controls – the selection has no effect;

  • Traits can be extracted from selected elements;

  • Traits can be selectively injected into elements;

  • Traits can be applied to any element as it is added to the project (irrespective of type).

The remainder of the palette is divided into 3 sections, each of which can be collapsed:

1. Quantities recipes

2. ARCHICAD properties

3. ARCHICAD classifications

All three panels largely work in the same way, so detailed explanation of each is not required. Common palette features are summarised in this section with a reference to more detailed instructions in following sections. Element traits are managed with the following palette buttons:

		Live Edit On	Live Edit Off
	Add a trait	Enabled only when an element or tool is selected. Prompts for one or more traits to be selected and immediately adds them to either the selected elements or tool. See section 2.3.1 for more detail	Prompts for one or more traits to be selected and adds them to the relevant palette list. Selected elements or tools are not affected. See section 2.3.4 for more detail
	Remove a trait	Enabled only when a trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately removes the selected traits from the selected elements or tool. See section 2.3.2 for more detail	Enabled only when a trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately removes the selected traits from the relevant palette list. Selected elements or tools are not affected
	Extract traits	n/a to this context	Enabled only when an element or tool is selected. Extracts all the relevant traits from the selected tool or elements and displays them in the list. Selected elements or tools are not affected. See sections 2.3.3 and 2.3.4 for more detail
	Inject traits	n/a to this context	Enabled only when an element or tool is selected. Injects all the relevant traits from the list into the selected tool or elements. If items are selected in the list, only those items are injected. See sections 2.3.3 and 2.3.4 for more detail
	Select matching	Enabled when at least one trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately selects elements in the current view with matching traits (adding to the current selection). See section 2.3.5 for more detail	n/a to this context
	Filter by traits	Enabled when at least one trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately filters selected elements so only those with matching traits remain selected. See section 2.3.6 for more detail	n/a to this context
	Manage recipes	Opens the Quantity Take-off Manager with the Recipes tab selected for quick access to editing recipes, measurement rules and calculations.
	Schedule quants	Opens the Bill of Quantities palette. If elements are selected, a schedule is created for the selection. Enables quick checks that elements are producing the expected quantities.

Note that the text style of listed traits may vary in certain circumstances. All items are typically displayed with a plain, black typeface, but the following alternatives may appear, sometimes in combination:

Red	Only relevant to recipes. A recipe name displayed in red denotes that the recipe was manually added to an element but subsequently deleted in the Quantity Take-off Manager. This warning may highlight the recipe should not have been deleted, in which case it can be restored in the Quantity Take-off Manager. If the recipe is redundant, it can be removed from the element. Note that deleted recipes have no effect on the measurement process if they remain attached to elements.
Italic	Only relevant to recipes. A recipe name is displayed in an italics when it has been automatically added to the element by a measurement rule. For example, a wall will display a recipe name in italics if it has a rule that it must be attached to all walls.
Blue	Only relevant when multiple elements are selected. A name is displayed in blue when it isn’t common to the entire selection, i.e. at least one element in the selection doesn’t have that trait. This also applies to individual property values, where the selected elements might share that property in common but with a different value. See section 2.4.2 for more detail.
Bold	Only relevant to properties. A property name will be displayed in bold when the property is present in multiple elements with differing values. The

Examples of these text styles can be seen in the illustration above. These styles are a valuable resource for auditing and editing project data because they highlight differences and potential problems – see section 2.3.7 for more detail.