Detect New Symbol

When to use it

Auto Count Symbol is the tool you will reach for most. You outline one copy of a symbol on the drawing and ZeroCount finds every other copy, puts a marker on each, and files them in a new Detection group. It works on every drawing type: on a vector PDF the search reads the drawing's geometry and finishes almost instantly; on a scanned or image drawing the standard detector runs on the server and takes a few seconds.

The same tool appears as Detect New Symbol on every Detection group's menu, where it adds results to that group instead of creating a new one. See Adding to an existing group.

Where it is

Open New Takeoff in the workspace header. Under Takeoff, choose Auto Count Symbol , or press ⌥+S (OPTION+S on a Mac).

The Options section at the top of the same menu controls how the tool behaves:

Counting a symbol

1. 1

   Zoom in until the symbol is clear. Symbols that are only a few pixels across are hard to outline accurately.

2. 2

   Choose New Takeoff › Auto Count Symbol. The cursor becomes a crosshair and the header shows Current Tool: detection.

3. 3

   With Box selected, drag a rectangle around one copy of the symbol. Include its own label if it has one (a letter, a code) and leave out anything that is not part of the device.

4. 4

   With Polygon selected, click each corner in turn and right-click to close the shape.

5. 5

   Release. ZeroCount searches the drawing and a new group named Group N appears at the top of the sidebar.

The live preview on vector drawings

On a vector drawing, matching copies are highlighted with green dashed rectangles while you are still dragging, and a chip reading ≈ N matches follows the cursor. Use it to check your box before you release: if the count drops to one, the box has caught something that only this copy has; if it jumps far too high, the box is missing the mark that makes this symbol different from its neighbours. The final count after release can differ by one or two from the preview, because the real search re-runs on the exact ink inside the box.

What you see afterwards

• A loading overlay names the engine at work: Searching vector data... or Searching image data....
• On a vector drawing a toast reads Symbol search complete — "Found N instance(s) on the drawing (exact match)."
• The new group opens in the sidebar with one thumbnail per detection, sorted by match score. The copy you outlined is always included with a score of 1.00.
• Every marker box covers the symbol together with its label, wherever that copy carries it.
• If the drawing has AoIs, the first takeoff locks and hides them (toast: "AoIs have automatically been locked and hidden while you continue with your takeoff"). See Areas of interest.
• On a vector drawing with the Search all files in category preference on, ZeroCount then searches the other drawings in the same category in the background. See Searching all drawings in a category.

How labels affect what matches

Many symbols carry text: a ring with a letter, a box with a code, a sensor with a circuit number. ZeroCount works out across the drawing whether that text is part of the symbol's identity or just information about one copy. You do not have to choose.

• A symbol with only a letter beside it matches copies with the same letter. Outline a ring marked "W" and you get the rings marked "W", not the ones marked "A" and not the bare rings with no letter.
• A symbol with a fixed name plus a varying number matches all of them. A sensor marked "PIR" with a different circuit number on every copy is one device; a single Auto Count finds every copy whatever number it carries.
• Text that merely sits near the symbol is ignored. A room name or a note caught by a slightly wide box is not treated as the symbol's label.
• Labels stay upright on rotated copies. A symbol turned along a wall keeps its label the right way up, and ZeroCount still recognises it as the same symbol.

If some copies are skipped because they do not carry the label you outlined, a toast reads No matching labelled symbols with the number skipped.

Continuous mode and cancelling

With Continuous ticked, the tool re-arms after every result so you can outline the next symbol straight away; each capture still makes its own group. Press Esc to stop. Continuous does not re-arm after a linked detection.

To abandon a capture in progress, press Esc, right-click, or click the Current Tool button in the header.

Priced from the start

Under Linked Takeoff in the same menu, Auto Count (or ⇧+⌥+S) opens the Database Items window first. Pick the catalogue item, and the group that the capture creates is already linked to it. See Linked takeoff.

Common issues

"Blank Template Detected"

The box contained no ink. Zoom in and draw again over the symbol itself.

"Using standard detection"

The vector search could not use this capture, so the image detector ran instead. This happens when the box holds only lettering, only one or two strokes, or no vector ink at all. Results still arrive, just after a short scan. See Detection tips.

"No additional detections found"

Every copy of this symbol is already marked. On a vector drawing a second capture never duplicates markers that are already there.

Next steps

• Auto Detect Symbols — count every repeated symbol on a vector drawing in one pass.
• Adding to an existing group — run Detect New Symbol into a group you already have, or redetect from a thumbnail.
• Searching all drawings in a category — what the background search does on the other drawings.
• Detection tips — how to get better results when a capture misses or over-matches.
• Managing groups — rename, merge and tidy the groups your captures create.