When you see it
The Database Items window is the one place you choose a priced item, whichever source it comes from. It opens whenever you:
- click the grey link button on a group row, or Link Item in the group's menu;
- click Link beside a group in Review mode or in the cross-drawing Total tab;
- choose any Linked Takeoff item from New Takeoff, or press one of the ⇧+⌥+S family of shortcuts;
- click Link on a group inside a group template.
It fills most of the screen and stays open until you pick an item or close it.
Layout
From the top:
- Database Items heading with a button. Its tooltip reads Load database before the first load and Refresh database afterwards.
- A status line: the number of
components,items,assembly records,custom itemsorrecent itemsin the current view, or Loading..., Failed to load data or Not loaded. - A description of the current view, for example Component database or Recently used items.
- The table toolbar: a view selector dropdown, the search box, and the filter buttons for that view.
- The results table. Only a page of rows is drawn at a time, so even the component database scrolls smoothly.
- A close button in the top-right corner. Esc also closes the window.
The five views
The view selector lists Components, Contractors Choice, Assemblies, Custom and Recent. Each view has its own search placeholder, columns and filters.
| View | Search box | Columns | Filters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Components | Search components... | Code, Description, Category, Manufacturer, Heading, Group, UOM, Discount Band | Category, Manufacturer, Heading, Group, UOM |
| Contractors Choice | Search CC items... | ID Code, Description, Special No., Quantity, Category, Heading, Group, Linear | Category, Heading, Group, Linear |
| Assemblies | Search assemblies... | Code, Description, Category, Heading, Group, Quantity, Type, UOM | Type, Category, Heading, Group, UOM |
| Custom | Search custom items... | Code, Description, Category, Manufacturer, Heading, Group, Take Off, Material Total, Total Lab Cost | Category, Manufacturer, Heading, Group, Take Off |
| Recent | Search recent... | Type, Code, Description, UOM | none |
Assemblies are grouped rows: click the chevron on an assembly to see the components it contains. The Type column (System or Contractors) is hidden by default, but the badge on each description shows the same thing.
Searching and filtering
- 1
Choose the view you want from the view selector dropdown in the table toolbar.
- 2
Type in the search box. Search matches on code and description in every view, and on category and manufacturer as well in the Custom view.
- 3
Click a filter button (for example Category or Manufacturer) and tick the values you want. Each filter shows the number of matching rows beside each value.
- 4
Clear a filter by clicking the chip that appears in the toolbar, or by unticking its values.
Column headers sort. Click Code or Description to reorder the results, which is quicker than scrolling when a search returns a few dozen rows.
Linking an item
Double-click the row. A single click only highlights it. The window closes as soon as you double-click, the link is written to the group that opened the window, and the item is added to the Recent view.
There is no confirm button and no multi-select: one double-click links one item. If you double-click the wrong row, unlink the group and open the window again.
The unit-of-measure pre-filter
The window opens with a filter already applied that matches the way the group is measured. It shows as a normal filter chip, so you can clear it if the item you need is classified differently.
| Group type | Components | Contractors Choice | Assemblies | Custom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linear | UOM = L | Linear = true | UOM = L | Take Off = Linear |
| Count or Detection | UOM = U | no filter | UOM = U | Take Off = Unit |
| Area | no filter | no filter | no filter | Take Off = Area |
| Annotation | no filter | no filter | no filter | no filter |
The Components and Assemblies databases have no single unit for area, so an Area group is only narrowed in the Custom view. The Recent view is never filtered.
What the window remembers
Within a session the window reopens on the view you last used, with the search text and filters you left on each view. The unit-of-measure pre-filter is the exception: it is cleared and reapplied every time the window opens, so it always reflects the group you opened it from and never a previous one.
Common issues
The status line says Not loaded or Failed to load data
Click to load the database again. The component database is large and the first load of a session can take a few seconds; the overlay reads Loading database... while it runs.
The item I want is not listed
Check the toolbar for a filter chip. The pre-filter is the usual cause: a length-priced item will not appear for a Count group until you clear the U chip. Also confirm you are on the right view, as the search box only covers the current one.
Double-clicking does nothing
In a group template, the Assemblies view is read-only: templates can hold Components, Contractors Choice and Custom links but not assemblies. Link the assembly on the drawing instead.
Next steps
- Linking to database items — link a group to a component and read the result on the row.
- Linking to Contractors Choice — your company's own catalogue and its Linear flag.
- Linking to custom items — the Custom and Recent views.
- Linked Takeoff — pick the item first, then count or measure.