Zones View

Why switch to Zones view

The default sidebar lists every marker group once, with its total for the whole drawing. Zones view re-sorts the same groups by location: one section per zone, each showing only the markers that fall inside it, with counts and measurements clipped to that zone. It is the quickest way to answer "how many sockets are in the kitchen?" without exporting anything.

Nothing about your takeoff changes when you switch view. Groups, colours, links and notes are the same objects seen from a different angle.

Switching view mode

1. 1

   In the sidebar toolbar, click the view-mode button — when you are in Detection view.

2. 2

   Choose Zones from the dropdown.

The button changes to to show Zones view is active. Choose Detection to return to the normal list. The dropdown also offers Annotations , which lists annotation groups only.

What you see

Each zone becomes a section, newest zone first, with a 4 px left border in the zone colour, a icon and the zone name. Click the name to rename the zone in place. A final grey Uncategorized section collects markers that sit outside every zone; it is hidden when it has nothing in it.

Under each header the familiar group rows appear, but filtered:

• Detection and Count groups show only the markers inside that zone, and the count on the row is the in-zone count.
• Linear and Area groups show only the runs and polygons that touch the zone, and the total on the row is clipped to the part inside it.
• Expand and collapse state is remembered per zone, so a group can be open under Kitchen and closed under Office 1.

A group that has no markers in a zone does not appear under that zone at all. Named zones stay visible even when empty; they are only dropped while you are typing in the Search groups... box.

How a marker is assigned to a zone

Membership is worked out from position, every time the sidebar renders. There is nothing to assign by hand.

Whatever is left over — a marker whose centre lies outside every zone, or the part of a run that leaves every zone — goes to Uncategorized. See The Uncategorized zone.

Moving markers while in Zones view

You can still drag a detection thumbnail from one group onto another in Zones view, exactly as in Detection view — the marker changes group, and its zone is worked out afresh from where it sits. This is a group move, not a zone move.

To put a marker into a different zone, change the geometry instead:

• Move the marker on the canvas so its centre falls inside the zone you want. See Selecting and moving markers.
• Or reshape the zone so it takes the marker in. See Creating and editing zones.

Zones in Review mode

Collapse the sidebar to enter Review mode and Zones view carries across the whole project:

• Each drawing's file tab lists that drawing's groups under its own zones, with a count badge per zone. A drawing with no zones shows a single grey Uncategorized header using that drawing's own label.
• The Total tab's Group By menu gains a Zone option, so the project-wide table can be nested by zone.

See The cross-drawing summary.

The Live Legend has a matching Zones view toggle, so a legend placed on the drawing can list its rows under zone headers. See The Live Legend.

Common issues

A group is missing from a zone

Its markers' centres are outside the polygon, even if the boxes visibly overlap the edge. Check the Uncategorized section, then move the marker or extend the zone.

A linear total looks smaller than expected

Only the part of the run inside the zone is counted. The remainder is under the next zone along, or under Uncategorized.

The Uncategorized section has disappeared

It is hidden when empty. Every marker on the drawing is inside a zone.

Next steps

• The Uncategorized zone — rename the catch-all bucket and understand what lands in it.
• Creating and editing zones — reshape a zone to change what it captures.
• The cross-drawing summary — zones across every drawing in Review mode.
• Exporting to Excel — the per-zone columns in the workbook.