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OST - 19.02 Program Options - General Tab (Adjusting How You Work with OST)

Views: 3259 Last Updated: 04/18/2023 08:06 am 0 Rating/ Voters
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General options provides settings for how you perform takeoff and many options in the program such as: turning on or off all confirmation prompts, setting how takeoff is drawn and edited, and how often to check for software updates.

OST General Options

Defaults are shown above and indicated in the table below.

    

Option Description/What it does/How it is used...
Preferences
Use Enter key to navigate dialogs Pressing the <Enter> key moves the cursor from field to field in dialogs boxes. If this option is unchecked, the default button on the dialog box will be activated if you press the <Enter> key.
Show text on selected toolbars The Bid toolbar displays text beside the Cover Sheet and Send buttons.
Roping method for object selections Determines if the takeoff being roped must be within the selection box entirely (Inclusive) or only touching/within the selection box (Touching). See Related articles for more information on selecting objects.
Default dialog for Condition Change button Determines whether the OST Condition Properties or the Quick Bid Condition Details dialog box is opened when you double-click on a Condition in the Conditions list in OST. By default the OST Condition Properties dialog box is displayed.
Show right angle line indicator Shows an indicator when performing takeoff which makes it easier to draw perfect 90 degree angles.
Connect linear takeoff Sets the "Connect" option in NEW Linear Conditions by default. Can be changed on a per-Condition basis.
Open Hot Links in separate View Window
  • View - when a user clicks a Hot Link, On-Screen Takeoff opens the corresponding Named View in the View Window
  • Annotationwhen a user clicks a Hot Link, On-Screen Takeoff opens the corresponding Named View in the Annotation and View Window
  • Main - when a user clicks a Hot Link, the Named View opens in the main Image Window
Display page index with sheet name Toggle to show/hide the Page's row number (its grid "index") from the Pages grid in the Cover Sheet next to the page name in the Page Navigator on the Image Tab.
Display sheet number with sheet name  Toggle to show/hide the Page's "Sheet Number" next to the page name in the Navigation menu's page drop down list.
Use full-window crosshairs for mouse takeoff
  • When unchecked, OST uses the standard takeoff crosshairs (a small t-shape icon).
  • When checked, OST uses the large, full-screen crosshairs for mouse takeoff and can set Color and Thickness.
Using full-size and different colors/thickness can make the crosshairs easier for you to see on-screen.

See Switching Between Full-Screen and Normal Crosshairs when Drawing Takeoff for more information.
Restrict lateral movement of linear objects When unchecked, linear objects can be moved in any direction. By default, Linear objects can only be moved up and down (on the Vertical Axis) and not side to side.
Allow adding new page from Image Tab Allows a new page to be added to a Bid from the Image Tab by clicking the Next Page arrow in the Navigation toolbar (the black arrow pointing to the right) when viewing the last page in the project. The new page is added to the Bid without an image associated - you can associate an image on the Cover Sheet.
Prompt to refresh worksheet before closing Bid When 'Price using Excel' is selected and you close a Bid (changing to another Bid, changing databases, or closing the application) OST prompts you to update the Excel spreadsheet with current quantity information. See Related Articles for more information on pricing using Excel.
Disable High Resolution Images Disables displaying plans in high resolution/color (not recommended!).
Uncheck (default) - all files (color or black and white) are displayed (and converted) at 8 bit resolution - this ensures you are seeing plans as well as OST can display them and in full color.
Checked (not recommended) - all files are displayed at 2 bit resolution - image quality will be reduced and artifacts may be lost. If you notice significant performance degradation, you can check this option.

See Enabling Color Plans to Improve Image Quality for comparisons.
Enable auto dimension lines When performing takeoff, On-Screen Takeoff automatically displays reference lines with dimensions between nearby takeoff objects. To disable these dimension lines, check this option.
Enable Automatic continuous mode Unchecked by default. When checked, OST will automatically start Continuous Mode when drawing Linear takeoff if you click and drag the mouse cursor.
Enable Intelligent Paste Unchecked by default. When checked, OST uses Intelligent Pasting logic to help you place pasted takeoff in the appropriate position.
Enable Advanced Mouse Controls Checked by default. Enables or disabled using your mouse's wheel and right-click button to pan/zoom more efficiently, see Related Articles for more information.
Enable Active Area filter in Print Preview Checked by Default. When checked, OST prints only takeoff assigned to the Active Area on each page. See Related Articles for more information on printing.
Snap Angle
Shift Key State Unpressed / Pressed Determines the angle at which linear and area objects segments can be drawn. A snap angle of 0 allows drawing segments at any angle. A snap angle of 90 limits drawing segments to 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees. Increments in between 0 and 90 snap takeoff object to that particular angle (default is 15 degrees). The Pressed and Unpressed columns allow two different snap angle settings based on whether the keyboard's <Shift> key is pressed or not.
Intelligent Curve Segment
Fewer/More This range determines the number of individual segments Intelligent Curve linear objects are broken into. See Related Articles for more information on drawing Linear takeoff.
Confirmations
Turn on all confirmation dialogs Suppress confirmation dialogs for database changes and deletions.
Turn on all quick start dialogs Enables/disables all the various Wizards (database, bid, condition, takeoff).
Turn on Bid Wizard  Disabled by default. The Bid Wizard is used in stand-alone installations when the user typically downloads plans outside On-Screen Takeoff or from a removable media (such as a CD-ROM or USB thumb drive). 
Default Auto Zoom Level

Specifies the cut-off zoom level for the Area takeoff magnifier. When the current Zoom level exceeds this percent, the magnifier will not display. Set to "0" to disable this feature (default setting).

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Product documentation (user guides) describes functionality in the latest version of each major release and may not match the functionality in the version you are using. Please check the Product Information and Downloads pages by clicking one of the product buttons above.

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