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Digital Production Control - 01.04.01 Getting Around DPC - Toolbars

Views: 693 Last Updated: 08/01/2024 10:19 am 0 Rating/ Voters
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It is important to understand how to get around the Digital Production Control (DPC) interface - which buttons do what, how to set percents, how to send/receive information. In the next few articles, we will talk about the program itself - please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the DPC controls, menus, and toolbars.

There are seven toolbars available in Digital Production Control: Main, Navigation, Tools, Zoom, Work Date, Quick Takeoff (Measurements), and Annotations. The Main, Navigation, Tools, Zoom, and Annotation toolbars are the same as On-Screen Takeoff.

Many Toolbar functions are repeated on the File, Edit, View, Tools, Image, and Bid menus, discussed in the next article.

p>The Digital Production Control View menu showing the Toolbars submenu

Note
Anytime you are wondering what a button does, just hover your mouse pointer over the button - you will see a tool tip identifying what the button does.

Main Toolbar

The Main toolbar provides application functions such as opening databases, printing, and deleting. Some functions are not available depending on your license and role.

the Digital Production Control Main Toolbar shows below the Program menus on the Image Tab

Button Name What it does/How it is used... Shortcut Key
the new button looks like a sheet of paper with a dollar sign inside New The New button is a multi function button - you can add a new condition, database, bid, or child bid, or folder, depending on your current focus. <Ctrl> + <O>
the open button looks like a manilla folder Open Opens the Open Databases window. <Ctrl> + <O>
the print button looks like a printer Print Prints whatever currently has focus. <Ctrl> + <P>
the print preview button looks like sheet of paper with a magnifying glass on the right Print Preview Previews whatever has focus (before sending to a printer) <Alt>, < F>, <V>
the delete button is a red X Delete Deletes whatever currently has focus. Be careful when deleting - some deletions are permanent and cannot be 'undone' <Delete> Key
the undo button is a leftward pointing curved arrow UnDo Undoes the last action <Ctrl>+ < Z>
the redo button is a rightward pointing curved arrow ReDo Redo the last UnDone action <Ctrl> + <Shift> + <Z>
the cover sheet button is a yellow box, usually with a text label on the right Cover Sheet Opens the Cover Sheet for the selected project.
the send button is an envelope with a green arrow pointing to the right, usually with a text arrow Send Allows user to send the project or DPC Changes to another user.

Bid View Indicator Displays the Base Bid or accepted Change Order name current selected in the Bid View tab. You can also use the Bid View tab in the Cost Code window to quickly switch between a Bid and its Change Orders.

Navigation Toolbar

The Navigation Toolbar is how you flip through the pages of your project. You can use the drop down list to select a specific page; use the black arrow keys to go to the next or previous page or; use the green Back/Forward buttons; or to go to the last view. When you click on the Pages Drop Down list, you can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to quickly cycle through the pages.

the Digital Production Control Navigation toolbar is located immediately below the program tabs, on the left

The drop down lets you choose a specific page quickly (hit Ctrl+G to open a "GoTo" box).

Note
When you have the Pages drop down open, you can use your mouse's scroll wheel to cycles through the pages very quickly.

Button Name What it does/How it is used... Shortcut
the back button is a green circle with a left-facing arrow in it Back Last view (may be a different page or a different zoom)
the forward button is a green circle with a right-facing arrow in it Forward Return to the previous view after the Back button (above) is used
the previous page button is a black left-facing arrow Previous Page Go to previous page in project <Page Up>
the next page button is a black right-facing arrow Next Page Go to next page in project <Page Down>

Note
Before sending a job the field, collate the pages to maximize the foreman's efficient. See Related articles for information on preparing a job for DPC.

Tools Toolbar

The Tools Toolbar houses basic application function buttons for interacting with the plan/takeoff on the Image Tab.

the Tools toolbar is located immediately below the program Tabs to the right of the Navigation toolbar

Button Name What it does/How it is used... Shortcut
the Select tool button is a left-facing upward-pointing arrow Select Mode Selects objects or takeoff <Spacebar>
the Takeoff Tool button is a crosshair that allows you to draw takeoff (measurements) on your plan Takeoff Performs takeoff <Spacebar>
the Spacebar toggles between the Takeoff and the Select Tools
the Zoom to region Tool button looks like a magnifying glass Zoom (to Region) Tool Used to Zoom In or out on the current page - left-click to Zoom In and right-click to Zoom Out or rope an area to zoom into it <Ctrl> + Left (IN) or Right (OUT) mouse button
Scroll Wheel on mouse
Zoom full page button looks like a sheet of paper with a magnifying glass over it Zoom Full Page Zooms to a full page view of the current page (fits to page) <*>
Magnify tool button Magnify Tool is a rectangular magnifying glass Magnify is a tool used to magnify a region of a plan without zooming in. Select the tool and click on the area to magnify.
Pan tool button is a hand Pan Tool Click and drag to pan around the image <Alt> + Scroll Wheel up/down
< Shift> + Scroll Wheel - side to side

Zoom Toolbar

The Zoom Toolbar changes how the image is currently displayed to see more/less detail as needed.

the Zoom toolbar is located to the right of the Annotations toolbar

Button Name What it does/How it is used... Shortcut
Zoom full page button looks like a sheet of paper with a magnifying glass over it Zoom Full Page Sets zoom so the full page is viewable in the Image Window <*>
the Zoom in button is a magnifying glass with a plus sign in it Zoom In Zoom in one level <+> or
< Ctrl> + Right-click or
< Ctrl> + Scroll Wheel forward
Zoom out button is a magnifying glass with a minus sign in it Zoom Out Zoom out one level <-> or
< Ctrl > + Left-Click or
< Ctrl> + Scroll Wheel backward
Zoom to 100% button is a magnifying glass with the number one in it Zoom 100% Zooms to 100% (full size) of the current page based on the page size </>
Zoom to custom percent button is a magnifying glass with a 'u' in it with a drop-down next to it Custom Zoom Custom Zoom to a customized percentage. User sets the percentage by typing the amount or selecting from the drop down list.
The Zoom drop-down allows you to select from predefined zoom levels Zoom drop-down The Zoom drop-down allows you to select from a list of predefined zoom levels.

Work Date toolbar

The Work Date Toolbar allows the user to select a specific time period for the Image (Percenting), Budget, and Timecard Tabs.

Work Date toolbar is a calendar widget that allows you to select a date

Clicking the black forward and back arrows changes to the next/previous week. Clicking the drop down arrow next to the date opens the Calendar widget where a particular date can be selected.

Work Date calendar widget

Quick Takeoff (Measurements) Toolbar

The Quick Takeoff Toolbar is available to DPC-Foreman licensees. With these tools, a user is able to take simple linear, area, or count measurements but these quantities are not stored in the project (when you switch tools or leave the page, the values are cleared). You must switch to "TKO Mode" to use quick measurements.

the Digital Production Quick Takeoff (Measuring) toolbar allows you to perform measurements on the drawing

Button Icon Description What it does/What it means...
the Quick Takeoff Linear measurement button is a red line with boxes on the ends Line Measure a linear object or objects
Quick Takeoff Area measurement button is a red polygon with boxes at each vertex Area Measure area objects
Quick Takeoff Count measurement button is a red circle with a white dot in the middle Count Count a number of objects
the Quick Takeoff quantity drop-down allows you to see different results for the quick takeoff you draw Quantity Indicates measurement quantity
the Quick Takeoff delete button clears the current result Delete Deletes all measurements
Quick Takeoff Units button allows you to switch between different Units of Measure for Quick Takeoff Units Select unit of measure to use

Quick Takeoff Quantities are cleared when you...

  • Select a different measuring tool (going from Line to Area, for example)
  • Switch pages
  • Close the program or open a different project

Quick Takeoff are cleared when...

The Quick Takeoff Toolbar is only active when the product is in PlanViewer (no-License) mode or in a Bid that has been 'flipped' to DPC mode and the user only has a DPC-Foreman license. If you are a takeoff-licensed user, you have access to many more robust tools.

Annotation Toolbar

The Annotation Toolbar includes options to add Text, Callouts, Highlighting, Dimension lines and Hotlinks/Named Views to a project. These elements are considered Annotation because they do not affect the takeoff quantities - they are simply markups on the image to call out important information or make the plans easier to navigate.

Note
Annotation is not considered "takeoff". When exporting a Bid and selecting "Pages with Takeoff" only, pages that contain only Annotation (no Condition takeoff) would not be included if the export. To include these pages, create a "dummie" Count Condition and place a single count on each page to include in the export.

Annotations toolbar is immediately below the program tabs, to the right of the Tools toolbar

By default, this toolbar is docked to the right of the Tools toolbar.

Button Icon What it does/What it means... Function
Annotations Dimension Line tool is a line with '4'' next to it Dimension Tool Creates dimension line
Annotations Text tool is a large letter 'A' Text Tool Insert text
Annotations Highlighter tool looks like a colored marker Highlighter Tool Highlight object or text - click the drop down to select a color (defaults to yellow)
Annotations Callout tool is a box with an arror on the right pointing down Callout Tool Draws a text box with an attached arrow to draw attention to something important on the plan (defaults to red)
Annotations Arrow tool is a right-upward facing arrow Arrow Tool Draws a single-ended arrow (defaults to red)
Annotations Line tool is a simple right-upward facing line Line Tool Draws a line (defaults to red)
Annotations Rectangle tool is a simple box Rectangle Tool Draws a rectangle (defaults to red)
Annotations Oval tool is a simple oval Oval Tool Draws an oval (defaults to red)
Annotations Polygon tool is a pentagon Freehand Tool (Polygons) Allows an estimator to click several points surrounding a region of the plan and draws a border around the region (defaults to red)
Annotations Cloud tool is a polygon shape Cloud Tool Allows an estimator to click several points surrounding a region of the plan and draws a cloud around the region (defaults to red)
Annotations Ink tool is a squiggly line Ink Tool Allows an estimator to draw freehand markups on the plan
Annotations Hot Link tool is a red circle with a right-facing arrow inside it Hot Link Creates Hot Links
Annotations Named View tool is a yellow box bordered in green Named View Creates Named Views

See Related Articles for more information on using the Annotation tools.

click here to view the previous article Getting Around DPC - Shortcuts Program Menus click here to view the next article



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