On-Screen Takeoff - 05.11 Creating a Style (Saving a Condition as a Template for Future Use or to Share) - OST

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We use the term Style two slightly different ways in On-Screen Takeoff:

There are four built-in "Styles" that are the basic "kinds" of Conditions: Linear, Area, Count, and Attachment (you could use On-Screen Takeoff forever and never create another Style), however
You can save or create your own custom Styles, which are templates that make it easy to create one or more Conditions quickly and helps ensure consistency in a shared database

You select a Style (be it a built-in one (Linear, Area, Count, Attachment) or a custom one (one you've created)) when you create a Condition. You can also drop a custom Style (or Styles) into your bid to shortcut the process of creating a Condition.

Custom Styles are stored in the Style Library and Sets Master records and are available for use in all bids and child bids in the database.

Style Sets are groups of Styles (saved Conditions) that can be added to a bid all at once. See Related Articles for more information on Styles and Styles Sets.

The easiest way to create a saved Condition (technically, a Style) is to save one or more of your Conditions "as Style" (you can manually create Styles from the Condition Styles and Sets dialog box but that's not the most efficient workflow).

Note

Because the Style Library groups Styles according to Condition Type, we recommend you always assign a Condition Type to Conditions before saving as Styles. See Related Articles for more information on creating a Condition and filling out its properties.

Saving a Condition as a Style

We cover creating Styles from scratch in the Masters, along with modifying and deleting Styles, in Related Articles.

To save an existing Condition as a Style,

Select the Condition (or Conditions) to save (to save multiple Conditions to the Style Library at once, press the <Shift> or <Ctrl> key and click on the appropriate Condition or, select all current Conditions at once by pressing < Ctrl> <A> while the cursor's focus is in the Condition window).

Right-click and select Save to Style Library.

On-Screen Takeoff Conditions window Save to Style

Note

If your database is set to 'Require Logins', you must have Styles/Sets-Full Access rights to add or modify Styles. See Related Articles for more information.

You are prompted to confirm you want to save this Condition as a Style.

On-Screen Takeoff - Save as Style Confirmation

Click Yes to save to the Style Library.

Note

If a Style already exists in the database (has exactly the same name...), a prompt asks you to confirm whether or not to overwrite the existing Style...

On-Screen Takeoff prompts you to overwrite if a Style exists with the same name

Click Yes and the existing Style is updated with the new information.

Click No to cancel the process, open the Condition Properties, rename the Condition, and then save it as a different Style.

You see the new Style listed in the Style Library (if the Condition is not assigned to a Type, it will be added to the Style Library under the generic group "Unassigned").

On-Screen Takeoff Style Library and Sets dialog box

Saving Worksheet Tab Pricing

When you save a Condition as a Style, its Worksheet Tab pricing (if you are pricing your Bid using the Worksheet Tab, of course) is not saved with the Style. We recommend using Template Jobs if you regularly use the same Conditions and Worksheet Tab pricing for your jobs. See Creating Template Jobs for details.

Deleting Conditions

Using a Style to Create a Condition