Materials List Revisited

[ALAN MATHEWS]

It would be nice if we could put a list together of priority items to improve the function of the material list.

IMO it would take a lot of time to rework the whole system.
If CA could fix items by a priority list that comes from users it may have a better chance of being implemented.

No software is ever perfect but it would be nice if the more glaring problems could be fixed even if it happens
a little at a time.

My list:
1. Fix insulation calculations. Had problems of trying to get rid of insulation in a garage ceiling.

2. More robust component features.

3. Better listing of materials in the ML

4. Able to change column widths in the ML so we don't have to export to other programs.

[Glenn Woodward]

4. Able to change column widths in the ML so we don't have to export to other programs.

Alan,

You can already do this.
The cursor doesn't change, but you can click and drag the column division along the top line to make the column wider.

The request should probably be to have a different cursor for dragging the columns wider.

[Doug Park]

It would be nice if we could put a list together of priority items to improve the function of the material list.

IMO it would take a lot of time to rework the whole system.
If CA could fix items by a priority list that comes from users it may have a better chance of being implemented.

No software is ever perfect but it would be nice if the more glaring problems could be fixed even if it happens
a little at a time.

My list:
1. Fix insulation calculations. Had problems of trying to get rid of insulation in a garage ceiling.

2. More robust component features.

3. Better listing of materials in the ML

4. Able to change column widths in the ML so we don't have to export to other programs.

Item 1 seems clear to me.

Could you elaborate on 2 and 3. Specific needs please. My understanding of better and yours are probably not identical.

Item 4. You can already change the column widths by clicking and dragging the dividing line in spread sheet header.

[ALAN MATHEWS]

In the components & ML fields I will type in the price column a price of 6.04 for instance and it keeps changing back to 6.40.
Can't get 6.04 to stick.
Am I doing something wrong. This happens only in some fields.

Doug
#4 Thanks for clarification on dragging columns. I am used to seeing curser changing or something to drag.
#3 When drawing molding pline it just lists as molding & goes to the int trim. I wish this could be selectable were this goes in the ML
Stair stringer, treads and riser listed in a lin ft as now I have to manually change this to calculate in ML

Item 1 seems clear to me.

Could you elaborate on 2 and 3. Specific needs please. My understanding of better and yours are probably not identical.

Item 4. You can already change the column widths by clicking and dragging the dividing line in spread sheet header.

[drafting edge]

Hi Ed, i am new user to this forum but we have been using chief architect for a number of years. As we have just upgraded to X5 we are now assessing if we should genuinely pursue costing the models via the materials list. To date we draw and manually cost every model and over time we have created very similar models that can be re-used and the costings are similar. We saw the chief video which has been talked about a lot on this forum and got excited about the prospect of creating a model that was accurate and fully inclusive to be able to run a detailed and accurate costing from. However the key part of that sentence is "accurate" as we want to use these models to reduce the manual costing department of the job and improve the overall accuracy in the quoting of projects, and we are not interested in pursuing something unless the outcome can be accurate and 100%, effectively a quote today and a purchase list tomorrow. I have used similar costing from 3d model programs in the past but all have fallen short of the mark in generating a "push of the button" result, and whilst you can create a costing it is not accurate or detailed enough to bank on. From experience the model is everything, but the time it takes to draw the model to the highest level of accuracy with as few work arounds as possible is extensive, possibly but extremely time consuming. If this time was rewarded with a fully accurate and detailed costing then it may be worthwhile, but i get the sense from the comments in this forum that even with a model drawn to a level well beyond what is needed for construction purposes you may not be able to 100% rely on the outcome, is that a fair comment?

i would be interested to hear from people that are using the materials list for costing and getting really good results, most of the comments are pointing out the flaws in the program but surely there must be people that have gone this route and get a good result?? are people using a 3rd party costing software that we can export the models into, or is the best method still the ruler and calculator? I am very interested in the thoughts of the users as i know software manufactures like to promise a lot in the brochures but the reality on the ground can be a different story.

Geoff Baker
Melbourne Australia