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How to create the "Formula" property
How to create the "Formula" property

The formula property is suitable for any calculations based on other properties

Andrew avatar
Written by Andrew
Updated over a week ago

Introduction

Properties are inputs for Items and Assemblies. This is the first step before creating an Item or an Assembly.

After you apply properties in Item or Assembly, they'll be transformed into a column in the Items report.

How to create the "Formula" property

  1. Go to the Assemblies Database page and open the Properties tab there

  2. Press the New button -> select the Formula type

  3. Set a name for your property (the field is mandatory)

    The name must be unique

  4. Specify the Unit

    Unit can be further changed when adding it to Item and to Assembly, and when applying it to Measurements

  5. Specify the Group (the field is mandatory)
    To create a group, perform the following steps:

    1. Press "Group" on the input field

    2. Name the group

    3. Press the Create button

      The group will be saved. Next time, you can simply select it from the list

  6. There're 4 types of values available for working with formulas:


    1. MEASURES — data from your Takeoff (area, perimeter, length, etc.):
      MeasuredCount — a number of Count tool points. All other measurements (polygon, rectangle and polyline) have Count equal to 1
      MeasuredLength — length of a polyline
      MeasuredArea — area of a polygon
      MeasuredPerimeter — perimeter of a polygon

      MeasuredWidth — width of a rectangle created using the tools Rectangle 2, Rectangle 3
      MeasuredHeight — height of a rectangle created using the tools Rectangle 2, Rectangle 3

    2. FUNCTIONS — check below the list of functions available:
      ABS — returns the absolute value of a number, which is the number without its sign

      AND — returns true if all of the provided arguments are logically true, and false if any of the provided arguments are logically false

      AVERAGE — returns the numerical average value in a dataset, ignoring text

      CHOOSE returns an element from a list of choices based on an index

      CONCAT — returns the concatenation of two values. Equivalent to the `&` operator

      COS — returns the cosine of an angle provided in radians

      COT — returns the cotangent of an angle provided in radians

      COUNT — returns the number of numeric values in a dataset

      DEGREES — converts an angle value in radians to degrees

      FIND — returns the position at which a string is first found within text, case-sensitive

      IF — returns one value if a logical expression is `TRUE` and another if it is `FALSE`

      LEFT — returns a substring from the beginning of a specified string

      LEN — returns the length of a string

      MAX returns the maximum value in a numeric dataset

      MEDIANreturns the median value in a numeric dataset

      MID — returns a segment of a string

      MIN — returns the minimum value in a numeric dataset

      NOT — returns the opposite of a logical value - `NOT(TRUE)` returns `FALSE`; `NOT(FALSE)` returns `TRUE`

      OR — returns true if any of the provided arguments are logically true, and false if all of the provided arguments are logically false

      PI — returns the value of pi to 9 decimal places

      POWER — returns a number raised to a power

      RADIANSconverts an angle value in degrees to radians

      RIGHT — returns a substring from the end of a specified string

      ROUND rounds a number to a certain number of decimal places according to standard rules

      ROUNDDOWN rounds a number to a certain number of decimal places, always rounding down to the next valid increment

      ROUNDUP rounds a number to a certain number of decimal places, always rounding up to the next valid increment

      SIN returns the sine of an angle provided in radians

      SQRT returns the positive square root of a positive number

      SWITCH tests an expression against a list of cases and returns the corresponding value of the first matching case, with an optional default value if nothing else is met

      TAN returns the tangent of an angle provided in radians


    3. PROPERTY — list of all properties used in your database

      📝 Note!
      Start typing in the text box to find what you need.

      You can also scroll up and down using the arrow keys. To insert the value you selected into the formula, click Tab or Enter

    4. VALUES numeric values eg 2.75.
      Note! Numeric values will not be automatically converted when used in a formula.

  7. Insert Formula (the field is optional)

    Formula can be further changed when adding it to Item and to Assembly, and when applying it to Measurements or Folders

  8. Hit the Create button to create a new property

  9. Once the Property has been created, it'll appear in the Properties tab inside the group you've specified when creating a property


How to edit a property?

  1. Click on the row as it's shown on the screenshot below:

  2. Make all the necessary edits & press Save

  3. To duplicate or delete your property, right click on it & select the relevant option

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