Options - Cost Estimate

Options – Cost Estimate

The Cost Estimate section of the Options window contains settings relating to the functionality and operation of Cost Estimates across the program.

Note: In the top right hand corner of this window there is a Reset To Default option which will revert any changes in this window to their default values, this can only be undone by pressing Cancel or re-importing a copy of the desired User Settings through the import button.

Options window – Cost Estimate section

GENERAL

NAME	DESCRIPTION
Checking or finishing a cost estimate closes the window	Closes the active Cost Estimate when the state is changed to Check or Finish.

AUTOSAVE

NAME	DESCRIPTION
Automatically save changes to Cost Estimates	When checked, a number of options will be available allowing you to customise how Expert Estimation will periodically backup your Cost Estimate data. When this option is checked, the Autosave Cost Estimate function will be enabled on your machine.
Autosave Cost Estimates to	This drop-down menu allows you to specify where the Autosaves are located. The default for this is to save them to a temporary file located within the Expert Estimation Client user files directory. While set to the temporary file, you also have the ability to specify how many autosaves you would like to retain and for how many days they should be saved. An alternative option for where to save Cost Estimate Autosave information is the ‘Project’ option, which will save the Cost Estimate back to the Server on a regular interval, as defined by the ‘Autosave Interval’ option.
Autosave Interval (Minutes)	This is the time that the application will wait before taking another autosave of your cost estimate once changes have been made.
Autosave Retention (Days)	This represents the period of days that an autosave temporary file will be kept for. All retained autosaves older than the number of specified days will be removed automatically. This option is only available when the ‘Autosave Cost Estimate to’ option is set to ‘Temporary File’.
Maximum Autosave Count	This is the total number of autosaves that the application will retain in the temporary file location. For example, if you specify this to save the 10 most recent autosaves, if another autosave is triggered for this particular Cost Estimate, the oldest file in this list will be overwritten with the new autosave information. This option is only available when the ‘Autosave Cost Estimate to’ option is set to ‘Temporary File’.

RESOURCE AUTOMATIC FORMULA

NAME	DESCRIPTION
Use the automatic formula	When a resource is applied to a Cost Estimate line that has an automatic formula associated with its Resource properties, the following option will automatically add the formula to the Cost Estimate lines Formula field. This feature will only add the automatic formula if the Cost Estimate line already contains a formula.

NAME

DESCRIPTION

Use the automatic formula

When a resource is applied to a Cost Estimate line that has an automatic formula associated with its Resource properties, the following option will automatically add the formula to the Cost Estimate lines Formula field.

This feature will only add the automatic formula if the Cost Estimate line already contains a formula.

AUTOMATIC RESOURCE DESCRIPTION

NAME	DESCRIPTION
Use the resource description	When using a resource in a Cost Estimate that has an automatic description associated with its Resource properties, the following option will automatically add the formula to a line’s Description field. This feature will only add a description to lines when the resource is selected for those lines that do not already have a description.

NAME

DESCRIPTION

Use the resource description

When using a resource in a Cost Estimate that has an automatic description associated with its Resource properties, the following option will automatically add the formula to a line’s Description field.

This feature will only add a description to lines when the resource is selected for those lines that do not already have a description.

ESTIMATION CALCULATION MODE

NAME	DESCRIPTION
Mode	This drop-down box allows you to set the default Estimating mode to be set for: Cost Schedule Item Cost Estimates Group Resource Cost Estimates Matrix Item Cost Estimates The Modes that can be selected from include Quantity, Production* and Time. Genesis edition only.