What a group row shows
Every group in the sidebar uses the same layout, whatever its type. Reading left to right:
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| Colour swatch or thumbnail | Opens the group's appearance popover. Detection groups show the symbol template here. |
| Type icon | Detection , Count , Linear , Area , Annotation . |
| Link button | grey when unpriced, blue when linked. Click to open Database Items, or to unlink. |
| Label | Click it to rename the group in place. |
| Count or total | A count for Detection and Count groups, a total length for Linear, a total area for Area. Blank on Annotation groups. |
| Collapse chevron | when open, when closed. |
| Merge or duplicate | on Detection groups, on the other four. |
| Starts adding markers straight into this group. | |
| The group menu, covered below. |
Hovering a row thickens that group's markers on the drawing — the fastest way to find where a group actually is.
Renaming a group
There is no rename command in any menu. Click the label and type.
- 1
Click the group's label. The text becomes an input with everything selected.
- 2
Type the new name.
- 3
Press Enter to commit, or Esc to put the old name back.
Names are shown capitalised. Give a group the name you want in the Excel export — the label is written straight into the Takeoff Description column.
Adding markers to an existing group
The button arms the right tool for that group's type and keeps every new marker inside it: dots on a Detection or Count group, a multipoint line on a Linear group, a polygon on an Area group, and a menu of the eight annotation types on an Annotation group. The icon pulses blue while the tool is armed.
To search for more copies of a symbol rather than placing them by hand, use Detect New Symbol in the Detection group's menu. See Adding to an existing group.
The group menu
Open it with at the end of the row. The first block is always the linked catalogue item, or Link Item if there is no price attached yet. The rest depends on the type.
Detection groups
- Detect New Symbol — outline another copy of the symbol; the results join this group.
- Visibility — Cover and Hide.
- Reimage Group — re-cuts every thumbnail in the group from the drawing.
- Add to mask .
- Notes... .
- Delete Symbol Group .
Linear and Area groups
- Visibility .
- Merge into — lists the other groups of the same type.
- Adjust Scale — sets a scale for this group alone.
- Add to mask .
- Notes... .
- Delete Linear Measurement, or Delete Area Measurement .
Count groups
- Visibility .
- Merge into .
- Add to mask .
- Notes... .
- Delete Symbol Group .
Annotation groups
- Visibility .
- Notes... .
- Delete Annotation Group .
Annotation groups cannot join a mask, so they have no Add to mask item.
Move to Service is not in this menu. It sits at the bottom of the appearance popover you open from the colour swatch. See Marker Services.
Duplicating a group
The icon copies a Linear, Area, Count or Annotation group with its colour, opacity and settings. Detection groups have no duplicate button.
Count and Annotation groups duplicate immediately, and so does a Linear or Area group whose scale matches the drawing's default. If its scale is different, a Select Scale for New Group prompt offers Use Global Scale and Use Group Scale with both ratios spelled out. Choose Use Group Scale when you are copying a detail drawn at its own scale, and Use Global Scale when the copy belongs on the main plan.
Creating an empty group
Choose Actions then Add Group to create an empty Detection group and fill it by hand — useful when you want a named bucket ready before you start counting, or a home for detections you are about to drag out of another group. To create a whole set of empty groups with colours and prices already set, import a group template instead. See Group templates.
Deleting a group
Deleting a group removes every marker inside it. Each type asks first, in its own words.
| Type | Title | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Detection and Count | Delete Symbol Group? | "Are you sure you want to delete this symbol group? This action cannot be undone." |
| Linear | Delete Linear Measurement? | "Are you sure you want to delete this linear marker measurement? This action cannot be undone." |
| Area | Delete Area Measurement? | "Are you sure you want to delete this area measurement? This action cannot be undone." |
| Annotation | Delete Annotation Group? | "Are you sure you want to delete this annotation group? This action cannot be undone." |
Those messages mean exactly what they say. There is no undo in this build, so if a group holds work you might still want, hide it rather than delete it, or duplicate the project before a big clear-out.
Collapsing and expanding
Click the chevron on a row to fold that group away, or use the collapse and expand button at the left of the sidebar toolbar to fold every group at once. Which groups you left collapsed is remembered per drawing, in the browser you are working in.
The merged templates badge
A small +N badge over a Detection group's thumbnail means the group holds more than one example of the symbol, either from a second Detect New Symbol or from a merge. Hover it to see how many. Open the appearance popover and use the preview slider to page through them.
The active service pill
If you have set a Marker Service to receive new groups, its name appears as a pill in the sidebar toolbar, with the tooltip "New groups are being added to this service. Click to stop." Every group you create lands in that service until you click the pill to clear it.
Next steps
- Merging groups — combining two groups into one.
- Group appearance — colour, opacity and border width.
- Group visibility — Cover, Hide and the type filter.
- Group notes — leaving a comment on a group for the rest of the team.
- Linking to database items — putting a price against a finished group.