This is the first of several articles in a special series introducing our newest product offering: AVAproject Fusion.

Fusion is about mastering your data. Information from AVAproject or virtually any other Windows-compatible data source can be brought together, manipulated, reported on and reformatted for use in other applications. See your data any way you can imagine it.

As its name implies, Fusion can handle data from one or any number of projects. Upon creating a new file, the first screen you are presented with is the AVAproject File List.

to create them.

When all the desired projects have been added, a single click finalizes the import process. Each project is loaded in sequence and their

for each. Navigation is identical to AVAproject; simply click on any branch of the "tree" to view the corresponding data. Material Lists are separated by division as depicted below.

The AVAproject Fusion AVAproject File List

Each list contains all the familiar columns from AVAproject with many powerful additions.

The next article in this series will focus on the Combined Material Lists and all their powerful features and benefits.

Project files can be added by browsing to them or simply dragging them into this workspace.

Upon doing so, several details about the project including file dates and job numbers are immediately brought in and displayed. This project listing or manifest can be viewed either as a traditional worksheet or a file card view. Like AVAproject, all worksheets can be customized to the users’ preference. Columns can be moved, hidden, resized and dozens of others (containing all project information) can be quickly added.

The File List displays details about the size of the project, including the number or groups and/or schedule that are contained within it. It can even tell you which version of AVAproject was used

entire contents and detailed material listings are brought in and "fused" into a "Combined Material List".

In addition, general information tables that do not become part of the Material List (i.e. Project Logs) are also imported and made available for review.

The Fusion Navigation Bar

Fusion uses a navigation tool similar to the popular "Project Bar" that appears in AVAproject. This powerful interface allows easy navigation through a myriad of data views and reports.

Each project file added is listed at the top of the navigation bar. Each one can be "expanded" to reveal the additional data tables imported

The AVAproject Fusion Navigation Bar

Please keep an eye on your inbox for the April edition of AVAwire.

AVAware is pleased to welcome Pioneer Industries to our growing family of supported manufacturers.

Early this year, Pioneer asked AVAware to create an AVAproject-compatible version of their upcoming April 2011 catalog.

Founded in Brooklyn in the early 1930s, Pioneer Industries has been providing quality hollow-metal doors and frames for over 75 years. With signature installations at landmarks including the Fort Knox Barracks and the West Point Physical Training center, Pioneer has earned a reputation in the construction industry.

In years between 1930-1950, Pioneer opened new plants in the Bronx and Mount Vernon, New York, expanding manufacturing output. More recently, Pioneer moved to a new, state-of-the-art facility in Hackensack, N.J.

Today, Pioneer manufactures hollow metal doors and frames, offering over 200 different options. Their offerings include steel stiffened, temperature rise, high wind, and sound insulation doors. The new 2011 catalog features even more new products for Pioneer and is an exciting addition to our catalog library.

To subscribe to the Pioneer catalog, contact us at support@avaware.com, call us directly, or download the catalog order form from our website.

For more information about Pioneer products, please visit their website at: www.pioneerindustries.com

Pioneer EP-EH Series Door

Pioneer Split Frame Series

There are many features and components in AVAware’s software offerings we are extremely proud of. There are some however, where we’ve truly outdone ourselves and one might be surprised to see some areas in which our developers have truly excelled!

We’ve spent a great deal of time in newsletters past, focusing on architectural industry related features that make our products stand out. AVAware has developed technologies that excel in terms of the mainstream software industry in general as well.

more. A variety of reporting options are exposed at the bottom of the preview screen based upon the type of page that is being printed. Options can be changed on the fly and the report is re-composed and previewed. Sections within a Submittal Document (book) are regenerated and re-paginated

multi-page version of the interactive print preview. In AVAproject Fusion, an entire report can be preview in thumbnail prior to printing. Unlike any other software package that we know of, report options can still be changed on the fly. When an option is changed, all affected pages of the

The AVAproject Fusion Print Preview (Thumbnail View). Live Report Options Highlighted

One such feature is the printing & print preview engine that exists in all our products. AVAproject was a pioneer in the software industry in general with its innovative "interactive print preview" originally release in 1999. We took the conventional model employed by companies such as Microsoft (in their Office suite) and really developed it.

Where products like Microsoft Excel and others allow you to preview pages and perhaps adjust margins prior to printing, AVAproject allows so much

instantly. The users can experiment with different settings without even changing screens. To our knowledge, no software company (within or outside the architectural industry) has ever reproduced this functionality.

Not to be satisfied with achievements of the past, we set out to even improve on this. When our team began working on the printing engine for AVAproject Fusion, we decided that Fusion deserved something really special.

AVAware is proud to present a

report are recomposed and the thumbnails are refreshed right before your eyes.

When creating a document for submittal or distribution, there is no feature more useful than having the ability to preview and modify it with immediate feedback – all on a single screen.

This new printing engine is currently being released as a feature of AVAproject Fusion, but AVAproject users can expect to see it appear in a future version of that product as well.

A lot has changed since we first released AVAcad and AVAproject in the late nineties. Not only have businesses embraced technology like never before, but users have become more sophisticated than ever.

Most business have clearly acknowledged that computer and technologies are no longer considered a luxury item, but a vital part of day-to-day operations. As a result, most have retained their own I.T. (information technology) people, either from outside service providers or as in-house resources. The next evolutionary step in this trend is towards business undertaking their own development efforts.

A couple of decades ago, it wasn't uncommon for companies to attempt to develop entire business applications internally from the ground up. Invariably, companies grossly underestimated the scale of those endeavors and unfortunately most ended in incomplete or poorly functioning products. Unlike the often-fruitless project of years past, business owners have seen the light. Development efforts are now geared toward building upon and leveraging existing technologies. In-house developers can avoid wasting time creating 'yet another' invoicing program and focus on the areas that make their business unique.

In today's software market, forward-thinking software vendors are beginning to support their customers' in-house development effort like never before. AVAware is no different. We are receiving support requests from customers' development staff with increasing regularity. In response, AVAware is looking for ways that we can most effectively support our customers' development projects.

We have a number of ideas for developer-related initiatives that we are considering:

• The creation of online forums in which our customer and other developers can exchange ideas, code snippets and communicate directly with the AVAware development team.
• The establishment of an online developers library containing resources specifically aimed at allowing developers to create software that integrates with AVAware solutions.
• The adoption of an "open file specification" for AVAproject and AVAproject Fusion files: This new file format will allow developers to directly access data without the need to export it first.
• A "marketplace" in which independent developers can promote and perhaps even resell their work to other AVAware users.

These are only a few of the ideas we've been exploring, but at this point we need some help. We are asking anyone is currently an AVAware software user or is interested in developing software for one, to take a few minutes and complete a brief online survey. The survey is extremely concise (only 14 questions) but is essential in directing our efforts. We need to know exactly what your objectives are and what you'd like to develop. We need to know what programming environments you'd like support for and what kinds of resources would be most helpful.

Click here to go directly to the survey form on the AVAware website. We will share the results of the survey with you in an upcoming edition of AVAwire.

We welcome any questions, comments or suggestions about any topic mentioned in this edition of AVAwire. Please visit our website for more information, or contact us directly at (416) 239-9099.