The ability to copy data between schedules and from outside data sources can save hours in the estimating process. AVAproject provides several powerful tools to make this even more efficient.
Copying data between spreadsheets using traditional applications such as Microsoft Excel can be easily handled through the use of Windows' internal "clipboard". The clipboard is an area of memory used as temporary storage to hold data that has been cut or copied so that it can be subsequently pasted to another location.
The process is straightforward enough: copy the source material, then position the cursor where you want the data to be, and paste. The difficultly arises when attempting to copy rows of data from one spreadsheet to another, when the column headings do not line up perfectly. Data is copied and pasted in the exact order it appears in the original (ie: the "source"). If the destination sheet has its columns arranged differently, the user is forced to manually rearrange the data to fit.
When data is copied from one Excel sheet and pasted to another Excel sheet with a dissimilar column layout/order, undesirable results are produced
Copying Within AVAproject
AVAproject is able to overcome this limitation by making use of its own internal "smart" clipboard that ensures data is pasted exactly where it needs to go regardless of the column layout.
When a series of rows are copied from a spreadsheet in AVAproject, a copy is made to the standard Windows clipboard; this is to provide support for pasting data to external applications such as Excel. An additional copy is also made to the AVAproject internal clipboard. This clipboard is "data aware", meaning it retains the unique identifier of each source column along with the copied data. In addition, it copies all the data contained in columns that are currently "hidden" from view. In other words, AVAproject copies all the data contained within a given row - not just those items that are currently visible.
When data is pasted into a different sheet, within the same or a different project, data is taken from the internal clipboard and rearranged to accommodate the layout of the destination sheet. Even "hidden" columns are populated, and can be shown afterwards.
Copying from an External Source
When a 'paste' command is issued within AVAproject, the software makes the assumption that the user intends to copy from the internal clipboard. In order to copy a schedule from an outside spreadsheet (such as Microsoft Excel), one need only perform the following steps:
Lay out the AVAproject columns to correspond with the source spreadsheet. If there are unneeded columns, they can be hidden or deleted in the source sheet. Alternatively "User Defined" columns can be added in AVAproject as place holders.
Select the range of rows in the source spreadsheet.
Position the cursor in AVAproject to the top-left corner of the destination range.
Select "Paste External" from the Edit menu.
As data is pasted, AVAproject performs several additional important steps; Incoming data, such as dimensions, are automatically reformatted to comply with user preferences. Nomenclature columns (material, gage, etc.) are validated against catalog information, highlighting any discrepancies. Even opening numbers are cleaned up, formatted and counted.
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