Behind the scenes
Partly availableSome of what this page describes is in DimSum today and some is still coming. Parts marked Coming are designed but not built yet.
🔒 A locked page holding DimSum's built-in master tools and factory defaults (pitch factors, rounding presets, stock lengths, behavior defaults, units, default labels). Anyone can look; only someone with an access code from Planbase support can change anything.
Overview
- the Master Tools (Basic Linear/Area/Point, Pitched Area, Beam, Joist, Pitched Joist, Wall…) — the Joist Tool and Beam Tool in DimSum Defaults → Framing are the first of them,
- the Pitch Factor table,
- the Rounding Presets used by labels and ordering,
- the Stock length lists,
- the behavior defaults for smart tools (default spacings, bearing lengths and other geometry defaults),
- the default Materials Library and master Dynamic Lists,
- unit definitions and the default labels.
Its name, and why you cannot see it
So,:
- It is called Behind the scenes everywhere: on the rail, in Settings, in these docs, and in the formula engine's own error messages.
- It is not on the Tool Designer's left rail unless you switch it on: System Settings → Tools → Show Behind the scenes in the Tool Designer. Off, there is nothing on the rail to hint at it.
- Switched on, the area appears and the three default tools — Linear, Area and Count — come back into the tool list as rows.
The formula engine came with it: the errors for ROUNDTO, STOCKLENGTH, PITCHFACTOR and {Defaults > …} say "the Behind the scenes tables " too, so there is one name to learn rather than two.
The Joist and Beam tools are changed here
- Everywhere else they are read-only, like the rest of DimSum Defaults.
- This page is the one place they can be changed: their default inputs (O.C. Spacing 16", Layout Start
{O.C. Spacing} + 0.25, Plies 2, Shortest Length 8', Longest Length 20', Length Step 2'…), their fixed parts and their labels. - The copy keeps all of the tool's behaviour and its fixed parts, and gains formulas, links and properties of your own on each input (Joist & Rafter tools, Beam tool).
Where to find it
- Tool Designer → Behind the scenes 🔒 — only after System Settings → Tools → Show Behind the scenes in the Tool Designer.
How to use it
Look up a value (read-only, anyone)
- Open Behind the scenes. It always opens read-only.
- Pick an area from the list (e.g. Pitch Factor table).
- Read the value. Nothing can be changed by accident.
Unlock with the access code
- Click Unlock. DimSum asks for the Behind the scenes access code.
- If you don't have it — and you almost certainly shouldn't — contact DimSum support (email) and say what you need changed. Support will usually solve it a safer way (a tool, a list row, or a list-linked default).
- It's a single master code held by Planbase, the same on every install, never displayed anywhere in the product.
- Read the warning: "These are DimSum's master defaults. Changes affect every new tool and project and may not be reversible. Continue?" and confirm.
- The page is now editable for this session.
Edit a pitch factor
- Unlock as above.
- Open Pitch Factor table and change 6/12 from
1.118to1.116. - Close the page or click Lock to end the edit session.
- From now on, new projects use 1.116 for 6/12 in
{Pitch Factor},{Sloped Area}andPITCHFACTOR(). Existing projects keep the value they were created with.
Add a custom rounding preset
Rounding Presets are a user-extendable table, so you normally add rows to your copy without touching Behind the scenes at all:
- Open Rounding Presets — in the Tool Designer's Material Library, or in Settings.
- Add a row: name (e.g. "Up to next 4 ft"), increment (4 ft), direction (Up / Nearest / Down) and unit.
- It's immediately available anywhere a Rounding Preset is chosen — beam and member labels, a part's Rounding Preset, and
ROUNDTO(x, "Up to next 4 ft").
Editing the master Rounding Presets (the rows every new project starts with) is the part that needs the access code: unlock Behind the scenes, open Rounding Presets, and add or change rows there.
Restore a factory value
- Unlock Behind the scenes.
- On the row you changed, click Restore factory value (e.g. 6/12 back to 1.118).
- Or use Restore factory default for a whole area, or for everything.
Review who changed what
- Open the Behind the scenes change log (readable without a code).
- Each entry shows who (user name), when, and what changed (old → new value).
Options & settings
Contents
| Area | What's in it | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Master Tools | Built-in Basic Linear/Area/Point, Pitched Area, Beam, Joist, Pitched Joist, Wall, Opening, and their default properties/formulas. **** generates the first two, the Joist Tool and Beam Tool, into DimSum Defaults → Framing, with their fixed parts; editing them here is the end of Coming (above) | The DimSum Defaults pack (The DimSum Defaults tools) |
| Pitch Factor table | Every pitch from 1/12 to 24/12, plus custom rows. Factory values = standard factors. "Restore factory value" per row. | {Pitch Factor}, {Sloped Area}, {Sloped Length}, PITCHFACTOR() |
| Rounding Presets (a user-extendable table) | Each row = name + increment + direction (Up / Nearest / Down) + unit. Ships with: None; Nearest 1/16", 1/4", 1/2", 1"; Nearest 1 cm; Nearest 0.5 ft, 1 ft, 2 ft, 10 ft, 20 ft; Up to next 1 ft, 2 ft (even), 10 ft; Up to stock length. Users add their own rows. | Labels (beam default = Nearest 2 ft), part Rounding Preset, ROUNDTO() |
| Stock length lists | Dimensional (8'–24' by 2'), LVL (to 60'), steel, conduit (10'), wire (per spool)… | Ordered Length, cut lists, STOCKLENGTH(), "Up to stock length". Not the Beam tool's: its stock lengths are its own properties, Shortest Length 8', Longest Length 20' and Length Step 2', and its Length Rules (Beam tool) |
| Behavior defaults | Default O.C. spacings, bearing lengths, blocking, corner/intersection and opening geometry tolerances, and the master Joist Layout Presets (start offset, far-edge member) and stair defaults (e.g. 4 stringers per 3' of width, cut allowance). the Joist Tool's layout fields are properties of the tool (Layout Start {O.C. Spacing} + 0.25, Member at Start Edge, Member at Far Edge), and the 4" window for a beam just below the joists is a System Setting, open to everyone | Beam, Joist, Rafter, Wall, Opening behaviors. Behaviors only measure geometry; materials come from your parts and lists — there are no hard-coded framing rules. |
| Default Materials Library | The preloaded materials | Materials Library |
| Master Dynamic Lists | Masters of the built-in lists (Dimensional Lumber, Engineered Lumber, I-Joists, Steel, Sheathing, Gypsum, Insulation, Fasteners, Hangers, Stock Lengths, Rounding Presets, Pitch Factors, Waste %, Low-Voltage examples…). Editable copies live in Lists & Tables. | Dynamic Lists & the Advanced Part |
| Unit definitions & conversions | The units DimSum knows, and what converts to what. Your own units live elsewhere — System Settings → Units adds, renames and removes them, machine-level, and a custom unit converts to nothing but itself, which is why a roll is 400 sf by a Coverage column on your list and a formula that reads it, not by a conversion | Formulas, coverage |
| Default labels | Beam label, joist span label, wall tag. a tool's label is its own label template, so each of these will be the master tool's own (the Label tab), not a separate list of formats. Where labels sit by default is System Settings → Labels, open to everyone, not locked here | Smart tools |
{Area} alias | Which area {Area} means: Sloped Area by default (equals Plan Area when flat) | Every area formula |
Behind the scenes is the last stop in the value resolution order: Shape override → Instance → Tool → list default row → Settings → Behind the scenes.
Pitch Factor table (factory values)
Factor = √(1 + (rise/12)²), 3 decimals.
| Pitch | Factor | Pitch | Factor | Pitch | Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/12 | 1.003 | 5/12 | 1.083 | 9/12 | 1.250 |
| 2/12 | 1.014 | 6/12 | 1.118 | 10/12 | 1.302 |
| 3/12 | 1.031 | 7/12 | 1.158 | 11/12 | 1.357 |
| 4/12 | 1.054 | 8/12 | 1.202 | 12/12 | 1.414 |
| The table continues to 24/12 (factor 2.236). Custom rows (e.g. 4.5/12) can be added. |
Rounding Presets explained
Every row is just name + increment + direction + unit, which is why the table can be extended to anything a trade needs (¼", an inch, a centimetre, half a foot, 10' or 20' lifts, up to stock length…).
| Shipped preset | 11' 4" becomes | 12' 9" becomes | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 11' 4" | 12' 9" | Exact values |
| Nearest 1/16" / 1/4" / 1/2" / 1" | 11' 4" | 12' 9" | Fine rounding, shop dimensions |
| Nearest 1 cm | 11' 3 15/16" | 12' 9 1/16" | Metric work |
| Nearest 0.5 ft | 11' 6" | 13' | Estimating by the half-foot |
| Nearest 1 ft | 11' | 13' | Labels |
| Nearest 2 ft | 12' | 12' | Beam label default |
| Nearest 10 ft / 20 ft | 10' | 10' / 20' | Bulk items, conduit and wire lifts |
| Up to next 1 ft | 12' | 13' | Ordering by the foot |
| Up to next 2 ft (even) | 12' | 14' | Ordering dimensional lumber |
| Up to next 10 ft | 20' | 20' | Pipe, conduit, decking bundles |
| Up to stock length | 12' | 14' (Dimensional list) | Ordering from a stock list |
| (your own rows) | Anything else your trade orders by |
Rounding presets are only used where you choose them (a label, a part's Rounding Preset, ROUNDTO()). DimSum never rounds quantities on its own. A part's Qty is rounded by ROUNDUP(…) in its formula.
Protection settings
| Rule | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Default state | Read-only every time the page opens, for everyone |
| Unlock | Requires the Behind the scenes access code from Planbase support. Workspace admins have no special access. |
| Code mechanism | A single master code held by Planbase — not challenge–response, not tied to a role or an install. It never appears in the UI or the documentation, and a normal user never has to open this page |
| Warning | Shown after the code is accepted, before editing |
| Scope of changes | New tools and projects only. Existing projects keep their snapshot. |
| Change log | Every edit logged: who, when, what |
| Safety net 💡 | An automatic snapshot before each unlocked edit session, plus "Restore factory default" per item and for everything |
Examples
- Roofer with company pitch factors. Your company's historical numbers use 1.116 for 6/12. You email support, they unlock the page with them, change the row, and lock it again. New roof takeoffs: 1,000 sf plan area at 6/12 → 1,116 sf sloped. Projects you already bid still show 1,118 sf.
- Admin without the code. A Workspace admin clicks Unlock and sees the same code prompt as everyone else. Admin rights control Report Branding and seats, not Behind the scenes.
- Steel fabricator. Adds a stock length list "Steel W" with 20', 30', 40' and a rounding preset "Up to next 5 ft" for labels — the preset in their own Rounding Presets table, no code needed; the stock list master would need one.
- Oops recovery. Someone changed the Joist behavior's default O.C. to 19.2". The change log shows who and when; unlock and click Restore factory value to return it to 16".
- Everyday change that doesn't need Behind the scenes. Want roofs at 25% waste? That's a list-linked property on your Roof tool, not a Behind the scenes edit (Property System).
Tips & shortcuts
- Prefer Duplicate / Save As on a tool, a list, or a list-linked default over editing a master. Only edit Behind the scenes for true factory-level changes.
- Check the change log before troubleshooting "why is this number different on my machine?"
- The Quick Guide has a topic "Behind the scenes: what's in it and how to restore defaults" (
F1).
Rules, limits & edge cases
- Nobody edits without a valid access code, including Workspace admins.
- Edits apply to new tools and projects only.
- Behind the scenes is per install. Two machines can have different factory values.
- The warning says changes "may not be reversible".
- Changing the
{Area}alias changes how every new area formula reads{Area}; use it with care.
