0.5.420: the tools and assemblies redesign

Every tool is now an assembly whose type is found from your answers; one Joist / Rafter Tool for floors and roofs; items stack on what's under them (a First Floor wall lands on the foundation at −1'); a doubled joist is one joist; break lines; siding on an elevation; a read-only 3D preview; reports that show members under their assembly; and the License Agreement at Version 1.0.

The goal of this version

The biggest change to DimSum's tools so far. Every tool is now an assembly: a base (a line, an area or a point) with members that stack on it in order, such as plates, studs, sheathing, drywall, rim board and hangers. And what you draw now knows what it sits on, so a wall over a foundation, or a beam inside a wall, lands at the right height. The aim is that you could build any of DimSum's own tools yourself, with the same pieces.

What's new to try

• One tool for floors and roofs. The Joist / Rafter Tool: key 4 for a floor, key 5 for a roof (the same tool with Framing: Roof filled in). Its types: 2x10 Framed Floor, 11 7/8" I-Joist Floor, Floor Truss, 2x8 Rafter Roof, Roof Truss.
• Types found from your answers. Each tool's form asks the questions that find its type. Wall: Wall Use and Construction find 2x6 Exterior Wall, 2x4 Exterior Wall, 2x4 Interior Wall or 8" Concrete Wall. Beam: Beam Use finds Flush LVL Beam, Dropped LVL Beam or 2x10 Header.
• Properties shows Assembly Type, such as 2x6 Exterior Wall · found by Wall Use, Construction. Change an answer and the members swap in one step; one Ctrl+Z puts them back.
• When nothing matches, DimSum says so in Needs attention. It never guesses quietly.
• A member you add to the tool itself (a sill plate on the Joist / Rafter Tool) goes on every type; a type can turn it off or replace it.
• Copy a tool to a folder of your own and its types come with it, ready to change in your own Assemblies table (Tools tab). Import CSV and Export CSV too.
• Things sit on what's under them. The level is where the bottom of everything goes. Draw over another item and a small panel asks: On top, Downset (inside it, such as a beam in a wall), Under, Flush bottom or Ignore.
• A wall on the level above finds the wall below within 12" and drops onto it: a First Floor wall at 10' over a 9' foundation wall reads From level −1'.
• Sits on is the first row of Properties, on the right-click menu and on the framing bar. Change what's below and what sits on it follows.
• Both are in System Settings → Tools: Ask where to place over another item, and Tool attachment depth.
• A doubled joist is one joist. Right-click → Double joist (or Triple joist): one joist ×2, labelled J7 ×2. Joist Count counts positions and Joist Pieces counts plies. Ply Gap spaces the plies on the plan and in 3D without changing the hanger.
• Hangers are a member. The Joist Hanger is now a member of the floor: Hangers Auto / Always / Never, and the hanger is matched by size, so a doubled joist gets a double hanger.
• Break lines. Press B and click across a floor to break its joists in two, without drawing a second floor. Pick the line for rim board or hangers on both sides.
• Each area its own settings. Pick one area of a floor or roof and give it its own spacing, pitch or overhang (This area in Properties).
• Elevations and siding. Elevation pages get their own Elevations group in the Project Tree. Draw an Elevation region round each elevation (on the Maple Ridge demo set's new A4.0 sheet: Front, S; Rear, N). The new Siding Tool (key 8) counts square feet (less the window cutouts), squares and pieces by exposure. Click its edges for starter, corners, J-channel, F-channel and trim.
• The designer. One members list in stacking order, with each layer's Bottom and From ext. face. Drag rows, or drag layers in the section picture. Add member… has Add-ins (22 small parts and pieces), your own Custom tools, and All tools. Assemblies can hold assemblies, up to three layers deep.
• A 3D preview. Right-click → Preview in 3D: a read-only view of the item and what it sits on, as boxes. There's also a 3D button in the designer.
• Reports. The new Takeoff by Tool report shows members under their assembly. Material List stays flat. Each report has a Members setting.
• Point. The Count tool is now called Point (still key 3).
• Your company in DimSum. Settings → Company shows your company's details from your account. Report headers can print them with {Company > Name} and the rest.
• License Agreement 1.0. After the update, DimSum asks you to accept the License Agreement once more, now Version 1.0.

What we're fine-tuning, and what to look for

• The words. Downset, Framing, Construction, Point, Joist / Rafter: does each say what it does? Tell us the word you'd use.
• Types. Is it clear why a tool found the type it did? Would you rather the form show the type's name as you answer?
• The overlap panel. Does it come up when you want it, and not when you don't? Is 12" the right depth to look below?
• Your old jobs. They open, but counts can change: a doubled joist now counts once in Joist Count, and items with an Elevation Offset now sit at that offset. Tell us anything that moved that you didn't expect.

Known issues

• Joining planes… on a roof is greyed: it comes with hips and valleys in a later version. So do drawn wall framing, headers, posts, hips, valleys and stairs.
• A placement line has no Parallel / Square choice yet.
• A type changed in your library isn't offered on the Updates screen yet. Copy the tool again to get it.
• The 3D preview is read-only boxes. It's for checking heights, not for presentation.
• The known issues listed for 0.5.415 are still open.

How to send feedback

Click the red Report a bug button or Feedback on the top bar, or use Help → Report a bug… (Ctrl+Shift+B). Your DimSum version goes with every report, so you don't have to look it up. See Beta program for all the ways to reach us.