Glossary

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.

Plain-language definitions of every DimSum term, alphabetical, with a link to the doc that explains it.

Overview

Two words used to have several meanings. Each now has one:

• Workspace now means only the license account for a company or team — the thing that holds the seats. The Takeoff/Estimating/Reports/3D tabs are the tool tabs (what you flip between while you work a job — not the Tools tab, where tools are made), and a saved panel/split arrangement on the canvas is a Layout.
• Level now means only a Plan Level of the building. The page tool that deskews a crooked sheet is called Straighten.

Building Template, report template and text template keep their names, because none of them is placed on the canvas.

Where to find it

Also available in the in-app Quick Guide (F1) once built.

Terms

Numbers & symbols

Term	Meaning	See
3D Length	Exact length of a line including elevation changes (slope)	3D settings
3D view file (.vsum proposed)	A customer-safe 3D model export (geometry, colors, names, chosen quantities; no formulas, prices or tool definitions) that opens in the DimSum 3D Viewer	File types
3D viewport	A pane showing a live 3D model built from your 2D takeoffs, levels, alignment and 3D settings	3D viewport
4-click Overlay & Align	See Overlay & Align
◆ (override marker)	Shows a value overridden at a lower level with "Reset"	Instances & Shapes
◆ (custom value)	Also marks a list-linked property that was decoupled to a custom value	Property System
⚠ (warning badge)	Flags something needing attention: an unscaled page, an unaligned page, an Advanced Part with No material matches these conditions
🔒	Marks the locked Behind the scenes page	Behind the scenes

A

Term	Meaning	See
Access code	The single master code held by Planbase, required to edit Behind the scenes. Not challenge–response, not tied to a role: Workspace admins don't get in without it, and it's never shown in the app or the docs.	Behind the scenes
Add existing property…	Beside + Add property on a part or an item: pick one of the job's own properties and DimSum makes a local property of the same name and type and writes the linking formula for you — {Job > Labor Rate}. The row then reads "Linked — follows {Job > Labor Rate}", and Unlink stops it following and keeps the number it was reading — cleared the formula and blanked the value; corrected it.	Property System
Advanced Part	A part that carries a table, filters and a sort — its Type is still Part — made in the Tool Designer from the Parts tab's + → Advanced part (New part · Advanced part · Load part…). It is tied to one Material Library table — until it names one it says so and matches nothing — and filters that table by the item's answers (see Filter (Advanced Part)), taking the row left first in line (see Match). Only the table's columns are filled by the match: every column (but one called Name) is a property of the part; everything else — Qty and its formula, a custom property, a note — is set as on a regular part. It is what List Matching became.	Dynamic Lists → The Advanced Part
Alignment	The fit Overlay & Align saves on an overlay page: a move, a turn and an even stretch or shrink, so the overlay sits on its main page at the main page's size. For overlays only, and visual: it changes no scale and no quantity on either page.	Overlay & Align
As-Bid Snapshot	A named, frozen copy of the whole takeoff (quantities, prices, report output) taken at bid time, e.g. "Bid 1 – 9/22", which later snapshots can be compared against	File types
Always saving	Every action is written to the .dsum the moment it's done; there's no Save button and you can close any time	File types
Annotation (table)	The .dsum table (0024) that holds every Dimension Line and markup — one row each, with its page, kind, shape, text and the look it was placed with. Kept apart from takeoff items, so a markup can never reach a quantity, the legend or the Estimating tab. An older DimSum ignores it	Data model
App Data folder	Where DimSum stores settings, masters, tool libraries and caches (OS-specific default)	File types
Area Tool	A takeoff tool that measures filled polygons (floors, roofs, slabs). One of the three base types.	Takeoff tools
Assembly (core)	A layered build-up (floor, wall, roof, ceiling…) of materials positioned relative to a reference plane, with dynamic material slots	Assemblies
Assembly Type	Floor, Wall, Roof, Ceiling, Slab/Foundation, Deck or Custom; decides which default tool the assembly attaches to	Assemblies
Assembly Designer	The Tool Designer area for building assemblies, with a live section preview, tried out on the Tools Playground	Assemblies
Attach to beam	A choice you make for one beam and one joist area, when the beam runs through the joists at their height. It cuts every crossing joist at the beam's two faces, gives each cut end a Joist Hanger, and shifts the joists past the beam by the Attach Offset (0 to start, so they stay in line). It applies to that beam only, is one Undo, and is kept when the joists are laid out again. The area's two edge joists never shift. Right-click the beam → Attach to beam; Detach from joists undoes it. a beam whose bottom lines up with the joists' and overlaps them fully attaches on its own (see Auto Attach), and the offset is set only on the Joist tool, an attached beam reading it.	Joist & Rafter tools
Attachments	Files added to a project, page or instance and stored inside the .dsum	Search, Media & Attachments
Auto Attach	A Joist tool switch, on by default in every Joist tool, your existing jobs and copies included: a beam that crosses a joist area attaches to the joists on its own when the bottoms line up (within 1/8"), both depths are known and they overlap by 100% of the smaller depth. Nothing is stored for it. Detach from joists on such a beam is remembered, and Attach to beam undoes that. Anything less stays manual (Attach to beam)	Joist & Rafter tools
Audit properties	Created By/At, Modified By/At, Page, Level and plan location, carried automatically by every placed or changed object; usable in reports	Property System
Audit trail	The project's record of who changed what and when	Property System
Auto Scale	DimSum finds the scale note on a page (text or OCR), checks it against dimensions and offers candidates with confidence. Always needs your confirmation; can run on all pages at once.	Page tools
Autosave journal	See Journal

B

Term	Meaning	See
Band (report)	One section of a report layout — Report Header, Page Header, Group Header, Detail, Group Footer, Report Footer (the plan's Report Summary), Page Footer — stacked on the page's grid (see Grid (report)), with what's inside it snapping to grid cells. Each has a Repeat switch (see Repeat (band)). In the Report Designer the Detail band — one row per part — is always there; Report Header, Page Header, Page Footer and Report Footer are dragged on from Bands in the palette, one of each, and go where they print — bands always stay in print order. Group Header and Group Footer come one of each per group level, named on the page with the field first, Division · Group Header; dropped on a report not grouped yet, one asks Group by which field? The Detail band's bottom edge sets its rows' text size, since a row is as tall as its text. Drag a band's bottom edge to change its height; it can't shrink past what's in it, and one on every page can't leave the rows no room. Kept in the .rsum; laid out in the designer since ****; group bands	Report Designer
Base Elevation (core)	The Z height a takeoff tool starts from: a dropdown of any Plan Level (plus "Custom…"), defaulting to the page's own level, so ceiling joists drawn on the floor below can sit on the level above. A level-linked value follows that level's elevation; a custom value doesn't.	3D settings
Base page / Overlay page	Now main page / overlay page: in Overlay & Align, the page you're working on, and the page shown over it and fitted to it. Older docs say base page for the main page	Overlay & Align
Base Properties	The automatic measurements of a tool type (Linear Total, Area, Count…)	Tool Designer
Base tool	Linear, Area or Count — the default tools, as calls them (see Default tools). Every other tool starts from one of them, and a tool made from Linear is a tool whether it has no parts or a tree of them	Tool Designer
Base type	Linear, Area or Point: the three kinds every tool is built on	Takeoff tools
Beam Width / Beam Depth	The Beam tool's size inputs. Beam Width is one ply's width; Beam Depth the beam's depth. Blank means from the material: the Beam Material's Width and Depth, read from the columns chosen as Width and Depth in its table. A size typed on the tool wins over the material, and one beam's own wins over both. See Member Width / Member Depth	Beam tool
Beam Hanger Material	A fixed part of the Beam tool whose Qty is 2 per beam, one for each end, when the beam's Beam Ends is Attached with Hanger. Linked to a table of yours like any fixed part, and it can't be deleted	Beam tool
Beam Item	One beam inside a Beam Tool item, numbered B1, B2 … across the job in drawing order (they renumber when one is deleted). It starts and stops exactly where you clicked (the drawn band has no end caps, and beams never join each other), keeps its own Member Length, length-rule result and material match, and can have its own Plies, Beam or Header (so its own Flitch), Beam Ends and Elevation Offset, each starting as the tool item's value: change the tool and every beam still on the default follows. It has its own label, the Beam label. beams from one tool with the same settings are merged into one Beam Tool item when the job opens which clears that job's Undo history once	Beam tool, Joists and beams as items
Beam Pocket / Beam Pocket Material	The Beam Ends choice Create Beam Pocket. It gives the fixed part Beam Pocket Material a Qty of 2 per beam and produces nothing else for now (walls come later). The material is for extra studs, a metal shim or a hanger	Beam tool
Beam Tool	The Linear smart tool, in DimSum Defaults → Framing: two clicks make one beam, drawn as wide as its material × its Plies. made each beam its own item; every beam placed from one Beam Tool item stays inside it as a Beam Item (B1, B2 …), and the beam starts and stops exactly where clicked, with no end caps and no joining. Beam or Header and Plies are asked on placing (and can be set on one beam); Shortest Length 8', Longest Length 20' and Length Step 2' give the stock lengths, and the Length Rules decide which is used; past the longest, the LF Material at length × plies. Its fixed parts are the Beam, Flitch and LF Material. Beam Ends is stored and acted on since ****, when the two tools work together. Two labels: a Tool label (off) and a Beam label (on). Changed only on Behind the scenes; copied as a tool that keeps its behaviour. a beam is drawn at its Member Width (Beam Width × Plies, Beam Width blank = the Beam Material's), with a Break line, and its Line Width is read-only	Beam tool
Beam Type	Later. Flush, Dropped, Raised/Header or Custom; sets the beam's top/bottom elevation. has Beam or Header instead	Beam tool
Bearing Window	A job setting (Project Settings → Framing), 4" to start, with the value a new job starts with in System Settings → Framing. How far below the joists a beam's top can be and still hold them up. A beam inside the window is a bearing beam, and the joists meet it by Bypass, Butt, Lap, Sister or Cantilever	Joist & Rafter tools
Behavior	See Smart Behavior
Behind the scenes	The locked page with DimSum's built-in masters and factory defaults — see Master Tools / Behind the scenes. Called Under the Hood up to It is not on the Tool Designer's left rail until System Settings → Tools → Show Behind the scenes in the Tool Designer is switched on; switched on it appears and the three default tools come back into the tool list as rows	Behind the scenes
Building Template / Project Template (core)	A reusable project skeleton: levels + elevations, sides, Details name, default packs, custom project properties. Saved as .bsum.	Building Templates
.bsum	Building (Project) Template library file	Tool library files
	A property that comes preloaded and cannot be deleted — and nothing more than that. it carries every setting any other property carries (group, hint, Input Condition, units, decimal places, a list, Input, Hidden, Locked), and Settings… is on every row. Rename and Delete stay on its menu, greyed with the reason	Property System
Butt	A joint at a beam below the joists: the joist is cut at the beam's centre and the two pieces meet end to end	Joist & Rafter tools
By Others	An assembly framing slot supplied by others (e.g. from an Engineered Layout), priced as supplied or from a quote	Engineered Layouts
Break line	A thin dark-grey dashed line (6" dashes, 3" gaps) along each beam where the joists break: at the beam's Center (the default), its Left face or its Right face, set on the tool or one beam (Break Line). Butt and Sister meet at it and Lap is centred on it; Cantilever still runs from the far face. Drawn on every beam and printed. The beam decides where the joists break, the Joist tool how	Beam tool
Bypass	The default joint at a beam below the joists: the joist stays whole and runs over the beam. The Joist Tool's Joint at Bearing Beams, or a choice made for one beam	Joist & Rafter tools

C

Term	Meaning	See
Cache folder	Regenerable rendered tiles and 3D meshes; never stored in projects; safe to clear	File types
Cantilever	A joint at a beam below the joists: the near piece runs the Cantilever Length (24" to start) past the beam's far face, and the far piece starts at the beam, beside it. At a beam under the ends of the joists, the only joint that changes anything: the joists run 24" past the beam's outer face	Joist & Rafter tools
Circular reference	A formula that depends on itself; shows ERROR in red with the cycle shown	Formula language
Color by property	A takeoff tool's color driven by a property or list row (e.g. Wall Type "Ext 2x6 10'" = Dark Teal)	Tool Designer
Cloud (Revision Cloud)	A scalloped outline round a change, with an optional numbered revision tag. No key: Markup ▾ → Cloud. Drag a rectangle or click a polygon; red, 1 pt, arcs 3/8" on the sheet; the tag sits at its top-right corner (it can't be dragged yet). Freehand clouds later	Annotation tools
Column settings	A table column's own Name, Type (Number, Text, Yes / No, Percent, Colour), Units — the same dropdown a property's unit is, with $ (dollars) under Money — Group (where the property this column sets is filed), and for numbers feet-and-inches or decimals. Opened from Settings… on the column head in the Material Library (the same button still reads Edit in a job's grid), editable any time; Save column is one undo. Changing a type converts every cell it can and leaves the rest exactly as they were, drawn amber, saying by count what it could not convert. A number in a $ column reads $3.48.. Type, Units and Group can also come in with the file — see Settings rows (CSV)	Material Library
Combine (report)	The switch Combine matching rows, under Combine on the Report Designer's Data tab: rows that match print as one row, on a rule you set. Turning it on asks Combine rows when these all match: — any fields, dragged in from the field list or picked from Add…; none to begin with, and with none picked nothing combines (and the on isn't saved until a field is added) — and Add up:, Qty to begin with, numbers only. Rows combine only when every picked field is the same: numbers in their unit, text ignoring capitals and end spaces. A row blank in any picked field stays on its own line, and rows are never added across different units. On a combined row, a field that differs shows (varies), and a number formula such as Extended is the sum over the merged rows. Off to begin with. It changes the report, never the job. The Material List in DimSum Defaults combines on Item #; its rule shows over its preview. Not the Estimating tab's Combine view	Report Designer → Combine
Combine view	Estimating tab toggle that merges identical instances across pages for a project-wide number, without changing data	Estimating tab
Command	Every change is recorded as a command: the basis of undo/redo, always-on saving, the audit trail, crash recovery and future sync	Architecture
Command palette	Ctrl+K: run any command by name	Keyboard shortcuts
Compact	Trims version history to shrink a .dsum in place. For a small copy to send, use Export for Sharing.	File types
Condition Builder	Condition… on the formula toolbar: If / Else if / Otherwise rows (or one value matched against several) that write IF, IFS or SWITCH for you, showing the formula before it writes it. It reads back only a formula it can write back unchanged; anything else gets "This is not a plain condition" and a Replace it button, and nothing changes until you press it.	Formula language
Constraint (assembly)	A rule positioning a layer: Stack, Fill cavity, Match, Offset from plane, Fixed, Formula, Conditional include, Slot filter	Assemblies
Continue tool	Ctrl+Enter: keep drawing shapes into the selected instance	Takeoff tools
Copy and Paste (on the plan)	Ctrl+C copies the selected shapes (or every shape of the selected items on the sheet); Ctrl+V pastes them into the same items, on the sheet in view, centred on the cursor, as one Undo. Both are on the right-click menu too. A pasted beam keeps its own values (Plies, Beam or Header …) and a pasted joist area its direction, cutouts and joists' own values; attachments and joints are not copied. New item like this still makes an empty item	Joist & Rafter tools
Coverage Unit	How much one purchase unit covers (sheet 4'×8' = 32 sf, square = 100 sf)	The DimSum Defaults tools & Smart Behaviors
Cross-section	A member's real thickness × depth (2x6 = 1 1/2" × 5 1/2")	3D settings
CSI MasterFormat divisions	The standard construction divisions (03 Concrete, 06 Wood…). they are the choices offered in every part's and item's Division	Parts
Cursor lines	Two thin lines through the cursor while a drawing tool is armed — one horizontal, one vertical — edge to edge of the canvas pane, so you can line a point up with something across the sheet. They go through the snapped point (where your click will land), not the raw mouse, and under ortho through the point ortho gives. 1 px, the accent colour at 60% with a faint halo; never in Select, and hidden when the mouse leaves the pane. They show while Region scale is on too, crossing at the corner being dragged. The Cursor lines switch sits in the status bar beside Snap and Ortho; System Settings → Canvas & Drawing → Cursor lines start on (on by default) is how each launch begins. Not the cursor's own crosshair.	Shared tool behavior
Custom folder	The second heading of the Tool Designer's Tools tree and Material Library, below DimSum Defaults. Under it is one folder per .tsum file in the Tools folder, named by its file and listed alphabetically (Framing, My Tools): each holds its tabs, folders and tools in the Tools tree, and its tables and lists in the Material Library. Every folder is on screen at once and a table opens where it is. Right-click Custom → New folder… / Show the tools folder; right-click a folder → New tab / Rename… / Show in Explorer / Delete… (to the Windows Recycle Bin). New things go into the folder of whatever is selected, and the buttons say which — + Tab in Framing, Import… into My Tools. as the Material Library's folder of libraries; folders, one per .tsum,. Not to be confused with the Custom group an import puts its made-up properties in. the Tools tree's Custom holds the .tsum files in the Tools folder (tool folders) and the Material Library's holds the ones in the Materials folder (material folders); New folder… in one never makes a folder in the other	Tool folders and files
Custom property catalogue	The machine's own list of custom property definitions, on System Settings → Custom Properties — Definitions are harvested up out of jobs and never moved: a job keeps every definition and every value where they are, the machine copies up what it has not got, and the next job is handed the catalogue as it opens. Installing defines only what that job lacks, so the job's own always wins inside that job — a value names its definition by id, and replacing one is the only way to lose a number. A hidden property of that name counts as being there, and so does a built-in. Two jobs that disagree are both left alone and the disagreement is listed under Jobs that disagree. A job still stores its values.	Settings page
Custom Settings	User-defined settings of any type, usable as {Settings > …}	Settings page
Cut Tool	Splits members (beams, joists, plates, linear shapes) at a point or along a line, with an optional gap	Wall tools
Cutout	A hole subtracted from an Area shape (openings, stairwells); C while the tool is selected	Takeoff tools
Cuts Joists	A beam setting (default On for Flush beams) that splits any joist it crosses, with a gap equal to the beam width. Replaced by Attach to beam, which is per beam and per joist area	Beam tool

D

Term	Meaning	See
Depth column / Width column	The column a library (material folder) uses as its Depth, and the one it uses as its Width, picked in the Material Library's settings or after an import. DimSum guesses a column named Depth, else Height (and one named Width), and shows its guess so you can change it, or pick None. A linked beam or joist takes its size from them, so a library that calls a board's depth Height, like the sample Lumber3, works as it is	Materials Library
Data source (report)	What one row of a report is — the List on the Report Designer's Data tab: Parts (one row per part per item, as on the Test Report, and the default), Items (one row per item on the plan, with its own Qty — the Estimating grid's number — and its Unit, LF, SF or EA; items can't be turned off), or Items with their parts (each item, then its parts). list parts only, and refuse a report that lists items	Report Designer → The Data tab
Datum	The zero elevation of the project (elevations start at 0)	Building Templates
Decimal places	How many decimals a number shows: the property's own setting, or System Settings → Numbers (default 2). the "Numeric Visiblity Depth". Feet-and-inches values ignore it	Settings page
Decision table	A Dynamic List used as a rule table (e.g. Wall Height + Plate Count → Stud Length), read with MATCH(); replaces long IF chains	Formula language
Decouple	Switch a list-linked property to a custom value for one tool or instance	Property System
Default properties	the list of properties every part and every takeoff item starts with, in groups; they can't be deleted ("can be added to, but never removed")	Property System
Default tools	Linear, Area and Count, and only those three. Every other tool starts from one of them. They are the three buttons above the tool list in the Tool Designer, under Start a new tool from, and a tool made from one can have no parts or a tree of them. They sit in no library's list and come back into the tool list as rows only when System Settings shows Behind the scenes. The tools that are in DimSum Defaults are its example tools, not default tools. Called base tools up to	Tool Designer
Dependency graph	How DimSum knows which values depend on which, so only affected values recalculate	Property System
Deskew	See Straighten
Duplicate (tool)	Copying a default or smart tool to make your own. The copy takes the original's functions and keeps no link to it, so master updates never overwrite your edits	Tool Designer
Detail Callout	A clickable bubble on a plan page that opens a saved detail (a boxed area of a detail page); can carry a Point count	Annotation tools
Details Section (core)	A folder for pages not assigned to a level (details, sections, schedules, specs). Custom name.	Project Tree
Dimension Line	D: a blueprint-style dimension between two points, measuring the true scaled distance live, at the scale of its first point. Click, click, then move to set the offset and click — or Esc / Enter to leave it on the line. Override text, prefix and suffix; Unscaled ⚠ on an unscaled page. A markup, not takeoff: no quantity. — typing a known length with an arrow key isn't, yet	Dimension tools
Dimension Style	Named look for dimension lines (text, ticks/arrows, precision, extension lines). Later: has one default look for the Dimension Line, on System Settings → Markups, instead	Dimension tools
DimSum Cloud	Cloud sync to your signed-in account (coming with accounts): jobs, tools, reports and settings back up and come down on any computer you sign in on. Part of the account, with no add-on price	Licensing
DimSum Defaults	The built-in, read-only library, the same on every machine: a Defaults tab with Examples and Parts, plus its own Wall Side list. From **** a Framing folder too, with the built-in Joist Tool and Beam Tool. In **** the three default tools (Linear, Area, Count) and the Basic folder that held them came out of it — they sit above the tool list now, and what it holds are its example tools and its saved part. To change anything in it, use Copy to a folder of my own…	The DimSum Defaults tools & Smart Behaviors
DimSum Defaults folder	The folder of the Material Library's Tables that holds the tables in DimSum Defaults — read-only, the same on every machine, and empty until pre-loads it ("which I will pre-load in later") — it says so on screen, and refuses an import. Once it holds tables they are offered like any other: as a property's source under Material Library → DimSum Defaults (a group that is absent while the folder is empty). DimSum Defaults is the one folder in both the Tools tree and the Material Library, and its Division, Trade and Wall Side lists show there once — read-only, so Division and Trade can't be edited. —, "Move them to My Tools" — Division and Trade are in the material folder My Tools, editable, and DimSum Defaults' Lists hold Wall Side only.	Material Library
Display Order	A level's position in the tree; default lowest level first (Basement → Main → Second → Roof); drag to change	Building Templates
Display precision	How lengths and quantities display. Built so far: Decimal places (System Settings → Numbers, default 2). A length precision setting (default feet-inches to 1/16", 142' 6 3/16") is designed	Settings page
Division	A default property on every part and item: the CSI division it belongs to, picked from a list or typed. Covers what Report Section did. it is a real shared list, in every job and every library, instead of a hard-coded set of choices: its values are yours to change, its name is not, and a property can be pointed at a list of your own instead	Parts
Draw Side	Which side of the line a Linear item's Line Width is drawn on: Right, Left or Centerline, as you walk the line from the first click (walking east, Right is below it; a room traced clockwise with Right has its width inside). The default is System Settings → Canvas & Drawing → Draw side for Linear tools, Right side out of the box; a tool's own Draw Side wins; a tool with none (it reads —) takes the default when placed; and the item keeps what it was placed with, so changing the default never moves anything drawn. Items drawn before stay centred. Quantities don't move — Length is the line you drew — and a click inside the band selects the item. A full property: {Draw Side} reads Right, Left or Centerline. Areas and Counts show the row and nothing draws it. Every corner and face of the band snaps — see Snapping; a per-shape Tab flip is still Coming. hold Ctrl while placing a span of a Linear with a Line Width and that span goes on the other side (Right ↔ Left), the status bar reading Other side (Ctrl). Spans already drawn don't move and the item's Draw Side is never written, so Properties reads it with (some sections flipped); carrying on an item (N, Draw more points, Continue) flips new spans the same way. Where the side changes the corner is a plain joint. Changing the item's Draw Side moves only spans never flipped; Centerline centres them all. A Draw Side that is Locked or set by a formula isn't flipped — Draw Side is set by the tool. Centerline has no other side. Print and Export PDF draw each span on its own side. The 3D view's Width Justification is this same value	Property System
.dsum	A project: one self-contained, encrypted file that opens on any DimSum install; one person edits it at a time	File types
Dynamic List (core)	A table with typed columns (e.g. Dimensional Lumber) that drives dropdowns, formulas and Advanced Parts	Dynamic Lists & the Advanced Part
Dynamic slot	See Material Slot

E

Term	Meaning	See
Edge classification	Pitched Area edges auto-tagged Eave, Rake, Ridge, Hip, Valley or Wall, with LF totals	Pitched Area
Elevation (level)	A level's height above the datum: the top of its supporting structure (for the first floor over a foundation, the top of the foundation). The floor system sits on top.	Building Templates
Elevation Face / Side (core)	A building face drawn on the plan as a directional line; becomes a vertical plane in 3D with linked elevation pages	Elevation Faces
Elevation Line	The reference plane for floor, roof and ceiling assemblies	Assemblies
Elevation Offset	Extra offset from Base Elevation (e.g. +8' for a header). On the Joist and Beam tools,, built), it is a stored property, 0 ft to start, and Elevation is worked out from it: the level's elevation plus the offset. The level is the page's unless the Level dropdown, now on the Elevation Offset row, picks another. If the level has no elevation, the offset stands alone. A elevation you typed becomes an offset that keeps the same total. One beam can have its own	3D settings, Beam tool
Engineered Layout Overlay	A manufacturer's truss or I-joist layout imported, aligned and tied into the takeoff	Engineered Layouts
Engineered Members	An instance holding members picked from an engineered layout, with counts by mark	Engineered Layouts
Estimating tab	The workspace listing every instance, grouped and totaled, editable spreadsheet-style	Estimating tab
ERROR	What a broken formula shows, in big bright red, everywhere its value appears; also listed in Needs attention	Formula language
EULA	The License Agreement accepted before First-Run Setup	First-Run Setup
Exact input (arrow keys)	While drawing, an arrow key locks the direction and opens a length dialog (12'6" + Enter). Number keys stay free for tool shortcuts.	Keyboard shortcuts
Export for Sharing	File command that writes the smallest possible .dsum copy (save history dropped, unused tools removed, plan images compressed) for sending or archiving. Page versions, As-Bid Snapshots, and attachments are all kept.	File types
Export Profile	A saved CSV export layout (columns, order, headers, delimiter, units) for uploading to a POS/ERP	Export Profiles
Extrude Direction	Up, Down or Centered: which way a tool's height/thickness extends in 3D	3D settings

F

Term	Meaning	See
Face Align	Click pairs that map an elevation page onto a Side's 3D face plane	Elevation Faces
Face Offset	How far out from a face a face tool starts (defaults to the wall assembly's exterior thickness)	Elevation Faces
Factory defaults	DimSum's shipped values in Behind the scenes	Behind the scenes
Field list (report)	The Report Designer's left pane, headed Fields: every value a report can print, with a search box (Find a field), grouped — Job (Name, Job #, Date, Prepared by, the job's own properties), Report, Group (Value, Count, and Total ‹column›, the subtotals; each group level's own too, Division (level 1)), Item and Part (Name, Qty, Unit, the Test Report's properties always, then every other property on the job's parts, custom ones and table columns included). With no job open it lists the built-in ones. Drag a field into a band to print it there, or a Part or Item field onto the Detail band to add a column; double-click or Enter adds it to the band last clicked. a field also drags onto the Data tab's lists.	Report Designer
File lock	Opening a .dsum locks it; a second person gets "In use by … — open read-only?"	File types
Filter (Advanced Part)	One row of an Advanced Part's filters: Column (a column of its table, Call Size) · Compare (equals, the default, at least, at most, contains) · Input (Property — This item › …, This part › … or The job › …, from the Property Picker — or Value, typed) · Only when (optional condition formula; blank = always). Filters combine: a row must pass every one that applies. Numbers compare in the column's unit (10' equals 120 in), text ignoring capitals and end spaces. A filter reads in plain words: Stock Length at least Height. the: Length equals Height, Call Size equals Stud Size	Dynamic Lists → The Advanced Part
Filter (report)	Only rows where… on the Report Designer's Data tab: only the rows that pass it print, and only they count in the totals. Built from Conditions — a field, a test (is, is not, more than, at least, less than, at most, is blank, is not blank) and a value — matching All of these or Any of these, or typed under Advanced as a report expression: {Part > Division} = "06 Wood, Plastics, and Composites" AND {Part > Qty} > 0. Mistakes show as you type, in plain words. Blanks follow Excel's rules (a blank number is 0). A filter with brackets, or AND and OR mixed, stays in Advanced. Empty, every row prints. A totals table has a filter of its own. ignore a filter, with a warning. Not an Advanced Part's filter	Report Designer → Only rows where…
First-Run Setup Process	The wizard on first launch (EULA, license/trial, units, storage, user, company, defaults, starter tools, tour)	First-Run Setup
Flitch / Flitch Material	The extra material a header gets. On the Beam tool, the Flitch Material is a fixed part that's on only when Beam or Header is Header, Qty one per beam ({Item > Member Count})	Beam tool
Font (report)	The typeface a report prints in, by name — set for the whole report in Page setup, and per element, for the Detail band and for a totals table, each inheriting the report's until set. Picked from the fonts on this computer, each shown in its own font. Courier prints as Courier New; a font that isn't installed gets a ⚠ naming what prints instead. A report with no font prints in Arial, as before	Report Designer → Fonts
Form Layout	How a tool's questions are laid out, designed by the tool's author in the Tool Designer's Form tab. it is a grid: a layout is a list of sections, each a band so many columns wide and so many rows tall, and a field takes a cell and may span columns and rows. The rows are the tool's Input properties, each with a Name, Show units and a Form tab. It sets the order Place … asks in and is what Tool Settings' Form view shows. Same row is gone into the grid.	Tool Designer
Form tab	Two things with one name. The Tool Designer tab where a tool's Form Layout is designed; and, on that form, a tab a row is put on — blank is Main, which always comes first, and tab names ignore case (framing is Framing)	Tool Designer
Former name	A name a library used to have. Renaming a library remembers the old name in the file, so a job that took materials from it — and remembers them by library name — still finds them on the update screen. A former name never wins over another library's current name	Tool library files
Formula	An expression with Excel's functions and operators and DimSum's own {property} references	Formula language

G – I

Term	Meaning	See
Generation rule	How an assembly layer produces quantities: Continuous, Framed members, Linear, Count, Formula	Assemblies
Fraction	How finely a feet-and-inches property is written: 1/2", 1/4", 1/8", 1/16", 1/32" or 1/64" — the own range. It sits where Decimal places is greyed for an ft-in property; blank is 1/16".	Property System
Grid (Form Layout)	What a Form Layout is made of: sections, each a band with a width in columns and a height in rows, and fields that take a cell and may span. Fields are dragged, and every drag has a key — arrows move, Shift + arrows resize, Page Up / Page Down send a field to the band above or below, Delete takes it off the form. No field is ever lost: it takes the cell it asks for, else the first free one in reading order, else the band grows a row, so a section made smaller than its contents keeps them. A hole is a layout, not a mistake — the clear line at the top is one — so removing a field shuffles nothing; only changing Columns re-flows. The last section cannot be removed, and removing any other moves its fields to the band beside it.	Tool Designer
Grid (report)	The squares a report page is laid out on, inside its margins. One cell, set as Grid (pt) in the designer's Page setup — 6 points, a twelfth of an inch, by default (page.grid.cell in the .rsum). Changing it keeps everything at the same cells, so the whole layout grows or shrinks with it. Band heights, where every element sits and how big it is, and the Detail band's column widths are all counted in cells; dragging and resizing snap to them, the arrow keys move what's picked one cell, Ctrl + arrows five, and Shift + arrows resize it, as on the Form grid. No merged cells. Not the Grid (Form Layout). Kept in the .rsum; shown and snapped to since ****,	Report Designer
Gross Area	Area before cutouts	Takeoff tools
Group level (report)	One field a report groups its rows by. Drag a field onto Group by on the Data tab to add a level, up to 10 — Division, then Trade, then Item, the first the outer one. Each level has its own Group Header and Group Footer bands (named field first, Trade · Group Header), its own order (List, A→Z or Z→A) and its own Repeat; a group that runs onto the next page reprints its header, (continued), at every level. A group with nothing in it prints nothing; a blank value groups last, as (No division).'s Test Report has one level, Division	Report Designer → Group by
Hanger edge	An outside edge of a Joist area whose joist ends get a Joist Hanger with no beam there, such as joists hung from a ledger. Picked with right-click → Hanger edges… or the Hangers tick in the area's Edges block. An end's own choice (right-click → Hanger at the bottom end) wins, then the tool's Joist Hangers switch. Cutout edges never get them	Joist & Rafter tools
Hanger Overlap (hanger overlap %)	How much of the smaller member's depth a joist and a beam must overlap up and down for the joist end to get a Joist Hanger: a 75% overlap gets one, a 10% overlap doesn't. 50% to start. A job setting (Project Settings → Framing; System Settings → Framing sets what a new job starts with), and a property of the Joist and Beam tools, where one joist or one beam can have its own. The joist's own wins, then the beam's own, then the stricter of the two tools'. renamed Hanger Overlap % on the tools, in the job and in System Settings; {Hanger Overlap} and {Job > Hanger Overlap} still work, and so does {Job > Hanger Overlap %}.	Joist & Rafter tools
Hidden property	A property not listed until you click Show hidden (n). It keeps its value, formulas still reach it, and an Input one is still asked for when the tool is placed. Two kinds, and the row says which: "Hidden — it belongs to another kind of tool" (DimSum put it out of the way — Area, Perimeter and Point Count on a Linear tool) or "Hidden — you hid this one". Naming a new property after a hidden one brings that one back instead of refusing. Un-hiding in a job is job-wide; hiding in the Tool Designer is per tool.	Property System
Hidden tools	Tools with visibility off, collected in a "Hidden tools (n)" group under their page	Project Tree
Highlight	Y: a see-through box or polygon over the plan — yellow, 35%, multiply, so the plan reads through it — drawn under the takeoff and picked by its edge so it never steals a wall.	Annotation tools
Hint	A property's hover text, shown when you hover its name	Property System
Ignore (page)	Marks a page (e.g. a cover sheet) as hidden during page assignment	New Project Process
Import a list…	The wizard that brings a CSV into a table or the Material Library: pick the key column, link each column to a property (or create one, which asks its section, or ignore it), tick required columns, and read a preview of every count — matched, new, kept, skipped with the line and reason — before anything is written. One Ctrl+Z undoes it. a library's import asks nothing — in the Tool Designer's Material Library, Import… opens no wizard: a header matching a known property is that property (Material is Made Of), every other header a custom Text property in group Custom, the key Item # else the first column, the row's name Name else Description else the key, and a file named like a table already in the open library (case does not matter) re-imports into it; the answer is one line, e.g. "Lumber2: 30 rows — 14 columns matched, no new custom properties, keyed on Item #." — see Material Library. A job's Project Settings import kept this wizard until ****, which removed it with the job's own tables — Import a list… and Pull a table in… are gone. the Units box is a dropdown, the same choices a property's Settings… offers, and the required ten of the material standard match a header against their own spellings (desc, item#, cost, sku) here, at the import, where the column is named.	Materials Library
Input (property setting)	The tick "Input — ask for it when the tool is placed". The old Prompt on Place, generalised to every property, set in the Tool Designer or on a tool already in a job. Placing opens one dialog, Place <name>, listing every Input property with the tool's own values filled in, in the order of the tool's Form Layout (panel order until somebody lays it out); Cancel or Esc places nothing at all	Property System
Input Condition	A formula on a property; its row shows only while it is true (e.g. {IS TRIM}). It never hides the value from formulas	Property System
Input Units / Output Units (old names)	What a property had: an Input unit (what a typed number meant and what formulas got) and an Output unit (what it was shown in). There is one unit now — see Unit (property). The one thing Output Units still did, writing a length in feet and inches, is a tick and not a unit; the migration that struck the split converted the stored numbers, and every property whose two units differed is listed by name on System Settings → Units	Property System
Instance (core)	One placed takeoff item with its own settings, properties, parts and totals. v1: lives on one page.	Instances & Shapes
Isolation rule	Projects never reference each other; tools are copied in and never written back	File types

J – L

Term	Meaning	See
Jobs folder	Optional separate folder for .dsum projects (default ~/Documents/DimSum Jobs)	File types
Joist (item)	One joist, as its own item under the Joist Tool: Joist Tool > Area 1 > J1, J2 …. It takes its properties, table and filters from the tool, has its own Joist Length (which filters the material table), and its own label, the Joist label. A single joist can have its own values (Joist Material, Joist Length Rounding, Joist Length, Doubled, Removed), found again after every layout by where it sits, within 1/2" of its place measured from the start line. Clicking a joist on the plan selects it; clicking between joists selects the Joist Tool item. A removed joist is not drawn or counted, and shows in the tree as Removed — was J5. Also the fixed part of the Joist Tool, now called Joist	Joist & Rafter tools, Joists and beams as items
Joist Area	Each area you draw with the Joist Tool, shown in the tree as Area 1, Area 2 … under the tool, holding its joists. J numbers start again at J1 in each area	Joist & Rafter tools
Joist Hanger	A fixed part of the Joist tool, Qty {Item > Hanger Count}: one for each joist end that meets a beam with enough overlap (a doubled joist gets two). Linked to a table of yours like any fixed part, and it can't be deleted. It can be turned off for the tool, for a beam, or for one connection (Auto / Hanger / No hanger)	Joist & Rafter tools
Joist Length	Each joist's length after its Joist Length Rounding. It is what filters the material table, so with Up to even foot a 9' joist orders as 10'. One joist can have its own Joist Length, which replaces the rounded one	Joist & Rafter tools
Joist Length Rounding	How a joist's actual length is rounded to its Joist Length: None, Up to whole foot, Nearest whole foot, Down to whole foot, Up to even foot, Nearest even foot or Down to even foot. Up to even foot to start. Ties go up, and a result is never less than one step. One joist can have its own	Joist & Rafter tools
Joist Material	A list property of the Joist Tool: 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, 2x10, 2x12, LVL, I-Joist, Truss, 2x10 to start. Type any other word, link it to a list of your own, or use it in a filter. One joist can have its own. Not the same as the fixed part, which was also called Joist Material and is Joist	Joist & Rafter tools
Joist Tool	The Area smart tool, in DimSum Defaults → Framing: draw the area (cutouts included), click the edge the joists run parallel to — or press J, Draw first joist — and joists are laid out at the O.C. Spacing, doubled by Double (None, Every, Every other, Every third), clipped to the area. Outputs Joist Count (pieces), Joist LF and Longest Joist; its fixed part is the Joist Material and Joist Qty the Joist Count. Elevation is the bottom of the joist. each joist is its own item (Joist Tool > Area 1 > J1 …) with a Joist Length, Joist Length Rounding and Joist Material, and Layout Start starts from the edge you clicked. Two labels: an Area label (off) and a Joist label (on). Changed only on Behind the scenes; copied as a tool that keeps its behaviour. Rim board on the edges you pick and Sheathing layers on top. Joist Depth, Auto Attach, Hanger edges and Show area / Show joists. Rafters and blocking are later	Joist & Rafter tools
Journal	The append-only command log inside a .dsum: always-on saving, crash recovery, future sync	File types
Key column	The column an imported list matches rows on — SKU, Item # — chosen at the first import and remembered, so a re-import updates matched rows in place instead of duplicating them. a library's import picks it without asking: Item # when a header matches it, else the first column	Materials Library
Label	Text, and perhaps a symbol, drawn on a placed item and built from its properties: Ext Wall 2x6 – 42 LF on a wall, M-J1: 2x10 @ 16" O.C. on a joist run. Not takeoff: it changes no quantity and isn't in the legend. What it says and how it looks come from the tool's label template; where it sits from System Settings → Labels, then the tool, then the item (which can say only Show or Hide). It can be dragged (one Undo, Move label — …; not on a locked item), gets a leader when the tool says so, is put back with Reset label position, is hidden per item in Properties → Label or all at once with Show → Labels, and prints with the Labels tick. A tool with no template draws none. Not the same as Takeoff lengths (each span's own length).	Tool Designer → the Label tab
Label column	The column of a table that names each row (2x6 @ 16"). It sets no property, is tagged names the rows, and cannot be deleted.	Dynamic Lists & tables
Label format	Superseded by the label template. The plan's one line of text for a tool's label (e.g. {Name}: {Linear Total}). A label_format column has been in the files since Coming, but nothing ever drew or showed it; keeps the label template in the tool's style_json instead and leaves the column unused	Data model
Label Prefix	Optional level prefix for marks (M → M-B1)	Building Templates
Label template	A tool's design for its label, made on the Label tab of the Tool Designer (or of a job's Tool Settings, for the job's copy) in a small designer: text pieces (plain text with {property} fields, each read in its property's own format since 0.5.30, or one formula after =, plus Section length and Section number; ERROR in red when a value can't be worked out), symbols (Span arrow, Double arrow, Direction arrow, Circle, Box, Diamond, Tick) and an optional box, each with its own look, in points on the sheet; up to 24 pieces. The tab has its own Undo; Save label is one edit of the tool. The same tab holds where the tool's label sits. Saved with the tool and copied into the job with it, but not onto items: they follow the tool. A change is offered to the jobs that placed the tool as Label: changed. A tool with none draws no label.	Tool Designer → the Label tab
Lap	A joint at a beam below the joists: the two pieces overlap by the Lap Length (12" to start), side by side	Joist & Rafter tools
Layer (assembly)	One component of an assembly: function + material/slot + thickness + side + rule	Assemblies
Layer Function	Structure, Substrate, Insulation, Membrane, Finish, Air gap, Accessory	Assemblies
Layout	A saved arrangement of panels and split panes on the canvas (the old "workspace layout"). Later: saved Layouts aren't	Split views
Layout Preset (joist)	A user-editable table of layout rules for generated members: start offset (e.g. 16 1/4"), whether an extra member lands at the far edge, how partial spaces are treated. Nothing is hard-coded. The table is later: its fields are properties of the Joist tool — Layout Start, Layout From, Member at Start Edge, Member at Far Edge — which can be linked to a table of your own	Joist & Rafter tools
Layout Start	On the Joist tool, the distance from the start edge to the first laid-out joist's centre. The Joist Tool's formula is {O.C. Spacing} + 0.25 — 16 1/4" at 16" O.C., the layout, which makes the extra member land at the far edge. Not used with Draw first joist	Joist & Rafter tools
Leader (leader line)	A thin line from a label back to its item, ending in a plain end, an arrowhead or a dot. Each tool says Never, When the label is moved (a label dragged off its spot gets one by itself) or Always (at a set length and angle, 45° up and to the right to start); the default is on System Settings → Labels: when moved, with a dot.	Tool Designer → Where the label sits
Length Rules	The Beam tool's custom formula section: a table of rows, each saying that a beam over From, up to To long, with these Plies (or any), uses a stock length (and how many), plies end to end (rounded up to the next stock length) or a fraction of a stock length. The first matching row decides; otherwise the default rounds up to the Shortest Length, then the next stock length, one per ply. the examples: a 2-ply 4' → one 8'; a 3-ply 3' → 9' → 10'; a single 2' → 0.25 of an 8'. Up to 50 rows, typed values only, edited in its own one-column editor with each stock length picked from the tool's list	Beam tool
Level	Always a Plan Level of the building. The page tool once called "Level" is now Straighten.	Building Templates
Level Editor	The BIM Forge-style stack editor for levels: a live section view where each level's elevation, plate height, floor-system thickness and gap to the next level can be typed or dragged	Building Templates
Line (report)	). A line on a report page, from Add → Line in the Report Designer. it is the only way a line gets on a report: DimSum draws none of its own — none under the page header or over the page footer, under column titles, over totals or before the grand total. A totals table has a Lines setting of its own instead: None (for a new table), Under titles or Titles + total. A Line drops full width (margin to margin, whatever the paper); it has Runs (Across or Down), Weight (pt), Line colour, Full width, Double and, across, Sits (Top, Middle or Bottom). it has a Style — Solid, Dashed or Dotted; a Double line is always solid. It can sit in any band — in the Detail band it prints on every row, or on the column-titles row, and on a footer's totals row it prints with each total; dropped on a row it snaps to the nearer edge. The DimSum Defaults reports carry their lines as Line elements, and a report made has its old lines turned into Line elements as opens it — it looks the same, a note says so, they're saved with the next change, and they are yours to delete. New has Blank picked to begin with, and Blank has none. A build-25 report opened prints most lines twice and loses its Detail-band Lines — accepted. have the Line too, beside the lines DimSum drew itself	Report Designer → Lines only where you put them
Line Drawn / Line Height	Line Height is the other half of a line's cross-section — a plate seen from above is 5½" wide, the same plate seen in section is 1½" — and it sits on one row with Line Width, with a ⇋ between them. Line Drawn is what the ⇋ sets: which of the two the 2D canvas paints. It lives on the item, in a column, exactly as Draw Side does, because a plate from above and the same plate in section are two items, not two tools. The value not drawn is kept, so swapping back gives it; swapping to a Line Height nobody typed draws the hairline and says so rather than refusing.	Takeoff tools
Line Style	A saved custom line look (dashes, text in line, arrowheads)	Draw tools
Line Width	A tool's drawn width on the 2D canvas. Drawn: a Linear item strokes at its width in real inches, so it thickens as you zoom in; blank or zero keeps the hairline. Which side of the line it sits on is Draw Side. it is the item's Width — one number with two names, not a copy, so {Width} on an item reads its Line Width and the two can never disagree; a part's material Width is a different question, written {Studs > Width}. It sits on one row with Line Height, with a ⇋ between them — see Line Drawn / Line Height. Every corner and face of the drawn band snaps. Filling it from the parts is a formula you write (SUM({Children > Width}))	Takeoff tools
Linear Tool	A takeoff tool that measures lengths (walls, footings, trim, cable). One of the three base types.	Takeoff tools
Linked part	A part loaded into a tool from a Material Library table row with Load part… — still a frozen copy, with the folder's, table's and row's names beside its values — whose names are used: when the row changes (a price — Cost Each 3.48 → 3.79), or its table's column settings do (a Type, Units or Group — Item # — Type: Text → Number), or a column is added or removed, the Tool Designer asks on the update screen, never changing the part behind your back; a value that won't convert to a new type is kept. Parts load linked. A strip across the top of the part names the table and the row's key: Linked to Lumber2 → STUD-92 · Unlink.	Tool Designer
List (shared)	A named set of values kept in the Tools tab under the Material Library's Lists; any property's Settings… → Material Library: Lists / Tables can point at one instead of carrying its own typed-in choices. Division and Trade ship as lists in every job and every library: their values are yours to change, their names are not. A list lives in the same file as the property pointing at it, and it travels with a tool that points at it, so a job still opens whole with its library gone. a tool's lists live in a Material folder, and a tool's list property takes its choices from there while it is on this machine and keeps its value always; Division, Trade and Wall Side show once, under the read-only DimSum Defaults, so Division and Trade couldn't be edited — moved them into the material folder My Tools, where you can edit them, a tool's built-in Division and Trade offering My Tools' lists while it is on this machine; Wall Side alone stays in DimSum Defaults. A table does not travel that way — a job is handed frozen numbers instead (see Table).	Tool Designer
Lists / Tables (setting)	The row on every property's Settings… that answers where do this property's values come from: its own values, a shared list, or a table — the file's own, or a library's on this machine. A table asks which column this property links to and what every other column sets (an existing property, Create new property, Ignore this column, Ignore all), and the property is then a dropdown of that column whose pick fills in its neighbours as one undo. Every other column ignored is a list. Editable afterwards from the same row.. it is called Material Library: Lists / Tables — — with its choices grouped Its own values (typed below), Lists, Tables in this job, Material Library → Custom → {library} for each library of your own (in the designer, the library on screen first) and Material Library → DimSum Defaults last, absent while it is empty; nothing else about it changes. no folders — two groups, Lists (Division (35), Trade (20), Wall Side (2) …) and Tables (Common Animals (3), Lumber (30), Lumber2 (30)), a folder name appearing only where two share a name	Dynamic Lists & tables
List Matching	Now the Advanced Part — see Advanced Part, Filter (Advanced Part) and Match. The plan had any part fill from the Dynamic List row meeting its criteria, with a quick-create / pick prompt on no match; the Advanced Part flags a miss instead	Dynamic Lists → The Advanced Part
List-linked property	A property whose value comes from a list row: the list's default row (e.g. Waste % 10%) or a chosen row (Roof = 25%); can be decoupled	Property System
Lists & Tables	Gone from the Tool Designer's rail: its lists are the Material Library's Lists, and its tables the Material Library's Tables (see Material Library). Before that it was the Tool Designer's rail area for shared lists —, with Division and Trade preloaded — and tables, A job had its own in Project Settings → Lists & Tables, which did not change — until ** removed it**: tables and lists live only in the Material Library. List Matching and the Pricing page are Coming	Tool Designer
Locked (property)	Shown, but not editable here: the row draws a padlock and the badge Locked — shown, not editable, and the value is plain text rather than a box. It is a tick in the property's Settings…, so it can be unticked, and a locked row still feeds formulas. Different from hidden (not listed at all) and from read-only (nothing to type, ever).	Property System

M

Term	Meaning	See
Manual count	A typed Count on a Point instance for items that aren't drawn (dumpster, permits, delivery fee), with parts under it	Takeoff tools
Manual Scale	Calibrate on a known dimension, or pick a preset scale	Page tools
Mark #	{Mark #}: a joist or beam item's number, 1, 2, 3 … per kind across the job in the order the items were made, renumbering when one is deleted. The labels show it as J1, J2 … and B1, B2 … (a {field} in a label reads in its property's own format, so 1, not 1.00); add {Level > Label Prefix}- for M-B1	Joist & Rafter tools, Beam tool
Marked-Up Plan	A printed/PDF page with color-coded tools, an auto legend and custom info boxes, for customers	Marked-Up Plans
Markup	Something drawn on a page that isn't takeoff: a Highlight, Text, Note, Cloud or Stamp, plus the Dimension Line. No quantity, never in the legend; listed under its page in a Markups (n) group; on Markup ▾ in the tool strip. Sized on the sheet, and each keeps the look it was placed with (see Restyle to defaults). Ctrl+H hides and Ctrl+L locks selected markups; a locked one can't be moved, edited, deleted or restyled.	Annotation tools
Master Templates (old name)	What the Master Tools were called before — see Master Tools / Behind the scenes	Behind the scenes
Master Tools / Behind the scenes (core)	The locked page with DimSum's built-in masters and factory defaults. Called Under the Hood up to, and hidden until you ask for it	Behind the scenes
Match	The row an Advanced Part takes: of the rows its filters leave, one is the part, of several the first in line — by its sort (Stock Length, smallest first), else the table's own order — and of none, the part is flagged No material matches these conditions, keeps its last values and names the filter that emptied the list. The part says what it took: Matched Lumber3 → 2X6-10 (1 of 6). It matches at placement, after the Form, and again whenever an input changes on the item (inside that edit's Undo); Try it in the Tool Designer shows it for sample inputs; a change to the table is offered on the update screen. Not the formula function MATCH(), which has no build named.	Dynamic Lists → The Advanced Part
Material (core)	A part, generated from a list. every row of every table in the Material Library is a material; a row short of the material standard is still one, marked with what it is missing (a quiet missing Cost Each label at the end of its row), and — — Load part… marks each one the same way and loads it on a click, and a part loaded from one stays linked to it (see Linked part). Add as part is gone from the Tool Designer's table rows: a material becomes a part through the Parts tab's + → Load part…, choosing Materials → Custom → ‹folder› — its rows under MATERIALS. Before, and in a job's Project Settings: a material is a row of a list you import — a POS export, a price file — whose columns are its fields; Add as part makes a saved part whose properties follow that row, so re-importing the list updates the part in the library at once. Placed into a job it arrives as frozen numbers plus three names, and a newer price reaches it through the update screen. A row that has everything the material standard asks for is a true material; anything short of it is a table tied material. A part in a job could also be linked to one and read it with {Material > Cost} — , which removed the part's Material row, and the Property Picker no longer offers {Material > …} (a formula that already names it still reads blank with its warning) — which is why no property may be called Material, and why a column called Material imports as Made Of.	Materials Library
Material folder	A .tsum in the Materials folder, shown under Material Library → Custom and holding tables and lists — the same file type as a tool folder, in a different place. Made by right-clicking Custom in the Material Library → New folder… — "A new folder under Material Library → Custom, for tables and lists. It makes no tool folder." — and it may share a tool folder's name. On first launch of your tables moved once into material folders named like the tool folders they came from (My Tools' three into My Tools), so links and jobs, which find a row by folder, table and row name, kept finding them. A tool reaches one only as values copied in plus three names, or by Load part…	Tool folders and files
Material Library	The Tool Designer's rail entry between Tools and Assemblies, — the tables, not a new file:, "Material libraries are made of tables. So we should store them the same way." It holds two section tabs, Lists (the same shared lists, moved in) and Tables (where it opens), in two folders: the DimSum Defaults folder (read-only, empty for now) and the Custom folder (every library of your own on this machine, grouped by library, empty ones included). A table in another library opens that library. Every row of every table is a material. Import… asks nothing — the headers decide — and every column has its own column settings. A property linked to one of its lists or tables says so on its Settings… row, Material Library: Lists / Tables. It replaces the rail's Materials and Lists & Tables; a job's own Project Settings sections are not changed. A separate .msum file was planned for it and struck the same day.. its folders are material folders, .tsum files in the Materials folder, apart from the tool folders. Parts loaded from it stay linked — (see Linked part)	Material Library
Material Library: Lists / Tables	What the property row Lists / Tables (setting) is called — see that entry.	Dynamic Lists & tables
Material Slot (dynamic)	An assembly layer whose material is picked per instance from a filtered list (e.g. Joist Material)	Assemblies
Material standard	The ten properties a true material has to have set, and DimSum's own answer to the "materials are going to be required to have quite a few properties set, so that we can place them in 3d, and use them in reports": Name, Description, Item #, Call Size, Made Of, Width, Height, Stock Length, Weight and Cost Each. Set means the list has a column supplying that property and this row's cell is not blank. Qty is not on the list — "Qty should not count" — because every part has one and it is typed every time. Grade, Finish, Supplier, E, Fb, Moment of Inertia, Section Modulus, Capacity, Coverage, Purchase Unit and Waste % are offered and never required: DimSum knows the names and will match a column to them. A row short of the standard was a table tied material — and it is simply a material marked with what it is missing in the Tool Designer (a job's Project Settings keep the tied split): the standard is a label on a row, not a wall between two lists.	Materials Library
Material Type Template	Removed. A type with its own fields that each material belonged to. Material types shipped on the morning of and struck them that evening — "Take it out." A material is now a row of an imported list, and the list's columns are its fields	Materials Library
Materials folder	Where DimSum looks for your material folders: System Settings → Tools → Materials folder, Automatic — Documents\DimSum Materials, below the Tools folder, with Looking in … and the one-time move's notice under it. Every .tsum in it is a Material folder. File → Tool Folders → Show the materials folder / Add a .tsum to the materials folder…	Tool folders and files
Materials Library	's name for what is the Material Library — see that entry. the Materials entry on the Tool Designer's rail; Project Settings → Materials for a job's own, unchanged by and removed: one section per list you imported, Import a list…, Export…, and Add as part on every row. Re-importing matches rows on the key column, updates them in place, adds new ones and keeps and flags missing ones, never deleting. the grid splits into Materials and Table tied materials; a tied row names what it is missing and gets Fill these in…, which makes the columns and sets the cells in one Ctrl+Z, after which it moves up by itself. Any table can be pulled in, from this library or another. A create-template button writes a CSV whose header is the standard plus the offered properties, with one example row. One row makes one part per folder; a second is refused by name.	Materials Library
Media library	The project's Media panel of screenshots (2D or 3D) that can be placed on plans, used in reports or exported	Search, Media & Attachments
Member Width / Member Depth	Member DepthMember WidthMember Width = its Beam Width × Plies, the width its band is drawn, printed and met by the joists at; on a beam, Line Width reads it. Member Depth is its Beam Depth, else its material's Depth. A joist's Member Depth is the tool's Joist Depth when typed, else its Joist part's Depth, else its 2x size	Beam tool
Member label	The label drawn on each joist or each beam, from its own template and label designer: the Joist Tool's Joist label and the Beam Tool's Beam label, both on by default (the Joist label's text is black to start with). The tool's Label tab gets a picker between them and the Area label or Tool label (off by default). An item can say only Follow the tool, Show or Hide (Properties → Appearance → Joist labels / Beam labels). Not draggable	Tool Designer → the Label tab
Member Length / Ordered Length	A member's actual length, and the length you buy (rounded or stock). On the Beam tool Member Length is the drawn length (no bearing) and Ordered Length the stock length the Length Rules chose, empty when the beam goes to the LF Material	Beam tool
Modes	(Dropped.) The Takeoff / Estimating / Reports / 3D tabs are simply the tool tabs (not the Tools tab — see Tool tabs); "Workspace" now means the license account only.	Canvas layout

N – O

Term	Meaning	See
Name formula	An item's or part's Name written as a formula, usually from a text template — 2x{Nominal Depth} @ {Stud Spacing}" O.C. — so the name follows its own values, on the canvas and in every list. A part's name that would be blank, ERROR or a sibling's stays as it was.	Formula language
Needs attention	Estimating tab list of flagged items: formula ERRORs, and an Advanced Part with No material matches these conditions, as a Material match warning; a shape that crosses a scale region's edge, as a Scale region warning (one per shape); joists or beams of an item with no material match, and a joist setting with no joist (an Orphan)	Estimating tab
New section	N while drawing: finish the current run/polygon and start the next shape in the same instance	Keyboard shortcuts
Note (markup)	Shift+N: a pin with a card — text, author, date and Open / Resolved (orange / green). Listed under its page in the tree with its first line; printed numbered with a Notes box. Replies and the Notes panel later.	Annotation tools
O.C. (on center)	Spacing between member centers (12", 16", 19.2", 24")	Joist & Rafter tools
Opening Tool	Places windows/doors in walls: cuts layers, generates headers and framing	Wall tools
Orientation	Flat, On Edge, Upright or Custom: decides which cross-section dimension lies on the plan and which rises	3D settings
Orphan (joist setting)	A single joist's own values whose joist is gone because the area changed more than 1/2" from the start line. They are never dropped silently: they wait under the area as No joist — was J5 (with a count of its own values), flagged in Needs attention, until you attach them to another joist or delete them. If a matching joist comes back (O.C. 16, then 24, then 16) they re-attach by themselves	Joists and beams as items
Ortho	Locks drawing to 0/45/90° (hold Shift or toggle O)	Shared tool behavior
Overlay	A page shown over the page you're on, tinted and see-through (blue at 35% by default), while you draw. Turned on from the tree's Show over … or Page ▾ → Overlay…. Overlay On/Off and the tint and opacity are view state of the page you're on; its Position is a setting of the overlay page: On top by default, or Under the takeoff. It never takes clicks, is never snapped to, is never in a quantity and isn't printed	Overlay & Align
Overlay & Align (4-click)	Fit an overlay page to a main page with two point pairs, clicked overlay → main page → overlay → main page (Page ▾ → Align overlay (4 clicks)), so it shows on top, lined up.: alignment is for overlays only	Overlay & Align
Own value (member override)	A value set on one joist or one beam that differs from its tool's. A joist can have its own Joist Material, Joist Length Rounding, Joist Length, Doubled and Removed; a beam its own Plies, Beam or Header, Beam Ends and Elevation Offset. In Properties it shows an Own value chip, with an undo arrow to go back to the tool's value (Use the area's value / Use the tool's value). Changing the tool moves everything still on the default	Joists and beams as items

P

Term	Meaning	See
Page (core)	One sheet from a Plan Set	Project Tree
Page Alignment (core)	The saved result of Overlay & Align. Since it's for overlays only (see Alignment); whether 3D and Page Versions reuse it is still open	Overlay & Align
Page Link	A clickable hotspot that jumps to another page	Annotation tools
Page tools	Rotate, Straighten, Color On/Off, Text On/Off and Fade / Contrast / Brightness, from Page ▾, the canvas right-click menu or Page Properties' Page view. Non-destructive: no stored point moves, the takeoff turns with the sheet and quantities don't change. One Undo each, and they apply to the print. No Crop	Page tools
Page Type (core)	Plan (horizontal at its level), Elevation (on a Side's face), or Detail (2D only)	Page tools
Page Version	A new revision of a sheet added to the same page; old versions are never deleted and can be viewed alone or overlaid	Page Versions
Palette (report)	Under the Report Designer's field list, in two parts. Add — what you can drag onto a report page: Text, Field, Page X of Y, Date, Image, Line, Box, and Table (a totals table). Bands — Report Header, Page Header, Page Footer, Report Footer, Group Header and Group Footer; a band the report already has is greyed. the group bands can be added, one of each per group level — on a report not grouped yet, one asks Group by which field?. Not the Command palette (Ctrl+K).; Table and group bands	Report Designer
Pane	One section of a split canvas. has up to two, plus one pop-out window; the focused pane has an accent border and is the one the tree, the tool strip and Print act on. Later a pane can show the 3D viewport	Split views
Per-Instance	A property that can differ on each placed instance	Property System
Pick Line / Trace Path / Pick Region	Extract tools that turn plan linework into takeoff shapes	Line extraction
Pitch	Roof slope as rise/12 (e.g. 6/12)	Pitched Area
Pitch Factor	Multiplier from plan to sloped area/length, from the editable table (6/12 = 1.118 by default)	Behind the scenes
Pitched Area Tool	Area tool sloped by a pitch, with roof-edge classification	Pitched Area
Pitched Joist (Rafter) Tool	The Joist tool with pitch, for rafters	Joist & Rafter tools
Placement reference	Which part of a wall the drawn line represents (exterior stud face by default, centerline, interior…); per shape	Wall tools
Plan Area	Flat 2D projected area	3D settings
Plan Level (core)	A named building level with an Elevation and Display Order; pages are assigned to it	Building Templates
Plan Set (core)	An imported file (PDF, TIFF, image, DXF/DWG) with one or more pages	Plan import
Plate Height	A level's top-plate height; feeds wall height and eave defaults	Building Templates
Ply / Plies	One layer of a built-up beam or a doubled joist. The Beam tool's Plies multiplies the material's width — {Beam Material > Width} * {Plies} — and, by the default rule, how many pieces are ordered. A doubled joist has a second ply beside the first	Beam tool
Point Tool	A takeoff tool that counts clicks (doors, fixtures, outlets). One of the three base types.	Takeoff tools
Pop-out window	A pane moved into its own window, for a second monitor: View → Pop out pane, the tool strip's Pop out pane, or Open in new window on a page in the tree. Selection, the armed tool, Undo and the shortcuts follow it; Dock back or closing it puts its page back in the second pane. Its place is remembered. One at a time	Split views
Preview (print)	Preview beside Export PDF on a marked-up plan. It is not a picture of the print — it is the print: the same print job goes through the same sheet builder the PDF is made with, so paper, orientation, scale mode and every Include tick change the preview under the hand that changed it, and more than one page previews as more than one sheet, each captioned Page n of m. What it cannot show is the plan pixels, which the PDF renders at 150–300 DPI outside the window — so it draws the canvas's own cached tile, a page the canvas has never visited previews with "Plan pixels are not available for this page", and a note says the plan is softer here than the export will be.	Marked-Up Plans
	Dropped, with the Properties Toggle. Was: a shipped preset of the Properties Toggle that hides every cost/price/markup/tax property, the Estimating tab's money columns, the Pricing page and the cost report fields. It replaces the old single "Pricing On/Off" switch.	Settings page
	Dropped. Was: a Lists & Tables page for bulk price updates, supplier imports, history and re-pricing. A price is a column of a table; re-import its CSV and the update screen offers the new number	Dynamic Lists & the Advanced Part
Process (core)	A guided sequence (wizard, modal, questionnaire) that produces a result, e.g. "New Project Process"	New Project Process
Project (core)	One job/takeoff, stored as a single .dsum file	File types
Project Tree	Left panel: levels → pages → tools, plus Details and Sides	Project Tree
Prompt on Place	**Called Input **, and no longer limited to a tool's own custom properties — see Input (property setting). A property ticked that way is asked for in a Place <name> dialog before the item lands, with the tool's own value already in the box; Esc places nothing. Built: the dialog the tick on every property	Property System
Property (core)	A named value on any object, referenceable in formulas and reports	Property System
Property path	How a property is referenced, e.g. {Level > Elevation}, {Parent > Qty}; case-insensitive and rename-safe	Property System
Property Picker	The button on every formula toolbar: click where from, then the property, and the reference is inserted. it is a tree — the tool, named, with its parts nested inside it as deep as they go and the one you came from highlighted, then Page, Level, Job, Table and Material	Formula language
	Dropped. Hidden in a property's own Settings… is unaffected. Was: the Settings list of every property, built-in and custom, with a show/hide switch and presets ("Pricing Off", "Quantities only", your own). Hidden properties show blank, but their values stay stored and keep feeding formulas. Per install, overridable per project.	Settings page
Protected page	A page covered by the project's one optional password: it still counts in quantities, but until it's unlocked it's hidden everywhere — canvas, search, screenshots, 3D, "Show on plan", printing and marked-up plans. A forgotten password can't be recovered.	Search, Media & Attachments

Q – R

Term	Meaning	See
Qty Unit	No longer a property of its own. A part's unit is the small box beside its Qty — ea, sheet, box, hr, cy, anything you type — and it belongs to the part, not to the property, because it differs part by part. It takes no formula	Property System
Quick Guide	Built-in how-to topics (F1, also in Settings)	Settings page
Quick Measure / Quick Area / Quick Count	Temporary ruler, polygon or clicks with live readouts. Keep turns them into a Dimension Line, or — by picking a tool from the Tools panel — into a real Linear, Area or Point instance, so a "quick look" that turns out to be real takeoff isn't lost.	Dimension tools
Refresh (top bar)	The round-arrow button in a job's top bar, with a count when something is waiting; it opens the update screen. the Tool Designer has its own in the bottom bar, reading 1 behind. the job's count takes rows and tool items together — 2 waiting	Dynamic Lists & tables
Refresh Center	Project → Refresh Center: the one panel listing everything that has moved on since the project took its copies — settings and user/company values, list and price updates, tool updates, page versions, unmatched items — each showing what would change, to apply or dismiss. Nothing updates silently.	New Project Process
	Dropped. The default reports in DimSum Defaults act as quick reports: New or Duplicate one on the Reports tab	Report Designer
Raster Page / Vector Page	DimSum's internal page formats: a tile pyramid for scans, a display list of paths/text for PDFs and CAD	Plan import
Read-only (property)	A property with nothing to type into it, ever: measured from the drawing (Area, Linear, Perimeter), kept by DimSum (audit stamps), or read from elsewhere in the job. It is not a setting — there is no tick for it and it cannot be switched off, because it is how the value is stored. It can still be hidden, locked, grouped, given a hint and ticked Input	Property System
Reference	How a formula names a value: in braces, with > for "inside" — {Height}, {Item > Linear Total}, {Parent > Plates > Qty}. The eight words are Item, Parent, Children, Job, Page, Level, Table and Material; Parent repeats for each level up; a name may hold anything but {, } and >	Formula language
Reference Plane	The line an assembly's layers are positioned against (Elevation Line or Wall Plane)	Assemblies
Repeat (band)	A report band's switch: Every page or Once. Page Header and Page Footer start as every page; Report Header and Report Footer as once; a Group Header starts as every page, printing again marked (continued) at the top of each page its group runs onto; a Group Footer is always once. In the .rsum (repeat: everyPage or once); switched on each band's label, or in its properties, in the designer since ****,	Report Designer
Report Branding	Settings section (admin-only) with the logo, header/footer and default terms used by all reports	Settings page
Report layout	A report you run on the Reports tab — what it shows and how its pages look — one per .rsum file. The tab opens with or without a job. It lists them as folders: DimSum Defaults (read-only, the Test Report) and Custom (every .rsum in your Reports folder), with New, Rename, Duplicate, Delete (to the Recycle Bin) and Open folder; the one you pick is previewed on the open job, page by page, beside Print, Export PDF and Export CSV. What the plan calls a report template.	Report Designer → The Reports tab
Report layout file (.rsum)	One report layout per file, in the Reports folder — a small text file, JSON, marked "format": "dimsum-report" and "version": 1. It holds the layout, never the job's data. A file from a newer DimSum is refused in plain words; a part of it this version doesn't know is left out with a warning. Share a report by sending its file. the Report Designer saves it as you work, and a picture in a report (png, jpg or svg, up to 2 MB) is kept inside it as text, so a report is still one file; still version 1. "lines": "byHand" marks a file whose every line is an element; an older file's drawn lines are turned into Line elements as it's read. Supersedes report templates kept inside the .dsum or authored in .tsum libraries.	File types
Report Section (core)	The plan's report-grouping property. Replaced by Division and SubDivision on every part and item; {Report Section} is not a property any more	Parts
Report Template (core)	A layout built in the Report Designer. On the Reports tab it is a report layout, its own .rsum file — not stored inside the .dsum	Report Designer
Reportable	A property offered as a report column	Property System
Reports folder	Where DimSum looks for your report layouts: System Settings → Tools → Reports folder, beside the Tools and Materials folders, Documents\DimSum Reports by default. Every .rsum in it is a report under Custom on the Reports tab; Open folder there opens it.	Settings page
Resolution order	Where a value comes from when several places could supply it: Shape override → Instance → Tool → list default row → Settings → Behind the scenes	Property System
Restyle to defaults	Puts drawn markups back to the current default look: right-click a selection, the button at the foot of a markup's properties, or Apply to this job on System Settings → Markups. One Undo. A stamp takes its own stamp's look. Needed because a drawn markup keeps its look when a default changes.	Settings page
Rim board	(ships in. Board along the edges of a Joist area, switched on by Rim Board (on in the DimSum Defaults Joist Tool, off in existing jobs and your own copies). By default it goes on every edge the joists run into; you change that by clicking the area's edges (right-click → Rim edges…) or ticking them in Properties. The joists stop at its inside face, shortened by Rim Thickness. Each stretch is a rim member, R1, R2 … under the area, ordered in equal pieces of one stock length from the rim's own Shortest, Longest and Step lengths and Length Rules. {Rim Qty} and {Rim LF} count it	Joist & Rafter tools
Rim Material	(ships in. A fixed part of the Joist tool, Qty {Item > Rim Qty} in ea (pieces), matched for each rim member on its Rim Ordered Length, so Estimating reads like Rim Material — LSL 12" 12' — 6 ea (Area 1 R1, R2). Its Width is the Rim Thickness. Linked to a table of yours like any fixed part, and it can't be deleted	Materials Library
Round Up (checkbox)	Removed. gave every part a Round Up checkbox that took its final Qty up to a whole number; takes it off every part. Round in the Qty formula instead: ROUNDUP({Item > Area} * 1.10 / 32, 0). The ROUNDUP() function is unchanged	Formula language
Rounding Preset	A named row of the user-extendable Rounding Presets table: 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 — and you add your own. Used by labels, a part's Rounding Preset and ROUNDTO(). DimSum only rounds where you ask it to.	Behind the scenes
Run	One continuous polyline in a Linear tool; Enter finishes a run and the tool stays armed	Takeoff tools

S

Term	Meaning	See
Saved part	A part kept in a folder (a .tsum) — its properties, its Qty formula and the parts under it, with no geometry. Save to a folder… puts one there, Load a part… copies one into any tool. It is a copy: changing the saved part later doesn't change it. It can't be placed on a sheet.	Parts
Scale region	A rectangle on a page with a scale of its own, for a drawing printed at a different scale from the rest of the sheet — the 1/4" rear elevation on a 1/8" sheet. Also called a viewport or region scale. A shape is measured at the scale of the smallest region holding its first point (an edge counts as inside), else the page scale; a cutout takes its area's. A shape that crosses an edge — leaves its region or goes into another, not just running along an edge or touching a corner — is still measured at its first point's scale and gets one Scale region warning in Needs attention. Regions nest or stay apart: a partial overlap is refused, and so is one exactly on top of another. Each needs a label (its scale, e.g. 1/4" = 1'-0"). {Page > Scale} still reads the page scale. Stored per page version (.dsum 0022). Scale ▾ → Region scale (or the canvas right-click menu), then drag a box and set its scale in the Scale dialog; a dashed amber outline with its scale in a chip; click it for 8 handles that resize it, double-click to rescale, Delete to remove. A shape drawn inside it is drawn and measured at its scale. Page Properties lists each region with Change… and Delete; an item's Properties says Measured at …; regions print unless Scale regions is unticked. Linking a region to a Side comes later	Page tools
Seat	A named user on a Workspace license ($400/year per extra seat); active on up to 2 machines at once	Licensing
Section Count	How many continuous sections of a tool have more than one segment. A chain of two spans is 1; a lone span 0	Takeoff tools
Segment Count	The edges across a tool's shapes, not counting cutouts. {Segments} still works	Takeoff tools
Set from a table…	Retired — a property is linked to a table from its own Settings… → Lists / Tables row and is then a dropdown (see Lists / Tables (setting)). Until then: on an item's or part's menu: pick a table and a row, read the preview (what will change, be created, and read afterwards), and the row's columns set the item's properties — which then keep following the row inside that file. the gesture asks what to set: which column sets this property?, then what else should this row set?, every column against the properties the item has, pre-matched by name, with All and None — and a property the item has not got is pulled in from the table, taking the column's name and its unit. One gesture, one Ctrl+Z. It is also reachable from a property's Settings… → List, which now answers a list or a table; a Colour or a Yes/No has no List row and is still bound from here. Type your own value to stop one; clear it to follow again; Stop following the table kept the numbers.	Dynamic Lists & tables
Settings (core)	App-wide configuration, user info, company info, defaults; stored once per install; exportable as .ssum	Settings page
Settings rows (CSV)	The rows under a CSV's column names that carry each column's settings, so a Material Library table imports with them already set: Row 1 Name (always), Row 2 Type, Row 3 Units, Row 4 Group. Row 2 counts as Type only if at least one cell is filled and every filled cell is a type word — Number, Percentage (Percent), Slider, Text, Yes/No (Yes / No, Checkbox, Boolean), Color (Colour), capitals, spaces, /, - and _ ignored — otherwise the file imports as before. Row 3 counts as Units after a Type row when every filled cell is a known unit (DimSum's with $ and %, lb, psi, in4, in3, your own from System Settings → Units, any a column in that folder uses), or plainly is one — an unknown unit is then left unset and named in the answer. Row 4 counts as Group after both, any text. An all-blank row 3 or 4 counts. A blank cell leaves that column as the import would have made it. The one-line answer ends …; types from row 2, …; types and units from rows 2–3 or …; types, units and groups from rows 2–4, plus …; N cells could not be converted; one Ctrl+Z takes the table and its settings together, and a re-import sets them on the table's columns, converting cells as Settings… does. A Material Library table's Export… and Create a CSV template… write all four rows, so an exported table re-imports with its settings. A column's Settings… and a job's own import and export are unchanged. Example: samples\Lumber3.csv	Material Library
Shape (core)	One drawn piece of an instance (a run, a polygon, a point); stores its page and can override instance settings	Instances & Shapes
Sheathing layer	(ships in. One layer of sheathing on top of a Joist area: an Advanced Part with the sheathing role, linked to a library and filtered like any other. Add as many as you want with Add layer, or remove them all; unlike a fixed part it can be deleted. Layer 1 sits on the joists. It counts sheets: ROUNDUP({Item > Area} * (1 + {Waste %}) / ({Width} * {Length}), 0), from 4x8, 3/4" and 10% until a matched row fills them in. On the plan it's a light hatch across the joists. The DimSum Defaults Joist Tool ships with one, Subfloor	Joist & Rafter tools
Show area / Show joists	Two switches on each Joist area. Show area off hides its fill, outline, sheathing hatch and area label but keeps its joists; Show joists off hides its joists, rim, hanger marks, joist labels and problem rings but keeps the area. One Undo each, saved in the job; print follows; quantities never change	Joist & Rafter tools
Side	See Elevation Face
Sister	A joint at a beam below the joists: butt, plus a sister piece the Sister Length (48" to start) long, centred on the beam and beside the joist. The sister piece counts as a joist	Joist & Rafter tools
Sloped Area / Sloped Length	Plan Area (or Length) × Pitch Factor (the familiar way). {Area} = Sloped Area by default.	3D settings
Smart Behavior	Built-in logic on a tool beyond formulas: Beam, Joist, Pitched Joist, Wall, Opening, Pitched Area… Joist and Beam came first,: a tool's behaviour (joist, beam or basic) is set when it's made and never changes, and a copy keeps it	The DimSum Defaults tools & Smart Behaviors
Snapping	Cursor locks to exact points while you draw (S toggles): ends, vertices and midpoints, and the drawn width box as well — every corner of every span at any width on any Draw Side, the mitred corner two spans share, the square end at each end of the run, the band's faces as lines that catch anywhere along their length, and the drawn line itself. The canvas names what it caught beside the marker: Corner, Line, Face, End, Vertex, Midpoint. A beam drawn into a T catches the top's face, because the nearest line wins. The Tools Playground snaps the same way. Intersections between two items are Coming	Shared tool behavior
Snapshot (tool)	The copy of a tool/list/material stored inside a project	File types
Snapshot (3D)	A saved named 3D view, usable in reports	3D viewport
Span	One piece of a Linear run, from one click to the next — stored as a shape of its own. A Section Count counts chains of spans. a span can sit on the other side of its item's Draw Side: hold Ctrl while placing it.	Shared tool behavior
.ssum	Settings export file	File types
Split view	The canvas in two panes, side by side (Alt+2) or stacked, plus one pop-out window. One armed tool for both panes, and the first click into the other pane only focuses it. Each pane keeps its own page, zoom, pan and cursor lines; selection and Undo are shared. Three or four panes and saved Layouts come later	Split views
Stable ID	A permanent unique ID (UUIDv7) on every object	Architecture
Stair Stringer mode	A Beam tool mode for stair stringers	Beam tool
Stamp	A rubber-stamp graphic (APPROVED, VERIFY IN FIELD…) with optional dynamic fields, live until frozen.: the 5 built-in stamps plus your own text stamps, made in System Settings → Stamps; a placed stamp keeps its own copy in the job. Image stamps later.	Annotation tools
Stock length list	Lengths a material is sold in (Dimensional 8'–24' by 2'); used by STOCKLENGTH() and Ordered Length. The Beam tool makes its own from Shortest Length, Longest Length and Length Step (8', 10' … 20')	Behind the scenes
Straighten	Page tool: click two points along a line that should be level or plumb, and the page turns to whichever is nearer (deskew), with a ±5° Fine-rotate slider; auto-deskew for scans comes later. Renamed from "Level" so it isn't confused with Plan Levels.	Page tools
Part (core)	A child of a Takeoff Tool or another Part; usually a report line with a Qty formula. Formerly Sub Item. Its Type is Part, Linear, Area or Point	Parts
Summary (report column)	A report column's Total, as the designer labels it: what the column adds up on its totals rows, in every Group Footer and the Report Footer — None, Sum, Count, Average, Smallest or Largest. Sum, Average, Smallest and Largest work per unit on a column with units, such as Qty — never two units together; a money or unitless column gives one value. A blank cell counts as 0. Read in text as {Group > Total ‹column›} and {Report > Total ‹column›}. A totals table's columns take one each too. have Sum and Count, and refuse a report with Average, Smallest or Largest	Report Designer → Columns
Surface Area	Exact geometric area of a sloped or face plane	3D settings
Sync Views	Links pan/zoom between panes	Split views

T

Term	Meaning	See
Table	A list with columns — a row per wall type, say, with Stud Spacing, Height and Colour — whose rows set properties by name and keep them following. Read in a formula as {Table > Framing > Stud Spacing}. Made in the Material Library's Tables or Project Settings → Lists & Tables. A job never gets a library's table: placing a part from a library copies the numbers, frozen, plus three names — library, list and row key — so nothing in a job changes by itself and a job opens whole with the library gone. A row and a table in the same file still follow each other live. Deleting a row asks first, in the same words deleting a column does, and renaming a table or a list can be done in place on the rail (double-click or F2).	Dynamic Lists & tables
Table tied material	Retired from the Tool Designer: every row of every table is a material, and one short of the material standard is marked with what it is missing — there is no separate section, and no Fill these in… or Pull a table in there (see Material Library). A job's Project Settings → Materials kept it, unchanged — removed it. As: a row of a table in the Material Library that does not meet the material standard — The difference is conformance, not linkage: both kinds follow their row, one has enough on it to be placed in 3D and printed in a report and the other does not. They sit in their own section under Materials, each one naming what it is missing, by name, with Fill these in… to make those columns and fill the cells in one Ctrl+Z — after which the row moves up by itself. Pulling any table into the library makes a tied material per row; nothing is promoted by itself.	Materials Library
Takeoff Tool (core)	A Linear, Area or Point tool that produces quantities	Takeoff tools
Takeoff lengths	What calls the dimension boxes: the length labels a Linear or Area run shows while you draw it, which can stay after placement. Off out of the box; turned on in System Settings → Markups, per tool or per item, the nearest winning. Size on the sheet, colours, opacity, precision and unit are settings. Read live per computer, like Decimal places. The live labels while you draw stay 11 px on screen.	Shared tool behavior
Template (old name)	The old name for a Tool: renamed it on screen, and the code and the .tsum file still say template. See Tool. Not to be confused with a Building Template, a report template or a text template, which keep their names	Tool Designer
Template Designer (old name)	What the Tool Designer was called before, on a top-bar tab called Templates — see Tool Designer	Tool Designer
Template Library file (old name)	What a tool library file (.tsum) was called before — see Tool library file	Tool library files
Template Pack (old name)	What a Tool Pack was called before — see Tool Pack
Templates panel (old name)	What the Tools panel was called before — see Tools panel
Text (markup)	T: text placed on the plan — click for auto-width, drag for a wrapped box — with fields such as {Page > Scale} filled in live. Black, sans-serif, 10 pt on the sheet.	Annotation tools
Text template	A name or other text typed the way you want to read it, with references in braces — {Level > Name} – {Name} — which Text… on the formula toolbar turns into a CONCAT formula. {…} is a reference and only a reference; {{ and }} are literal braces; numbers join without their units.	Formula language
Thickness	An Area tool's extrusion (slab 4", sheathing 3/4"); on faces, how far a tool projects out	3D settings
Tile pyramid	Multi-resolution tiles of a raster page for instant zoom	Plan import
TOB / BOB	Top / bottom of beam elevation	Beam tool
Today (field)	{Today}: today's date, in text and stamps. It stands in for the plan's TODAY(), since braces hold a reference and only a reference. It reads like Oct 1, 2026. (In reports, the print date is {Report > Printed} and the time {Report > Time}.)	Annotation tools
Tool (core)	What you place on the canvas. Every tool is made in the Tool Designer from one of the three default tools, Linear, Area or Count, and that kind (its base type) is fixed when it is made. A tool can have no parts or a tree of parts: a Linear tool with nothing under it and a Linear wall with studs, plates and sheathing are both tools. It carries its colour, properties, formulas, parts, Form Layout and Playground drawings. It lives in a tool library (.tsum), and clicking it in the Tools panel copies it into the job and places it. Called a template (on the rail, a Tool Template) before; the code, the .tsum file and the database still say template. The dimension lines, notes and highlights on the toolbar are drawing tools, not tools you make in the Tool Designer — see Takeoff Tool.	Tool Designer
Tool Designer	The Tools tab in the top bar, third beside Takeoff and Estimating, where you build tools with no job open. Before it was the Template Designer, on a Templates tab. for tools and saved parts, (Lists & Tables for lists, and the three default tools above the tool list under Start a new tool from) and (tables, the Materials rail entry, and the Tools Playground in place of the Test Bench). Its rail entry for tools reads Tools (it read Tool Templates). Still greyed on the left rail: Assemblies. Under the Hood is renamed Behind the scenes and is off the rail unless System Settings → Tools shows it. the tree is resizable — its right edge is a handle, Resize the Tools tree, dragged or moved with the arrow keys, up to 25% of the window, remembered on this computer; the Material Library's folders column resizes the same way	Tool Designer
Tool folder	A .tsum in the Tools folder, shown in the Tools tree and a job's Tools panel, holding tabs, folders, tools and saved parts — no tables or lists, which live in Material folders. What called a Custom folder, before the two were kept apart	Tool folders and files
Tool library file (.tsum) (core)	A shareable file of tools, saved parts, lists and tables, held in tabs and folders — on screen, a folder under Custom (see Custom folder). It was called a template library before, and the file is still a .tsum. File → Tool Folders → New folder… makes one; sharing one is sending the file.; Assemblies, Stamps and Styles come with their own slices. Jobs keep copies, so a folder can be renamed, moved or gone and every job still opens whole. where the file sits decides what it shows — in the Tools folder it is a Tool folder, in the Materials folder a Material folder	Tool folders and files
Tool Pack (core)	No longer a separate thing. A library is organised as tabs and folders — one row shape that nests without limit, so a "pack" is just a tab or a folder you name	Tool Designer
Tool Settings dialog	A placed tool's settings in one dialog — double-click the item on the sheet, or right-click it → Settings…: its live quantity above three tabs, Form (the form the tool's author laid out — see Form Layout), Input (which properties are asked) and Advanced (every property with its formula; the one place an item's Name has an fx), and Save as tool… in its footer.	Tool Designer
Tool tabs	The Takeoff / Estimating / Reports / 3D tabs you flip between while you work a job. Not the Tools tab: that is where tools are made (see Tool Designer)	Canvas layout
Tool Template (core) (old name)	What a Tool was called before The Tool Designer's rail entry read Tool Templates; it reads Tools now. See Tool	Tool Designer
Tools folder	Where DimSum looks for your folders: System Settings → Tools → Tools folder, Automatic — Documents\DimSum Tools. Every .tsum at its top level is a Custom folder; DimSum looks at start and when its window comes back to the front, and the settings page names what it did not show — a backup, an unreadable file, a library outside the folder (Move into the tools folder), a name that doesn't match. Before it was Documents\DimSum Templates with My Templates in it; the first launch of moved it once, renaming the library My Tools, which remembers My Templates as a former name — see Former name. it holds tool folders only; tables and lists are in the Materials folder, and the one-time move's backup is in its Backups subfolder (My Tools.before-materials.tsum)	Tool folders and files
Tools panel	Top of the right dock in a job: This job, then DimSum Defaults and Custom → each folder, in their tabs and folders; it looks again when DimSum's window comes back to the front. Click a tool to place it — parts and all. Called the Templates panel before, and headed by library before	Tool Designer
Tools Playground	A tool's Playground tab: a blank sheet at 1/4" = 1'-0" where you draw with the tool itself and every formula on it and its parts follows — the one place a tool is linked, not copied, so editing it changes what is on screen. Include in report per drawing, Reset, and the old Test Bench's sample boxes below the sheet., replacing the Test Bench	Tool Designer
Tools tab	The top-bar tab where tools are made and libraries are kept. See Tool Designer. It was called Templates before It is not one of the tool tabs, which are Takeoff, Estimating, Reports and 3D	Tool Designer
Top Elevation	Base Elevation + Height/Thickness (or the highest vertex)	3D settings
Totals table	A small table of totals, from Add → Table in the Report Designer, dropped in any band but the Detail — usually the Report Footer. It starts as Totals by Item # with Item # and Qty (Sum). Add up by a field gives one line per value (Item # adds up all of each part, Division all the parts in each division), with a Total line at the foot; it adds up the rows the report's own filter left, then its own Only rows where… filter, and has columns with totals, moved with ↑ / ↓. In a Group Header or Footer it covers only that group. It doesn't split across pages yet. its own Lines — None, Under titles or Titles + total — None for a new table; one is set to Titles + total, what it printed.	Report Designer → The totals table
Trade	A default property on every part and item (Framing, Roofing, Electrical…), picked from a list or typed. Says what the old Material / Labor part types did. it is a real shared list, in every job and every library: its values are yours to change, its name is not	Parts
Trial	14-day full-featured trial, no payment details, a "DimSum Trial" watermark on PDFs and a "DimSum Trial" row in CSV exports; afterwards the install opens only the projects it created, read-only, until activated	Licensing
.tsum	See Tool library file

U – Z

Term	Meaning	See
Under the Hood (old name)	What Behind the scenes was called up to — see Master Tools / Behind the scenes. Kept here because other takeoff software calls its own version that, and notes written before use it.	Behind the scenes
Undo History list	The dropdown beside Undo: click any earlier action to undo everything back to that point in one step (50+ steps at once). One shared history for the whole project.	Keyboard shortcuts
Unit (property)	One setting,: a property has a unit, it is stored in that unit, and it is picked from a dropdown — on the property's Settings…, on a table column, and in the Import wizard. It replaces's pair of Input and Output Units. ft-in is not a unit but a spelling: show as feet and inches is a tick that appears on a length and nowhere else, beside the Fraction. System Settings → Units lists what DimSum knows, read-only and grouped by dimension, and adds, renames and removes your own beside them — a custom unit converts to nothing but itself. The migration converted the stored numbers so nothing on screen moved; what it could not fix is a formula written against the old unit, so every property whose two units differed is listed by name, with both units, on that same page	Property System
Units per property	Every number has its own unit — Width in inches, Length in feet — and is stored in it; a part's Qty takes its unit from the box beside it, on the part. One setting, one dropdown, A length may additionally be written in feet and inches, and then the row shows both readings of the one number (1'-4" with 16 in under it). Unit mismatches in formulas are warnings	Property System
Universal search	Ctrl+F: one box that searches instances, parts, properties, pages, levels, notes, list items and plan text	Search, Media & Attachments
Unlink (part)	The button in the strip at the top of a linked part in the Tool Designer (Linked to Lumber2 → STUD-92 · Unlink): it forgets the folder, table and row names, as one Undo — Undo Unlink from Lumber2 in Framing; the part's values stay as they are and it is never asked about again, reading Not linked — loaded from Lumber2. Not the Material line's Unlink on a part in a job, which stops the part reading {Material > …}	Tool Designer
Update from Template (old name)	What Update from Tool was called before — see Update from Tool
Update from Tool	Pulls tool changes into a project via a diff you choose from; never automatic., pulled forward Coming, on the job's update screen: placing a tool copies it, so an edit to it — a formula, a default, a property or part added, removed or renamed, a setting — changes no job by itself; a job opening with anything behind is asked, a group per changed tool (Critter · Framing · version 28 → 31 — 2 items) listing what changed once for the tool, a tick per placed item, Update selected as one Undo with any rows, Skip per tool version. What you changed on a placed item stays yours (Height — kept, you set 9'), and a part you renamed keeps your name; a tool whose folder isn't on this machine is never offered. Not listed: the built-in properties' own settings, label formats and input defaults. Taking the tool's value for a property you edited is a later build	Tool library files
Update screen	The review that opens when a job has something that moved on, and from Refresh in the top bar: grouped by row, old → new, tick items or whole groups or Select all, Update selected or Skip (remembered per version), one Ctrl+Z for the batch. it finds the row again by name — library name, list name, row key — among whatever libraries happen to be open, and offers the new numbers; a library that is gone is simply not among them, so there is nothing to offer and it says so plainly rather than erroring. An instance you leave unticked keeps its number and is offered again next time: nothing is shared any more, so nothing has to be frozen to stop it moving. Noticing a newer library when a job opens is the rest of the Refresh Center, no slice named since the re-plan. the same screen in the Tool Designer, for linked parts whose row or table's column settings have changed — opening by itself when you come to the Tools tab, and from the designer's bottom-bar Refresh, which reads 1 behind; it writes only tool folders — "the Material Library itself is never changed from here". also let a job's screen update parts, which came through labelled wrong before. changes to a tool itself reach the jobs that placed it, on the job's screen — titled Updates when any tool is behind, with two kinds of group, a changed row and a changed tool (Critter · Framing · version 28 → 31 — 2 items); Update selected takes both as one Undo; a price from a row is offered only under its row, never again under the tool; see Update from Tool	Dynamic Lists & tables
Updates	The update screen's title when a tool a job placed has changed since; with only rows to review it stays Update from the Material Library, as — see Update screen	Dynamic Lists & tables
Used in render	A part checkbox, off by default: whether it is drawn in 3D later. the example: draw the subfloor, not the subfloor glue	Parts
Version History	Rolling saved versions of a project (File → Version History): the last 20 save points plus one a day, kept 30 days	File types
Vertex Elevation (core)	An optional Z value on one point of a shape, for sloped lines and planes; Relative or Absolute	3D settings
Viewport / region scale	See Scale region	Page tools
Wall Plane	The reference plane of a wall assembly; the drawn line	Wall tools
Wall Tools suite	Assembly-driven wall tools that generate studs, plates, sheathing, insulation and drywall	Wall tools
Width	Real-world width of a Linear/Point tool; drives both the 2D drawn width and the 3D width. On an item it is its Line Width — one number with two names,	3D settings
Width Justification	Center, Left or Right of the drawn line. On the 2D canvas it is Draw Side (built, and the 3D view will read the same value	3D settings
Workspace	The license account for a company or user: it carries the seats, so an organization can add estimators to it ($600/year including its first seat, every feature). It no longer means a canvas layout or the tool tabs — see Layout and Tool tabs.	Licensing
Workspace admin	The Workspace role that manages seats and Report Branding. On a stand-alone install the license owner counts as admin.	Licensing
Zoom (Report Designer)	The Report Designer's page zooms and pans like the plan canvas: the wheel zooms about the pointer; right-, middle- or Space+left-drag pans; Ctrl+0 Fit, Ctrl+1 100%, Z the selection. The bar has − / +, the zoom %, and Fit, 100% and 150%, from 25% to 400%. Remembered on this computer; the preview keeps its own Fit / 100%	Report Designer

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