Archive and Restore Jobs

One of the most useful features within Estimate is the ability to archive job folders. This feature is used to store job folders that you create in Estimate in a compressed format. This feature is particularly useful when you want to create a backup copy of one or many jobs.

Archiving jobs can also be useful for moving a job from one environment to another, such as sending a job file to another Estimate user in a different office or a different company.

Once you have backed up Estimate job data you always have the ability to restore that data at any time by using the Restore feature.

As a SaaS product, Estimate is sometimes made the casualty of server-side interruptions in service, which are out of Estimate’s control. The auto-save function makes attempts to save your data prior to Estimate shutting down. For more information, see the Estimate resiliency section in the General Navigation topic.

Step by Step — Archiving a Job

  1. Click on the File tab. From the Backstage View, select Archive/Restore from the left navigation pane.

  2. Select Archive Job.

  3. From the Job Register, select a job to archive. Click OK.

  4. Save the .est job on your desktop. Click Save. Then click OK.

  • A success message shows when saved

Restore Job Archive

Once you have archived an Estimate job, you always have the ability to restore that data at any time by using the Restore Job Archive feature. This feature de-compresses a specified archive file and provides you with the ability to overwrite an existing job or specify a new job code where you want to restore your job data.

Step by Step — Restore Job - Estimate in the Cloud

  1. Click on the File tab. From the Backstage View, select Archive/Restore from the left navigation pane.

  2. Select Restore Job.

  3. Select the archive that you previously saved to your desktop. Click Open. The New Job from Archive window opens.

  4. Click on the ellipsis in the Core Project field to select a Platform job.

  5. Enter a code TEST RESTORE – Your Initials in the Core field. Check the boxes to copy cost details, copy PBS changes log, and copy quotes into the new job. Click OK.

  6. Your restored job will open in a new window. Close out of the restored job.

Merge Job with Archive

Once you have archived a job, you have the ability to merge that data with existing job data at any time by using the Merge Job Archive feature.

When merging job data, the system looks at your existing job data for matching codes or descriptions. If the system finds a match, the existing data is overwritten (updated) to reflect the data in the archive file. If the system does not find a match, the data is added to the job.

The Merge Job Archive feature does not merge all of the data in the job. The data that is included/merged is as follows:

  • Foundation Setup Data
  • Resource Rates
  • Resource Assemblies

Step by Step — Merge Job with Archive

  1. Click on the File tab. From the Backstage View, select Archive/Restore from the left navigation pane.

  2. Select Merge Job with Archive.

  3. When prompted, select Yes to continue.

  4. Select your test job, then click OK.

  5. Select the archive saved to your desktop, then click Open.

  6. Click on the File tab. From the Backstage View, select Start from the left navigation pane.

  7. Select your test job from the Open a recent Job section.

  8. From the Ribbon, select the Setup tab. Then select Job Properties.

  9. You can now see that your archive and test job have merged data by viewing Resource Rates, Resource Assemblies, and Foundation Setup Data.