Model and Estimate integration using the Model Connector

VIDEO | Model to Estimate Integration Walkthrough

 

You can use Model to sum object quantities and sync them to Estimate using the Model Connector functions. In Estimate, there are functions in the main ribbon of the CBS in the More Actions > Model Connector section that integrate with Model.

The Model Connector functions are described in the following table:

Function Description
Select in Model When you select a cost item, the linked Model objects are selected in Model.
Frame selected When you select a cost item, the linked Model objects are framed in the Model viewer.
Sync Model Quantities After you execute a DTO to sum quantities in Model, you can then sync Model quantities into Estimate.
Send Selected CBS to Model When you select a child item in the CBS structure, then the parent hierarchy with that selected child will be pushed to Model. When you push a parent CBS item, then the parent and all children are pushed to Model.

When you send CBS cost items to Model, the CBS structure of the selected cost item or parent cost item is sent to the DTO panel. On the DTO tab, the CBS hierarchy is converted into DTO Groups and DTOs. All parent levels of the hierarchal tree create DTO Groups with the children level of the tree creating DTOs .

User-defined fields 11-15 are used to sync data to Model’s Selector and Action tabs in the DTO panel. For more information, see User-Defined Fields. For more information about Model integration with Estimate, see Model-Estimate overview.

Summing quantities using a parent cost item

When a parent cost item is sent from Estimate to Model, the parent cost item becomes a DTO group in Model. To estimate at a parent level, you must enter the Tag Name and Value information in User Defined 12 and 13 fields in Estimate, and then send the parent cost item to Model.

In the DTO panel, the DTO tab shows the tree structure with the parent cost item as a DTO group and as a DTO , and child cost items as DTOs.

Considerations

• Estimate version 2023.0 or later must be installed.

• The Estimate add-in for Model Client Plug-ins must be installed.

• InEight Model must be installed.

• One instance of InEight Model and one instance of InEight Estimate must be open on the same computer.

Steps

Send selected CBS structure to Model’s DTO panel

  1. Open one instance of Model and one instance of Estimate.

  2. In Estimate, create or open a project, and then open the CBS register.

  3. In Model, select Load a Project, and then open the DTO panel.

  4. In Estimate, select a cost item or a parent cost item.

  5. In the top ribbon, select More Actions , and then select Send Selected CBS to Model in the Model Connector section.

  6. When the Estimate CBS items are sent successfully, a Success dialog box shows. Click OK in the Success dialog box to close it.

Run Model DTOs

  1. In the DTO panel, select a DTO created from the CBS items sent from Estimate. You will see that a rule is automatically created in the Selector tab based on the input from the user-defineld fields in Estimate. For more information about creating rule types manually, see Manage DTOs.

  2. Click Test to validate and review all the information for model objects in the Selection Information Panel.

  3. In the Actions tab, validate that the Quantity Type fields are set to the necessary summation of the quantities.

  4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the other DTOs.

  5. Run the individual DTOs or you can select higher in the hierarchy to run parent and child DTOs.

Sync Model quantities

  1. After selecting to run DTOs, in Estimate, select Sync Model Quantities in the More Actions > Model Connector section in the top ribbon. The Sync Model Quantities dialog box opens and, in the Model, QTY column it shows the quantities in Model. The Current QTY column shows the Forecast (T/O) Quantity in Estimate.

  2. Select all cost items, and then click Accept. The quantities derived from the model are now in Estimate.

Select and frame Model objects

  1. In Estimate > More Actions > Model Connector, select the check boxes for Select in Model and Frame Selected.

  2. Select a cost item in Estimate, and then in Model you can view which model objects were used to create the quantities.