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CYPE Lightning
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CYPE Lightning

Cost databases and mapping files, and sets of measurement rules

As of version 2024.a, users can manage the "Cost databases" and "Mapping files" databases (in applications with a "bill of quantities" tab), and the "Sets of measurement rules" databases (for Open BIM Quantities) in two different locations, which can be toggled via a drop-down menu:

Database directory
A directory containing the databases is indicated. This makes it easier to use databases shared by several users. This option was used in previous versions.
Project databases
The databases are saved together with the project in the application. When it is compressed from the "File" menu in the application, the databases will be included in the CYP file generated. This way, the project can be shared with the databases used to obtain the bill of quantities.

Exporting "BIM model element identifiers" to FIEBDC-3 (.bc3)

The "BIM model element identifiers" option has been added to the bill of quantities export panel to FIEBDC-3 format (.bc3). When activated, the IDs of the elements in the BIM model will be added to the comments of the quantity detail lines, as indicated in the code from version FIEBDC-3/2016. In previous versions, these fields were always added to the file, but to ensure compatibility with other applications that are not able to work with them, the export of these fields can now be controlled.

This option is activated by default. Furthermore, the FIEBDC-3 files included by the "Bill of quantities" tab in the contributions for the BIMserver.center platform always contain the identifiers of the BIM model elements.

New method for connecting applications to the BIMserver.center platform

The mode of communication between Open BIM applications and the BIMserver.center collaborative work platform has changed. In previous versions, the applications used the "BIMserver.center Sync" tool to upload and download the files of the contributions associated with the project from the platform. This tool was downloaded from the BIMserver.center platform or installed together with the installation of the platform applications if users so desired.

From version 2024.a onwards, applications are now able to work directly with BIMserver.center without an intermediary. That is, without the need for the "BIMserver.center Sync" tool.

This modification will improve the performance and efficiency of Open BIM applications significantly. By removing this dependency, the applications have more autonomy and the waiting times for communication between BIMserver.center Sync and the program have been considerably reduced. The process of downloading contributions has also been optimised, as users no longer need to obtain the entire content of a project from BIMserver.center in order to work, but only the contributions to be read.

The way of authenticating a BIMserver.center user in the applications has also been modified. Now, this process is carried out within the BIMserver.center web platform. To do this, the application with which the user is working will run the user's default browser when the "Login" button is pressed. When the credentials are entered, or after opening the browser if the user is already connected to the platform, an authorisation page will be displayed. This page details the resources the application is requesting access to and two buttons for granting or denying this access.

The authorisation must be carried out for each application. Once access has been granted, it is saved for the next time the program is run and there is no need to perform this process again for that application.

As well as performance improvements, changes have been made to the user interface of the Open BIM applications regarding the connection to BIMserver.center.

The "Connect to BIMserver.center" window now includes a "Configuration" button. Clicking it launches a menu from which you can edit the "File directory stored in local cache". This is the path where the files that make up the contributions will be downloaded when working with them from the applications. In previous versions, this location could be selected from the BIMserver.center Sync tool.

The appearance of the "Project selection" window has been modified.

In the "Select project" list, the "View only my projects" option has been added to show only the projects where the connected BIMserver.center user is the owner. Icons have also been included for the "Type of project" column in order to make it easier to identify them. The detailed data of a project now shows the image of each contribution, the description and the tags.

The "Review new contributions" and "Review updated contributions" options have been added to the "Create new project" window.

The list for selecting contributions ("Import BIM models") now includes the images of the contributions and the tags. The name of the contribution will be displayed in blue to indicate that the owner is the logged-in user.

When sharing a contribution or selecting contributions during the process of linking to a BIMserver.center project, a progress window will appear during the upload or download process.

To work in BIMserver.center with versions of Open BIM applications prior to 2024.a, users must continue to use the BIMserver.center Sync tool. This is still available for download from the platform and was included in the installation packages of the CYPE Open BIM applications prior to 2024.a.

Applications with a 3D environment. Level management

As of version 2023.g, applications with a 3D work environment can include a new feature that allows users to associate the elements of their model with levels (the programs that have this utility in version 2023.g are listed at the end of this new feature). The levels can correspond to the floors of a building or any other reference plan required for the model.

The level management menu is included in the applications by means of a dockable window. In this panel, there is a drop-down list with the buildings and levels defined in the model, as well as the available options (create, edit, delete, assign, etc.).

The options in the "Levels" window allow new buildings and levels to be entered in the model. Levels must be defined within a building. Next to each level, we can see its elevation and, shown in brackets, the number of associated model components. Their visibility in the work area can also be activated or deactivated.

Using the "Assign elements to a level" option, we can select components of the model from the work area and associate them with the level selected in the list. The "Unassign elements to a level" option allows the reverse operation to be carried out. To help users when using these tools, the elements that belong to the selected level will be shown in green and those that belong to another level will be shown in red. The "Information on the level of an element" option is also available, with which it is possible to inspect an object from the work area and obtain its current level. Finally, the "Automatic level assignment" option associates the components of the model to the defined levels automatically. To do this, the geometry of the element is analysed and the level immediately below it is searched for.

When linking to a BIM project, the application can read the buildings and levels of the contributions. These will be listed in the "Levels" window in blue and we can assign model components to them. To avoid congruence issues between contributions, buildings and levels that have been read from the BIM project cannot be edited.

The levels are exported in IFC format via the "IfcBuildingStorey" entity. As this is an entity included in the standard, applications from other manufacturers that work with IFC files can read the levels and their relationship with the components of the model.

In this 2023.g version, the level management window has been included in the following applications:

CYPEFIRE
CYPEFIRE Hydraulic Systems
CYPEHVAC
CYPELEC Distribution
CYPELEC Electrical Mechanisms
CYPELEC PV Systems
CYPEPLUMBING Water Systems
Open BIM Analytical Model
CYPE Lightning
StruBIM Rebar

Status bar

The "Bill of quantities" tab now includes a status bar at the bottom of the main window that displays contextual information about what is being carried out in the application.

Graphical representation

As of version 2023.g, the bill of quantities data can now be displayed graphically. For this purpose, the "Graphs" window has been added to the "Bill of quantities" tab. This window contains a drop-down list for selecting the graph to be displayed. In this version, the graphical representations (columns, circles, lines, etc.) of the following concepts are available:

Bill of quantities
Breakdown
Breakdown (with/without BIM link)
Energy cost
CO2 emissions
Waste mass (Type)
Waste volume (Type)
Waste mass (Code)
Waste volume (Code)
Certificates (Amount)
Certificates (Quantity)

The graph generated depends on the component of the bill of quantities table that has been selected. It is important to note that the available graphs depend on the type of element (work section, item or quantity detail line). By hovering the cursor over a section of the graph, a box will appear with the parameter reference and its value, allowing users to have a better understanding of the data shown.

Graphs with a key allow data sets to be hidden by left-clicking on their reference. When a set is not visible, its reference is crossed out and can be reactivated by clicking on it.

"Breakdown" tab in work sections

The "Breakdown" tab has been included in the "Data" window for the work sections of the bill of quantities. In previous versions, the "Breakdown" tab was only available for the items, where a table with their breakdown into resources is shown.

Now, the work sub-sections or items that are part of a work section can be displayed in this table.

New editing tools

Within the "Edit" group of the application toolbar, the following options have been added to modify the geometry of the grounding conductors:

Add points
Allows new vertices to be added to the polyline describing the geometry of the conductors.
Delete points
Allows vertices to be deleted in the polyline describing the geometry of the conductors.
Join
Allows two conductors to be joined together. The reference of the unified conductor will be the one corresponding to the first conductor selected in the operation.
Divide
Allows a conductor to be divided into two conductors. The reference of both conductors will be the one corresponding to the original conductor.
Extend/trim element
Allows a conductor to be extended or trimmed to the outline or projection of another conductor. First, select the element to be used as an outline and then the conductor to be modified. If the second conductor extends beyond the contour, the clicked segment will remain.
Extend/trim to corner
Allows the ends of two conductors to be extended or trimmed to make a corner. When selecting the second conductor, the part of the element to be retained must be specified.

Price increment

The "Price increment" option has been added to the editing window of the "Project database" or a "Cost database. With this tool, the prices of the concepts contained in the database can now be adjusted according to a "Factor". Furthermore, the application allows users to indicate the nature of the concepts ("Unclassified", "Labour", "Machinery and auxiliary resources" and "Materials") on which the operation is to be applied.

Improved filter options

The following improvements have been made to the "Filter" option, available in the "View" group of the toolbar:

A list of filters can now be defined for the project. The selected element will be the one to be applied to the bill of quantities.
The "Filter" option has been added to the editing window of the "Project database" or a "Cost database".
Filters can be exported as a file (".bib767") to be used in multiple projects.
In the list of conditions of a filter, the "Cut", "Copy" and "Paste" tools have been added. These allow conditions to be moved or copied from one filter to another.
The "Search text in" and "Parameter" fields have been added to the window for inserting a condition within a filter. This way, the program now allows users to filter by parameters other than the "tag" of the "quantity detail lines", as was the case up to now. In this version, the following options are available for these fields:
- Search text in: Item
  - Parameter: Code
  - Parameter: Summary
  - Parameter: Type
  - Parameter: Key terms
  - Parameter: Amount
- Search text in: Breakdown concept
  - Parameter: Code
  - Parameter: Summary
  - Parameter: Type
  - Parameter: Key terms
- Search text in: Quantity detail line
  - Parameter: Tags

Character set in FIEBDC-3 export (.bc3)

As of version 2023.f, the character set to be used when exporting the bill of quantities in the standard FIEBDC-3 format (.bc3) can be selected from the "Bill of quantities" tab in the applications that have it. For this purpose, the "Character set" field has been included in the export configuration window and has three options:

Automatic selection
The ANSI character set shall be used whenever possible. If the application detects characters that are not compatible with ANSI encoding, the UTF-8 character set shall be used.
ANSI
This is the character set defined for Windows and the default character set used in previous versions. Not all Unicode characters can be represented by this encoding format.
UTF-8
Through this standard encoding format (RFC 3629) all Unicode characters can be represented. However, the current FIEBDC-3 standard specification (3/2020) does not support UFT-8 encoding, so the ANSI character set should be used where possible (Automatic selection).

Thanks to the possibility of exporting and importing the bill of quantities in UTF-8 encoding, applications can now share bills of quantities that include Unicode characters. This establishes a fully multilingual environment for managing the project’s bills of quantities.

In the FIEBDC-3 standard, the character set is specified in the CHARACTER_SET field of the V record.

Mapping to resources

As of version 2023.e, applications with a "Bill of quantities" tab can map their model's elements to an item's resource. For this purpose, in the editing of a mapping file, the "Resource code" option has been added when components are modified in the "Classification" list. By activating this option, users can specify the resource code on which the quantity of the model element will be mapped. This will be added to the breakdown of the concept described by means of the "Concept code" and "Concept reference" fields.

When the resource indicated in the mapping file is a cost breakdown in the associated cost database, only the unit components of this breakdown shall be assigned to the concept.

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