What's new in EstimatorFLEX

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.4.100

Enhancements

Guided help tours

Throughout EstimatorFLEX, guided tours are available to help you get started with the various features in the application. If you see at the top of your screen, click the button to begin a tour.

Sync subscription licenses

When an expired subscription license is detected at log in, a Sync option is available to quickly determine if the license has already been renewed.

Security improvement

As recommended by Microsoft, EstimatorFLEX no longer uses the BinaryFormatter type to serialize data. Go to docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/serialization/binaryformatter-security-guide for more information about this fix and why it's needed.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.109

Bug fixes

• The S and B keyboard shortcuts no longer open a task-level SOW and BOE text editor when the text is linked to the PBS level.
• The B keyboard shortcut now correctly opens a PBS-level BOE text editor when the text is linked to the PBS level.
• In the Quick Add form for resource estimates, the EVEN curve has been renamed to EVEN (System).
• In task tooltips, custom task fields now appear in the correct order.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.109

New features

Audit Proposal

Audit a proposal for data that no longer exists or has been changed in your ProPricer database.

Welcome Tour

New users are greeted with a welcome tour that explains each item on the EstimatorFLEX sidebar.

Enhancements

Copy PBS to another proposal

PBS elements and their estimates can now be copied from one proposal to another.

Access Tags column for user Quick Adds

Users that are created with Quick Add can be assigned access tags.

More Actions menu updated

What-ifs, reports, and Quick Adds are grouped together in the More Actions menu.

Bug fixes

• The maximum length of a copied PBS name is now 255 characters.

Known issues

• When the Resource Decimal Precision is set to 10, 11, or 12, estimates cannot be entered.
• When the Link SOW/BOE To setting in a proposal is at the PBS level, pressing the S or B keyboard shortcut still allows the SOW/BOE text editor to be opened at the task level. The shortcuts should not be functional.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.109

New features

Estimate Redistribution

Quickly take resource hour, unit, or cost estimate inputs from one set of resources to another, without the need to go to each task and move them manually.

BOE Text Template Library

Create and save rich text BOE layouts at the system level, then reuse them in any proposal.

Estimate List

See all your resource inputs in a flattened view to allow for fast edits, instead of searching for them and making changes in the proposal.

Enhancements

Save button for password changes

After editing a user's password, make sure you click the new Save button to complete the change. EstimatorFLEX no longer saves password changes automatically.

Bug fixes

• An irrelevant error message does not appear anymore when a user's password is edited with the random password generator.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.108

New features

Workflow

Workflow tracks the status of PBS elements or tasks in your estimating process, from start to finish. The milestones that your team must accomplish in PBS elements or tasks are the Workflow steps. Each step can have its own due date and associated users.

Associated users move things along in a PBS element or task by advancing, rejecting, or overriding the item's current step. Whenever a step changes, the Workflow Log and the item's activity feed record the action.

Proposal Templates

Templates take all the hassle out of the proposal setup. Instead of running through every setting each time you create a new proposal, just select a template with predefined settings.

EstimatorFLEX comes with one built-in proposal template, and you can make multiple custom templates as often as needed.

Enhancements

Access Tags column on the Proposals page for all users

The column that indicates which proposals have access tags is now visible to everybody. If someone doesn't share an access tag with a proposal, EstimatorFLEX will prevent them from assigning or removing tags.

Bug fixes

• The Resource Grouping, Task Grouping, and Resource Display parameters in reports now validate proposal data that was saved when the report was last run. If data is invalid, the parameters use default values.
• In the PBS SOW text editor and Task SOW text editor, the Open Parent PBS SOW option now works correctly.
• Selected items in a list, such as proposals and active sessions, no longer appear in the right-side panel when the Access permission for the related feature is removed from a role.
• The Licensing page now shows appropriate error messages when an issue occurs while changing keys.
• The Profit/Fee setting now shows the correct tooltip message when a role doesn’t have the required Edit permission.
• Users can no longer view proposal data or activity feeds when their role doesn’t have the required Access permissions.
• When users try to edit, add, or delete information, but they don’t have the required role permissions, EstimatorFLEX no longer redirects them to the Log In Page.
• Users can no longer log into EstimatorFLEX when their last used license is expired.
• The Quick Add SOW and Quick Add BOE options for PBS elements and tasks are now disabled when a role doesn’t have the required Edit permission.
• Revoking the Access permission for the Proposals feature no longer causes a message to appear in other areas of EstimatorFLEX that a user can access.
• Entering a travel estimate in a task no longer hides the trip cost and distribution data.
• The Delete permission for resource and travel estimates now works correctly. Revoking the permission for the Resource Estimates feature no longer prevents a role from deleting travel estimates in tasks. Revoking the permission for the Travel Estimates feature now disables the Delete button for travel estimates in tasks.
• After receiving an error message for a duplicate travel estimate, the message and warning icon no longer appear and remain visible in the estimate details of other trips and resources.
• When trips are displayed as rows on the Estimates page, the travel estimate tooltip no longer shows a blank Amount value.

Known issues

Although the Configuration settings and Estimates settings in a proposal are separate, there is only one set of role permissions for both groups of settings. To fix this in the next release of EstimatorFLEX, the Proposal Configuration/Estimates feature will be separated into the Proposal Configuration feature and Proposal Estimates feature.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.108

New features

Licensing

EstimatorFLEX now has a Licensing page where administrators can activate, deactivate, and synchronize license keys online or offline. The new page also shows when a key expires. For concurrent licenses, the number of available seats appears on the Licensing page and the Active Sessions page.

Access Tags

Access tags let you determine the proposal data that people in your company see and work with. Once a tag is assigned to a proposal, PBS element, or task, only users with the same tag will be able to view it. This is a fast way to separate proposals and proposal data for your users based on their department, job type, office location, etc.

Enhancements

Rental car quantity overrides

If a rental car quantity is overridden in a proposal, the daily, weekly, and monthly quantities for that travel expense all appear as overrides in ProPricer CE Enterprise when the proposal is submitted.

Selected row indicator in lists

When a row is selected in a grid, the entire row is highlighted to help you stay on track.

Notifications and activity feeds show proposal names

Proposal-related notifications and feeds now indicate which proposal they're for.

Switch rows and columns

In the estimates grid, tasks can appear as rows or columns, and you can instantly change the grid configuration.

Move tasks, resources, and trips to other PBS elements

Save time and cut down on manual data re-entry by dragging estimates from one PBS element to another. In seconds, you can move a task, resource, or trip and its data with a simple drag-and-drop function.

Access the Proposal Dashboard

It's easier to open the Proposal Dashboard from the Proposals page, and there are a couple ways to do it. Just double-click a proposal's name, or select a proposal and click More Actions > Dashboard.

Renamed Start/End Date Type option

In a proposal's settings, the Start/End Date Type option called Day/Month/Year has been renamed to Date. The option's function is still the same.

Compatibility with resource IDs in PROPRICER CE Enterprise

Resource names in EstimatorFLEX proposals are compatible with resource IDs in CE Enterprise proposals. This lets you retrieve proposals from and submit proposals to the latest version of CE Enterprise.

Compatibility with rate band table overrides in PROPRICER CE Enterprise

EstimatorFLEX supports proposals from the latest version of CE Enterprise that have an overridden rate band table.

Bug fixes

• Overrides can now be deleted from trips and resources.
• When a trip is copied to another PBS element, its existing estimates are no longer included by default.
• When a resource field value list is opened for the first time, the complete set of values appear.
• Error icons now appear when an invalid date is entered for an estimate.
• When creating a proposal, the Duration field on the Properties tab no longer shows an incorrect value before the End Date is selected.
• Decimals can no longer be entered in the Difference fields when running a Flex/Shift what-if.
• After logging out of EstimatorFLEX, error messages no longer occur.
• When multiple proposals are selected on the Proposals page, they now appear in the correct order in the right-side panel.
• The Proposal List now sorts by dates correctly.
• When selected items in a grid are filtered, the right-side panel no longer shows the items that were filtered out.
• After SOW or BOE text has been deleted from the tasks in a proposal, the Link SOW/BOE To setting can be changed.
• When closing an SOW or BOE text editor without saving the changes, the Unsaved Changes dialog box allows you to close and save, close without saving, or cancel.
• When closing an SOW or BOE text editor with a Word document opened in it, the Unsaved Changes dialog box appears.
• Resource estimates can now be added to tasks with an offset spread period.
• The Bid Cost Worksheet and Travel Detail Reports now display dates in a MM/DD/YYYY format.
• The Disclosure Format parameter for the Bid Cost Worksheet and Travel Detail Reports now has Cost (Input), Direct Cost, and Total Price as available options.
• The Show Empty parameter for the Bid Cost Worksheet Report no longer causes the report to be blank.
• When a proposal is submitted to CE Enterprise, the resource field values that are included come from the overwritten fields in EstimatorFLEX instead of the direct rate table.
• When a proposal is submitted to CE Enterprise, the travel rates from the travel rate table are included.
• When Quick Add is used to enter SOW/BOE text, the text can now be pasted in the form.
• When a new trip is created based on an existing trip, the custom resource fields remain empty.
• Curves for existing resources or trips can now be changed without errors.
• When editing an existing trip, additional new trips are no longer created.
• All keyboard shortcuts are functional again.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.107

New features

Reuse resources and trips

This is a new, time-saving way to add a resource or trip to a proposal. Just select an existing resource or trip from a list, and then reuse the information already entered for it.

Enhancements

Timephased travel rates

The recent release of ProPricer CE Enterprise version 9.3.107 allows travel rates to regularly increase over a span of months, quarters, or years. Travel rate tables in CE Enterprise also have new settings to accommodate discounted rates when a car is rented for months at a time. In EstimatorFLEX, rates from a monthly, quarterly, or annual travel rate table can now be used in trips, and the number of days in a rental car month appears in a proposal's Integration settings.

Days in PoP dates

Proposal Properties include a new Start/End Date Type setting with Month/Year and Month/Day/Year as options. Selecting the latter allows you to start and end proposals, tasks, and spread periods on specific days. If you distribute labor resource estimates with a curve, and the first or last month of the spread period isn’t a full month, EstimatorFLEX will prorate the hours and equivalent heads.

More columns in the proposal list

To help you find and sort your proposals, the list on the Proposals page has six new columns: Number, Created By, Create Date, Direct Rate Table, Updated By, and Last Update.

Improved PBS icons

New icons indicate which PBS elements have content and which ones are locked.

Email addresses for activity feed followers

While selecting followers for an activity feed, the email address of each user appears next to the user's name.

Bug fixes

• The Active Sessions page updates correctly when users log out of EstimatorFLEX. The page no longer lists sessions that have ended.
• If users have the Active Sessions page open as a separate browser tab, the tab now closes when they log out of EstimatorFLEX.
• The Sync process now works with proposals that have no PoP dates.
• On the Estimates page, Flex/Shift becomes accessible only when a PBS element is selected.
• If a resource or trip is distributed with a Load spread curve in a task, the curve no longer changes to Even after updating the estimated amount of effort or number of trips. Also, updating the number of trips in this situation no longer generates an error message.

Known issues

• The Bid Cost Worksheet and Travel Detail Reports do not show days in the PoP start and end dates. The dates should be printed as MM/DD/YYYY instead of MM/YYYY.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.106

New features

User interface redesign

The redesigned user interface gives ProPricer EstimatorFLEX a modern look and feel. All around, the application is faster, more intuitive, and easier to navigate.

• Material Design framework improves performance and streamlines new feature development.
• Rate tables marked as Current in ProPricer CE Enterprise are selected by default in new EstimatorFLEX proposals.
• CE Enterprise credentials are stored, so you only need to enter them once per session for each proposal.
• Proposal settings include a new Estimates section.

Proposal locking and unlocking

Locking a proposal prevents people from changing its information while viewing it. The option to lock or unlock appears when you select a proposal in your list, and when you restore a proposal archive. If you submit a proposal to CE Enterprise, it gets locked automatically to ensure everything remains intact.

Report text and company name

In a proposal's settings, the Information section has a Report Text section for managing the title and footer of reports. No matter which report you run on the proposal, the title and footer stays the same.

To support this, we've added system settings to ProPricer EstimatorFLEX. They're called Proposal Defaults and Company Data. Proposal Defaults provide the report title and footer for all your proposals. The default text entered there shows up in the title and footer settings of any proposal you create. Company Data is for your organization's name. That name shows up at the top of reports when the title includes the variable [Company Name].

Enhancements

Timephased proposals

ProPricer EstimatorFLEX now works with proposal data timephased by year or by month. This allows you to:

• Set the timescale and fiscal year of new proposals.
• Add annual and monthly proposals from ProPricer CE Enterprise.
• Import previous estimates from annual and monthly CE Enterprise proposals.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.106

New features

Accounting calendars and equivalent heads

Accounting calendars and default accounting hours in proposals make it possible to enter and view resource estimates as equivalent heads. And with the new Input button above the grid on the Estimates page, switching back and forth between hours and equivalent heads is a cinch.

All accounting calendars come from your ProPricer CE Enterprise database, and they become available when you assign a direct rate table to a proposal. In the Configuration settings, you can choose a proposal-level accounting calendar, set the default hours per month, and set the decimal places shown in equivalent head estimates. If a proposal’s calendar or default accounting hours aren’t applicable to every resource, that’s not a problem. You can edit the resources or use the Resource Changes tool to override their assigned calendar.

Reports, Summary View, and the Pivot Grid include accounting calendar information. The Bid Cost Worksheet Report also has two new parameters: Print Equivalent Heads and Equivalent Heads Decimal Places.

Roles now have Access and Edit permissions that control the accounting calendar override capabilities of users.

Add a proposal from CE Enterprise

Proposals from ProPricer CE Enterprise can be added to EstimatorFLEX in just a few clicks. You can import an entire proposal with all its estimates, or you can skip the estimates and keep the proposal setup only. If the proposal has overridden direct and indirect rates, those rates will be used in EstimatorFLEX, and they’ll still appear as overrides when the proposal is submitted back to CE Enterprise.

Pricing toggle

Total Price information is now viewable in several places:

• On the Estimates page, clicking the new Total Price button above the grid switches the display of estimates.
• The Pivot Grid, Summary View, and the Estimate Summary section of the Proposal Dashboard have a Total Price column.
• The Bid Cost Worksheet and Travel Detail Reports have a new Disclosure Format parameter with a Total Price option. The parameter also has options for viewing hours/units/cost inputs or direct costs instead.

Roles now have an Access permission that lets users see price totals.

Profit/Fee rate overrides

The profit/fee rates provided by a ProPricer CE Enterprise indirect rate table can be overridden in a proposal’s Configuration settings, in a task’s properties, and in a resource or travel estimate’s details. Overrides can also be entered while using Quick Add for tasks, resource estimates, and discrete resource estimates.

Roles now have Access and Edit permissions that control the profit/fee rate override capabilities of users.

Travel Detail Report

This report prints a proposal’s trip costs, all the travel expenses, and the number of times each trip will be taken. Using the report’s parameters, you can organize the printed information in different ways, include the proposal’s travel settings, and summarize daily and weekly rental car expenses.

Enhancements

Actual hours included with previous estimates

The process of importing previous estimates includes any Actual hours entered for resources in the ProPricer CE Enterprise proposal.

Longer proposal names

The character limit for proposal names has increased from 20 to 40.

More custom resource fields

The limit for custom resource fields in a proposal has increased from 20 to 100.

Optimized copy proposal and copy PBS processes

The time it takes to copy proposals and proposal breakdown structure elements has been greatly reduced. These processes now take place in the database, so they finish within a matter of seconds.

Bug fixes

• Changes made to the resources assigned to trips and travel expenses no longer cause the travel expense resources to function or appear incorrectly.
• The calendar icon for an estimate’s start sate successfully opens a date selector.
• The Bid Cost Worksheet Report, Summary View, and the Pivot Grid no longer use incorrect rate types for resources when a rate band is used.
• When previous estimates are imported, resources with Hours as their rate type will have their resource type set to Labor. Their resource type will no longer be set to Hours.
• Editing a resource field for a travel expense no longer generates an error.
• The Quick Add SOW and Quick Add BOE processes validate PBS elements correctly when attachments are being added.
• The SOW button above the PBS will be unavailable until a PBS element is selected.
• Entering 0 in a proposal’s Target Price setting no longer causes display issues in the user interface.
• Previous estimates import successfully when multiple instances of the same resource have different indirect pools or rate bands assigned to them.
• After a custom task field has been edited, the task’s information tooltip shows the correct field value that was entered.
• Custom task fields with their data type set to Date are no longer missing from the Pivot Grid and Summary View.
• When a proposal’s direct rate table is changed, any previously unused indirect pools in the proposal will be removed. They will no longer remain as conflicted data in the proposal.

Known issues

• After changing the Total Price label in the algorithm that comes from ProPricer CE Enterprise, the previously used label still appears in EstimatorFLEX. This is only visual issue that can be fixed with a Refresh.
• The sync, copy, and import processes can take several minutes when large amounts of data are being handled.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.106

New features

Estimate Text Report

This report prints the SOW and/or BOE information added to a proposal. It includes all text entered in the PBS or tasks.

User interface redesign

The new EstimatorFLEX interface, designed for an all-around improved user experience, comes with a variety of features and changes, such as:

• Dashboards that help manage and analyze information.
• A sidebar for navigating the application faster.
• Intuitive buttons and menus.
• A refreshed color scheme.

Enhancements

Optimized proposal settings

Before replacing the tables or external resource fields in a proposal's Integration settings, a summary briefly explains how the proposal will change. The new table or resource field data can also be previewed.

Target price information

A proposal's target price can now be indicated in its Information settings. The target price will appear with other reference information in the Recent Proposals section of the Home Dashboard. ProPricer CE Enterprise users will find this information useful for analysis when reviewing the submitted proposal in CE Enterprise.

Bug fixes

• When a task with BOE attachments is copied, the file size of the attachments is included. Opening the BOE for the new task no longer causes an error.
• External resource fields from ProPricer CE Enterprise are accessible in a proposal's Integration settings after connecting to another data server. Attempting a new CE Enterprise connection no longer causes an error that prevented users from selecting different external resource fields.
• While showing a task's estimate details, the Resource Changes tool can be run without affecting the grid display. All estimate details now continue to appear correctly after making changes.
• In the estimates grid, improved tooltip messages clearly distinguish resources and trips that conflict with the proposal's direct rate table and travel rate table.
• In the dialog box for adding a new PBS element, pressing the Escape key no longer causes an error when the dialog box is empty.
• The icon that indicates issues in resource, trip, and travel expense information no longer appears out of position.
• The icon that indicates conflicted information in a proposal's rate band table is no longer missing.
• The Delete keyboard shortcut in the PBS is no longer enabled when nothing is selected.
• After restoring a proposal archived in a different timezone, the proposal dates no longer shift and cause miscalculations.
• Proposals that have estimates spread with the Load curve can be submitted to ProPricer CE Enterprise successfully.
• Spreading resource estimates with the Load curve or entering them discretely no longer causes the resource's direct cost to be miscalculated.
• Travel estimate details correctly show when a trip starts and ends after offsetting the trip period. The offset trip period no longer reflects the full task period.
• When previous estimates are imported from ProPricer CE Enterprise, the import process no longer excludes text in the SOW and BOE Libraries.
• Deleting a proposal with at least one PBS element and then going to another proposal's estimates no longer generates a one-time incorrect call to the server.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.105

New features

Bid Cost Worksheet Report

This is the first report available in EstimatorFLEX. With comprehensive settings and capabilities, the Bid Cost Worksheet can be organized in many different ways to show any desired amount of detail. No matter how the report is customized, it's always generated with the same professional format that is easy to understand and analyze. Before the report is printed or exported, it can be previewed and searched within EstimatorFLEX.

Quick Add task text

SOW and BOE text and file attachments can be added at the PBS level or task level with Quick Add. It's still possible to add information to PBS elements or tasks one at a time, but now Quick Add also lets you do it all at once. If SOW or BOE information has already been added somewhere, the new content can replace it or be appended to the end of it.

Enhancements

SOW and BOE attachments

While creating or editing SOW and BOE text, you can attach spreadsheets, PDFs, images, and other types of files to it. Files can be attached by dragging them to the text editor or by selecting them in a file explorer.

External data redesign

Improvements have been made to the way EstimatorFLEX handles external data from ProPricer CE Enterprise. This redesign greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to run the numerous processes in EstimatorFLEX, such as assigning a direct rate table to a proposal, retrieving resource fields and values, and modifying the Pivot Grid.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.105

New features

Quick Add users

Multiple PROPRICER and Windows user accounts can be created simultaneously in EstimatorFLEX with Quick Add.

Quick Add resource estimates

For direct resources already added to the PBS, multiple hours/units/cost estimates can be entered in tasks simultaneously.

Quick Add discrete resource estimates

For direct resources already added to the PBS, multiple hours/units/cost estimates can be entered in separate months of a spread period simultaneously.

Link SOW/BOE text

The Configuration settings have a new required proposal setting named Link SOW/BOE To. When linked to the task level, SOW and BOE text can be added to individual tasks, and SOW text can be added to the PBS. When linked to the PBS level, SOW and BOE text can only be added to the PBS.

Indirect pool and rate band permissions

The Indirect Pools feature and the Rate Bands feature now have Access and Edit permissions. They let you view and change the indirect pool and rate band assigned to a resource.

Enhancements

Quick Add resources and Quick Add tasks

When you Quick Add resources and tasks, you can select from a list of existing PBS elements that resource or task will be added to.

Activity

Collaboration has been renamed to Activity throughout EstimatorFLEX.

The Activity Feed icon for proposals, PBS elements, and tasks now turns orange instead of purple when you receive a notification in the feed.

Data entry

The drop-down behavior of fields in the EstimatorFLEX user interface has been replaced with look-up behavior. Instead of selecting a field value from a drop-down list, you can select it from a look-up with multiple columns that can be filtered and sorted.

Pivot Grid and Summary View

The Pivot Grid and Summary View tools can be opened from the Estimates page. Above the PBS or above the grid of estimates, you can click Tools > Summary View or Tools > Pivot Grid.

Travel estimate details

When you click a trip’s travel estimate in the grid, the travel estimate details open automatically.

Estimates permissions

The Estimates feature has been renamed to Resource Estimates. Permissions for the Estimates feature only apply to resource estimates, not travel estimates.

Now there are separate permissions for the Travel Estimates feature, which are subdivided into permissions for the Travel Expense Quantity, Travel Expense Rate, and Travel Distribution features.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.105

New features

Archive and restore

Proposal archives are backup files saved outside EstimatorFLEX. These files contain all the items needed (e.g., Rates, Collaboration, and Estimates) to add the proposal to EstimatorFLEX during the restore process.

Allow estimates

When you add new PBS elements to your proposal, you'll be able to determine which can have estimates or not. If enabled, then Allow Estimates lets new tasks and resources be added with their hours, units, and costs. If disabled, then no information other than PBS SOW text can be added (establishing the PBS elements as a roll-up value instead).

Enhancements

User interface

The proposal list has been updated to allow for filtering, grouping, and sorting.

Estimates

You can now set the Indirect Pool and Rate Band values for resources.

Custom resource fields

The maximum length of a custom resource field name is now 40 characters.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.104

New features

Resource Changes What-If

Resource Changes factors the hours, units, or cost estimates up or down by an input percentage (displayed in decimal format). Users can apply changes to individual resources, resource types, and custom resource field values.

Summary View

Users can now see summary-level information for all estimates in the proposal, and the values can be filtered and/or grouped by any of the data.

Enhancements

User interface

Moved items into two new menu buttons: Actions and Tools. The grouping of features makes it easier to navigate to new and existing features.

Proposal breakdown structure

Multiple PBS elements can be selected and deleted.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.104

New features

Flex/Shift What-If

Flex/Shift makes quick changes to the periods of performance for single or multiple tasks, PBS elements, or an entire proposal. After selecting the new period of performance, you can choose how to re-spread your estimates before processing the change.

Enhancements

Resource decimal precision

Range increased from 6 to 12.

Custom task fields

Character limit of names increased from 40 to 100.

Pivot Grid

Resource types added as available fields.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.104

New features

Pivot Grid

This feature sorts and totals information by any combination of available fields, making high-level reviews of proposal data easy to perform. Users can group and filter the fields and values in the grid, and a chart is automatically created with the grid data. Also, users can export the grid to a .xlsx file.

Input/Direct cost toggle

Estimates can now be displayed as input hours/units/cost or as direct cost. The toggle (on the Estimates page) applies to the individual values in cells, as well as the totals at the bottom of the grid.

Update estimates

The Update button (on the Estimates page) replaces obsolete travel rates in a selected PBS element, task, or trip. The updated rates come from the proposal's assigned travel rate table in the Integration settings.

Enhancements

New proposals/editing proposals

Renamed and reordered the General, Properties, Data, and Proposal Text tabs to the Properties, Integration, Configuration, Information, and Text tabs. Some of their fields and options have also been updated to improve usability.

Update proposals

Renamed the Update button (on the Proposals page) to the Sync button.

Estimates

A currency symbol appears next to estimates in the grid when a resource's rate type is Cost.

External resource fields

Resource fields from ProPricer CE Enterprise retain their default value (if one exists) in EstimatorFLEX.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.104

New features

Travel estimates

Added the ability to estimate detail travel costs per task in PBS elements. Multiple travel-related updates were needed to make this possible.

• In the Data settings, a PROPRICER CE travel rate table can be selected to provide destination and expense information for trips. The Data settings also allows for adjustments to the proposal's detail travel settings and rate factors.
• The Estimates page has a button for adding trips to PBS elements. Trips can also be edited, copied, and deleted like tasks and resources.
• The Previous Estimates feature supports travel data from PROPRICER CE.

Enhancements

User interface

Applied miscellaneous updates and corrections to improve general appearance and usability.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.103

New features

Active sessions

Users can open FLEX Authorization Server from EstimatorFLEX, then view every active session (i.e., authorized connection) in real time. Sessions expire automatically, but administrators can end them manually by revoking user access grants. The Active Sessions page is accessible from the Admin menu.

Roles and permissions

An assigned role is now required for every user in EstimatorFLEX. The Access, Edit, Add, and Delete permissions granted to a role establish user boundaries by limiting the availability of certain features. There are four built-in roles, each one predefined with a unique set of permissions. Users can change permissions and create, copy, and delete roles. The Roles page is accessible from the Admin menu.

Enhancements

User interface

EstimatorFLEXnow uses Froala Editor instead of CKEditor to create proposal text. This switch improves performance and ease-of-use, and it updates the overall design of the text editor. To learn more about Froala Editor, go to Froala.com.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.103

New features

Active Directory integration

Users can log into EstimatorFLEX with Microsoft Windows credentials rather than ProPricer credentials. Once the Windows credentials are validated against the user's Active Directory account through Windows Integrated Authentication, the log in process is automatic. EstimatorFLEX neither requires nor stores Windows passwords.

Enhancements

Previous estimates

The import process includes a ProPricer CE Enterprise summary field's title table when the summary field is mapped to the EstimatorFLEX PBS. All title table elements and their hierarchy are imported to the PBS.

External data

To prepare for future releases, the external data from ProPricer CE Enterprise includes each resource's Rate Type value (i.e., Hours, Units, or Cost). Currently however, this information does not appear in the EstimatorFLEX user interface.

Known issues

Proposals

In the Proposals grid, after copying a proposal, the Manager and Status fields of the new proposal display default values instead of copied values. This is only a visual bug. The copied values appear correctly in the new proposal's properties.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.102

New features

Development framework

EstimatorFLEX now uses .Net Core 2.0.

Compatibility

EstimatorFLEX can now connect to PROPRICER Services Contractor Edition to submit proposals, update information, and pull previous estimates.

Copy

Users can now copy objects in EstimatorFLEX. Proposals, PBS elements, tasks, and resources allow you to make changes as needed.

Quick Add

Quick Add allows users to type, or copy and paste, information in a grid for faster addition of new items. Quick Add can be used when creating new PBS elements, tasks, and resources.

Enhancements

Delete Proposal message

Missing the "?" at the end of the single and multiple delete messages.

Duplicate Resource Identity message

When adding a duplicate resource identity, the error message is now clearer: "A Resource Alias with the same Name and Custom Resource Fields already exists in the PBS Element."

Keyboard shortcuts

Pressing the Enter key will create new elements/close the form. When typing in the fields and Enter is pressed, use that keystroke to confirm the inputs and close the form. This could create a new object, close a form, connect to PROPRICER CE, update data, or perform other tasks, depending on the form being used.

Navigation

The first field in forms is now in focus when opening them, so users can begin typing as soon as the form opens (without needing to press Tab or move the mouse).

Known issues

• External resource fields cannot be sorted. The Values list is pre-sorted by name only.
• Custom resource field values cannot be sorted.
• When deleting custom task field values with the Backspace or Delete keys, the page crashes and the user cannot select another field.

Compatible with ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise version 9.3.102

Collaboration

Activity feed label updates

The PBS Title in Activity Feed Notifications and Events now uses the PBS Title from the proposal settings (e.g., WBS) rather than just PBS.

Empty activity feeds

When an activity feed is empty and a user clicks Inbox, the activity feed now shows as blank rather than empty parenthesis.

Miscellaneous

Various fields were aligned with each other and formatting was updated.

See details

When "See Details" is being viewed in an activity feed, the background is sized so that you can see what is behind the popup form.

Estimates

Duration

When creating a new proposal, after the Start and End Dates have been input, the Duration now calculates the number of months and shows that value before clicking Create rather than requiring the user to leave the tab and come back.

Tasks with duration

The format for Duration has been updated from numbers (e.g., 0-1) to use more descriptive text [e.g., 48 months (+12 offset)] to allow users to see the information in a more meaningful way.

Previous Estimates

Users can now retrieve proposals from ProPricer Contractor Edition Enterprise and use them as a starting point for new proposals in EstimatorFLEX. This process will save time during estimating and allow you to reuse similar efforts for new proposals.

• Proposals do not have to have been submitted from EstimatorFLEX to bring them from ProPricer CE Enterprise.
• Users will create the proposal "shell" in EstimatorFLEX (i.e., create the proposal, attach a direct rate table, and create custom task and resource fields) and then import the PBS elements, tasks, resources, estimates, and text via the Previous Estimates import process.
• A pane of results will show the details of what happened during the process. Successful task imports will be added to the proposal, and any exceptions will show with the reason in this list.
• The results can be seen again at any time by going to the activity feed for the proposal and clicking the Results link in the feed.

Proposals

Add proposal

The Add Proposal form is now a popup form and includes multiple sections to navigate through (i.e., Properties, General, Data, and Proposal Text). When a proposal is created, the Properties settings will be the only one enabled until the user enters a name and description for the proposal. Then, each remaining section will become enabled and allow the user to move throughout the form. Users can return to this form by pressing the Edit button in the proposal list. The Edit Proposal form is like the original layout except the button at the bottom reads Close, and all sections are always enabled.

Due date

Due Date is now a required field. During proposal creation, today's date will be added automatically. During a database upgrade from any previous release, the upgrade date will be used as the Due Date for all existing proposals.

Multiple delete

Deleting multiple items is now a batch operation that will not stop if one of the items cannot be deleted. A notification at the end of the operation will show with the results, including details relating to the number of items that were successfully deleted or how many failed.

Proposal name and version

Proper spacing was added between the Proposal Name and Version number in the Proposal List and all forms.

User Interface

Banner

The banner was updated to match the color scheme of EstimatorFLEX and now uses text buttons rather than icons and drop-down menus. The Users and Proposals drop-down menu links were removed and turned into buttons on the Banner to make navigation easier.

Logo image

The EstimatorFLEX logo was updated and incorporated into the banner.

Breadcrumbs

Location breadcrumbs now look more like hyperlinks to indicate that they are clickable and can be used for navigation. Breadcrumbs are also now indented from the collapsed PBS button to remain visible.

Credentials

ProPricer CE Enterprise credentials are now listed in a separate form and have been removed from other forms. The same style of form is used in Proposal Settings (e.g., during proposal creation or while updating external data) and during the Submit to ProPricer CE Enterprise process.

Proposal list

The Proposal Update and Submit functions now have buttons at the top of the Proposal List.

Spread details

A vertical line was added between Amount and Curve, and another one between Method and Start Date, to group together items by use.

Messages

When a user inputs the wrong username and password during the Connect to ProPricer CE Enterprise process, the message has been updated to accurately reflect any issues.

Known issues

• Combo boxes show behind dialog boxes when there is a scroll bar.