DESTINI Cloud Estimator and Legacy Version Comparison Guide

Saving cost-item edits

You clicked an Update button in the Cost Information View (CIV) to commit changes to an existing cost item.

Edits to existing cost items save automatically as you make them. The Update button has been removed. You can individually Undo actions.

Editing fees

The fee window used OK / Cancel buttons to apply or discard changes.

OK / Cancel has been removed. Fee edits apply in real time. You can individually Undo actions.

Entering fee criteria values

Number and price criteria fields used a pop-up calculator editor.

The pop-up calculator has been removed. You enter values directly in the field, which is faster and less disruptive.

Duplicating line items

Duplicate was disabled whenever more than one cost item was selected.

You can duplicate multiple selected line items at once.

Editing quantity on a rolled-up line item

Changing the quantity merged the rolled-up items into a single cost item.

The discrete line items are retained. The new quantity is distributed proportionally across them, which is consistent with how other aggregated fields behave.

Adding a single line item

A separate one-off New Line Item window opened for entry.

The extra window is removed. The line item is added directly, if it's in a valid state.

Group Summary editor

A Group Summary editor button allowed editing the group summary directly.

The button has been removed to prevent unintended changes to overline data.

Pasting non-line-item data into the grid

—

Pasting content that is not line-item data has no effect (no error and no unintended changes).

Instances count icon

An Instances Count icon was displayed on items.

The icon has been removed. It caused confusion and was often mistaken for an error.

Paste Cost Item pop-up

The pop-up showed a Default Value designator for Number and Price.

The designator has been removed for consistency with the estimate grid and Cost Information View.

Selecting multiple assemblies

One of the selected assemblies was loaded into the CIV.

The CIV stays empty when multiple assemblies are selected, avoiding a misleading single-assembly view.

Editing an assembly’s line items

A separate Modify Line Item pop-up was available from an ellipsis next to each assembly item.

That pop-up has been removed. Assembly line items are edited directly in the estimate grid or the CIV.

Leaving a modified assembly

Navigating away auto-committed your assembly changes.

A confirmation prompt asks whether to save changes: “This assembly has been modified. Do you want to save changes?”

WBS widget values shown for items when editing an assembly

Showed the aggregate of all possible assembly items, including items not actively contributing.

Shows the aggregate of active assembly items only, updating in real time as items become active or inactive.

Disabling a referenced fee

You could not delete or disable a fee that was referenced by another fee.

You can now disable a referenced fee. (Deleting a referenced fee is still prevented.)

Referencing a distributed fee

A fee could not reference a distributed fee.

This restriction has been removed. Distributed fees can be referenced.

Bond “Based on” options

Bonds could not be based on custom or compounding fees.

Bonds can be based on any fee type, which is consistent with other fees.

Custom bonds

—

Custom bonds behave the same as custom per-value fees, with the control moved into the pop-up editor.

Bond / lump-sum cost basis field

The cost basis column was shown disabled.

The cost basis column is shown blank, for a cleaner and more consistent presentation.

Lump-sum bonds

Supported.

No longer supported. This uncommon configuration added significant complexity to fee calculations.

Fees that cannot distribute

Displayed the amount the fee would have been, even though it was not applied anywhere.

Displays $0, which more accurately reflects that nothing is being distributed.

Direct cost on invalid distributions

An invalid fee distribution did not contribute its portion of direct cost to subtotals.

Direct cost now contributes to subtotals consistently.

Custom criteria with no cost categories

The action was blocked unless at least one cost category was selected.

You may clear all cost categories. A warning appears if nothing matches the criteria (keeping edits saved when moving in and out of the editor)

Deleting a WBS property used by a fee

The reference was left in place and simply stopped evaluating. Re-creating a same-named property restored it.

Because properties are tracked by identity, affected fees are cleaned up automatically when a referenced WBS property is deleted.

Distribute checkbox on fee criteria

Toggling the distribution to Off removed the distribution criteria.

Un-checking the Distribute option no longer removes the underlying criteria.

Adding Fees

A generic Add Fee option was presented, and the fee type was specified after fee creation.

You now specify the fee type when you create the fee, which it retains for the life of the fee allowing for consistent data across estimates and a more performant fee editor.

Entering formatted currency in a formula

Values such as $42,000.00 were allowed in some fields, which lead to unintended behavior.

Currency symbols and commas are not valid characters in a formula. You must enter plain numeric values (e.g., 42000).

Viewing a cost category’s formula

Clicking into a cost category did not reveal its underlying formula.

Clicking into a cost category shows its formula, consistent with the quantity field.

Ad-hoc variables in cost categories / formulaic WBS

Adding an unresolved variable to a cost category did not prompt a variable question automatically.

Adding an unresolved variable prompts a variable question automatically, the same as the quantity field enabling a richer formulaic WBS experience.

Default answer for line-item variables

Line-item variable questions defaulted to 1, while assemblies defaulted to 0.

Line items and assemblies both default to 0, for consistency.

Formula editor variable list

The list included cost-database variables plus WBS, project, and line-item properties.

The list is limited to cost-database variables at launch. A broader formula-editor experience is planned.

Deleted / renamed property used in a formula

The formula retained the property’s previous value.

The reference evaluates to 0. This highlights the issue directly so that future issues can be addressed.

Unit-of-measure label for auto-generated variables

Auto-generated variables inherited the cost item’s unit of measure.

Variables are labeled by their source, e.g. Cost: Material or WBS: Building.

Invalid-formula error display

Shown only for an invalid Quantity formula.

Shown for Quantity and Cost Category formulas, with clearer wording: “You have an invalid formula for a quantity formula or cost category formula.”

Boolean WBS property label

Labeled TRUE_FALSE.

Labeled True / False.

WBS property value editor label

Labeled Takeoff value.

Labeled Default value.

WBS available-values grid

Displayed a block of blank placeholder rows, mimicking a spreadsheet.

Uses a single Add a new value row instead of many blank rows.

Project property value types

Once a property was numeric, text values could not be added.

Numeric and text values may be mixed. The property is then treated as text.

Pasting WBS property values

Pasting inserted values at the selected cell.

Pasted values append to the end of the list.

Escalation highlight rules

Rules evaluated the dollar amount of escalation (e.g., $2 on a $20 item at 10%).

Rules evaluate the escalation percentage (e.g., 0.1 for the same item).

Clicking into a cost category

Displayed the escalated value.

Does not display the escalated value. Escalations can be seen on the escalation column. Escalation display is being enhanced in the new CIV separately.

Alternate numbering

Alternate numbers were restricted to a 5-digit alphanumeric value.

No restriction on alternate numbers, consistent with estimate numbers.

Creating a new estimate

A new estimate could be started while another estimate was open.

The New button is hidden while an estimate is open. Close the current estimate first.

Accepting alternates at closeout

Alternate line items could be pushed into the base estimate, after which they were indistinguishable from other line items.

This one-way push is not carried forward. A future feature will let you mark an alternate as accepted and included while keeping its identity as an alternate.

Copying cost from the alternates view

Direct cost and total cost in the alternates summary/detail could be highlighted and copied.

These values are not currently selectable for copy.

Templates page wording

The recent-estimates and templates screens used different wording, and Edit Template appeared as a page button.

Renamed to Recent Estimates, Templates, and New Estimate. The refresh button has been removed. Edit Template has been moved to the ellipsis (…) menu.

Templates vs. projects

—

Templates are distinct objects from projects, which supports cleaner reporting and cost history. (Templates are not versioned.)

What carries over when copying / templating

Kept user preferences and audit records along with takeoff.

User preferences reset, estimate properties are retained, audit records and takeoff are not carried over.

Default filter

You could configure a default filter.

Not carried forward. Templates now cover this need.

Saving a dashboard

A Save As pop-up appeared when choosing New Dashboard or Open Dashboard.

The pop-up has been removed. The action is labeled Download.

Dashboard edits and multiple users

Rigorous check out / check in process with multiple steps to enable editing in the document

Dashboard edits stay local for exploring filters and views. An explicit action publishes changes to the estimate and other users, who receive them immediately (overwriting their own local edits).

Updating a saved layout

The selected layout stayed selected after you edited the grid, so you could update it.

Returns to this behavior and adds an indicator showing when the current layout has unsaved grid changes.

Locking awareness on buttons

Locking the Project Information View involved rigorous check out / check in process with multiple steps to enable editing in the document

Project View buttons do not grey out when another user holds a lock. You are notified only if you attempt a locked action. Acquiring a lock happens automatically making it significantly faster overall.

Audit trail filtering

A limited, cumbersome filter existed within the audit pop-up.

A purpose-built audit log with a date-range selector and search (by estimator, date, and description) at launch.

Audit records across versions

Later versions could reach the audit records of previous versions.

Each version shows its own audit records, so you can see exactly what happened within that version.

Cost-database configuration scope

—

Cost-database configurations are saved per estimate and shared across users, rather than per user.