Exporting

Reports, tables, drawings and interchange files can be produced from every project — from the measurement PDF for the client through to the file for the tendering and billing software on the other side.

Where an export begins

In the building list two routes lead to the “Export” dialogue, called the export centre here: the ⇩ symbol on the right of a building’s row and the entry “⇩ Choose export format” in the actions of a building (on a phone via ⋯ or a long press, on a large screen as a button for the selected building).

An export runs in two steps:

1. Choose the format. The formats appear as cards, grouped by purpose. Beneath each name are the tabs of the second step, otherwise “No settings — creates the file straight away.”
2. Set up and create — with “Cancel” and “Export” in the footer.

Plans: the two short overviews and all other formats in the export centre belong to Basic — including “Custom PDF …”, the item measurement sheet, the Word report and the photo documentation. Pro covers the auditable measurement sheet, the measurement return path, documents as PDF or XRechnung, the “WebDAV server” destination and “Export project as a file”. Locked cards stay visible with a padlock and lead to the plan overview; without Basic, opening the export centre already leads to the plan overview (chapter “Plans”).

The formats at a glance

At the very top are two compiled documents with a dialogue of their own: Custom PDF … (cover sheet, sketches, dimension tables, tree selection) and the Item measurement sheet (every location and individual measurement for each BoQ item). Below them:

GAEB X31, REB DA11 and billing documents are not created here but in Billing (see below).

The second step: the settings

The tabs appear in this order, each only for the formats in which it has an effect:

The cards in the export centre name the tabs of their format below the name. A format without tabs shows “Nothing to set”; “Export” creates the file.

Rows — what one row is: an item, a room, an edge, a building part, a BoQ item or a measurement (the measurement history). Changing it sets the default columns of the new row type; filters and sorting on fields that do not exist in the new row type are dropped.

Columns — which fields go into the file, grouped by origin (Project, Structure, Room, Item, Edge, Building part, Bill of quantities, Measurement history) and matching the row type, each with its unit. In addition “All”, “None” and “Default”. Without a column, “Export” stays locked.

Template — the recipient’s workbook or sample file, chosen via “Choose template …”. The app replaces the placeholders in it and repeats the data row for each record; it reports an unknown placeholder after the export but does not show a list of placeholders. The choice applies to this export only; without a file, “Export” stays locked.

Filter — “+ Add filter” chooses a field, a comparison and a value. Only rows that meet all filters go into the file. Depending on the field, the choices are: for numbers “equals”, “is not”, “greater than”, “at least”, “less than”, “at most”, “is empty” and “is not empty”; for text “contains”, “equals”, “is not”, “is empty” and “is not empty”; for a date “contains”, “is empty” and “is not empty”; for yes/no “equals”. Numbers are typed in the unit shown next to the field, dimensions of building parts in millimetres. If there is no number there, the tab says that the file stays empty with this filter. Below it, “+ Add sorting” sets one or more fields, each ascending or descending; empty values always come last. Without sorting, the project order is kept.

File — how the file is written, for each format only with the parts it reads:

• Numbers and dates: Decimal separator and Thousands separator for CSV, CSV per table, Bundle, XML from a template and in texts of the Excel customer template; the Date format (ISO, DD.MM.YYYY or Unix seconds) for CSV, CSV per table, Bundle, JSON and Project dump; the Length unit (mm, cm, m) in the table formats. It applies to edges and measured values; areas and volumes stay m² and m³, building parts are in mm. There is no choice of decimal places.
• For CSV: field separator, line ending, quotation marks (“only where needed” or “always”), “Write header row”, “Add BOM” and what stands for an empty value.
• For JSON: field names technical or translated, “Indented”, “One line per record (NDJSON)”.
• For XML (data): the names of the root element and of a record, field names technical or translated, “Values as attributes” and “Indented”.

Layout and Selection (HTML report) — as for the custom PDF (see below): which content, paper, orientation, margins, font size, sketch size, grouping, watermark, note on the cover sheet and custom footer, plus “Take over from PDF template”. Page numbers, pages per sheet and the file size are not available there. Here too, the auditable measurement sheet can only be switched on from Pro. The selection in the tree applies to this export only.

Destination (only in the app on smartphone and tablet) — “Share” hands the file out via the device’s share sheet, “WebDAV server” (from Pro) uploads it to a folder on a server of your own, such as a Nextcloud. Below it is the Access: the address of the WebDAV folder — it must begin with https:// —, the user name and the password or app password. “Save and check” saves the access and reports “Connection works.” or the reason, for example “User name or password is wrong.”. The password is kept in this device’s keychain; address and user name are left out of backups and data exports. “Remove access” deletes both. “Choose folder” browses through the subfolders (“one level up”, “Use this folder”). After the export the app reports “Uploaded to …”; a file with the same name in the folder is replaced. This tab does not exist in the browser, nor in “Custom PDF …”, in the item measurement sheet or for documents.

Saving settings as an export profile

Below the tabs is the bar for the export profile: typing a name and tapping “Save” stores the settings of this format as a profile; a profile with the same name in the same format is overwritten. A tap on a profile loads it, a long press deletes it after confirmation. The bar only lists each profile of the format that is open.

A profile records what is set in the tabs — rows, columns, filters, sorting, numbers and dates, file options, media, the layout for the HTML report, and for the destination only the kind and the folder. Not in the profile are the selection in the tree, the chosen template file and the access details for the WebDAV server. A profile with the “WebDAV server” destination exports as a download in the browser as usual.

A profile applies only on this device; it is not synchronised. “Share templates” and “Import templates” — here and in the “Custom PDF …” dialogue — take your own PDF templates and every export profile to another device in one file; the message after importing states how many there were.

Custom PDF

The “Compose PDF export” dialogue has three tabs and counts the selected rooms, items and building parts. “Create PDF” produces the document; “PDF created” states the destination, scope and file size.

Content

• Pages — Cover sheet · Table of contents · Overview page (totals) · Totals per level · Each room on a new page
• Objects — Detail block per object · Sketches · Dimension tables · Include open objects · Items
• Auditability — Deviations-only report · Planned/actual comparison per item · Auditable measurement sheet (REB formulas) · Deductions/over-measurement separately · Several signature fields · Verification block · Index of appendices
• Extras — Building parts · Notes · Measurement history (appendix) · Signature field · Page numbers · Header on every page · Logo on every page · Save toner (no colour fills)

The auditable measurement sheet with REB formulas can only be switched on from Pro — even when a saved template brings it along.

Layout

Paper (A4, A3, A5, Letter, Legal) · Orientation (Landscape, Portrait) · Margins (normal, narrow, binding margin) · Font size (compact, normal, large) · Pages per sheet (1, 2, 4) · Sketch size (Small, Medium, Large) · Grouping (by room, by item) · Watermark · Note on the cover sheet · Custom footer · File size (email). There is no choice of decimal places here: quantities stand with the project's places (see “What is the same in every export”).

“Pages per sheet” sets the content smaller and in several columns; the custom footer replaces the one from the company details for this export. The file size works through the content: Smaller means the logo on the cover sheet only, small sketches, no measurement history; Smallest additionally leaves out the sketches and puts two pages on each sheet. The auditable measurement sheet stays in the document at every level if it is switched on.

Selection

The project tree is preselected and collapsed — if you want to print everything, you never tap in here. Every row shows the totals of its level, and there are “All” and “None” as well.

Templates

Beneath each tab is the “Templates” bar with four built-in templates:

“Save as template” stores the settings without the tree selection under a name; the same name replaces the old one, and a long press deletes one of your own. “Set as project default” prefills the dialogue for this project (“Clear default” undoes it). “Share templates” and “Import templates” take your own templates to other devices as a file.

Batch export and email

Under “Batch export”, a PDF of its own is produced per unit, per floor, per stairwell, per room or per item, with the settings from “Content” and “Layout”; the “Selection” tab does not apply here. “Create batch” hands the documents out right away: several together as one ZIP file, a single one as a PDF — on smartphone and tablet via the share sheet, in the browser via the share sheet if the browser can share files, otherwise as a download. The app then states the number and total size of the documents. As attachments to a message they go out via “Send by email”: in the app on smartphone and tablet all attached to one message, in the browser as one ZIP file.

“Send by email” takes as recipients the project participants with an email address, to tap, or free addresses separated by commas. The app sends nothing itself; it hands over to the mail app. On iPhone and iPad the files are attached to the message; afterwards the app reports whether the message is in the outbox, was saved as a draft or was discarded. On Android the files are attached as well; the app then only reports that it handed over to the mail app — it cannot tell there whether the message was sent, and the dialog stays open. Without an email account or mail app on the device it says so. In the browser no file can be attached to a message; there the button reads “Create ZIP and prepare email”. It packs the documents into one ZIP file and hands it out — via the share sheet if the browser can share files, otherwise as a download. The app then asks whether to open the mail app with recipients, subject and text. Attach the ZIP file there yourself; the first line of the prepared message names it. If the share sheet is cancelled, nothing goes out.

Item measurement sheet

A document type of its own: for each BoQ item it holds every location and every individual measurement, for wall groups every wall, and the item total at the end. Items without a BoQ item follow under “No item”, then the building parts.

• Layout — under “Scope of the record” the switches “List of individual dimensions”, “Also show the perimeter for areas” and “Start each item on a new page”; in addition Paper (A4, A3, Letter, Legal), Orientation, Margins, Font size, Cover sheet, Table of contents, Page numbers, Header, Logo, Signature field, Save toner, Watermark, Note on the cover sheet and Custom footer.
• Selection — the same project tree as for the report.

Sketch size, pages per sheet, grouping, file size, templates, batch export and email are not available here.

Submitting the measurement and XRechnung

GAEB X31 and REB DA11 are created in Billing via “Submit measurement”, documents as PDF or XRechnung under “Quotations & invoices” via “Share” — both Pro plan, described in the chapter “Billing”. About the measurement return path:

• Building parts are in X31 and DA11 if their BoQ item is billed per piece — one line per building part with its quantity, the same as in planned/actual, quotation and invoice. On an item with another unit (m², m, m³ …) they are left out, as in planned/actual; the message “Measurement created” lists them under “Notes on the file”. A building part with quantity 0 counts as not yet counted: it is never in the file and never among the notes; if nothing else is assigned to the item, “Measurement created” lists it as an item without measurement.
• REB DA11 has only nine digits for the item number. Longer ones are shortened, and two BoQ items can end up with the same number. GAEB X31 is the safe way for that.
• Quantities always stand with three decimal places, each measurement line with its rounded result; the quantity of the BoQ item is their sum. For a project with three places that is the same figure as on the document; with two places it can differ from it by up to 0.005 per measurement line (12.346 in the X31, 12.35 on the invoice). If a program on the recipient’s side recalculates a calculation path unrounded by itself, it can differ by up to 0.0005 per line.
• No promise of conformity. The sheet for choosing the format states permanently that X31 and DA11 are produced from the standard to the best of our knowledge and that the app does not promise that a billing or checking program accepts them; the same applies to the XRechnung (chapter “Billing”). Check before submitting.
• Items with crossing edges on a BoQ item are named by “Check before submitting”; they go into the file with their calculated area.

What is the same in every export

• Items are ordered by BoQ item. The grouping by stairwell, floor, unit and room stays; in every room the items and building parts stand by the item number of their BoQ item (BoQ item 2 before BoQ item 10), then those without a BoQ assignment in the order in which they were created. Where an export groups or totals by BoQ item — Grouping “by item”, the item measurement sheet, Batch export “per item”, the Excel sheet “Totals per item” and in the short overview “Measurement elements by item” or the sheet “By item” — the BoQ items come first by their number, then BoQ items typed in by hand without a BoQ assignment, last the items without a BoQ item. The bill of quantities itself — planned/actual, quotation, invoice, GAEB X31 and REB DA11 — keeps its own order; a BoQ item added later by hand stands at the end there. “The whole project as a file” passes the data on without any order.
• The project’s over-measurement rule carries through (Billing › Project settings › “Over-measuring (VOB/C)”): quotation, invoice, planned/actual, X31, DA11, the PDF reports, Excel and the table and data formats calculate the same quantity.
• Quantities stand with the project's decimal places (Billing › Project settings › “Decimal places for quantities”, two or three) — each measurement line rounded once, commercially, and the total from the rounded lines (chapter “Billing”). In reports and in Excel they appear, for example, as “10.000 m²” or “10.00 m²” and “4.000 St” or “4.00 St”; on documents and on the planned/actual and deviation pages a whole count stands without decimal places (“4 St”, chapter “Billing”). Only GAEB X31 and REB DA11 always write three places. Measured lengths stay stored unrounded.
• Storage is always in metres. Changing the display unit alters no dimension.
• The length unit from Settings applies — unless another one is chosen in the “File” tab — to the table formats (Excel custom, ODS, CSV, both template formats, CSV per table, Bundle), to the PDF reports, the HTML report, the two fixed Excel formats and the sketches — there to every dimension: edges, wall heights, cutouts, calculations and measurement history. Quantities stay in m, m² and m³, building parts are in millimetres; GAEB, REB and XRechnung follow their format.
• The formats JSON, XML and the project dump always write metres, m² and m³ — regardless of the setting, building part dimensions included — and state the unit with every number. Only the planned quantity of an item has no unit there; its unit is in the “Unit” column of the same row, if that column is selected.
• The CSV format is set up for German Excel by default — semicolon as separator, comma as decimal mark; both can be changed in the “File” tab. XML (data) writes a decimal point, and so does JSON as long as numbers are written as numbers. XML from a template writes a decimal point unless something else is chosen in the “File” tab.

What happens when a file goes out

On smartphone and tablet the share sheet opens; afterwards the app reports “File shared.” — even if it was closed without choosing anything. In the browser the share sheet opens if the browser can share files, otherwise a download starts: “The download of “…” has started.” means only that; whether the file arrived, the browser does not disclose. Cancelled sharing in the browser is reported as “Cancelled — nothing was shared.” The file is not kept; if you need it again, export again.

If the WebDAV server is chosen in the “Destination” tab, the app uploads the file to the chosen folder and reports “Uploaded to …”. If that fails, the message gives the reason — for example that the folder does not exist on the server, the server could not be reached or it does not accept the file.

The whole project as a file

“Export project as a file” in the same actions (Pro plan) hands out the entire data holding of a project, which can be read back in elsewhere — even outside the team. The file is not encrypted: dimensions, prices, totals, client and participants are in plain text; the app asks first (chapter “Working together”). Not to be confused with “Export data” on the profile page: all your own measurements as open files, on every plan.

What the other formats contain

• Word report (DOCX) — the same measurement report as the PDF and the HTML report, always for the whole project and with the report’s defaults, as a file for further editing in Word. It is not a document for submission; that remains the PDF. The dialogue states the limits beforehand: no headers and footers and no page numbers — the footer details appear once at the end —, a table of contents only as a list of the sections without page numbers, no sketches, no watermark and no embedded font (Arial); images only as PNG or JPEG. The section titles are Word headings, so that the navigation pane and a table of contents of your own in Word find them. Documents are not available as a Word file.
• CSV per table (ZIP) — one table each for items, rooms, building parts and BoQ items with the default columns; empty ones are left out.
• Bundle (ZIP) — the same tables, each with a description of its columns (order, heading, unit), and a short accompanying text in the app language that states the length unit of the tables and the decimal places of the quantities.
• Project dump (JSON) — every row type with every field in one file; cannot be read back in (that is what “Export project as a file” is for). The “File” tab only offers the date format.
• DXF (CAD) — an overview plan of the quantities, not a construction drawing: each item a labelled rectangle to scale (a square of the same area without measured edges), each room on a layer, with no position in the building.
• Sketches (SVG, ZIP) — one sketch per item as a separate file; for wall groups one per wall (length × common height; exactly one measured cutout is drawn in the centre, several are not). 3D solids and walls without a dimension get no sketch; an accompanying text in the archive lists them.

Limits worth knowing

• Only Photo documentation (PDF), Photo documentation (ZIP) and PDF (billing, detailed) carry images, the latter switched off at first. “Custom PDF …”, the item measurement sheet and the batch export contain no photos.
• A PDF accepts only JPEG and PNG. Other images are not quietly left out but appear as a low-resolution preview or as an entry with file name and reason; a missing file is named in the message after the export.
• Photos are scaled down for the PDF. If the long side of a photo is above 2000 pixels, the app scales it down to 2000 before embedding it — in the Photo documentation (PDF) and in the image section of “PDF (billing, detailed)”, regardless of the “File size” setting. The originals in the Photo documentation (ZIP) and as attachments in the PDF stay unchanged. If scaling down fails, the original goes into the PDF.
• The Excel customer template keeps content, column order and merged cells, but not fonts, colours and borders. Formulas are adjusted to the inserted rows, references to other sheets and named ranges are not; the message after the export says so.