Property Object Structure Overview

This section describes the object structure of Items and Types and how a _Type can be modified into a new Type.

Understanding the structure of Items and Types is important to developers. Type is a very specific word that PlanSwift uses. A folder (in the Under-The-Hood window) is a physical Item of the Type "Folder." Everything in a Folder is considered to be an Item. Items are the "building blocks" of PlanSwift.

There are two types of Items in a Folder: one is "Types" and the other is "_Types." These are the two identifiers for what that Item is. The "_Types" is the base class (a master template containing the default properties) of all Items in PlanSwift. The Type allows the user to inherit a "_Type" and customize it into a new custom Type.

For example, the Area Item Type in PlanSwift can be modified to produce new measurement types, such as Roof Area, Joist Tool, Grid Tool, and more. Each of these new measurement types are built upon the base type for an Area Item. Figure 1 shows these custom area item types added to the Area drop-down menu on the takeoff ribbon group on the home tab ribbon-bar. The drop-down menu contains only some of possible modified Area Items that can be created. Users can create their own custom types and even add them to the drop-down menu if desired. Some modified types, like the Roof Area, have only simple modifications to their properties. Other modified types, like the Joist Tool and Grid Tool, have more complex modifications to their properties, such as scripted properties and custom sub-item section types. Regardless of the complexity, each of these custom types is built on the foundation of the original area item type. The Area item type along with the other takeoff types (Linear, Segment, and Count) are some of the essential "building blocks" of PlanSwift. 

        Figure 1