Cost Tracking And Reports

UI3 has built in Cost Tracking that gives the user an estimate of the cost of his choices in the scene.

How to print reports to a file with a free plugin.

UI3 allows to track the cost of the project. The cost will update when the user makes a change or chooses a different option.

Enable Cost Tracking

Cost Tracking needs to be enabled in the Info Map and in all actors that are relevant to Cost Tracking.

Cost Tracking Widget

The result can be shown in the Cost Tracking Widget.

• Feature Type - Cost Tracking
• Feature ID - None (ignored)

Cost Reports

Two buttons at the bottom of the widget will print the report into the Output Log.

You can install the free plug-in FileSDK to print the report as a file.

Price in Choices Button

The price will be taken from the Choice Button by default. The choice will be for a material in most cases. It could be for a mesh change, like changing the cooktop from gas to induction.

Price in Object Info

The price can be taken from the Object Info section. There are 2 examples in the image:

• Dining Chairs - There are 3 chair models available and each has a different price. The material options also have different prices and the final price is the sum of both.
• Dining Table - The price is set in the Object Info. All material variations have the same price. The Price Behavior is set to From Mesh Choice (Info)

The Object Info is very similar to the Variation Actor but doesn't have the choices logic.

Price

Set the price for one item or unit in the Object Info array.

Cost Group ID

the Cost Group defined in the Info Map.

Unit Quantity and Type

Set the amount, or quantity, of assets and the type

Example: 3 (units), 123.4 m2

Read the page about Multi-Unit Projects to learn how to use the Object Info to mark the units in a building and track their cost.

Data Table Designer

Open the data table and select the row for the current Designer.

• Show Prices - Tick the box to activate cost tracking for this designer.
• Cost Group ID - The group ID from the list of groups set in the DInfo Map.

(Use) Element Quantity Overwrites

The quantity set in the element can be overwritten by this array. Sometimes you can re-use an element with only the quantity being different.

Designer Documentation

BP_SDotUI3_CostGroup

This blueprint adds cost items to the (sub) level it is placed in. Additional costs for a layout scenario or other level can be tracked with it.

Price Group ID

The ID of the price group defined in the Info Map

Named Costs

Add an array element for each cost item.

Create a report file manually

Further down is a better solution using a free plugin

• Select the code in the Output Log between the two dashed lines.
• Copy the code via [CTRL] + [C]
• Right click on an empty spot on the desktop and choose New -> Text Document
• Paste the selected code into the new text document with [CTRL] + [V]
• Save the file
• Rename the file from *.txt to *.html or *.csv or *.json depending on the report type.

Now you can open the file with a double click from the desktop or save it somewhere else.