A common thread running through
many Windows estimating programs is
the use of a three-tiered scrolling menu
for quantity takeoff. Any time you need
to find a specific item in the database,
you're never more than three mouseclicks
away — from Division to Phase to
Item level, successively. Chosen items
are then added to a running list on an
estimate screen.
Most programs using this scheme,
however, don't display both the database
and the estimate on screen at the same
time. To some estimators, this is merely
an annoyance, but to others, the ability
to refer easily to the estimate during
takeoff is a necessity that helps to maintain
continuity. Easy access to the full
estimate not only