QA Notebook Command
Command Licensing and Default Menu Location
- The QA Notebook command is part of the RPS Modeling Toolbox
- The command is located on the RPS Reporting menu ribbon
- The command is located in the QA menu group
Release / Version History
The QA Notebook command was first released in April 2024 for TBC 2023.11 and earlier
Command Description
The QA Notebook command provides an in project notebook that creates note records and graphical note descriptions at geo-referenced locations to capture Project Notes (Units, Coordinate Systems, Engineer, Client, Modeler, Estimator etc.) RFIs, Assumptions Made, Errors and Omissions, Project Issues, Safety Records, Field Operation Notes, Project Markups, Cloud Markups and more.
The notes can be 2D or 3D locations, can have leader lines and text borders (lozenge or rectangle) and are linked so that selecting a note in the note list highlights the note and note location graphically. The Notes can be filtered by type and status (Open, Closed, Deferred, Voided) and can be reported to Excel file format for sharing with project partners.
Note records from multiple projects can be merged into any project where multiple team members are working on separate parts of the project in separate TBC project files.
QA Notes are part of a TBC project file (.VCE) and can be passed down from Estimators to Project Delivery teams on award of a project, allowing much of the “Project Intelligence” accumulated during bid phase to be passed on to the operations group vs being lost. Significant value can be derived from this process along with improved and more effective project communication between project stakeholders.
Command Interface Description
The QA Notebook command dialog looks as follows
When you start the QA Notebook command for the first time in a new project, it will prompt you to save the project if you have not already done so. This is to minimize the number of Project Files that are associated with the QA Notebook.
If at a later time you save the project as a new project name, the notes created in the first project will be locked and become read only notes in the current project. The same applies to any notes that are merged into the current project from other TBC project QA Notebooks.
Command Hot Key Shortcut
If you are using the latest RPS Menu configuration for TBC, the QA Notebook can be accessed using CTRL Q on your keyboard.
QA Notebook Settings
The QA Notebook command is managed using QA Notebook Settings which are accessed using RPS Settings from the command header bar icons. For more details Click Here
Style:
Select the Note Style from the pull down list that you want to use for the record that you are about to create. When you select a style, the style filter is automatically applied to the note record list displayed in the table below. The list displays all of the styles that you have defined in your QA Notebook Settings file.
Status:
Each note record has a current status. The status of a note record can change over time. The status options include the following
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Open
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Closed
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Deferred
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Project
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Voided
When you create a Note record it will be set to Open status by default. At anytime in the future, if the status changes you can select the note record and change its status to one of the other options.
Note:
Note records cannot be deleted, if you have a note record that you no longer need, you can set it to Voided status, you can eliminate Voided records from the note record list using the “Show voided” checkbox. Voided records will be output to Excel output files in a voided notes worksheet (Excel).
Project list:
Note records from multiple TBC project files can be merged within the current TBC project file. Each record is assigned a unique project identifier, so that the note record can be traced back to the source project, can be protected in the current project (read only if sourced from a different project) and filtered out here using the Project list filter. The project ID number is assigned automatically and is displayed using the ID number and TBC Project File Name so that you can easily track the source of the Note. If you wish to filter the note list, you can select a Project from the list or All projects using the pull down list of projects that have generated Project Notes in the current TBC project.
Show voided checkbox:
When you have voided note records, you can elect to show or hide those notes in the note record list by using this checkbox.
Note Record List / Table:
The table of note records is filtered using the Style, Status and project ID filters defined above. The table displays the Note ID, the Note Description, the Note Location, Note Status, Note Type and Voided status information.
When you click on a note record, it will be highlighted graphically provided the layer for that type of note is currently visible.
Note:
The Note Record layers are typically set to Visible and Selectable is disabled by default. You can change this if needed using Advanced View Filter Settings from the View Filter Manager. We recommend that all Note Record changes are made via the QA Notebook command. If you do make the layers selectable, you will be able to move the note records, change linestyles and color and change the note text details. However if you subsequently edit the note in QA Notebook, the note record will not reflect the changes made using CAD functions, and will reset the graphical objects to those as defined by the QA Notebook.
Right Click Options:
If you right click in the table area you have access to a number of command controls as listed below
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Details - Displays the note record details in the results pane
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Center - Centers the map on the selected note record
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Export - Exports the note records to an Excel spreadsheet
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Clear - Clears / Deletes notes of the selected type(s) and current filters
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Restore from backup - Restores all note records from the QA Notebook backup file
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Merge notes - Merges notes from other TBC Projects
Each TBC Project will create a QA Notebook file in the Project Folder for the Project. The file has a name that matches the TBC Project and is of type .JSON.
These QA Notebook files can be shared and merged using the Merge notes function. The same file is the backup file for the QA Notes should a TBC project ever get corrupted. The .JSON file is continuously updated when you add or update note records.
Editing toolbar:
The toolbar below the note record table provides the ability to Add, Copy, Edit, Save, Cancel, Void and Export note records.
If you have already created a note and want to duplicate the note, select the source note in the table and then click the copy button, this will create a new note record, the same as the source and you can then define a new location for the new note record. If for example you are labeling up 36" RCP Pipe sections with a common Takeoff Note then you can simply select the source and copy it into multiple locations as needed.
If you create a New Note, the Note Editor opens within the dialog as shown below
Note styles:
The note style is set to the currently selected note style at the time of opening the editor, you can however change it using the pull down list selector.
Description:
Enter the note high level description. This description becomes the graphical object text for the note record.
Details:
Enter the details for the note record
Response:
When you receive or generate a response to a note record that you want to capture e.g. for an RFI or Field Issue etc. enter the response information here.
Status:
Set the status of the note record here.
Is voided checkbox:
Check this checkbox if the note record is voided.
3D note:
Check this checkbox if you want the note record to have a 3D vs 2D location
Leader Type:
Select the leader type that you wish to apply to the leader line if applicable.
Text location:
Click the point in the graphics view (plan view) where you want to place the note record. If placing the note record with leader lines, you will be asked for the text location (tip of the leader line) and the text location separately.
Click the Save button to complete a record edit.
Details viewer:
If you wish to see the details of any record, select the record in the table and then right click and select Details, this will open the details viewer as shown below. Every record that is created will have a record of who created the note and at what time etc. The same applies to when responses were added (by who and when).
Excel Export:
If you wish to send some or all of the note records to someone for review e.g. RFIs to the Engineer, Estimating Notes to your Chief Estimator, Project Notes to the Project Engineer etc. you can select the Export function which will create an Excel file comprising multiple work sheets - one for each note record type. You can finalize formatting and then extract one or more work sheets and save to additional files prior to sending the files to the appropriate staff or project team members.
Printing Drawings:
Use the standard TBC drawing creation workflows to create drawings including your Note Records
Exporting Note Records for Field Users:
When exporting data for SCS900, Siteworks, GCS900, Earthworks, Groundworks etc. you can select the note record graphics for inclusion in the map object details (linework and text labels etc.) that can then be passed onto field crews and machine operators for viewing on their displays.
Merging QA notebooks from different TBC projects:
Each TBC project that creates a QA notebook will create a .JSON file in the Project subfolder. If you wish to merge notes from a separate project into the current TBC project, right click in the Notes table and select Merge notes. You can then browse your computer to find the .JSON file from the other project - that could be on your network drive, on a Dropbox folder, a One Drive, Google Drive etc. folder or it could have been sent to you via email and has since been downloaded to your downloads folder. Select the .JSON file and click Open to complete the process.
The merged records will have a unique Project ID in each note record ID that can be used to filter the merged records for review.
Recommendations
We recommend that you take some time to set up all the Note Record styles hat you think you will need in your Project Template along with all of the Layers, Linestyles and Text Styles prior to using the QA Notebook command.
Close
Closes the command.
Video Demonstration
The following video shows how to utilize the QA Notebook command
Use Case Videos
The following videos show the use of the QA Notebook command in a work process context
Feedback and Enhancement Requests
If you would like to provide feedback on the use of the QA Notebook command or to request enhancements or improvements to the command please click Reply below