For anyone that needs to have a live connection between a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or workbook, Microsoft Access database file or virtually any other database file and Planswift, our DBLive plugin for Planswift is a game changer!
It's never been easier to update your Planswift takeoff item properties with real time data from virtually any database. With Planswift's built-in capability to connect a database as a list, once the database is connected it's essentially dead. When an update is made to that database file, the update filters through to the list in planswift but does not filter down through to the all of the parts that are connected to that database list. DBLive solves this problem.
With DBLive you can set up multiple database connections, map all of your updates from the sheets or tables in your database file and save them, so if you'll be performing the same update over and over it's as simple as a few clicks to update your job in Planswift before you print out your reports. For example, if you have a database that contains all of your material items that you occasionally update the pricing in, once you've mapped the update to Planswift it's as simple as selecting the map and clicking the "Update" button!
DBLIve can connect to a database file that's located anywhere. This means that you can have a database that's on a server or in the cloud that multiple Planswift users can connect to, so there's only 1 file to maintain with updates. If your suppliers maintain an online database with updated pricing that you can access you could use DBLive to create a live connection to that database that will always ensure that your takeoff includes todays pricing!
If your company uses ERP or POS software that contains your database of items and prices and an ODBC driver is available for that software, it's possible to use DBLive to create a live connection between that database and Planswift!
If you're looking for a takeoff and estimating software that has the best and easiest to use integration with your database of items, Planswift along with DBLive is now the cutting edge solution. To our knowledge, there isn't a better option out there. Having a real time connection between your takeoff software and your spreadsheet or database of items that contain things like pricing, item numbers, etc. can reduce your overall estimating time by hours per project! This allows you to bid more projects and win more bids!
DBLive is about as user friendly as it gets when it comes to connecting a database to software. It comes with a simple 1 page user's guide that takes you step by step through how to make the database connection, choose the tables of data that you want to import and perform the update. In the past, it was a significant project for a developer to set up a custom system within Planswift that included assemblies connected to a database and even then it was a dead connection. Now with DBLive, it's fast and simple to connect any takeoff items in Planswift to any database!
Download the 14- day trial of DBLive today and give it a try. If you have any issues with connecting your database, we're here for you. We're happy to help to make sure that you get up and running with DBLive and start realizing the full potential of Planswift with DBLive!
