What's new in ProPricer
To see the latest ProPricer 9.5 features and enhancements, go to version 9.5.103.0. For more details about all updates, including fixes, check the release notes.
You can also view the previous improvements made in earlier versions of ProPricer.
Version 9.5.103.0
Release date: January 9, 2024
AutoProtect Material Edits setting
Introduces an AutoProtect feature to proposal-specific materials that treats any edited parts and assemblies as actuals, like the way the AutoProtect Trip Edits setting works. To use the new AutoProtect Material Edits setting, go to Proposal Properties > Material > Pricing.
Timephased base unit cost for cost source materials
Enables timephased base unit cost calculations (monthly or annual) for miscellaneous or long-term agreement (LTA) parts and assemblies. To set up material pricing by month or year in the Parts or Assemblies Libraries, click a cost source tab and go to the new Timephased Base Unit Cost grid.
Cost Level setting added to Prepare for Government
Adds a setting to select the cost level when archiving a proposal in Contractor Edition with the Prepare for Government feature. This is the same setting that is already available in Government Edition with the Prepare for Contractor feature.
Right-click material consolidation in Task View
Allows quickly consolidating materials in a single task in Task View. Click the Material tab, right-click a task in the Material Input grid > Consolidate > Selected Materials.
Default Slope Percentage for Volume Adjustment setting
Allows changing the Volume Adjustment default slope percentage from 100% to a different percentage. To use the new Default Slope Percentage for Volume Adjustment setting, go to System Options > Material.
Months Expired column for material cost sources
Shows the number of months since a quote, purchase order, or miscellaneous cost source has expired, if applicable. The new column appears in the Material Input grid of Material View and Task View.
Scheduled Rate ID and Discount columns for material associated costs
Adds the abilities to apply a scheduled rate and discount to labor resources in associated costs. The new columns appear in the Associated Costs grid of Material View and Task View.
Source Type column for CER bases
Adds the primary ability to exclude or include resources that stem from other CERs. A different source type besides CER can be selected as well. The new column appears in the Bases grid of CER tables. The column options are: (Any), CER, Direct, Formula, Material, Resource Set, and Travel.
Resource field mapping and creation with Microsoft Project
Adds the ability to map Microsoft Project fields to existing ProPricer resource fields when importing from Project. If you map to a resource field that doesn’t exist, ProPricer creates it automatically during the import.
Comparison Algorithm Report
Allows comparing the details of two or more algorithms and highlighting their differences in a report.
Comparison of proposals with different algorithms
Allows comparing proposals with different algorithms in reports. After selecting the proposals to compare in the Comparison Proposals report option, the algorithm names now appear in a separate column. You can click the ellipsis button next to an algorithm name to map elements from one algorithm to another.
Replicate changes in similar materials
Adds the ability to replicate changes made to a part or assembly’s details in a proposal. After modifying a material’s cost source or quantity, for example, you can replicate your changes to all materials with the same identifier in the proposal. Go to Material View or Task View, right-click an item in the Material Input grid > Replicate Material Changes.
Database connection on Login window
Adds the Hours Decimal Places setting that is available in other reports to the Summary Cost Breakdown Report.
Row count in the Cost Source lookup
Adds a row count function in the Cost Source lookup that shows how many cost sources are available for a part or assembly in a proposal. The amount is displayed at the bottom of the lookup that appears for values in the Cost Source column.
Maximum material field limit increased to 100
Increases the maximum number of material fields allowed in ProPricer from 20 to 100.
More unit of measure options for materials
Allows using comparison operators in front of numeric or date material field values in consolidation rule sets. Now a rule can be based on a time frame before or after a specified date, or on a number less than or greater than a specified value. You can enter the following operators with a numeric or date material field value:
- <> Not equal to
- < Less than/Before
- <= Less than/Before or Equal to
- > Greater than/After
- >= Greater than/After or Equal to
Example: > 1/1/24 would mean after January 1, 2024.
ServerConfig settings
Adds the following settings in ServerConfig:
- Keep Alive Interval (sec) determines how often a signal is sent to the server to maintain a connection. The length of time is entered as a number of seconds.
- Remote Inactivity Timeout (sec) determines how long inactivity can last before a connection closes. The length of time is entered as a number of seconds.
Previous 9.5 releases
Release date: July 27, 2023
ProPricer ServerConfig
The ProPricer installation process includes a new server configuration tool called ProPricer ServerConfig. It can quickly validate a selected SSL certificate, and automatically complete a single-endpoint configuration. To learn how to use ProPricer ServerConfig, go to the ProPricer Installation Guide.
BOE Pro source support
The following changes improve the integration of BOE Pro with ProPricer Contractor Edition:
- Task View and Summary View have a new column for showing the name of the BOE that is the source of the created item.
- The Audit Report indicates when data from BOE Pro has been modified in Contractor Edition.
Assembly/Part Name Template system setting
A new system-level setting called Assembly/Part Name Template uses variables to determine how materials are automatically named and uniquely identified in the global material libraries. After an assembly or part name is created, you can still edit it to fit your needs.
Using the variable [Part Number] will automatically create names that include part numbers. If the template also has your own material fields as variables, like [Plant Code], the field values entered for items will appear with their names. Using material fields in the template lets you have multiple items with the same part number, as long as each item has a different combination of material field values.
Look up cost source by part number
In Material View, the Cost Source lookup lets you find cost sources for materials by name or part number. Looking up by part number shows all purchase orders, quotes, etc. for the items that have the same part number combined with different material field values.
Consolidate material unit costs by part number
A new setting called Consolidate Material By lets you consolidate by the part name or number. It’s available at the system level, and it can be set differently for a specific proposal during the consolidation setup.
Consolidating by the part number is useful when the Assembly/Part Name Template system setting contains the variable [Part Number] along with variables for material fields. In this case, you could have multiple items with the same part number and different material field values. The consolidation process will ignore the material fields, and only consider the part number.
Proposal-specific material information
In a proposal, you can edit part and assembly information without affecting the material libraries. Running the unit cost consolidation process or the update material process in the proposal will replace the changes with the library information. The most advantageous aspect of this enhancement is the ability to create a fully indented bill of materials structure directly in a proposal.
Associated costs for material cost sources
Assemblies and parts can have associated costs for individual quotes, purchase orders, etc. Now you can enter those costs at the material level or the cost source level. If a source has associated costs and you select it for a part or assembly in a proposal, the source’s associated costs are applied to it.
Unit of measure conversion
ProPricer can convert dimensions of material parts from one measurement to another according to standard conversion factors. This allows easy comparison between cost sources that measure materials differently. While entering information for a part, you can select a unit of measure for it in the UM column.
Azure AD login compatibility
Users can access ProPricer with an Azure Active Directory login instead of a ProPricer or Windows login.
Copy field values down to lower BOM levels
While setting up a bill of materials, you can quickly copy material field values or resource field values from a parent item to all of its children. This eliminates repeated data entry for each child. In the Material Input grid of Material View or Task View, right-click an item > Fill Down, then select what to copy.
ProPricer auto-reconnect
If a user gets disconnected from their ProPricer session, the session will remain active on the server for five minutes, allowing the client to automatically reconnect without interruption. Additionally, when a disconnection occurs, the message that appears now indicates one of three possible causes: connection loss, server shut down, or disconnected by system administrator.
To lengthen or shorten the five-minute reconnect timeout period, go to your ProPricer installation directory, and edit EBS.ProPricer.Client.config.json and ProPricerServer.config.json. In these configuration files, change the ReconnectTimeout value from 300 seconds to the desired length of time. It is recommended that both files have the same value.
Display labor hours in the 15-2 Line Item Summary Report
In this report, the Reference Text Input options let you display labor hours along with the cost elements.
Material Field Editing what-if
The new Field Editing (material) feature is similar to the existing what-ifs for editing task fields or resource fields in a proposal. It lets you change material field values for parts and assemblies throughout a proposal quickly and accurately.
Shortcut to the ProPricer Import/Export Tool
A new button on the External Data ribbon provides a shortcut for opening the ProPricer Import/Export Tool.
Summary fields for materials
Summary fields appear for parts and assemblies in a proposal. You can now sort, filter, or distribute materials by any summary field, not just by task name.
Removed all 9.3 versions from archives up to 9.3.106
The archive process no longer allows creating proposal archives for any 9.3 version of ProPricer.
Days function in Material Unit Cost calculation
In a proposal’s unit cost formula, you can use the function Days(EndDate, StartDate) to get the number of days between two dates entered in user-defined material fields. For example, if the date material fields are named Start and End, the function would be Days([End], [Start]).
Total Definition algorithm elements in Report Designer
The fields you can add to a report layout in Report Designer now include all of the Total Definition elements in a proposal’s algorithm. In previous versions of ProPricer, only Total Fee Element and Total Price Element were available Report Designer fields.
Release date: March 23, 2023
Server Manager upgrade
- Server Manager has been upgraded to version 9.5.100.6. This version number is now consistent with the ProPricer client version number.
- Subscription licenses for ProPricer companion products no longer fail to activate.
Import/Export Tool fix
- The standalone installation of the Import/Export Tool no longer has a broken shortcut link. There are no changes to the Import/Export Tool that is installed with the ProPricer client.
Release date: February 27, 2023
Import/Export Tool fixes
- Sheets with date columns can now be imported successfully.
- Travel data can now be imported successfully.
- An issue that allowed an import or export of proposal material data to process without a selected proposal has been fixed.
- The Import/Export Tool desktop icon has been updated.
Release date: February 1, 2023
ProPricer 9.5 fixes
- After a five-minute period of inactivity in the ProPricer client or Server Manager, a user interface deadlock no longer occurs in either application.
- The ProPricer installation process no longer overwrites your server configuration files when upgrading to version 9.5.100.3.
- The following error no longer appears when attempting to start ProPricer with an Oracle connection: 'TrustServerCertificate' is an invalid connection string attribute
- The Export Grid right-click command now functions correctly.
Import/Export Tool fix
- The proposal user field values checkbox is no longer selectable before a source proposal user field is selected.
Release date: January 31, 2023
ProPricer 9.5 fix
- The Auto Shutdown (Minutes) value entered in the System Options no longer incorrectly converts to milliseconds.
Import/Export Tool fixes
- When importing data, the Replace Existing Sheets option now works correctly.
- When exporting data, checkboxes are only shown for the existing sheets.
- An error no longer occurs when importing cost source data, overrides, and CERs.
- When importing data, the base date format is now correct.
- When creating a template, after a proposal is selected, the correct checkboxes are shown.
- Improved backwards compatibility for files that were created and used with previous versions of the Import/Export Tool.
- An error with the processing of spreadsheet document properties has been fixed.
Release date: January 12, 2023
Integration with BOE Pro
ProPricer 9.5 works with our new web-based estimating software called BOE Pro. After a proposal is approved in BOE Pro, it can be seamlessly restored in ProPricer 9.5. Once the estimates and their justification are reviewed, the proposal can be archived and sent back to a BOE Pro user if needed.
Update proposals from a template
After reconfiguring proposal CERs and resource field mappings in a proposal template, you can apply those updates on-demand to any proposal. There’s no need to repeatedly make the same changes in each proposal one by one.
Shortcut for Select Columns
In any grid where columns can be hidden or shown, you can press Ctrl+N on your keyboard to quickly open the Select Columns dialog box. This shortcut is an alternative to right-clicking a grid and selecting options in the menu.
Move items to a different folder
Items that are saved in a folder, such as proposals or rate tables, can be moved to another folder all at once or individually with a new right-click option. After choosing the items, right-click them and select Move to Folder.
Summary fields in algorithm IF statements
IF statements in a pricing algorithm can now be based on summary fields and their values. This allows task-level pricing switches in a proposal by simply selecting a specific summary field value for a task.
Copy Task Data and Flex/Shift combined
The Copy Task Data process now incorporates the Flex/Shift what-if, since these two features often go hand in hand. In the settings for the copy process, you can use Flex/Shift to adjust the period of performance start and end dates.
Copy selected data from a task
While entering new estimates in tasks, the Add Copy From process will help you quickly copy a row of data from another proposal. If a parent row is copied from hierarchical data, like the bill of materials structure, all rows within it will also be copied. Not only does this save data entry time, but it also keeps your global data untouched and intact.