An inspect mode that words one piece of geometry in trade language: title (Post, Header, Roof steel panel), spec (6x6 - 18ft long, incl. 4ft below grade), owner (Main building, Lean-to 1, Overhead Door 2) and a standing note (UC4B ground-contact treated below grade; ships as one plated truss, not a yard stick).
Also called: inspect mode · identify material · what is this board · material identification
- 1The engine already carries the truth on every member (kind, nominal, cutLength, source) and panel (role, size, source); describeItem() only words it.
- 2The source tag resolves the owner — addition/<id>, service/porchPad/<id>, or an opening id, which is turned into the same chip label the panel shows.
- 3Notes are kind-specific: girts are face-nailed one piece per bay and do not run through the column; purlins splice over trusses on 16-20ft stock; a hip rafter over 20ft is a special-order length.
- 4countIdentical() reports how many pieces in the build share the kind, nominal and cut length within a quarter inch.
- 5Undo or redo rebuilding the model stands the card and its highlight down, because the inspected record no longer exists.
On a real order every stick has to be accounted for, and a builder checking a drawing wants to click the post or the 2x6 beside an opening and be told what it is — a 10ft 4x4, a 14ft 2x8 — not go hunting through a list for it. Clicking any member names it, gives its size and length, and says how many identical pieces are on the building. It reads the same derived list the takeoff measures, so a card that says one of 24 is backed by 24 on the order.
- A 3D model that shows shapes but cannot name the material in them.
- An identification tool that reads a different source than the order and drifts from it.
See it on your own jobs
Twenty minutes, your numbers, no slide deck. We’ll build one of your real buildings in front of you and send you the estimate link at the end — yours to keep either way.
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