Support site for Simplebim® users
Bimsheet connects BIM and Excel. In Simplebim it appears as an embedded Excel that is connected to the model. When you select cells in Bimsheet, the objects that provide the data for those cells are selected in the model. When you edit the values of the cells, the data in the model is updated and when you make changes to the model the Bimsheet is updated. But this is not all. You can save the Bimsheet as an Excel file, edit it in Excel and import your changes back to the model. You can also create personalized Excel templates and fill them with data from your models.
Creating a Bimsheet is easy. You simply drag&drop objects or groups on the Bimsheet and the Bimsheet will show data from those objects. The data is added to the Bimsheet as Widgets and you can use different Widgets for different purposes. One of the Widgets is the Table Widget, which allows you to use the Simplebim Table palette for choosing objects and creating the layout, and then create a Bimsheet based on what you see in the Table palette.
In a Bimsheet you can have multiple tabs (= Worksheets) and you can place multiple Widgets on each tab. This allows you to create a 'book' containing all the BIM data that is relevant to you.
Simply drag&drop objects, groups or group categories on the Bimsheet and the dropped data is displayed in the Bimsheet and automatically connected to the model.
Only objects and properties that are included are shown in a Bimsheet. Although you can delete rows and columns also in a Bimsheet the recommended approach is to first exclude all the objects and properties you do not wish to see in the Bimsheet and then drag&drop data on the Bimsheet.When you select cells in the Bimsheet the corresponding objects will be selected in the model.
When you edit cell values in Bimsheet the changes are synchronized to your model. You can also edit the model, for example using the Properties palette, and the changes you make to the model are synchronized to your Bimsheet.
Undo and Redo work also with Bimsheet allowing you to experiment freely.
Drag & Drop
Simply drag&drop objects, groups or group categories on the Bimsheet and save the Bimsheet as an Excel file. The Bimsheet is a preview of your Excel file and you can delete, edit and add data before you save the Bimsheet as a plain Excel file.
Export all data
If you want to export all data to Excel you can choose Excel Export from the Home tab in the ribbon.
You can also export with preview, which creates a Bimsheet containing all the data. You can then delete, edit and add data before saving the Bimsheet as a plain Excel file.
Export Table Palette
You can use the Table palette and export the data in the Table palette to a Excel file.
You can also create a Bimsheet from the Table palette from either one tab or all tabs, and save a plain Excel file from the Bimsheet.
You can also create your own Excel templates, containing for example your company logo and other visual elements. You can then open your Excel template as a Bimsheet and populate it with data from your model in the same way as you would with a blank Bimsheet.
Once you have populated your Bimsheet with data from your model you can save it to Excel as a Bimsheet. The resulting Bimsheet will not contain any data from your model, just the layout and logic needed for re-creating your view from any model. When you now open the exported Excel file as a Bimsheet in Simplebim it will be populated with data from the model that you currently have open in Simplebim.
If your company is already using Excel you can connect your existing Excel worksheets to BIM. Simply open your existing Excel file in Bimsheet and drag&drop data from your model to it. You can even use Excel formulas to make all the further calculations you need. Create for example a new sheet with your BIM data and collect information from it to the Excel your are already using.
Once you have populated your Bimsheet with data from the model you can save it to Excel as a Bimsheet with Data. You can now edit the data in Excel, for example by adding product information to building elements. You can then enrich your model by importing this Excel file back to Simplebim as a Bimsheet. Any changes you made to the data are merged to the model that you have currently open in Simplebim.
When you create a Bimsheet in Simplebim you drag&drop data from the model to the Excel sheets. When you drop the data a Bimsheet Widget is created. Your Bimsheet can have multiple worksheets and each worksheet can have multiple Widgets.
Widgets create a live connection between your model and Excel; when you edit the model the Widgets synchronize the changes to the Excel sheets and when you edit the Excel sheets the Widgets synchronize the changes to the model. When you save your Bimsheet to a Excel file one of the following happens:
Table Widget
The Table Widget is created from the Table Palette. You simply populate a Table Palette with the data you need and define the layout, including the properties (=columns) you want to see, the order of the columns, sorting, filtering, grouping and colorizing of the data. Then you simply a Bimsheet based on that Table Palette. If your Table Palette has multiple tabs, a Excel worksheet can be created for each tab.
When you create a Bimsheet from the table palette it is a one directional operation. This means that any layout changes you make in the Table palette after you created the Bimsheet will not be reflected to the Bimsheet. Also any layout changes you make in the Bimsheet will not be reflected to the Table palette.Object Class Widget
The Object Class Widget is created by dragging and dropping a Object Class from e.g. the Objects palette on the Bimsheet.
Group Widget
The Group Widget is created by dragging and dropping a Object Group from e.g. the Objects palette on the Bimsheet
Group Category Widget
The Group Category Widget is created by dragging and dropping a Object Group Category from e.g. the Objects palette on the Bimsheet