v8.2.0 - a project journey map, an FX inversion guard and tighter import validation.

8.2.0 answers a question every team on a long project eventually asks: where are we, and what comes next. The headline is a project journey map that lives in the top bar and is always at hand. The rest of the release is a set of fixes that protect the numbers, a guard against an upside-down exchange rate quietly skewing rolled-up totals, the same validation pass for BIM models brought in from a spreadsheet as from a converter, and a handful of smaller corrections to takeoff, drawing previews and the DIN 276 checks.

What is new in version 8.2.0

• A project journey map in the top bar. A small control names the lifecycle phase the screen you are on belongs to, so you always know where you are. Open it and the whole project lays out from first lead to handover: three arcs and eleven numbered phases, with every major module placed on its phase as a link, plus an always-on band for the cross-cutting AI, collaboration and pipeline tools. Translated in every language.
• An FX inversion guard. The currency dialog now warns when a project exchange rate looks entered upside down, or sits far from a typical market rate, and shows the rate the right way round, so a slip no longer quietly skews rolled-up totals. Reported in issue #111.
• Validation for imported BIM models. BIM models imported from a spreadsheet or a bulk element file now run the same validation pass as the CAD import path, so every imported model gets a validation report instead of only the ones brought in through a converter.
• A viewpoint check on comments. A comment that carries a viewpoint now checks the viewpoint's entity type against the same allowlist the standalone viewpoint path uses, so an unsupported value can no longer slip in through a comment and leave an orphaned reference.
• Clearer takeoff and working DWG previews. Quantity takeoff now reports how many PDF pages came back with no text layer, usually scanned drawings, instead of silently treating them as empty, so it is clear which pages need OCR. And DWG drawing previews render again on newer ezdxf builds, 1.1 and later.
• DIN 276 that folds dotted CAD codes. The DIN 276 completeness and hierarchy checks now also fold dotted CAD codes such as 330.10 to their three-digit cost group, so a model classified with deeper codes is scored against the right group instead of being undercounted or wrongly flagged out of hierarchy.

Always know where the project is

A long construction project moves through phases that everyone knows by name but that no single screen ever shows. You are in a module, getting work done, and the wider arc of the job, where it started, what is still ahead, lives only in people's heads. The project journey map puts that arc back on screen. A small control in the top bar names the lifecycle phase the screen you are on belongs to, so wherever you land you can read where it sits in the whole.

Open the control and the full map unfolds: three arcs and eleven numbered phases that run from the first lead all the way to handover. Every major module sits on its phase as a link, so the map doubles as a way to move through the project rather than just a picture of it. Underneath the phases runs an always-on band for the tools that do not belong to any one phase, the AI, collaboration and pipeline features that cut across the whole job. The map is translated in every language, so the same lifecycle reads correctly for every team on the platform.

An exchange rate that cannot quietly invert

An exchange rate is one number that everything downstream trusts. Enter it upside down, say the rate the wrong way round, and nothing complains, but every rolled-up total in the other currency comes out skewed, and the mistake is hard to spot because each individual figure looks plausible. 8.2.0 closes that trap. The currency dialog now warns when a project exchange rate looks entered upside down, or simply sits far from a typical market rate, and it shows the rate the right way round so you can confirm it at a glance. This one came in as issue #111, and it is exactly the kind of slip a guard should catch before it ever reaches a report.

Every imported model gets a validation report

Validation is meant to be a first-class step, not something that depends on how a model arrived. Until now a BIM model brought in through a converter went through the validation pass and came out with a report, while the same model imported from a spreadsheet or a bulk element file skipped it. 8.2.0 makes the two paths agree: a spreadsheet or bulk import now runs the same validation pass as the CAD import path, so every imported model gets a validation report regardless of how it got into the project.

Two related checks tighten the same area. A comment that carries a viewpoint now validates the viewpoint's entity type against the same allowlist the standalone viewpoint path uses, so an unsupported value can no longer slip in through a comment and leave an orphaned reference behind. And the DIN 276 completeness and hierarchy checks now fold dotted CAD codes such as 330.10 down to their three-digit cost group, so a model classified with deeper codes is scored against the right group instead of being undercounted or wrongly flagged as out of hierarchy.

Clearer takeoff, working previews

Two smaller fixes round out the release. Quantity takeoff now reports how many PDF pages came back with no text layer, which usually means scanned drawings, instead of silently treating them as empty. That turns a quiet gap into a clear signal of which pages need OCR before the numbers can be trusted. And DWG drawing previews render again on newer ezdxf builds, 1.1 and later, so the thumbnail you expect to see is back.

By the numbers

Install or upgrade

pip install --upgrade openconstructionerp

The desktop installers for Windows, macOS and Linux carry the same one-installer setup, and the Linux build includes the CAD and BIM converters for AutoCAD, Revit and IFC. You can grab the latest installers from openconstructionerp.com/download. If you run an external PostgreSQL through DATABASE_URL, nothing about that connection changes. Questions or trouble upgrading, write to info@datadrivenconstruction.io.