About External Tools

The following icons are available from the External Toolssection on the Advanced tab (or the Interface > External Tools menu in classic view).

• List. Click the List icon to view a list of any external applications you have configured to open from Sage Estimating (SQL).

  You can click any program on the list to open it (provided you configured it properly in the the Set Up External Tools window).

• Setup. Click the Setup icon to open the Set Up External Tools window, where you can add commands that will open additional applications (such as eTakeoff, Notepad, or a calculator) from the External Tools List menu.

  To set up an external program to start from within Sage Estimating (SQL):

  1. Open the Set Up window.

     • On the ribbon, click the Advanced tab, and then from the Custom group, click Set Up.
     • In classic view, click File > External Tools.

  2. Type the name of the external software program in the Title box as you want it to appear in the External Tools list.

  3. Type the full file path to a .EXE, .BAT, .CMD or other external software file (including the file name) that you want to start when the program is selected from the External Tools list.

     Example: If you want to start Microsoft Excel, a typical path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\Excel.exe.

     You can also browse to the file by clicking the browse button.

  4. If you would like to pass an argument to the command, type the information in the Arguments box.

     For example, if you start Microsoft Excel using the Command box (as described in the previous step), use the Arguments box to add the file path for a target file such as c:\data\account.xls.

     If desired, click the arrow key to the right of the Arguments box to select from a list of variables that you can use with your argument.

  5. Optionally, you can specify a default folder for the external application by typing it directly in the Initial Directory box, or you can use the browse button to navigate to it.

     Make sure you include the entire path to the folder location.

  6. To create or refresh external report data whenever you run the external software, select Generate external report data. If the external software is a reporting or business intelligence tool, selecting this option ensures that external report data is up to date for your reports.

     Note: Data is generated for external report databases as specified by external report configurations that you set up in the Estimating Management Console.

  7. Click [OK] to save your changes and close the window.