Copy Assist
Copy Assist is the smart paste tool for moving data between parts of a project, or between projects. It understands structure — hierarchies, breakdowns, resources — and prompts you before doing anything lossy.
Where It Lives
Right-click on any grid → Copy / Paste / Copy Assist.
What It Handles
| Source → Destination | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Direct Cost items → Direct Cost items | Full copy incl. breakdowns, formulas, custom columns. |
| Direct Cost items → Overhead items | Prompts — types differ; maps fields intelligently. |
| Direct Cost breakdowns → Another item's breakdowns | Preserves structure. |
| Resources → Another project's resources | Creates new project-scope resources; prompts on name clash. |
| Template line items → Direct Costs | Treat template as a paste source. |
Clipboard Format
TX1 uses its own clipboard format (DirectCostClipboardDto, OverheadClipboardDto, ResourceClipboardDto, TemplateClipboardDto). When you copy from Direct Costs and paste into Excel, you get plain text fallback; when you paste back into TX1, you get structure.
Conflict Resolution
On paste, TX1 detects conflicts (same item name, same resource) and offers:
- Skip.
- Overwrite.
- Rename (suffix).
- Merge (combine quantities or totals).
- Cancel.
Paste from External
TX1 can paste from:
- Excel / Google Sheets — columns matched by header when available, else by position.
- CSV text — same as Excel paste.
- JSON (advanced) — for scripted workflows.
Multi-Row Paste
- Select the target row.
- Paste.
- TX1 inserts at the position of the target row (Insert mode) or replaces (Replace mode), controlled by the Copy Assist settings.
Clipboard Timestamps
TX1 stamps the clipboard payload with ClipboardTimestamps — if you paste old data (e.g. copied an hour ago), TX1 warns that the source may no longer match the current project state.
Tip — Cross-Project Copy
Have two projects open (main + pop-out of another project). Copy rows from one, paste in the other. Same shortcuts; TX1 handles IDs correctly.
Limitations
- Paste between different TX1 major versions may silently drop fields that don't exist in the older version.
- Very large paste operations (>5,000 rows) show a progress dialog — they commit incrementally.