This month's update brings two new features to the Geometry Editor and makes several common actions quicker to perform. The update took place during the evening of the 27th April. For a full list of changes in v2.46, please visit the Alloy Changelog.

Measure geometry everywhere 📏

Back in October, we added the Measure tool, which lets you select multiple points on the map to see the length between them, plus the area of any closed shape.

We've now extended this functionality to the Geometry Editor, so you can see the dimensions of all lines and polygons, even as you draw them!

Snap to nearby geometry ➡️

Another new feature in the Geometry Editor is snap layers, which lets your pointer "snap" to nearby geometry.

To get started, select Menu (bottom-right), choose Snap layers, and then choose a visible layer to act as the snap layer.

From now on, when your pointer approaches snap layer geometry, it'll automatically jump to align itself with the nearest point or line.

This makes it super easy to plot geometry directly alongside another item's geometry, e.g. a building connected to another building, a road branching off from another.

Quickly add columns in the Data Explorer 📋

Adding attribute columns in the Data Explorer is a common action, one that we certainly find ourselves performing a lot. Despite selecting all your desired attributes upfront, you inevitably end up wanting to add more later!

To reflect this, we've added an extra Configure attributes button to the top bar. This lets you open the Pathfinder in a single click, without having to use the bottom-right Menu button.

Quickly access the Job Work Units Editor 🛠️

When viewing a job's details, you can open the Job Work Units Editor by switching to the Job Work Items or Job Bill Items tab, and then selecting More in the action bar.

While this is intuitive, it can become a bit laborious if you've got lots of jobs to move through!

To address this, you can now open the Job Work Unit Editor from the General tab as well, without having to switch tabs.

Easily filter designs in the map picker 🗺️

When selecting items in the map picker, you can filter the displayed items by selecting Menu (bottom-right) and choosing Filter designs.

Previously, the right-hand item list would change to a design list. After selecting the relevant designs, you then had to select Search here to refresh the displayed items and change the list back to items.

This proved confusing at times, so selecting Filter designs now displays a standard design picker, and the map refreshes automatically after saving your selection.

Custom Job Work Items on Android 🛠️

Following on from last month, custom job work items are now supported on Android in addition to iOS.

When adding a job work item to a job, you can now choose from all designs that implement the Job Work Items interface (and which you have permission to create items for).

To learn more about custom job work items, see February's post.