This article explains what happens when two people work on the same thing in Buildxact at the same time, how concurrency works, and what to do so no one's work gets overwritten.
One person at a time, anywhere in Buildxact
Buildxact is not designed for two users to work on the same item at the same time. This applies across the whole platform, for example the same estimate, job, schedule, purchase order or invoice. Multiple users can work on different items at the same time without any issues.
Data can also be overwritten if:
One user has the same item open in multiple browser tabs or windows.
One user is logged in on two devices at once, such as a laptop and a phone.
What is concurrency?
Concurrency means more than one person (or more than one browser tab or device) working on the same thing at the same time.
Each time you open something in Buildxact, it loads a copy into your browser. That copy doesn't update while someone else is making changes. When you save, Buildxact replaces what's stored with your copy. So if two people save the same item, the last save wins, and anything the other person added since your copy was loaded is lost.
Think of it like two people editing their own printed copy of the same quote and then each handing theirs in as the final version. Only the last one handed in is kept.
That's why it's important that only one person, in one tab, works on any item at a time.
User accounts and devices
Separate user accounts: each person should have their own user account. Sharing a single user account across multiple people isn't supported. Users are free, so create a user account for each person who needs access.
Device usage: you can access the same user account from different devices, but it can't be used by two people at the same time. This helps keep your data accurate and prevents conflicts.
See who else is in an estimate's costings
Buildxact only warns you about another user in Estimate Costings. Everywhere else, there's no warning, so check with your team before working on something someone else might have open.
If another user is in the same estimate's costings as you, a colored bubble with their initials appears in the top right of the screen.
Hover your cursor over the bubble to see the user's name, what they're doing and how long they've been in the estimate.
The bubble appears when other users on your account are doing any of the following in the estimate costings at the same time:
Viewing
Editing
Saving changes over your changes
The bubble disappears when the other user leaves, either by navigating away or by closing their browser or tab.
What to do if someone else is working on the same item
Someone starts working on the item you're in: save your work straight away, then contact the other user to let them know you're working on it.
Someone is already working on the item when you open it: don't make any changes, and especially don't save anything. Just exit. If you need it urgently, contact the other user to coordinate.
How work gets overwritten, step by step
When you move from one page (anything with its own URL) to another, Buildxact checks the database for the latest information. The images below use an estimate as an example, but the same thing happens anywhere in Buildxact.
1. Both sessions get their data from the database and are in sync at this point.
2. Session 1 (green) adds an item to the estimate and saves it to the database.
3. The database accepts the save. From now on, anyone who loads the estimate gets Session 1's (green) data. This data isn't pushed to Session 2 (red), so the two sessions are now out of sync.
4. Session 2 (red), still working with the original data, adds an item to the estimate. When Session 2 saves, it overwrites the previous information.
5. Because Session 2 (red) saved last, Session 1's (green) work is lost.
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