TOPIC: Merge feature for Mac

OK, I have had 3.4.4 for Mac for a while (but I think under the hood it's actually the 3.2.3 64-bit version). I just downloaded 3.6.6, which looks like it has the Merge feature enabled for Mac. I have never used the Merge feature, but I think it's something I've been wanting.

I read this in a post by Dominic:

New Feature: Merge Inspection! Go to File->Import/Merge Another Inspection to merge multiple inspections together. You can repeat this multiple times to import as many inspections as you want into one. If a section already exists in the original inspection then the comments will be merged together. If the section doesn't exist, it will be added. This means you can give one inspector a template with JUST electrical, another with just plumbing, another with just structure, etc and they will all merge together. Or, you could give everyone a full house template and they will still all merge together. Ratings from the inspection being merged into the original will only be merged in if the original inspection doesn't have any ratings. In other words, the original inspections ratings will remain if they exist, if not ratings will be copied in.

New Feature: Pre-Start inspections. The merge feature also allows you to have pre-started inspections. Go through an setup an inspection as you want and then save it. Then when you want to use it you can 'Merge' it into a fresh inspection template.

My question is....

....Do I need to be careful with this? Meaning, can I inadvertently wipe out parts of my template or make extra work for myself having to delete superfluous junk if I just start playing around with it trying to learn it?

Nope, you're good to play!

Maybe I'm not thinking about this correctly, but once an inspection is merged with another inspection, and then the template is saved, doesn't that necessarily mean that the new template may have comments and even items and/or whole areas (sections) that weren't there before?

I'm thinking that the stuff merged is only comments that have been selected, but if that comment came from an item or area that didn't exist before, where does HIP put it?  Or does it grab the item and area and include those in the template, so that if the template is saved...?  Now, my default template may have stuff back in it that I cleaned out of it in the past.  Or, worse, I may have stuff in it from someone else's template, right?

Anybody get what I'm saying?  If I've got it wrong, give me the details....

If the second inspection has NEW sections, then yes, those sections would be saved IF you click Save Template. Most of the time guys are merging two of the same templates. Even those that aren't just don't save the template over their main template. If they did on accident it's very easy to recover your template. Just open up the last job that has the template you want and click Save Template. The template from that job would be restored!

Ahhh....Them's the details I'm looking for.  Thanks, Dominic!