diff --git a/src/Common.jl b/src/Common.jl
index b67e7841..ac637093 100644
--- a/src/Common.jl
+++ b/src/Common.jl
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function getfnctype(data::GenericFunctionNodeData)
   return data.fnc.usrfnc!
 end
 function getfnctype(fact::DFGFactor; solveKey::Symbol=:default)
-  data = getData(fact) # TODO , solveKey=solveKey)
+  data = solverData(fact) # TODO , solveKey=solveKey)
   return getfnctype(data)
 end
 function getfnctype(dfg::T, lbl::Symbol; solveKey::Symbol=:default) where T <: AbstractDFG
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ Notes
 - Replaces older `getfnctype`.
 """
 getFactorType(data::GenericFunctionNodeData) = data.fnc.usrfnc!
-getFactorType(fct::DFGFactor) = getFactorType(getData(fct))
+getFactorType(fct::DFGFactor) = getFactorType(solverData(fct))
 function getFactorType(dfg::G, lbl::Symbol) where G <: AbstractDFG
   getFactorType(getFactor(dfg, lbl))
 end
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ function getSofttype(vnd::VariableNodeData)
   return vnd.softtype
 end
 function getSofttype(v::DFGVariable; solveKey::Symbol=:default)
-  return getSofttype(getData(v, solveKey=solveKey))
+  return getSofttype(solverData(v, solveKey))
 end
 
 """
diff --git a/src/DistributedFactorGraphs.jl b/src/DistributedFactorGraphs.jl
index 0a52dcf7..9b1c47a5 100644
--- a/src/DistributedFactorGraphs.jl
+++ b/src/DistributedFactorGraphs.jl
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export AbstractParams, NoSolverParams
 export DFGNode, DFGVariable, DFGFactor
 export InferenceType, PackedInferenceType, FunctorInferenceType, InferenceVariable, ConvolutionObject
 export FunctorSingleton, FunctorPairwise, FunctorPairwiseMinimize
-export label, timestamp, tags, estimates, estimate, data, solverData, getData, solverDataDict, setSolverData, internalId, smallData, bigData
+export label, timestamp, tags, estimates, estimate, data, softtype, solverData, getData, solverDataDict, setSolverData, internalId, smallData, bigData
 export DFGVariableSummary, DFGFactorSummary, AbstractDFGSummary
 
 # Services/AbstractDFG Exports
diff --git a/src/entities/DFGVariable.jl b/src/entities/DFGVariable.jl
index 84e7fa38..ab638b5b 100644
--- a/src/entities/DFGVariable.jl
+++ b/src/entities/DFGVariable.jl
@@ -77,9 +77,22 @@ mutable struct PackedVariableNodeData
                          x15::Bool ) = new(x1,x2,x3,x4,x5,x6,x7,x8,x9,x10,x11,x12,x13,x14,x15)
 end
 
-struct VariableEstimate
+
+abstract type AbstractVariableEstimate end
+"""
+    $TYPEDEF
+
+Data container to store Parameteric Point Estimate (PPE) from a variety of types.
+
+Notes
+- `ppeType` is something like `:max/:mean/:modefit` etc.
+- `solveKey` is from super-solve concept, starting with `:default`,
+- `estimate` is the actual numerical estimate value,
+- Additional information such as how the data is represented (ie softtype) is stored alongside this data container in the `DFGVariableSummary` container.
+"""
+struct VariableEstimate <: AbstractVariableEstimate
   solverKey::Symbol
-  type::Symbol
+  ppeType::Symbol
   estimate::Vector{Float64}
   lastUpdatedTimestamp::DateTime
   VariableEstimate(solverKey::Symbol, type::Symbol, estimate::Vector{Float64}, lastUpdatedTimestamp::DateTime=now()) = new(solverKey, type, estimate, lastUpdatedTimestamp)
@@ -93,7 +106,7 @@ mutable struct DFGVariable <: AbstractDFGVariable
     label::Symbol
     timestamp::DateTime
     tags::Vector{Symbol}
-    estimateDict::Dict{Symbol, Dict{Symbol, VariableEstimate}}
+    estimateDict::Dict{Symbol, Dict{Symbol, <: AbstractVariableEstimate}}
     solverDataDict::Dict{Symbol, VariableNodeData}
     smallData::Dict{String, String}
     bigData::Any
@@ -110,6 +123,14 @@ timestamp(v::DFGVariable) = v.timestamp
 tags(v::DFGVariable) = v.tags
 estimates(v::DFGVariable) = v.estimateDict
 estimate(v::DFGVariable, key::Symbol=:default) = haskey(v.estimateDict, key) ? v.estimateDict[key] : nothing
+
+"""
+    $SIGNATURES
+
+Retrieve the soft type name symbol for a DFGVariable or DFGVariableSummary. ie :Point2, Pose2, etc.
+"""
+softtype(v::DFGVariable)::Symbol = Symbol(typeof(getSofttype(v)))
+
 """
     $SIGNATURES
 
@@ -145,7 +166,8 @@ mutable struct DFGVariableSummary <: AbstractDFGVariable
     label::Symbol
     timestamp::DateTime
     tags::Vector{Symbol}
-    estimateDict::Dict{Symbol, Dict{Symbol, VariableEstimate}}
+    estimateDict::Dict{Symbol, Dict{Symbol, <:AbstractVariableEstimate}}
+    softtypename::Symbol
     _internalId::Int64
 end
 label(v::DFGVariableSummary) = v.label
@@ -153,4 +175,5 @@ timestamp(v::DFGVariableSummary) = v.timestamp
 tags(v::DFGVariableSummary) = v.tags
 estimates(v::DFGVariableSummary) = v.estimateDict
 estimate(v::DFGVariableSummary, key::Symbol=:default) = haskey(v.estimateDict, key) ? v.estimateDict[key] : nothing
+softtype(v::DFGVariableSummary)::Symbol = v.softtypename
 internalId(v::DFGVariableSummary) = v._internalId
diff --git a/src/services/DFGVariable.jl b/src/services/DFGVariable.jl
index 866dc40a..f9363049 100644
--- a/src/services/DFGVariable.jl
+++ b/src/services/DFGVariable.jl
@@ -103,5 +103,5 @@ function ==(a::VariableNodeData,b::VariableNodeData, nt::Symbol=:var)
 end
 
 function convert(::Type{DFGVariableSummary}, v::DFGVariable)
-    return DFGVariableSummary(v.label, v.timestamp, deepcopy(v.tags), deepcopy(v.estimateDict), v._internalId)
+    return DFGVariableSummary(v.label, v.timestamp, deepcopy(v.tags), deepcopy(v.estimateDict), Symbol(typeof(getSofttype(v))), v._internalId)
 end
diff --git a/test/LightDFGSummaryTypes.jl b/test/LightDFGSummaryTypes.jl
index ed502d26..bab3f36e 100644
--- a/test/LightDFGSummaryTypes.jl
+++ b/test/LightDFGSummaryTypes.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 dfg = LightDFG{NoSolverParams, DFGVariableSummary, DFGFactorSummary}()
 
-DistributedFactorGraphs.DFGVariableSummary(label::Symbol) = DFGVariableSummary(label, DistributedFactorGraphs.now(), Symbol[], Dict{Symbol, VariableEstimate}(), 0)
+DistributedFactorGraphs.DFGVariableSummary(label::Symbol) = DFGVariableSummary(label, DistributedFactorGraphs.now(), Symbol[], Dict{Symbol, VariableEstimate}(), :NA, 0)
 
 DistributedFactorGraphs.DFGFactorSummary(label::Symbol) = DFGFactorSummary(label, Symbol[], 0, Symbol[])
 
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ append!(v1.tags, [:VARIABLE, :POSE])
 append!(v2.tags, [:VARIABLE, :LANDMARK])
 append!(f1.tags, [:FACTOR])
 
+#Force softtypename
+v1.softtypename = :Pose2
+
 # @testset "Creating Graphs" begin
 global dfg,v1,v2,f1
 addVariable!(dfg, v1)
@@ -95,6 +98,7 @@ end
     @test timestamp(v1) == v1.timestamp
     @test estimates(v1) == v1.estimateDict
     @test estimate(v1, :notfound) == nothing
+    @test softtype(v1) == :Pose2
     # @test solverData(v1) === v1.solverDataDict[:default]
     # @test getData(v1) === v1.solverDataDict[:default]
     # @test solverData(v1, :default) === v1.solverDataDict[:default]
@@ -123,13 +127,13 @@ end
     estimates(newvar)[:default] = Dict{Symbol, VariableEstimate}(
         :max => VariableEstimate(:default, :max, [100.0]),
         :mean => VariableEstimate(:default, :mean, [50.0]),
-        :ppe => VariableEstimate(:default, :ppe, [75.0]))
+        :modefit => VariableEstimate(:default, :modefit, [75.0]))
     #update
     updateVariableSolverData!(dfg, newvar)
     #TODO maybe implement ==; @test newvar==var
     Base.:(==)(varest1::VariableEstimate, varest2::VariableEstimate) = begin
         varest1.lastUpdatedTimestamp == varest2.lastUpdatedTimestamp || return false
-        varest1.type == varest2.type || return false
+        varest1.ppeType == varest2.ppeType || return false
         varest1.solverKey == varest2.solverKey || return false
         varest1.estimate == varest2.estimate || return false
         return true
diff --git a/test/interfaceTests.jl b/test/interfaceTests.jl
index 1d38d623..67829c8e 100644
--- a/test/interfaceTests.jl
+++ b/test/interfaceTests.jl
@@ -8,6 +8,24 @@ append!(v1.tags, [:VARIABLE, :POSE])
 append!(v2.tags, [:VARIABLE, :LANDMARK])
 append!(f1.tags, [:FACTOR])
 
+#add types for softtypes
+# Simple test for the soft type.
+mutable struct TestSoftType <: InferenceVariable
+    a
+    b
+    TestSoftType(a, b) = new(a, b)
+end
+import Base.==
+function ==(a::TestSoftType, b::TestSoftType)::Bool
+    a.a != b.a && return false
+    a.b != b.b && return false
+    return true
+end
+st1 = TestSoftType(1,2)
+st2 = TestSoftType(1.0,2.0)
+v1.solverDataDict[:default].softtype = deepcopy(st1)
+v2.solverDataDict[:default].softtype = deepcopy(st2)
+
 # @testset "Creating Graphs" begin
 global dfg,v1,v2,f1
 addVariable!(dfg, v1)
@@ -96,6 +114,10 @@ end
     @test solverDataDict(v1) == v1.solverDataDict
     @test internalId(v1) == v1._internalId
 
+    @test softtype(v1) == Symbol(typeof(st1))
+    @test softtype(v2) == Symbol(typeof(st2))
+    @test getSofttype(v1) == st1
+
     @test label(f1) == f1.label
     @test tags(f1) == f1.tags
     @test solverData(f1) == f1.data
@@ -115,7 +137,7 @@ end
     #TODO Should the next test work?
     @test_broken !isInitialized(dfg, :f1)
     @test_broken !isInitialized(f1)
-    
+
 end
 
 @testset "Updating Nodes" begin
@@ -127,13 +149,13 @@ end
     estimates(newvar)[:default] = Dict{Symbol, VariableEstimate}(
         :max => VariableEstimate(:default, :max, [100.0]),
         :mean => VariableEstimate(:default, :mean, [50.0]),
-        :ppe => VariableEstimate(:default, :ppe, [75.0]))
+        :modefit => VariableEstimate(:default, :modefit, [75.0]))
     #update
     updateVariableSolverData!(dfg, newvar)
     #TODO maybe implement ==; @test newvar==var
     Base.:(==)(varest1::VariableEstimate, varest2::VariableEstimate) = begin
         varest1.lastUpdatedTimestamp == varest2.lastUpdatedTimestamp || return false
-        varest1.type == varest2.type || return false
+        varest1.ppeType == varest2.ppeType || return false
         varest1.solverKey == varest2.solverKey || return false
         varest1.estimate == varest2.estimate || return false
         return true
@@ -147,7 +169,7 @@ end
     estimates(newvar)[:second] = Dict{Symbol, VariableEstimate}(
         :max => VariableEstimate(:default, :max, [10.0]),
         :mean => VariableEstimate(:default, :mean, [5.0]),
-        :ppe => VariableEstimate(:default, :ppe, [7.0]))
+        :modefit => VariableEstimate(:default, :modefit, [7.0]))
 
     # Persist to the original variable.
     updateVariableSolverData!(dfg, newvar)
@@ -210,6 +232,11 @@ verts = map(n -> DFGVariable(Symbol("x$n")), 1:numNodes)
 #change ready and backendset for x7,x8 for improved tests on x7x8f1
 verts[7].ready = 1
 verts[8].backendset = 1
+
+#force softytypes to first 2 vertices.
+verts[1].solverDataDict[:default].softtype = deepcopy(st1)
+verts[2].solverDataDict[:default].softtype = deepcopy(st2)
+
 map(v -> addVariable!(dfg, v), verts)
 map(n -> addFactor!(dfg, [verts[n], verts[n+1]], DFGFactor{Int, :Symbol}(Symbol("x$(n)x$(n+1)f1"))), 1:(numNodes-1))
 
@@ -283,7 +310,11 @@ end
     # Check all fields are equal for all variables
     for v in ls(summaryGraph)
         for field in variableFields
-            @test getfield(getVariable(dfg, v), field) == getfield(getVariable(summaryGraph, v), field)
+            if field != :softtypename
+                @test getfield(getVariable(dfg, v), field) == getfield(getVariable(summaryGraph, v), field)
+            else
+                @test softtype(getVariable(dfg, v)) == softtype(getVariable(summaryGraph, v))
+            end
         end
     end
     for f in lsf(summaryGraph)