Product Q&A

All Products

Q. Does your website have any place to search for information about use of your products or learn more about an error code, for example?
A. We are working on a knowledge base for our users. To view the initial setup and to offer suggestions, go to http://www.bsdsoftlink.com/support_qa/.

Q. Our company has a Citrix server that people run software from when they are traveling. Can we run BSD software this way?
A. Yes. On the Citrix server perform a Standalone installation of SpecLink, CostLink/AE, or CostLink/CM. You will need to get an Access Key for the server - call BSD Technical Support (800-266-7732) to discuss your options and to see if you will need to buy a key for the server, or if you have a license that you can move to the server at no cost. Once the software is installed and has a key, employees at your company will be able to run BSD software from the Citrix server when they are traveling in the same way as they run other applications. No installation will be required on the computers from which the users are dialing in.

BSD SpecLink & PerSpective

Q. Is there any way to include a degree symbol or other special characters in my specification?
A. You can copy and paste symbols from Windows Character Map. The Character Map can usually be opened by choosing Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Character Map, but is located in different places in different versions of Windows. If you cannot locate the character map, open Windows Explorer and search the Help topics or do a search for charmap.exe. Once you open the Character Map, choose the font you are using in SpecLink from the Font list, and scroll through all the characters until you find the one you need. Click on Select and then Copy to copy it to the Windows clipboard. From there you can paste it into SpecLink.

Q. Is there any way to reference Word documents that are on our file server from within our office master, so that all of our spec writers can access them while they are in the software?
A. The easiest way is to store all of these Word documents on a server to which all users have access. You will need to establish the Root Directory path in the Permissions, Systems Settings dialog box. Use the following steps to create a hyperlink that will automatically open a Word document: Be sure the Word document you want to link to is in your linked documents folder. In your project, open to the appropriate section and scroll to the paragraph where you want the hyperlink. If the Document Link (DL) status column is not visible, on the View menu, click on Display Layout and then on Document Links. The DL column opens. Open Windows Explorer and find the document to which you want a link. Click on the document and hold the left mouse button down, then drag the icon from Explorer and drop it in the DL column at your source paragraph. The link is created and a Word icon appears. If you point to an icon without clicking, a balloon will appear with the file name of the linked document. Subsequently, all you have to do to activate the hyperlink is to click once on the Word icon. If Word is closed, clicking once on the icon opens Word and then opens the linked document.

Q. How do I create links from my Short Form specs to SpecLink sections?
A. Creating links between sections is the exact same process as adding links between paragraphs. The only difference is that you need to have two windows open, one for each section. With one section open, click on Window | New Window. In the new window, click in the second section you want to work with (it can be in the same tab or in a different tab). It may be easier to close the Project Tree panel in both windows, so that you can see as much of the Document Panel as possible. To see both windows at the same time, click on Tile Vertically or Tile Horizontally under the Window menu. Remember, when two sections are open, one is always the “current” window; the title bar is a different color. You can switch back and forth between them and as long as you don’t click in any text cell the cursor positions stay the same in each. Create links as normal when adding links between paragraphs. You may want to click on the Lock checkbox in the Links dialog box when dragging links from one section to another. You may also want to temporarily turn off In-Memory Linking on the Tools menu so that the links between sections will be implemented as soon as you create them. See the next question for instructions on creating links.

Q. How do I create links between paragraphs?
A. To make a link from one paragraph to another:

• In the Document Panel, position the cursor on the paragraph that is to be the link source. Open the Links Window by clicking on the Links icon on the Toolbar, or choose View > Links.
• Click on the Target links tab.
• Scroll the Document panel to show the paragraph that is to be the link target. NOTE: Do NOT move the cursor off the link source. Use the scroll bar and don’t click in any other text cell. The target can be anywhere in the project, including a different section (see above).
• When the target paragraph is visible, using the mouse, position the cursor over the status columns to the left of the text, hold down the right mouse button, and start to drag with the mouse. The cursor arrow changes to a circle and bar symbol. Continuing to hold the right mouse button down, drag the cursor to any position within the upper window in the Target Links tab of the Links Window, and release the mouse button. (Note: If you are not able to create a link, be sure that you are dropping it into the Target Links tab. You may also need to drag more slowly when dragging the link.)
• To change the type of link, doubleclick on the green arrow. It toggles to red. Another double-click toggles it to yellow.
• The link is built automatically and appears in the Target Links listing. NOTE: User-added links appear with underlining, to differentiate them from master links.
• If the parent of the target paragraph is active, the new link will be activated immediately and will appear in bold font in the Links Window.

Q. Is there away to add our own custom tags to master tags list? I’d like to be able to print reports indicating sections with LEED’s submittal requirements for a concise list of project LEEDs elements.
A. We don’t yet have a way to add your own tags, but the Summer 2005 release includes a new tag (LR) and LEED report. See this article.

BSD CostLink CM

Q. I am changing the labor rates in the resource view of my estimate, and it is going very slowly. Is there anything I can do to speed this up?
A. The first thing to check is to go to a Primary view, and in the Tools menu check to see if there is a checkmark next to the option ‘Auto-Recalculate Markups.’ If there is a checkmark, click on the option to turn it off. When this option is turned on, CostLink/CM completely recalculates a new grand total for your estimate every time you make an edit. Another way to speed up the process is to create a new Labor Library and edit the labor rates there instead of in your estimate. When the library is finished, reprice the estimate to the new rates in the library.

Q. I have copied a number of tasks from my CostBook into my Project and now I want to change the material costs. How do I do that?
A. To change the costs in a task, you need to go to the appropriate resource view for that cost. To change the material cost, go to the Unassigned folder in the CSI Resource View, and open the Item Form for the task you want to change. You can change the material cost here, as well as the Production Rate for this task. This is also where you can change the crew assigned to this task. Go to the Labor Resource View to change the hourly rate for a particular laborer.

More questions? Contact BSD Technical Support:

• Toll Free: 800-266-7732
• In Atlanta: 404-365-9226
• Email: support@bsdsoftlink.com