Performance Improvements in BSD SpecLink^® and PerSpective^®

Subscribers will notice a distinct speed improvement in the latest releases of BSD SpecLink and PerSpective, due to changes in the way the link engine operates. The speed improvement is especially noticeable in network situations where the project being edited is maintained on a server.

The master database in BSD SpecLink+ includes over 150,000 links that give the text its "intellect." Active links and the current status of each are stored with the project, and there can be tens of thousands of active links in a project. As each paragraph is selected, any links attached to it are activated, and these links in turn can affect other paragraphs and choices anywhere in the project, sometimes resulting in a new cascade of links from newly affected paragraphs. Prior to the current release, resolution of these links from a single selection sometimes involved a series of round trips between the editing CPU and the stored project. When the project and the editor were on different computers on a network, there were sometimes delays in updating the link status. These delays could also be exacerbated by heavy network traffic, by computer speed, and by the number of people sharing the project database.

With the latest release, a new link management scheme is in effect. To use the network more efficiently, SpecLink and PerSpective now maintain in memory on the local computer a temporary copy of all status and link information for the currently open document. The link engine maintains this temporary copy without any need to communicate with the centrally stored project database during the editing session. When you change documents by clicking in the navigation tree, the link engine updates the central database with the in-memory copy of the edited section and creates an in-memory copy of the status and link information for the next document selected. This new process significantly reduces communication needs, thereby speeding up document editing on network projects. Users who edit and maintain their projects locally will also see a lesser speed improvement.

The Tools menu in both programs now includes a new "Save In-Memory Linking" command that allows you to save the current document status at any time. There is also a new toggle command on the Tools menu for "Use In-Memory Linking" that allows you to turn this feature on or off (the default setting is On). With this release, you will not be able to use the Links dialog box when in-memory linking is in effect. In-memory linking is not applicable and therefore is not available for checked-out sections. This new in-memory link management feature will not affect batch processes like importing, printing, or copying.

SpecLink subscribers will also notice a change in the Summary Info dialog box this quarter. There is a new Project Data tab (see Page 1, Figure A) that allows you to record information about your project in addition to its name and number, including building type and location, gross square footage, and bid and completion dates. There is also a checkbox to Release Project Data, allowing project information to be publicized. In the future, this feature will allow BSD to produce reports for manufacturers and suppliers who have been specified as acceptable in your projects. Of course, the entry of any information on this tab and the decision to check the Release Project Data checkbox are completely voluntary.