Product Q&A

All Products

Q. I can’t find a Save As on the menu. How do I save the project with a different name?
A. Our products are database applications, which means your changes are saved as you are editing. You don’t have to save the file because the program does it for you. If you want to save the project with a different name, close the project; go to the File menu and Copy Project. You then select the project you need to copy and when you get to the Enter Destination File Name, give it a new name. It will save the file with the new name. When you open the file, you should open the Summary Information dialog box and make any necessary changes. You can also start a new project using your existing project as the project source (in SpecLink) or as the template (in CostLink/CM and AE.) This method is generally better because the Summary Info Dialog Box will open automatically.

Q. I want to start BSD software from an icon on my desktop. How do I do that?
A. To start any program from your desktop, you create a shortcut. To create a shortcut open Windows Explorer (either by right-clicking on the Start menu or by holding down the Windows key on your keyboard while typing the letter ‘E’) and size it so that you can see your desktop in the background. Navigate to where the software is installed. The default location for SpecLink is C:\SpecLink+, the default location for CostLink/CM is C:\CostLink CM, and the default location for CostLink/ AE is C:\CostLink AE. Locate the executable file (SpecLnk+.exe for SpecLink, CstLnkCM.exe for CostLink/CM, and CstLnkAE.exe for CostLink/AE). With your right mouse button, drag the executable file to your desktop. Release the right mouse button when it is over the desktop and a menu will open. From the menu, choose Create Shortcut Here. If you created the shortcut properly, it will have a little arrow on the bottom left corner. If it does not have a little arrow, then you moved the exe instead of creating a shortcut. Move it back and try again using the right mouse button only.

BSD SpecLink & PerSpective

Q. In SpecLink, how do I find a section on a particular product?
A. There is a catalog listing of all the sections in a searchable Word format on the CD. It is located in \info\SpecPlus\. Open the file and use Find in your word processor to search for the section you need. The catalog listings are also on our website at www.bsdsoftlink.com/speclink/catalogs/all_catalogs.htm. You can get the listings in either MasterFormat 1995 or MasterFormat 2004.

Q. How do I change the formatting of an entire section without saving a user-defined style?
A.If you would like to turn off the automatic numbering for an entire section, first select the text of all the paragraphs. To do that, click to place your cursor to the left of the first letter in the first paragraph (the title paragraph) in the section. Then hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys on your keyboard while you press the End key. The background of all the paragraphs should turn black. To turn off the numbering, from the Document menu choose No AutoNumber.

Q. I don’t like the table of contents. Are there any options?
A. SpecLink users should note that there are actually two tables of contents. One is section 00010, and the other is a fully automatic table of contents that can be printed by choosing File > Print, then in the Reports dialog box, from the Report to Print drop-down list choose Table of Contents. There is a checkbox at the bottom of the Reports dialog box which allows you to choose whether or not you want the page count of each section to print on the table of contents. This table of contents is fully automatic. All active sections, whether master sections or useradded, will be listed. No extra formatting is necessary.

If you are using the Table of Contents section and it is the formatting that you do not like, for the most part that can be changed in SpecLink or PerSpective. You can turn off the automatic paragraph numbering for just the table of contents as described in the previous question. You can also customize the formatting to change the spacing before and after paragraphs and the indents of each paragraph -- from the Tools menu choose Customize Styles and from the Style Set dropdown list choose Block. For information on further customizations that can be performed using the Modify Paragraph Format dialog box, see the updated copy of the Printing chapter in the User Manual on the BSD SoftLink CD-ROM. Once you have customized the formatting for the table of contents, print just the table of contents. Change the Style Set back to what it was originally set on before you print the other documents.

If you require formatting options that are not available in SpecLink or PerSpective, or if it is not the formatting that you dislike, the table of contents can be exported to Rich Text Format (RTF), which can be edited in any word processor (except WordPerfect 8.0). To export, choose File > Print and set up the Reports dialog box as you would if you wanted to print just the table of contents. Then instead of clicking Print, click Export.

Q. I have a section that looks like a subsection. How did that happen and how do I fix it?
A. When you copy an existing section, or create a new section, the new document becomes a subdocument to the document or folder that you click on in the Tree panel prior to pasting or creating the new section. To fix it, you will need to move the section. Right click on the name of the section in the Tree panel and then choose Cut Section. The Cut Section for Pasting dialog box opens asking you to confirm that it is cutting the correct section. Verify that it is and click OK. Right click on the folder name in which the section should be and choose Paste Section Into. The Paste dialog box opens giving you the opportunity to change the number, acronym, or name of the document. Verify that the information is correct and then click OK. The section is moved to the proper location. You can also use this procedure to renumber a section.

Q. In SpecLink, I have noticed tags in the T column that are not on the list that opens from the Tags button. What are those other tags?
A. Tags that are not listed on the Tags button are used by BSD for maintenance of our master database. For your information, KW stands for keyword, MT is used to mark manufacturer list titles, and UM is an obsolete tag that has been replaced by the ML tag. For a complete list of tags, their uses, and where they normally appear, see Requirements Reports either in the online Help or in the Printing chapter in the User Manual. For directions on using tags, see Tags in the online Help or in the Creating an Office Master chapter in the User Manual.

Q. I want to email my project to someone who does not have the software. How can I do that?
A. You can email an individual section, a division, or the entire project. To do that, click on the File menu and then select Print. From the Report Setup dialog box, select Document as your Report to Print, and select either Section, Branch or Project as the Scope of Report. Then click on the Export button on the right side of the dialog box. Select the folder where the files should be created. You will have an RTF (rich text format) file for each section or chapter. These can be emailed and/or opened in most word processors.

If you have Adobe Acrobat Writer or Distiller installed, you can also create pdf files. From the Report Setup dialog box, change your default printer to Acrobat PDFWriter or Acrobat Distiller and print as normal. Select the folder where the files should be created.

BSD Costlink AE and CostLink CM

Q. Is it possible to include my company’s logo on the reports?
A. To insert a logo into the standard reports, rename the logo to logo.bmp, logo.jpg, or logo.gif, and place that file into your CostLink CM (or CostLink AE)\System\Reports folder. The logo will automatically print in the top right corner of your reports.

Q. What is the difference between the Project Title and the Report Header?
A. The Project Title is entered on the General tab of the Project Summary Info dialog box along with an optional project number, description, and the names of the Architect, Engineer, and Estimator. All of this information prints on the title page of your estimate, and the Project Title also prints in the header of each page of your report.

The Report Header is entered in the Reports Setup dialog box as an optional name to distinguish your report from other reports of the same project. For instance, you may print a report when the project design is only 65% complete and you want to note that on your printout. When you print the final report at 100% complete, you would change the Report Header to reflect this.

BSD CostLink/CM

Q. In CostLink/CM, I’m trying to open my assemblies database, and I get Error 3045: Could not use [filepath] Assemblies.MAS.
A. If you have Access 2000 installed, your computer recognizes the Assemblies database extension (*.MAS) as an Access file. To change this, open Windows Explorer and go to the Tools menu and choose Folder Options. Click the File Types tab and locate the .MAS extension. Click on it, and then click on Delete.

More questions? Contact BSD Technical Support:

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