With BSD SpecLink-E (SLE), you don’t need to maintain separate masters for outline, short form, and full construction specifications, -- the traditional approach that requires you to start your editing over at each phase of a project. SpecLink-E’s master text can be collapsed or expanded to produce specifications that are appropriate for schematic design, design development, and construction documents phases, using the same database.

You can begin in Outline Spec Mode, which collapses the master text to display only major products in each section – appropriate for early schematic design. SLE outline specifications generally consist of only a few paragraphs per section, so the output is organized by division and does not employ paragraph numbering.

For the design development phase of a project, the outline specs can be expanded to reveal more text in Short Form Mode, and the output is organized into compact, 3-part specification sections. For the construction documents phase of a project, the short form specs can be expanded fully in Full Spec Mode, revealing all the master text for editing and production of complete construction documents.

Note that all previous decisions and text selections are retained as the SLE user moves forward from one phase to the next. The specifications for each succeeding phase of a project are literally built on top of the previous documents—expanding the text as the design becomes ever more detailed.

This process also works in reverse: instead of beginning with the master text collapsed and building the specifications from the ground up, users can begin with a fully developed office master project. A copy of the master project can then be collapsed to produce pre-edited outline specifications, expanded partially to produce short form specs, and then expanded fully for construction documents. Of course, editing can take place at any phase to adapt the master specifications to the specific project. In SLE, master text is never deleted – it is simply turned on or off, and only the text that is “on” is assembled into the project specifications and printed.