Do you need additional Learning Units before the end of the calendar year? Here is an opportunity to earn one hour of AIA CES credit by reading an article sponsored by BSD in the November issue of Architectural Record and completing a short on-line quiz. 

The article, “BIM Interoperability and Relational Databases; Intelligently Linking Drawings and Data,” is authored by Peter J. Arsenault, FAIA, NCARB, LEED-AP. In addition to explaining the basic advantages of relational databases over various types of flat files, such as those produced by word processing, the article illustrates the improvements in project coordination that are made possible by use of relational databases. True interoperability between dissimilar software applications through the use of relational databases is also addressed in the article. Linking BIM objects in a CAD software environment with the corresponding project specifications and cost estimate is discussed in detail, along with illustrations.

While we’re on the topic of continuing education opportunity, our customers should not overlook the fact that training classes in both SpecLink-E and LinkMan-E are available (see schedule elsewhere in this newsletter). The SpecLink training class is two days long and is worth 14 AIA learning units (LUs). The LinkMan-E training class is one day long and is worth 7 LUs. You can also check out the BSD website for more information.

At times you will see a rust or green background color in the status column for a paragraph.  The rust means that there is a pending quarterly update for that paragraph.  You can use the Compare to Update button found on the Tools tab to view the pending change.  The green background indicates a manufacturer listing that includes additional information about that product in the master note.

You normally see a light blue background on each sequence number.  Sometimes, however, you will see other colors.  If you edit a master paragraph, the background is turquoise.  If you switch back to the master version of a paragraph, the background is yellow if the user edit is still there for you to toggle back to.  The background for user-added paragraphs will be a dark blue.  In addition, if a paragraph you selected is removed from the master during a quarterly update, the paragraph will be retained as a user paragraph and the background will be olive green.

You can delete a SpecLink-E project if you want to.  However, there is no Undo for this action – once you delete a SpecLink-E project, it is gone.  The only way to “recover” it would be to restore it from a backup or an archived external file – but that will only work if you are running the SpecLink backup routine or routinely archive projects.  So basically – you can delete a project, but do so only when you are sure that’s what you want to do.

You can Save a Project to File from SpecLink-E.  This creates a file to a folder of your choice with a .sle extension.  You can also Load a Project from File – one of your own, or one that someone e-mailed to you.  Of course, once loaded into SpecLink-E, you can work on it just like any other SpecLink project.  But what happens to the .sle file that you loaded?  That file remains where you saved it as an external file.

AIA 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition

May 17 – May 19, 2012

Walter E. Washington Convention Center

801 Mt Vernon Pl NW

Washington, D.C.

Booth #2015

When the exhibits open on May 17, be sure to stop by the BSD booth #2015 where you can see a demonstration of our innovative software products or chat with a product consultant about how our automation tools can help you. For more information on AIA 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition, click here.

There is a difference where you enter your renewal code between SpecLink+ and SpecLink-E.  When you renew SpecLink+, you receive a renewal key that you put into the Access Key field of the Registration and Settings dialog.  When you renew SpecLink-E, you receive a renewal electronic invoice ID (EID); this is entered through the Register Product Online button found on the Registration dialog.

Every quarter, SpecLink is updated – so most users will download the latest version from our website.  We advise that you do not save this download to a folder or subfolder that holds current SpecLink install files – such as the SLE Client Setup folder.  It becomes very easy for users, thinking they are running the client install on their PC, to accidentally install the full standalone of SpecLink on their system.  To avoid this, you could save the download file to the desktop or a folder on the server that is not a SpecLink-generated folder.

Sometimes, your client install of SpecLink-E will lose connection to the server that holds your projects.  When you get the message “Your connection to the server part of this application cannot be found,” usually restarting the BSD data and SQL services will get you back up and running.  And, it only takes a minute or two.  If you are not familiar with this process, contact your IT or contact SpecLink Tech Support.

When you choose to export your spec sections to PDF, Word, RTF, Plain Text, or HTML, keep in mind that, if you have say 100 spec sections in your project, you will end up with 100 documents exported.  So, to avoid confusion as to which PC files are part of your current project, you may want to export them to an empty folder.