Specification viewer

The Specifications module contains the published spec sections that you can open in the specification viewer.

  • In the project menu, click Specifications.
  1. In the Specifications module, click the spec section.
  2. To change the page transition or page layout, click View controls (View Controls), and then select an option.
  3. To use the pan mode, click Pan mode (Pan).

    4. —Or—

    To use the select mode, click Pan mode (Select).

  4. To open the previous or next spec section based on the list when the current spec section was opened, click Previous item icon (Previous) or Next item icon (Next) on the navigation toolbar.

    5. Previous item icon (Previous) and Next item icon (Next) are not available when you open the spec section in a new tab.

  • In the Specifications module, select a different specification set in the Information panel, and then open the spec section.
    • Specification set list

    —Or—

    Open a spec section, and then select a different version in the Information panel.

    Version list
  1. Click Specification search (Search) on the toolbar, and then enter the search terms in the field.
  2. To apply a filter, select the checkbox:
    • Case sensitive: Find matches with the same capitalization.
    • Whole word: Find exact matches of the search term.

Changes to the spec section are saved automatically if you navigate to another spec section.

  1. In the Information panel, edit the information for the spec section.

    2. The Section Code and Specification Section Name must each be unique in the specification set.

  2. Add assignments.
  3. Add courtesy copies.
  4. To set who has access to the spec section, click group , and then select an option.
  5. Add links to records and files to the spec section.
  6. Add annotations.

You can download spec sections and their annotations with an optional cover sheet so that you can share them with your team members. If you select the As Builts option, you can include items that are linked to the visible annotations. When you click an annotation in the downloaded spec section, the linked item is opened.

If the item is linked to a note annotation, click outside of the annotation to open the item.

Annotation link example

Opening a record that's linked to an annotation in the downloaded spec section

The following linked items can be included in the ZIP folder for as-built spec sections:

  • Linked Records: The default report is generated for each record or specification set and included in the Records folder.
  • Hyperlinked Designs & URLs: Linked drawings are included in the Drawings folder, and linked spec sections are included in the Specifications folder. In the downloaded spec section, you can click the annotation to open the linked drawing, model, spec section, or URL.

    • You must select the linked spec section as part of the download. Otherwise, the linked annotation isn't displayed in the downloaded spec section, and the linked spec section isn't included in the ZIP folder.

  • Files (Linked Files & Photos): The linked files are included in the Files folder.

If you want to download a large number of as-built spec sections, you can use the project export feature. When the export is completed, you receive an email link to download it.

  1. Open the spec section.
  2. To filter the annotations that appear in the downloaded spec section, set the filters in the Layers panel.
  3. On the navigation toolbar, cloud_download (Download).
  4. In the Download dialog, set the download options.
    • Content: Select the cover page.
    • Public Annotations: Include or exclude all public annotations.
    • Private Annotations: Include or exclude your private annotations.
    • As Builts: Include linked drawings, spec sections, models, URLs, and files, as well as reports for linked records and specification sets.

      • If you only download one spec section, its linked spec sections aren't included.

    • File Name: Edit the file name.
  5. Click Download.
  6. To ensure that the linked annotations work in the downloaded spec section, extract the files from the ZIP folder.
    7. Extract files

    Extracting files in File Explorer

  7. Open a spec section in a PDF reader, and then click an annotation to open the linked item.

    8. If a security warning is displayed in Adobe Acrobat Reader, click Allow.

    Security warning for link

    Security warning

    If you open the downloaded spec section in a browser, the annotation links don't work.

  1. In the Specifications module, select the checkboxes for the spec sections.
  2. On the navigation toolbar, cloud_download (Download).
  3. In the Download dialog, set the download options.
    • Content: Select the cover page.
    • Public Annotations: Include or exclude all public annotations.
    • Private Annotations: Include or exclude your private annotations.
    • As Builts: Include linked drawings, spec sections, models,URLs, and files, as well as reports for linked records and specification sets.
    • Download As: Download one .pdf file with all the spec sections, or download a .pdf file for each spec section. If the As Builts toggle is on, the files are downloaded in a ZIP folder.
    • File Name: Edit the file name.
  4. Click Download.
  5. To ensure that the linked annotations work in the downloaded spec section, extract the files from the ZIP folder.
    6. Extract files

    Extracting files in File Explorer

  6. Open a spec section in a PDF reader, and then click an annotation to open the linked item.

    7. If a security warning is displayed in Adobe Acrobat Reader, click Allow.

    Security warning for link

    Security warning

    If you open the downloaded spec section in a browser, the annotation links don't work.

When you delete a spec section, it's also deleted from the specification set.

  1. To switch to the Select mode, select the checkbox for a spec section.
  2. To select more spec sections, click each one.

    3. —Or—

    To select all the spec sections, click done_all (Select All) on the navigation toolbar.

  3. Click more_horiz (More) > Delete Selected Records.

To delete one spec section, you can also:

  • Click more_horiz (More) > Remove on the spec section.
  • Open the spec section, and then click more_horiz (More) > Delete on the navigation toolbar.