BIM and Construction Specifications for the 21 st Century

BIM and Construction Specifications for the 21st Century

®

Who is BSD?• Building Systems Design, Inc. (BSD) is a software company specializing in

applications for the a/e/c market, founded in 1983• Headquarters are in Atlanta• Staff includes 35 employees, including architects, engineers, spec writers

and software programmers, plus outside consultants• Major products are:

– BSD SpecLink®-E– BSD LinkMan®-E– BSD CostLink®/AE

• Company also developed and supports AGC’s DocuBuilder®• Customers include thousands of firms and users in all 50 states

What is BSD LinkMan-E?

It’s the most innovative communications and coordination toolavailable for linking BIM to construction specifications;

it provides interoperability between BSD SpecLink-E & Autodesk’s Revit.


The LinkMan-E database includes a master list of assemblies organized according to UniFormat. . .

. . . and a master list of products organized according to MasterFormat. . .

The assemblies are each linked to the products that comprise them


By mapping the Revit assembly elements against the LinkMan-E assemblies. . .

. . . and mapping the specification text in SpecLink-E against the LinkMan-E products. . .

the elements in a Revit project can be compared to the products specified in SpecLink-E, using dashboard views in LinkMan-E

• LinkMan-E is essentially an interoperability manager (LinkManager) that connects and compares information from Revit and BSD SpecLink-E

• It’s a client-server application using SQL Server, but it can also run alone on a single computer

• It provides “dashboard” views of a project to show status of project data in each linked application― highlighting discrepancies for corrective action

• To accomplish the connection, it uses a built-in database of thousands of assemblies and building products that are pre-linked to BSD SpecLink-E and Autodesk’s Revit


• It also allows project specifications to be automatically edited and updated, based on data from Revit

• It permits creation of customized links between elements created in Revit and specification text in BSD SpecLink-E – both master text and user-generated text

• It includes a robust keynotes management system that works closely with Revit to provide superior control of keynotes, including automatic global replacement when changes are made


BSD LinkMan-E – An Overview

• LinkMan-E is a Client-Server Application Using SQL Server• It Comprises Multiple Components:

– Client Software Runs on User’s Computer– Server Software and Database Run on WAN or LAN– All Components Can Run on a Standalone Computer

• It Uses a Revit Add-in to Communicate• It Features SQL Server-Based Master and Projects Databases• MS SQL Server Is Built Into BSD Server Install• No Separate License is Required; No Database Administrator• It’s Available as an Optional Add-On to BSD SpecLink-E

BSD LinkMan-E – An Overview

How Does LinkMan-E Work?

Ribbon Bar shows Applications Tab

Each of the four primary views is accessible via its own tab. Here is the Revit Project view, which displays the status of assemblies in Revit

LME imports data about Revit objects that are present and active in a Revit project

The lighter background color and green status box highlight

objects that are present andactive in the Revit project

Checkmark shows theRevit object has beenlinked to an assembly

object in LinkMan

Data from Revitincludes quantities

and number ofinstances


Applications Tab expands or collapses view to show all or only active products

The SpecLink Project view displays the current status of product text in the specifications

The SpecLink tree shows which sections are currently active in the SpecLink-E project

Checkmark shows the SpecLink paragraph has been linked to a

Product object in LinkMan-E The lighter background color

and green status box highlight product text that is active in the SpecLink project

Text shown on a lightbackground is the actual text

as currently selected inSpecLink for the project – including active choices


The Assemblies Dashboard shows the status of assemblies in each of the linked applications, allowing the project manager to see correlations and mismatches

Products missing from thespecifications can be

“turned on” in SpecLink-Eby clicking here, under

“Select Specs”

Lighter color shows assemblies that are active in one or

more of the linked applications

For a given assembly,LME shows below which products are included and their status in each linked application

Yellow status box in theSpecLink-E column indicates

only some of the products comprising the assembly arecurrently active in SpecLink-E

Red status box in theSpecLink-E column indicatesone or more of the products

comprising the assembly havebeen excluded in SpecLink-E


The Assemblies Dashboard View can be collapsed to show only those assemblies that are active in one or more of the linked applications

Gray status box in the Revit column indicates

the assembly is not currently activein the Revit project

The Show Active Objects command hides any assemblies that are not active in at least one of the linked applications

Green status box in the SpecLink-E column indicates all products

comprising the assembly are currentlyactive in SpecLink-E


The Assemblies Dashboard View can be collapsed further to show only those assemblies that have discrepancies

Red status box in the SpecLink-E column indicates one or more products

comprising the assembly have beenexcluded in SpecLink-E

The Show Discrepancies command hides any active assemblies that are not in conflict

Green status box in the SpecLink-E column indicates all products

comprising the assembly are currentlyactive in SpecLink-E

The project manager can use this discrepancy view to determine whether corrections must be made in Revit and/or in SpecLink-E


The Products Dashboard View shows the status of LinkMan–E products in all linked applications -- and can be collapsed to show only active products or only those that present conflicts

The Show All Objects command displays all listed products and their status in each linked application

Assemblies that include thehighlighted product are shown

below, with current status of eachassembly in each application


The Show Discrepancies command hides all listed products that are active in BOTH the Revit and the SpecLink projects

If “Auto Select Specs” is not activated, the project manager can manually “turn

on” any individual products missingfrom the specifications by clicking in the

“Select Specs” column, therebyautomatically selecting appropriate

section and product text in SpecLink-E

“Auto Select Specs” command allows automatic selection in SpecLink-Eof any products missing from the

specifications, based on datafrom the Revit project

The project manager can use this discrepancy view to determine whether corrections must be made in Revit and/or in SpecLink-E


Although many Revit elements have been pre-linked to LinkMan-E, users may create or import their own objects into Revit and link to LME, then link to the appropriate sections and specific products in BSD SpecLink-E

By opening the Revit Project and Assemblies Dashboard in the same window, users can drag and drop elements to create links to LME

The links created by this drag-and-drop process persist from one project to the next, so it is a simple matter to create an “office master” of linked objects

What About Keynotes?

LinkMan includes a robust keynote management system that works closely with Revit

LinkMan includes default keynotes for all products and assemblies in the master database

The product keynotes are organized according to MasterFormat

LinkMan includes a robust keynote management system that works closely with Revit

LinkMan includes default keynotes for all products and assemblies in the master database

Master keynotes cannot be altered, but LinkMan allows the addition of user keynotes and modification of copies of master keynotes

The assemblies keynotes are organized according to UniFormat


On the Revit Project tab, any keynotes from Revit appear, together with master keynotes from LinkMan


A right click allows a master keynote to be copied to the Revit keynote column


It’s also possible to automatically apply default keynotes to all blank Revit keynote fields by clicking “Apply Default Keynotes”

By opening the Keynotes tab in the same window, you can drag and drop keynotes into the Revit keynotesfield


It’s also possible to create or edit new keynotes by right-clicking on a master keynote to open an editing dialog and then clicking Apply

You can import a previously edited set of keynotes by clicking on the Import icon; the keynotes will be merged automatically by keynote number


Once you have completed your edits to the Revit keynotes in LinkMan-E, you can import the keynotes in Revit


You can import all keynotes, all Master and active User keynotes, or User keynotes only


Any active keynotes in the Revit project will automatically be replaced with any changes you have made in LinkMan

We hope this brief introduction to BSD’s innovative interoperability product has intrigued you enough to ask for more information about LinkMan-E -- or

try a free evaluation copy of the software.

Thank you for your interest!

Call us toll-free at888-BSD-SOFT

(888-273-7638)

orvisit our website at

www.bsdsoftlink.com

http://www.bsdsoftlink.com/

BIM and Construction Specifications for the 21 st Century

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