The time has arrived for you to begin to learn about the SpecsIntact Editor, its
components, and the Section structure.
Some of the biggest mistakes made by new users is ignoring structure and tagging.
Although we are going to cover some of this information, you should make sure to study
the QuickStart Guide - Numeric located on the SpecsIntact Website's Help Center page.
The SI Editor used for this module is based on SpecsIntact version 4.6.2, which
may not be available to you at this time.
We will learn some of the new features, but will primarily focus on ones that apply
regardless of the version of SpecsIntact you have on your system.
Let's get started by exploring the SI Editor .
All of the tools you need are available by using the SI Editor's Menu Bar, Toolbar, and
Tags Bar.
All of the functions available to the Editor can be accessed through the Menu Bar's
dropdown menus.
The Toolbar has some buttons that are familiar Windows-standard functions such as
cut, copy, and paste.
Other such commands to show or hide screen elements like Tags, Notes and Revisions are
specific to the Editor.
The Toolbar provides shortcuts to many of the commands that are frequently used in
editing guide specifications.
There are four important buttons I would like to bring to your attention.
The first button is the Revisions button.
When activated, this function will mark the text for addition or deletion as you edit.
Text to be added is identified with underscoring and the green ADD tags.
Text to be deleted is identified with overstriking and the red DEL tags.
The second button is the Show Revisions button.
This button allows you to either show or hide the Revisions you've made in the text of
the Section. The third button is the Toggle Tags button, which allows you to either show
or hide the tags within the Editing Window.
Lastly, we have the Toggle Notes button that allows you to either show or hide the
Technical Notes contained in the Section.
When selected, the Notes will be visible in the text.
When a Note is hidden, its location is indicated by a teal triangle displayed at the
left margin of the Section.
The text of a specific Note may be viewed at any time by clicking the teal triangle.
Depending on your role, you may use this function differently.
The Technical Notes are paragraphs of information included in the Section written
to aid the Engineer, Architect or Specifier when editing the specification.
Regardless of whether you are editing from within SpecsIntact or from a hard copy, the
Notes should remain visible.
A Specification Editor typically edits the specification with Notes hidden.
When you close the editor, the last used settings for these buttons will be saved.
The Tags Bar is a unique element to the Editor.
When a button is selected, a pair of tags will be inserted at the cursor position or it
will kick off some of the Editor's more advanced tools - such as the Reference Wizard
or Submittal Wizard.
You can either insert the tags and type the information between them or you can type the
information first, select the text, and then click the tag button to insert the tags
around it.
By selecting the Toolbar Options drop-down arrow, you can customize the Toolbar and Tags
Bar by adding or removing buttons of your choice.
As I mentioned earlier, the biggest and most time costly mistakes made by users come from
ignoring the structure and tagging.
The tags not only distinguish the different elements within a Section, but they also
determine the format.
The tagging also provides the intelligence to produce intuitive Quality Assurance
Reports. I strongly recommend that you review Chapter 3 of the QuickStart Guide -
Numeric in order to learn more about the Section Structure and Tagging.
Let's talk about the Navigator.
The Navigator is designed with the user in mind to simplify movement throughout your
specification, as well as providing features for editing Sections.
We will learn more about the Navigator's editing capabilities in the Navigator's
module. Now let's examine the Editing Window.
When editing the Section, you should always edit with the tags visible.
I cannot emphasize the importance of learning the tagging and how to properly edit
them. Lastly, we have the Status Bar that provides information regarding the placement
of your cursor and your keyboard functions.
The information in the center displays the order in which the tags are nested in
relation to the cursor position.
The Status bar also indicates whether the keyboard's Num Lock, Caps Lock, and/or Insert
Lock functions are turned on.
Now that you are familiar with the SI Editor and its elements, let's talk about the
Section Structure.
In order to demonstrate the Section Structure, I'm going to take advantage of the
Navigator, which should look familiar to you if you have used Outline views in other
applications.
The Navigator provides additional visual properties so you know what level in which
you're positioned. The body of the Section is broken down into the CSI standard
three-part format: PART 1 GENERAL, PART TWO PRODUCTS, and PART THREE
EXECUTION. Here's a little lesson on the Navigator's icons: the "P" indicates it is a
PART; "A" indicates it is an article; the paragraph symbol indicates it is a
paragraph; and the "S" indicates that it is a subparagraph.
The symbols will change to indicate whether a subpart may be hidden or to display if they
have been added or deleted.
The first subpart level below a PART is known as an Article and the title will be
UPPERCASE, the second level Subpart is known as a Paragraph, and the third through sixth
level Subparts are Subparagraphs.
The titles for Paragraphs and Subparagraphs use Title Case.
PARTS have their own unique Part Tag, whereas Articles, Paragraphs, and Subparagraphs share
the Subpart tag.
Again, I highly recommend that you take the time to study Chapter 3 of the QuickStart
Guide - Numeric to learn more about the Section Structure and Tagging.
Now that you are familiar with the Editor and the basic Section Structure, you're ready
to learn more about editing and the editing techniques.
Proceed to the next module of your choice.