NEWSLETTER

How SpecLink-E and LinkMan-E Work Together

The first commercial release of SpecLink-E (SLE) will be ready for download on Wednesday, November 25. A Beta release of LinkMan-E (LME) will be made available at the same time. This article discusses how the two applications work together to achieve interoperability with Autodesk Revit Architecture 2009 and 2010.

LME and Linking

A key feature of LME is a database that comprises a taxonomy of building elements organized according to UniFormat and MasterFormat 2004. This taxonomy – or hierarchical classification of building elements – is used for “mapping” information in the linked software applications. Objects in one application, such as Autodesk’s Revit, once they have been mapped against LME’s taxonomy, can be compared with objects in other applications that have been similarly mapped.

The hierarchical data structure in LME’s taxonomy is organized into two main groups -- building assemblies and building products.  Assemblies are typically made up of two or more products, and each assembly is linked, or connected to, the products of which it is comprised within the database. This internal linking within the taxonomy allows connectivity between applications like Revit, which includes assembly objects, and SLE, which is organized around product data. 

The LME taxonomy as provided to our customers will be read-only master data, but users will be able to add their own data and will also be able to map the added elements to objects in Revit and to specific paragraphs in SLE.

How LME Is Used

To enable connectivity between applications for a specific project, the user first creates a project group in LME that consists of the name and access information for each of the projects in the various applications. When a project is identified as a member of the LME project group, LME immediately searches its products library (for the SLE project), and its assemblies library (for the Revit project) to locate matches for the objects in use in each project. Two “dashboard” views compare the status of the objects in each project. The Assemblies Dashboard displays a hierarchical list based on CSI’s UniFormat classification hierarchy, marking those items that were found and recognized in the Revit application. The Assemblies Dashboard also displays a list of the products included in the assembly, marking those that are already present and active in the SLE project.

The second view, the Products Dashboard view, uses CSI’s MasterFormat 2004 hierarchy and compares the status of products in each project. Here the user can check those products that might be in use in the Revit project to “turn them on” in the specifications project. Clicking the “Synchronize” button will activate links to the SLE project, thereby selecting the corresponding product text, together with the parent text and section titles, making them a part of the project specifications without overwriting any other text.

Many of the assembly objects included as part of the Revit application will be pre-linked to the LME taxonomy, product text within SLE will also be pre-linked to the same database, and we will continue to add elements and links over time.  However, Revit users will inevitably need and want to use Revit objects besides those shipped with Revit, and SpecLink-E users will likely need to create new user-added specification sections. In addition, third-parties, such as McGraw-Hill and ARCAT, are building objects for use by Revit users. For these reasons, we designed LME to let users not only link their new Revit objects to LME assemblies, but also create new LME assemblies to link to; both using LME's simple drag-and-drop technology. 

New SLE sections and text within SLE Master Sections can also be linked to LME master products or new user-created LME products just as easily. Because user-added LME assemblies, products, and links persist between LME projects, an LME user can create an LME "Library" for his or her whole practice, for a particular project type, or for a single project. Any Revit object or configuration, regardless of origin can be prelinked to an LME master assembly making it also automatically linked to SLE. To avoid conflict with other potential uses of Revit properties like assembly codes and type marks, LME uses each object’s category, family and type names to uniquely identify the object.

LinkMan-E Installation – Multiple Setup Alternatives

There are three pieces to the LME installation: the LME client setup package used to install the software that runs on the user’s computer, the LME Revit Plug-in that needs to be installed on the Revit computer, and the LME databases that need to be installed to the same SQL Server instance as the SpecLink-E databases. If Revit and the SLE client and server components are installed on a single computer, then LME with the Revit plug-in can also be installed on the same computer, thereby creating a standalone setup. Assuming the computer has enough memory and disk space, all three applications can be run at the same time – an excellent option for a one-person operation. 

In other situations, it is likely that subscribers will want to give a number of users periodic access to the SpecLink-E system and therefore will have installed the server and databases for SLE on a network server. Some of the users may have Revit installed on their computers and some may not.  In such situations, subscribers will want to install the LME Client Setup package that dispenses software to the users’ computers to the same server used for the SLE Client Setup package, allowing users to install one or both applications as needed. They can install the databases to the same SQL Server instance used for SLE and install the Revit Plug-in to any computer running Revit. Note that any user on the network will be able to install the LME software for access to the Dashboards, which provide a comprehensive view of both the objects in Revit and the product specifications in SpecLink-E. It’s possible to run LinkMan-E as a project coordinator and manipulate product selection without having either Revit or SpecLink-E installed on the same computer!

SpecLink-E and LinkMan-E are designed to work over VPN’s and wide area networks. This means that larger firms with multiple offices can install the SLE server and LME databases at one site, install the Revit plug-in to gather Revit data at a second location, use the SLE client software to prepare specifications in a third office, and review coordination between model and specifications using LME client software at a fourth site.

We look forward to feedback during the upcoming beta test of LinkMan-E,  which will occur as SpecLink-E makes its commercial debut. We have received many useful comments during the current beta of SLE. A number of suggestions are being incorporated into the initial release of the software or are scheduled for future releases. Although the final beta test of SLE is winding down as we prepare for the launch, please contact support@bsdsoftlink.com if you would like to participate. We appreciate your support and assistance.