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.
What is BSD LinkMan-E?
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
What is BSD LinkMan-E?
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
What is BSD LinkMan-E?
• 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
What is BSD LinkMan-E?
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
How Does LinkMan-E Work?
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
How Does LinkMan-E Work?
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
How Does LinkMan-E Work?
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
How Does LinkMan-E Work?
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
How Does LinkMan-E Work?
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
How Does LinkMan-E Work?
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
How Does LinkMan-E Work?
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
What About Keynotes?
On the Revit Project tab, any keynotes from Revit appear, together with master keynotes from LinkMan
What About Keynotes?
A right click allows a master keynote to be copied to the Revit keynote column
What About Keynotes?
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
What About Keynotes?
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
What About Keynotes?
Once you have completed your edits to the Revit keynotes in LinkMan-E, you can import the keynotes in Revit
What About Keynotes?
You can import all keynotes, all Master and active User keynotes, or User keynotes only
What About Keynotes?
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