A principle of good specification writing is to 'say it once and in the right place'. 'Spec check' compares the contents of your specification and identifies where it contains potentially duplicated information. Duplicated information in your specification can lead to confusion and the specification being longer than it should be. The interface and 'Spec check' report will help identify duplication and allow you to consolidate it.


Lattira Spec and NBS Chorus have a feature to automatically consolidate identical 'Uniclass Work section' clauses.

Please see Consolidate.



How to find where there is duplicated information to consolidate

It is easy to identify possible content duplication in your spec using the 'Spec check' report via the Actions button.



How does the platform determine if something should be consolidated?


The platform compares the body of the same things from the content set in the specification. By things we mean articles/clauses/sections/systems. So if there are two of the same article or the same clause from the content set in the specification, then the rows they contain are compared.


The article or clause is considered the same if they have the same rows, contain the same text, and contain the same links to other things. This includes punctuation, indented lists, strikethrough, line breaks, broken links and placeholder clauses.


When comparing clauses that contain links to other clauses - they are the same when their body and the body of the linked clauses match.


Some things are ignored when making the comparison

  • Text formatting (bold/italics/underline), including if the text is a hyperlink.
  • Broken links and placeholders.
  • The last edited date.
  • The prefix, title and suffix fields. For example, you could have two clauses with the same body, but one has a suffix of Type A and the other Type B. They could have different titles and prefixes.


Other scenarios:

  • If you had two matching clauses but one has a link to another clause and the other has a placeholder to the same clause. In this situation, they will be considered different and not show up on the report because their body and the body of the linked clauses do not match. However, when you review this in the editor, this scenario will stand out because the broken link will be red.
  • With indented lists, the list itself is ignored. If the text in the list is the same, this will be reported as a candidate to consolidate. If the lists have different text they are considered unique and will not be reported.
  • With hyperlinks, if the text is the same but the URL the hyperlinks point to are the same this is ignored. If one is just text and the other is a hyperlink with the same text, this will be flagged as the same.


How to remove duplication from your specification


The platform does not consolidate your specifications automatically. The 'Spec check' points you to parts of the specification that you can review. This video explains how to use the report to review your spec and consolidate where appropriate.


The platform