This article explains how to copy specification data from one organization to another. It explains how two organizations that are both developing specifications in the platform can copy the specification sections/ systems between each other. 


This functionality comes in handy in situations like:

  • Manufacturers who use the specification platform to specify their products on behalf of their clients and want to transfer specifications from their own organization to their client's project.
  • Consultant specifiers working with design teams and wanting to exchange specifications between organizations.


Related:

Collaboration success story - Franklin Ellis Architects

Become part of the specification

Who is counted as an active user?

Guests can copy content to another org

Insufficient permissions to copy across organizations


Please note: This functionality is enabled for 'Pro' (or above) subscriptions.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Before you begin


  • You must have a subscription that allows your specification data to be copied to another organization. This feature is currently available in 'Pro' (or above) subscriptions, including for 'Manufacturers'.
  • You need 'Contributor' permission on the destination organization's specification to copy data into it.
  • You only need to be a member of the destination organization's project for the duration of the copy. After you have copied the specification data over, the destination organization can remove you.
    • If you have been invited to work on projects by other organizations, you will be counted towards that organization's active users when you have their organization profile open. More about Who is counted as an active user?
  • If you are a guest of the organization from which you want to copy, then the project settings must be set to 'Guests can copy specification content to another organization.'


Steps-by-step process to copy specification data to another organization


  1. Open the specification you want to copy from and select the sections/ systems/ products that you are transferring from the 'contents' tab.
  2. Copy to clipboard using the keyboard shortcuts:
    • Ctrl + C on a Windows device.
    • Cmd + C on a Mac device.
    • You will see a confirmation message that you have copied to the clipboard.
  3. Change organization to the destination organization you want to copy into. If prompted to ‘Select your role’, ensure the Writer option is selected, then click the ‘Enter as writer’ button.
  4. Go to the project and specification you want to paste into.
  5. On the contents tab paste using the keyboard shortcuts:
    • Ctrl + V on a Windows device.
    • Cmd + V on a Mac device.
    • You will see a confirmation message that you have successfully pasted into the specification.


Video overview of copying specification data to another organization

 

The short video (no audio) below demonstrates how to copy specification data to another organization.




What gets carried over when you copy between organizations

  • The specification article/ clauses, their values, parked state, text formatting and hyperlinks.
  • A spec note is added against each article/ clause to record where the clause was copied from, the date and by which user.

 

What does not get carried over when you copy between organizations

There are aspects of the spec on the original organization that are not copied over to the destination organization.

These are:

  • Any revisions or 'Publish history' records in the original organization's spec.
  • Links to masters in the original organization's spec.
  • 'Spec notes' pinned to clauses in the original organization's spec.
  • 'Org notes' are not copied from one organization to another.
  • Model associations to objects in the original organization's spec.