Glossary

Terms are listed A-Z. 

If a term has more than one meaning, each definition is listed, e.g: 

Definition. 

Alternative definition. 

If there's a term that’s missing or a definition you're confused about, please get in touch with development.

Article 

What we call a clause in CAWS Work Sections, CAWS Prelims, Uniclass Work Sections, Uniclass prelims, SpeedSpec, SureSpec and SpecPack is an article in the CMS, NMS, NMS (French), NMS UniFormat, NMS UniFormat (French) and USMS content sets.

Bundle 

A clause, or collection of clauses, that is being authored, QA'd & proofread before release to the customers. 

For sectional content, such as CMS & CAWS, the smallest unit is a section. 

For system content, such as Uniclass work sections, the smallest unit is a clause, e.g. a fast-tracked product. 

We used 'pack' during early development, but this was changed in light of feedback from the technical team.

Chorus versions 

There are several different versions of Chorus. Only 1 version is "live" & that's the one the customers see. The rest are for internal use. 

If you're still not sure which version of Chorus you should be using, please ask. 

Most relevant versions 

• Live
  https://chorus.thenbs.com
  Chorus as the customers see it. 
• Sandbox  
  https://sandbox.chorus.thenbs.com
  This is where the live authoring is done for the Australian, Canadian and USA content. Every time we release to Live, Sandbox is reset to match it. 
• Test
  https://app-test.nimbus.thenbs.cloud
  New work developed in the current sprint is visible on Test. The features seen here can be a mix of items nearly ready for release, & things that are part way through their development phase. Pre-release screen-checking is done on Test.

Other versions

• Dev  
  https://app-dev.nimbus.thenbs.cloud
  Dev is the most internal, most volatile version of Chorus. The features here are being actively developed, so things can change rapidly & might be broken. Features here have been through some of our quality processes: Pull Request (code reviewed by other developers); and usually Unit Tests (automated tests, not always possible), but they haven't reached the development QA team yet. 
• Staging  
  https://app-staging.nimbus.thenbs.cloud
  Staging is the last step before going live. It is used when a release of software or content is just about to go live to customers, as a final quality check. 

Clause item 

See Row. 

CMS 

We use this term in 3 ways: 

1. Canadian Master Specification
   Sectional content authored by NBS, classified according to MasterFormat schema. 
2. Content management system
   Technical team: The current internal tool/website that is used to manage the Uniclass 2015 classification 
3. Content management system
   Development: Any system that manages a collection of content. Commonly a database of content that is delivered by a website. 

Content set 

A collection of authored clauses & guidance for a specific classification schema.  

For some content sets, we also split this further and have separate content sets for preliminaries and work sections.  

To see the current full list of content sets we support: 

1. Sign into NBS Chorus.  
2. In a project, select Add specification.  
3. In the Content set option, you'll see the full list:
   
     

Grid 

Occasionally you’ll see the term ‘grid’. This is used for the lists of data that we show in Chorus.  

For example, on the Contents tab we see a table that lists all the sections in this bundle. The short name for this is the contents grid.

Editor 

We use this term in 2 ways: 

1. In the technical team, an editor is a person that does the task of editing. In the software, we reflect this in the bundle stages Ready for editing and Editing:
   
    
2. In the software, the editor is the main panel where the editing of the clauses is done. This is usually the centre panel:

   
   

   
    

Heading 

The title of a group of clauses. 

Sometimes known as ‘sub-heading’.  

In NBS Building, a heading was a special clause with no rows and an “!” after the clause code. For more, see Headings. 

Insert

A space in an NBS-authored clause for the user to add their own text. 

Inserts can be left blank, or can have suggestions added to them. 

 Sentence-style rows can have multiple inserts, but a property/ value pair row will only have one insert. 

In NBS Building, it had the same name. 

Library 

In Chorus, the customers can buy different libraries of content, e.g. Architecture or Small works. 

Customers who have, for example, only bought the Small works library will see upsell messages for additional content when they search NBS. 

Libraries are set at section level. A section can be part of multiple libraries, or just one. 

The choice and name of libraries can vary between content sets, e.g. 

• UK CAWS work sections: Building, Early stage, Landscape, Small works 
• UK Uniclass work sections: Architecture, Landscape, Services, Services small works, Structure. 
• Australia SpecPack: Architecture, Civil, Landscape, Services, Structure. 

For more, see Libraries.

Modal 

A pop-up window / dialog box that overlays the software and stops you doing anything else until you close it. 

Examples include the Unsaved changes warning & the Add suggestions process. 

MVP 

Minimum Viable Product

This is the collection of software features that are most needed that we can deliver soonest. 

MVP is based on an understanding that the software will continue to evolve to meet the users’ needs, always delivering the features that are the most useful soonest. 

MVP can sound negative, but its goal is to keep us focused on what the users need first. 

We want to deliver something usable quickly and evolve it based on prioritised usage feedback. 

NMS 

National Master Specification 

A content set authored by National Research Council (NRC), an arm of the Canadian government. 

Available in both English & French language versions. 

NMS is classified according to MasterFormat and UniFormat classification schemas. 

Park 

We use this term in 2 ways: 

1. In bundles: This previously released clause or row will be removed from the live content when this bundle is published. 
2. In projects and masters: Parking a row or clause will exclude that content from the published specification. Some customers use it as a form of ‘soft’ delete. 

Part 

A block of general guidance. 

General guidance usually has multiple parts, e.g. general guidance 1.1, general guidance 1.2.  

In Chorus content authoring, each part has its own toolbar and menu. 

PBI 

Product Backlog Item 

A bit of software development sprint work. The aim is for it to be less than 2 weeks’ worth of work, resulting in working software. 

Production

We use this term in 2 ways: 

1. Martin Day & team
   "I need to speak to Production" means "I need to talk to Martin". 
2. The live, public version of Chorus.
   Unlike the test version or any other internal versions.
   "Is that bug on Production" means "Can customers see that bug in the live version of Chorus?" 

Reusable text 

See ‘Variable’. 

Row 

A line in a Chorus clause. These are auto-numbered.  

They can be created by the authors, and the users can add their own.  

Rows can be indented.

Previously

In the NBS Create user interface this was known as a clause item, but the term never really gelled with the customers. In early Chorus user testing, "row" was much more easily understood. 

In the previous content authoring tools, this was known as keyword, or a clause item with a keyword (name) and value pair. Keyword wasn't used in the Create user interface as it never gelled with the customers. 

The CAWS guidance still uses the term ‘clause item’ and this is not expected to change in the short term.

Spike

A software development investigation. 

We use spikes to flush out unknowns and answer questions ahead of developing a feature. 

Spikes help us make sure we know what we're going to do when we come to do a PBI. 

Sprint 

2 weeks worth of software development work. 

By breaking the work into sprints, we can demonstrate progress regularly, and change focus if priorities change. 

Suggestions

The values added to a row by an author:  

When a bundle is published, the suggestions are shown in a drop down menu at the end of a row: 

Previously 

In NBS Create, these were known as suggested values. 

Title

We use this term in 3 ways: 

• Section title 
• Clause title 
• Row title 

Template 

Also, template clause. 

A clause that has not been authored by NBS. 

There are several styles of template clauses. Chorus automatically chooses the correct clause template for the context. 

In Uniclass work sections bundles, any Uniclass code that does not have an NBS authored clause associated with it will have the page emoji?in the clause title suffix. 

Toast 

A message that pop-ups at the bottom of the screen. 

We use toasts for confirmation, information and error messages. 

Variable

A piece of reusable content that is stored globally. 

For more, see the support article about variables. 

Previously

In the classic processes, these have been known as global text, reusables text, reusable content and reusable values. 

This is a customer-facing feature, so in bundles we use the same customer-facing feature name.