Technical specification editor
OwnerWilliam Sandovalinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The production of formal technical specification documents using a web-based interface is disclosed. The interface is used to identify one or more products, for example, lighting control systems that will be used in a construction. After receiving a selection of one or more products, a database is referenced to automatically retrieve text for the technical specification document that corresponds with the product(s), and a fully formatted technical specification document is generated for a user. Any portion of the technical specification document may be altered by the user via the user interface. Any technical specification document that is generated in accordance with the present invention can be stored to be used in the future as a template for new technical specification documents.
Claims28
A method for providing a technical specification document to at least one party, the method comprising:
- electronically storing document formatting information in a database, the document formatting information representing rules for formatting the technical specification document;
- storing electronic product information in the database, the electronic product information representing at least names of at least two products;
- electronically storing textual provisions relating to technical specification documents in the database;
- electronically storing textual provision matching information in the database, the textual provision matching information representing textual provisions stored in the database that correspond to the electronic product information;
- electronically receiving a first product identification from the party, the first product identification representing at least the name of at least one of the at least two products;
- retrieving from the database at least two textual provisions that correspond with the textual provision matching information and the first product identification;
- electronically formatting the at least two textual provisions in accordance with the document formatting information to generate the technical specification document;
- and
- electronically providing the technical specification document to the party.
A system for providing a technical specification document to at least one party, the system comprising:
- a database formatting module adapted to store electronic document formatting information representing rules for formatting the technical specification document;
- a database product information module adapted to store electronic product information representing at least names of at least two products;
- a database textual provision module adapted to store textual provisions relating to technical specification documents;
- a textual provision matching module adapted to match textual provisions stored in the database textual provision module with the electronic product information;
- a product identification interface adapted to electronically receive a product identification representing at least the name of at least one of the at least two products from the at least one party;
- a retrieval module adapted to retrieve from the database textual provision module at least two textual provisions that correspond with the textual provision matching information and the product identification;
- a formatting module adapted to electronically format the at least two textual provisions in accordance with the document formatting information to generate the technical specification document;
- and
- a presentation module adapted to electronically provide the technical specification document to the party.
The system of claim 26, further comprising an e-mail module, adapted to e-mail the exported technical specification document after a user provides a recipient e-mail address and at least one of a sender e-mail address, a subject line, and a message body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.