Spec View

The Spec view displays the specification requirements that you set for a product. This view is blank after product entry creation and remains blank until you upload a specification file for the product.

If the Spec view is blank, click Download Spec Template to obtain the template required for product specification definition. After you define product specifications in the template file, click Upload Specs to upload the specifications.

Tip You can also download the template file from the menu in the top-right corner of the Spec view. This menu also provides options to download product specifications and to delete product specifications and data.

After you upload a specification definition file, the Spec view generates a section for each category of product specifications in the file and populates a table within each section to display the specifications in the category. Refer to Evaluating Product Specification Compliance for instructions about interacting with data on the Spec view.

Product Specification Template File

The product specification template file is a spreadsheet (.xlsx format) that provides the formatting and framework required to upload product specifications to Specification Compliance Manager. This file includes instructions about format requirements for each specification and an example table to demonstrate the correct format.

If the Spec view is blank, click Download Spec Template to obtain the product specification template file. You can also download the template file from the menu in the top-right corner of the Spec view. The template file is composed of three spreadsheet tabs.

  • SpecTemplate Tab—Contains an overview of the format requirements for a product specification and an example table to show correct formatting.
  • Spec_<Your Category 1> Tab—Contains an empty template for you to use as the starting point for parametric product specification definition.
  • Spec_<Your Category 2> Tab—Contains an empty template for you to use as the starting point for functional product specification definition.

    • Specification Compliance Manager ignores the contents of the SpecTemplate tab during file upload and parses the information contained in the other spreadsheet tabs to populate the Spec view.

    After the file upload process is complete, the Spec view automatically updates to display the information within the file. If any entries in the file violate formatting requirements, Specification Compliance Manager creates an error log file to explain each issue and its resolution.

    The product specification template file supports three column types.

  • Standard Columns—Define the specification name, value, and other basic information. Standard column requirements differ for functional and parametric data. These columns are mandatory.
  • Condition Columns—Define conditions that apply to the product specification. These columns have minimal formatting requirements and support string and numerical values, including floating point numbers.
  • Information Columns—Define extra information about the product specification as needed. These columns support only string data and entries in these columns have a 200-character limit.

    • The following table defines each standard column in the product specification template file. Specification Type indicates the required columns for each type of specification category: Functional and Parametric.

    Note Parametric specifications require that at least one of the Min, Typical, and Max columns contain an entry for each product specification definition.
    Table 1. Product Specification Template File Standard Column Descriptions
    Column Specification Type Entry Required? Description
    Spec ID Functional and Parametric Yes A unique identifier for the product specification that Specification Compliance Manager uses for classification and mapping. This field supports only alphanumeric characters and has a maximum length of 32 characters.
    Block Functional and Parametric No The intellectual property block that the specification describes. There are no restrictions on entries in this field.
    Spec Symbol Functional and Parametric No The shortened identifier for the specification. There are no restrictions on entries in this field.
    Spec Name Functional and Parametric Yes The descriptive name for the specification that appears in the Specification Compliance Manager user interface. This field supports alphanumeric characters and special characters.
    Min Parametric only Yes1 Parametric specifications require that at least one of the Min, Typical, and Max columns contain an entry for each product specification definition. The minimum acceptable value for the product specification. This field supports only numeric characters.

    If the value of the Min column is greater than the value of the Max column, Specification Compliance Manager generates an error during the file upload process.
    Typical Parametric only Yes[1] The typical value for the product specification. This field supports only numeric characters.
    Max Parametric only Yes[1] The maximum acceptable value for the product specification. This field supports only numeric characters.

    If the value of the Max column is less than the value of the Min column, Specification Compliance Manager generates an error during the file upload process.
    Unit Parametric only Yes The unit of measure that describes the minimum, typical, and maximum product specification values. This field supports alphanumeric characters and symbols.

    Product Specification Format Requirements for Virtuoso® ADE Verifier

    In order to import product specifications from Specification Compliance Manager (SCM) into Virtuoso® ADE Verifier, the file contents must meet additional format requirements to those mentioned in Product Specification Template File.

    Refer to the following list for additional format requirements that apply to specific fields in product specification files to support file imports for Virtuoso® ADE Verifier.

  • SpecID—Cannot contain Unicode characters or special characters, with the following exceptions: . - _
  • Category Name, Spec Name—Cannot contain the following characters: , /
  • Min, Max, Unit—Cannot contain the following character: ,
  • Condition Columns (COND)—Cannot contain the following character unless it is located between enclosed bracket () characters: ,

    • 1 Parametric specifications require that at least one of the Min, Typical, and Max columns contain an entry for each product specification definition.