Spec & Catalog Editor - COMPLETE OVERHAUL REQUIRED

[luke.coxonUB8Z4]

The Plant 3d Spec Editor has not been updated in the 10 years that I've been using it.

It needs a complete overhaul. 

1) Catalog editor - Custom properties should be able to be added easily across component types and part categories.

2) In the Spec editor we should be able to search and filter by any data field in the component Catalogs, as well as customise and save our default search settings within the UI. (including all port data)

3) Ability to customise the fields in the Advanced Editing Table. (including all port data)

4) "Find in Catalog" button to Actually find in Catalog editor UI.

5) Ability to Split Spec and Catalog Editors on Different windows / screens.

6) Ability to split the Advanced Editing Table onto Different window / screen. 

Regarding 1,2,3) The current UI restricts us to only 12 field columns. 

• Size Range
• Long Description (Family)
• Short Description
• Material
• Material Code
• End Type
• Facing
• Pressure Class
• Schedule
• Design Std
• Design Pressure Factor
• Manufacturer

If we go to the trouble of adding "Flange Std" data to every valve or flange in our catalogs, when we want to add particular components to the spec we are unable search or filter by the "Flange Std" in the spec editor UI to differentiate them and bring them into the spec. 

This simple limitation is forcing P3D administrators to put multiple fields of data into the 12 searchable fields above.

OR if they see the fundamental problem with putting multiple data into single data fields, they may not bother to fill in the Flange Std data in the first place.   

Either way, the end result is Plant 3d BIM data being either corrupted or lacking detail, simply because of the users requirement to work around the software's limitations and restrictions. 

Whether Plant 3d users acknowledge this or not. I see an overhaul of the Spec Editor as fundamental and extremely important for the future of Plant 3d.

Why? 

Because the world is moving at light speed towards connected data. In order to connect data to other data it needs to...

a) Exist

b) Be consistent.

c) Be Clean

If Autodesk keep preventing their customers from achieving these fundamental data requirements, simply because they don't want to spend any money improving something that hasn't been updated for more than 10 years,

 I have no doubt Autocad Plant 3d Software will be overtaken by competition very soon. 

[autodesk.student.soft.2023]

I very much agree with this idea. The spec editor is really horrible and a huge waste of time. Even exporting to excel for editing is extremely slow. The only change that they have made, has been horrible for the export to excel in multiple tabs, in addition to including a small image. These images create a temporary folder that is annoying and not necessary. This change means spending a lot more time to export and later import the changed values ​​again. I use the 2017 version spec editor and it is far superior for exporting to excel.

[nwaldridge]

It's also been lacking the ability to check multiple items at once when hiding sizes. It's such a task deselecting sizes, even after using the built in size filter. Remembered mentioning it back in 2012 when I first used spec editor.

[lfitzhenry]

I agree with all of these. Even though export improvements have been made for the 2024 version. Creating separate tabs for each item makes the export useless to me.

What about possibly giving options on the type of export? The pre-2019 catalog export is the only useful version to me.

[pierre_ramez]

In the "specifications" section, a check box would be welcome in the component use priority manager. The box would be used to select all the component sizes.
This would avoid having priority at each ND.

[mlitaker22FEB14]

Incorporating Plant 3D to ACC was gett news, as a Plant 3D (P3D) admin, I was looking forward to being able to perform admin. duties during daylight. 🙂 For the most part opening and working within P3D through ACC is good. I agree with most of the comments above about Spec Editor needing an update.  My biggest concern is when working with Spec Editor through P3D  it is very frustrating and time consuming.  Before ACC, I worked through Spec Editor and I could have more than one project spec one at one time. To the best of my knowledge, as it is now, I have to open P3D, work my way down the tree to Specs, find the Spec, check out, select edit spec, then wait for Spec Editor to Open, then I can get to work making whatever changes that need to be made. Once the changes have been made and saved through Spec Editor , then exist spec editor then I have to go through the whole process of checking the spec back in through P3D. Again to the best of knowledge, you one can only edit one spec at a time. There are many times one time needs to be update in all specs. The steps above take up way to much time each equal money. Before I could go directly to Spec Editor Icon. Open all spec and quickly add a new item to all specs within minutes within one session. Not the case now through P3D/ACC. Since Spec & Catalog Editor are subprograms within Plant  3D, it was my understanding that Autodesk Plant 3D/ACC was going to maintain the existing relationship. I would like to see Spec & Catalog builder be made available directly through ACC. Or at least have a Collaboration tab with inside of the Spec & Catalog builder program. For me personally, I would like to see the project Specs as read only to all users other than P3D admin.  I'm looking forward to updates within the Spec & Catalog Builder.

Sincerely,

Ms.M

[sarina.desaeger]

Additional to the items above. We would like to increase the possibilities for 'layout and settings - Edit long description styles' when importing a component from the catalog to the spec.

Current you are not able to select the long description (size or family) that has been used to name the component in the catalog.

Also the custom parameters, who are created in catalog and spec, are not in the drop down list to build the description for the spec. 

[luke.coxonUB8Z4]

Hi All

Credit where it's due...

I just tested Plant 3d 2026 Spec Editor and it has had a big update. 

Happy to report that some of the items I listed here have been fixed and working well.

Also reporting some of the new wins. 

And reporting those that haven't been fixed, as well as a few that are a step backwards from previous versions and urgently need attention.

The Working.

Item 2) This is a huge win! In the catalogue browser, you can not only switch the properties on/off, you can also move the order of the properties. Eg You can move the "Item Code" to the left side, next to the Size so it is always visible for search and filter.  On previous testing I could edit the On/off and positioning, but when I closed the catalog or closed the spec editor app and reopen, my settings were gone. Now it saves so you can set it how you wish. 

Item 4) Now called "Edit in Catalog" Works perfectly.  

Item 6) Separate window = Yes (but see "Catalog Properties Editor" comments below)

Other Wins

• The Catalog Browser search feature is brilliant. 
• The Catalog Browser Filer button, bravo. (Note: to clear filters simply toggle the filter button.)
• Shift/Control Select now works in the Spec editor Part Size selector.  

Not Working

Item 3) Now called "Catalog Property Editor". Relating to 2) unfortunately this isn't working. You can move and customise the properties order, but it does not save the positions when you open it again. Same eg as Item 2 above. If I move the "Item Code" column to sit next to the "size" column on the LHS, this position is not saved when the Catalog Property Editor window is closed.  These data windows are already a maze and fairly overwhelming. It would be a huge help if a user can edit the column order to match the custom order they created in the catalog browser. 

5) No. But the Catalog Browser can be quickly toggled to minimised which is great.

The main point of this request is to visually / mentally separate the two user interfaces. Spec UI & Catalog UI. Now we also see the Catalog info of a part inside the Spec UI which adds to potential confusion.

I understand this is good for those that want to edit the properties of items within a spec to suit project nuances, which I'm not a fan. (instead of editing the single source of truth in the catalog, or creating a new "same but different" part in the catalog.). I understand that both Spec & catalog editor UIs can't be opened and edited at the same time anyway. But what would be a massive help for sanity, and super easy to fix, would be a different background colour shade for each UI. This will prevent the untrained eye from editing a copy of a catalog item (inside a spec) instead of the catalog item itself.

Urgent

7) "Catalog Property Editor" Comments.

This editor has some big UI Cons. Eg In parts list, if I want to edit the Matching Pipe OD from top to bottom to suit a manufacturers pdf.

• Normal data entry functions don't work. If I enter the top number XX and press enter, I need to hit enter again to edit, and the existing entry is not selected. This double enter then differing qtys of backspace to delete varying character lengths of existing entries, means we need to look at the UI instead of the PDF we are copying. (in Previous versions it would select all text when it got to the next cell down.) Sounds pedantic, but this is a huge time waster.
• More importantly, the Size data has been moved to its own tab, "Manage Sizes", where top down data entry does not work at all. Pressing enter after entry does nothing. Shift select or Ctrl select doesn't work for multi copy/paste functions of columns either. This urgently needs fixing, as this size window is where the majority of manual data entry is done.
• Likewise in the main UI of the Part Size Properties, top down editing doesn't work in the "Size Parameters" area.   

Additional Features

• Ability to add a custom property in the Spec/Catalog editor which syncs to the database in the Project Setup. This is still far too painful to do manually.

Cheers

[pierre_ramez]

Hello everyone,

The Spec Editor updates are a welcome improvement, thank you Autodesk!

A) Part Usage Priority
However, the "part usage priority" feature is still difficult and time-consuming to use. We can't prioritize parts individually; we have to change each part individually. This problem could be solved with a checkbox to select the part, rather than just a single part number.
Currently, this problem cannot be resolved with the order in which I add parts to the specification. For example, if I add "Bolting #1" first, then "Bolting #2," and finally "Bolting #3." The priority order for using the part will be completely random, and I might have:

- Priority 1: "Bolting #2"
- Priority 2: "Bolting #1"
- Priority 3: "Bolting #3"

B) Searching for updates from catalogs (Ctrl + K)
Currently, we cannot use "Searching for updates from catalogs (Ctrl + K)" on some of our specifications.
Updates overwrite manual additions to the specification, such as "Custom" in component type, material additions, or custom properties.
I propose configuring which properties are allowed or not to be updated with Ctrl + K.

Sincerely,
Pierre.

[damian_willcox]

Hi all,

We have just released 2027.1, and there are continued improvements to the revamped Spec Editor supporting Spec Size Filters and property overrides from the Catalog Browser, Part Category visibility and more. We've made note of some of the other requests here, but marking this as implemented and please post new requests in new threads (to avoid the "catch all" thread).

Thanks everyone, and appreciate the feedback!