Intro to Revision Control

Why you should use Revision Control

Revision Control is Inspec's advanced change management feature that automatically tracks all modifications to your schedules throughout the design process. This ensures clients, contractors, and consultants remain informed of the latest design decisions whenever schedules are distributed.

Turning on/off Revision Control

Revision Control operates on a per-schedule basis, enabling independent change tracking for each schedule in your project. To turn on (or off) Revision Control for your schedules:

1

Access schedule settings

Click on the + New Schedule or go to schedule Settings if you are already working in an existing schedule.
2

Toggle Revision Control

Toggle on or off Use Revision Control.
3

Configure Issue Report (optional)

Decide if you would like to also include this schedule on your Issue Report. Learn more about Issue Report. (Only schedules with Revision Control enabled can be included on Issue Reports)
4

Save your changes

Click Save Changes if in schedule settings, or Done if you are creating a new schedule.

You can update your preferences with Revision Control at any time while working in a schedule by going to Settings in the top right corner of your screen.

How to lock revisions

All new schedules with Revision Control enabled will default to Revision A upon creation. Once the schedule is ready for distribution, the revision must be locked to prevent further modifications. Locking a revision does not restrict ongoing work within the schedule, it simply ensures that the specific revision remains unchanged, preserving its integrity for distribution purposes.

Revision Label
1

Open Revision Control

Click the Revision Control button in the top right corner of your screen.
2

Lock the revision

Choose Lock Revision from the dropdown menu.
Lock revision
3

Confirm your action

Inspec will ask you to reconfirm you would like to lock the revision you have just created, choose Confirm if you are happy.
4

View locked revision state

Once locked, the state of that revision will be visible beneath the schedule title at the top of your screen. Here you can see the date the revision was locked for editing.
Revision Label Locked

A locked revision means any changes you make to this schedule now will automatically become Revision B and so forth.

How to unlock revisions

To unlock a schedule, simply click into the cell you wish to edit. Inspec will notify you that you are about to make changes to a locked version of your schedule, but if you are happy to proceed, click Confirm.

Create new revision

For example, if you have a schedule locked as Revision A, and you start to make changes, your schedule will automatically become Revision B and will be unlocked for editing.

Overruling a locked revision

Although it is not recommended since it could lead to confusion or error, it is possible to overrule a locked revision if there are amendments that need to be made.

Unlock revision

Overruling a locked revision is only possible if that revision has yet to be distributed with Issue Report. Learn more about Issue Report here.

1

Open Revision Control

Click on the Revision Control button in the top right corner of your screen.
2

Unlock the revision

Choose Unlock Revision to revert the locked for editing state (the option will not be available if the schedule hasn't been locked or if the schedule has been distributed already).
3

Confirm your action

Confirm you are happy to unlock the revision.
4

Continue editing

Continue making edits to your schedule.

Comparing revisions

Users have the ability to compare different revisions to easily see where changes have been made throughout the design process.

In this mode you are not able to make any changes, but you can see exactly what data was changed between revisions.

Viewing previous revisions
1

Open Revision Control

Click on the Revision Control button in the top right corner of your screen.
2

View previous revisions

Choose View Previous Revisions which will open a view only mode.
3

Compare revisions

On the blue bar, you can click between revisions to see what has changed (all changes will be highlighted).
4

Exit view mode

To exit the view mode, click Return to latest in the yellow bar at the top of the schedule.

Automatic change tracking

Inspec's Revision Control feature includes automatic change tracking, which visually identifies where any changes have been made between schedule revisions by highlighting the new information in a faint orange.

For example, if Revision A has been locked and subsequent changes are made (creating Revision B), the following modifications will be highlighted in Revision B to indicate deviations from the original schedule:

  • Modified information within existing rows or cells
  • Newly added rows
  • Newly added sections
  • Newly added fields or columns

Automatic change tracking cannot be turned off if Revision Control is enabled on your schedule. If you do not want changes highlighted on your schedule, learn about turning off Revision Control here.

Issuing revisions through Issue Report

If you have Revision Control enabled on your schedule, then it is also possible for you to include the schedule on your Issue Report.

The Issue Report feature enables users to share their schedules directly with external design teams collaborating on the project. To learn more about Issue Report and Distribution Lists, click here.

When a schedule is locked, it will automatically become available to share to anyone on your distribution list for that project. Anyone who receives a copy of your schedule through Issue Report will also be able to see where changes have been made since the previous revision (this applies only to Revisions B and onwards). To learn more about Automatic Change Tracking, click here.

Unlocked schedules cannot be shared through Issue Report, but are still able to be exported as a PDF. Learn more about exporting PDFs.

1

Navigate to your project

Once you have a locked schedule and you're ready to share, navigate back to your project page by clicking on the breadcrumbs at the top of your screen.
2

Open Issue Report

Click on the Issue Report tab for that project to view the list of included schedules and your distribution list.
3

Select schedules

Select the schedules you would like to issue (you can select more than one locked schedule).
4

Select recipients

Select the members from your distribution list that you would like to issue these schedules to (this just means that those people will receive an email with the schedules and issue report attached).
5

Preview (optional)

Click the Preview button if you would like to see the Issue Report before it is sent to your distribution list.
6

Issue schedules

Click Issue Schedules on the bottom right of your screen when you are happy with your selections.
7

Check your email

Check your own email inbox for a copy of the issued schedules.

Related Frequently Asked Questions

How do I issue an older revision if I've already started working on a newer one?

Each revision can only be issued once through Issue Report. Inspec will alert you if you attempt to modify a schedule before the current revision has been issued. If you have inadvertently begun editing your schedule prior to issuing the previous revision, Issue Report will continue to display the last locked revision until it is superseded by the next issued revision.

Can I disable the automatic change tracking highlight feature but still use revision control?

Revision control and automatic change tracking are a package deal, currently there is no way to turn off only the highlighting function. If you want to remove the highlighting, revision control needs to be disabled completely. Learn more about turning off revision control here.

Other helpful articles

Intro to Schedules

Learn how to create, manage, and collaborate on specification schedules.

Intro to Templates

Learn how to create and manage templates for your schedules.