Specs
This page has instructions to those OEMs who provide information for the various Spec Guides we produce for our clients. If you have additional questions that are not addressed here, please contact Richard Ries at 812-265-6313 (office) or 812-292-0700 (mobile) or you can Reply to any of the e-mails you've received from us regarding your Spec Guide entries.
Maintaining the integrity of Spec Guide information is critical for two reasons. First, to ensure accurate rendering of the spreadsheet files into the final print form. Second, to present specs in a consistent manner so that readers can make accurate comparisons. This guide will address many of the issues that can corrupt the data you provide and will explain how to prevent that corruption.
In these instructions, entries you'll make are shown in quotes; when you make these entries into the spreadsheet, however, you will not include the quotation marks. Also, steps you take in Excel are shown in [brackets]. Punctuation marks and symbols are not displayed the same way in every browser and for this reason some of these instructions may be unclear or confusing on your system. Please contact us for clarification.
We can work with any version of Excel; the files we provide are in Excel 2003.
Overview If you were listed in last year's Spec Guide, we have provided you with the specs you submitted for that issue. You can update those specs as needed and add specs for new models. If a model has been discontinued, please do not delete that line; just enter “D” in column A. If an entire line has been discontinued, let us know. If a new line has been added, tell us and we'll provide a boilerplate Excel file for that type of equipment. The column headers will be in place; all you have to do is insert the specs for your equipment. We will also ask you to confirm or update your Manufacturer's Index listing so that readers know how to get additional information.
Cell Formatting All cells must be formatted as Text [Format>Cells>Number>Text]. Use right or left justified according to what is already in that column; no entries are centered.
Column A Be sure to indicate in Column A whether a model is changed (enter a “C”), deleted (“D”), new (“N”), or unchanged (“U”).
Punctuation Marks Punctuation marks that also serve as mathematic operands must be preceded and followed by spaces. If not, Excel will convert these entries to equations. Converting them back to text results in errors. Examples include hyphens (-), which Excel assumes indicate subtraction, and slashes (/), which Excel interprets as division.
Units of Measure Most units of measure are listed in column headers and are not repeated in individual cells. Exceptions are feet and inches, indicated by single (`) and double (“) quotation marks, and degrees, indicated by the degree symbol (°) [Insert>Symbol>Degree Sign]. Be sure to use the degree symbol; Excel offers other symbols that look similar in the spreadsheet but have a very different appearance in print. We use only the units of measure expressed in the column headers.
Thousands and Decimal Separators We use commas for thousands and periods for decimals. For fractional decimals we lead with a zero.
Footnotes Categories with multiple, lengthy options, such as transmission type, use abbreviations in the cells to save space. These abbreviations are explained in footnotes. Let us know if you need help in matching your specs to the footnotes.
Blank or Not Applicable Categories There may be fields for which you don't have information or which may not apply to your particular equipment. You can leave those fields blank or enter double hyphens.
