Generate Functional Specifications

Learn to customize and generate a functional specification.

Contents
Functional Specifications Overview

Configure and Generate the Specification

Share and Distribute the Specification

Video

Functional Specifications Video (3:08 min)

Functional Specifications Overview

Specifications are an effective way to document, communicate, and achieve agreement

on a design.

The Axure RP specification is by default a Word 2007 (.docx) file, which you can also
generate to your own custom template that you specify. You do not need Word 2007
installed to generate or view .docx files. Axure RP automatically includes the Microsoft
Office Compatibility Pack during installation, which enables Word 2000, XP, or 2003 to
open, edit, and save Word 2007 files.

If you are using the Mac version, the specification is compatible with Word, but not
iWork Pages.

Configure and Generate the Specification

To configure and generate the specification, select Generate->Specification (F6) in the

main menu or click the Specification button in the editor toolbar.
This opens the Configure Word 2007 Specification dialog. The options are divided into
the following sections:

General: Enter the Destination File for the specification. By default, it generates
to the My Axure RP Specifications folder in your My Documents (in the Mac
version, the default folder is ~/Documents/Axure/Specification).

Pages: Select the pages to include in the specification.

Masters: Select the masters to include in the specification. There is an option to

include master annotations in the page section for pages that contain a master.

Notes: Select and order the page notes.

Screenshots: Option to show or not show screenshots of the wireframes.

Annotations: Select and order the annotations. You can separate annotations
into multiple tables. To do this, click Add New Table and select and order the
 fields to include in each table.

Widgets: Configure specific widgets. For example, choose to include lists of

drop list items in the specification.

Word Template: Select and edit the template.

A template is a standard .docx file, and can include anything from your own
headers/footers, title or appendix pages, and any other content you add. Be sure
to include the text [[INSERT AXURE SPEC]] when you edit the template.
The generator replaces this text with the generated documentation.

To edit the template, click Edit to open the template file in Microsoft Word.
When you finish editing the template, save and close Microsoft Word.

To import a template, click Import and select the file.

To choose a built-in template, click Import Axure Template, and select a

template.

You can also choose a single or two-column layout.

When you finish configuring the specification, click the Generate button. This generates
the specification and opens it in Microsoft Word.
Share and Distribute the Specification

To share and distribute the specification, simply send the Word (.docx) file generated
from Axure RP. The document can open in Microsoft Word 2007, Word 2000, XP, and
2003 with the Microsoft Compatibility pack.

If you distribute the document to clients or colleagues who do not have Word 2007 or
the compatibility pack installed, use Word to save the specification to an earlier
document format.

Summary
Now you can automatically generate a customized specification from your wireframes.
Hopefully that saves you a ton of time! If you still have questions, drop us a note at
support@axure.com.