In System Architect, a minispec is the statement that expresses the processing logic of a process symbol. Minispecs are written using a formal syntax often referred to as Structured English. The MINISPEC keyword is used with the EDIT keyword.

Minispec is a statement that expresses the processing logic of a process symbol – how the process transforms input data into output data.

The following is an example of a Minispec statement:

System Architect can balance the input and output flows of a process using the minispec words against the data elements and data structures on data flows. The balancing function requires that the system analyze the text word-by-word, looking for significant words. Significant words are flagged by delimiting them with either single or double quotes. You can choose to have the system consider every word, or only the significant words flagged for consideration.

By default, the system considers only the significant words specifically flagged with quotes, for example:

If you want the system to consider every word contained in minispecs, and not only those delimited by double quotes, you must set MinispecUsesQuotes to "N" in the SA2001.INI file. The sample Minispec above could then be written: