Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Revit Launcher

Download here

This program is used to create a local file automatically, open the file in Revit with the option to Specify worksets, Detach from central, etc.
The Revit Launcher.exe can be placed in the same folder as the central file, but I would recommend putting it in one location on your network.
If you place it on your network you will then need to create a shortcut to this file. After you create the shortcut go to the properties, the target should already be pointing to the location of the Revit Launcher.exe, Start In needs to be the path to the central file, be sure to put quotes around the path.

There can only be one Revit file in this folder.
The name of the central file must be XXXXX #VV Central.rvt, where XXXXX can be anything of any length, # is the discipline
(A, S or MEP, where the 3 letters in MEP can be expressed in any order) and VV is the version number
The spaces shown in the filename can be any character you want, including a space.
So 123456789 Project_A08-Central.rvt would work the same as 123456789-Project-A08_Central.rvt
The following dialog will come up when the shortcut is double clicked.

From here you can select the discipline of Revit you want to use, 64 or 32 bit Revit, if you want to open all worksets (default), Specify Worksets, Detach from central, Only open Revit or Only Create Local File.
If you click on the Advanced tab you can see how much RAM is installed in the machine and the size of the central file.

When you click OK a local file will be created in C:\Revit Local Files\XXXXX Where XXXXX is the first portion of the central files name
The local file will be renamed to remove Central and add the current users username
If a local file already exists it will be moved to C:\Revit Local Files\Archive
If an archive exists it will be moved to the Recycle Bin first
The program automatically opens the correct version of Revit based upon the version number in the filename (works for 2008 and up)
If the central file is named incorrectly or there are more than one Revit files in the folder, or if the correct version/discipline of Revit is not installed a error message will be displayed.
The local file is then opened automatically with whatever workset option you have selected or detaches from central if the option is selected
The warning about copying the local file is automatically dismissed
The worksharing monitor will be automatically opened if it is installed
The program is compatible with XP, XP64, Vista and Vista 64
Currently compatible with Revit Architecture/Structure/MEP 2008/2009 64 and 32 Bit
I will be updating for Revit 2010 when it is released
The script can be terminated at any time by pressing Win+X
You can also change the defaults through the shortcut, for example you can add this to the end of the target in the shortcut: Specify S 09, every time someone clicks this shortcut now it will default to specify worksets, open with Revit Structure 2009. On most projects we do not use specify worksets, this is why the default is open all, for large projects I just change the shortcut to specify. Some projects have Architecture and Structure in one file, so I have two shortcuts to open the same file but one opens with arch, the other with structure.
I'm open to any improvements!
UPDATE I have added the ability to change the username in the advanced tab and the script now checks to see if there is a recovery file in the local folder, if there is it gives you the option to open the recovery file or create a new one.
UPDATE 4/20/09 Now works with Revit 2010
UPDATE 6/2/10 Now works with Revit 2011, added function to repair common Revit problems by pressing Ctrl + R when launcher window is open, you can also view a list of variable by pressing Win + V
UPDATE 6/11/10 MAJOR update for 2011, now works with addins!

This program is used to create a local file automatically, open the file in Revit with the option to Specify worksets, Detach from central, etc.
The Revit Launcher.exe can be placed in the same folder as the central file, but I would recommend putting it in one location on your network.
If you place it on your network you will then need to create a shortcut to this file. After you create the shortcut go to the properties, the target should already be pointing to the location of the Revit Launcher.exe, Start In needs to be the path to the central file, be sure to put quotes around the path.

There can only be one Revit file in this folder.
The name of the central file must be XXXXX #VV Central.rvt, where XXXXX can be anything of any length, # is the discipline
(A, S or MEP, where the 3 letters in MEP can be expressed in any order) and VV is the version number
The spaces shown in the filename can be any character you want, including a space.
So 123456789 Project_A08-Central.rvt would work the same as 123456789-Project-A08_Central.rvt
The following dialog will come up when the shortcut is double clicked.

From here you can select the discipline of Revit you want to use, 64 or 32 bit Revit, if you want to open all worksets (default), Specify Worksets, Detach from central, Only open Revit or Only Create Local File.
If you click on the Advanced tab you can see how much RAM is installed in the machine and the size of the central file.

When you click OK a local file will be created in C:\Revit Local Files\XXXXX Where XXXXX is the first portion of the central files name
The local file will be renamed to remove Central and add the current users username
If a local file already exists it will be moved to C:\Revit Local Files\Archive
If an archive exists it will be moved to the Recycle Bin first
The program automatically opens the correct version of Revit based upon the version number in the filename (works for 2008 and up)
If the central file is named incorrectly or there are more than one Revit files in the folder, or if the correct version/discipline of Revit is not installed a error message will be displayed.
The local file is then opened automatically with whatever workset option you have selected or detaches from central if the option is selected
The warning about copying the local file is automatically dismissed
The worksharing monitor will be automatically opened if it is installed
The program is compatible with XP, XP64, Vista and Vista 64
Currently compatible with Revit Architecture/Structure/MEP 2010/2011 64 and 32 Bit
I will be updating for Revit 2012 when it is released
The script can be terminated at any time by pressing Win+X
You can also change the defaults through the shortcut, for example you can add this to the end of the target in the shortcut: Specify S 09, every time someone clicks this shortcut now it will default to specify worksets, open with Revit Structure 2009. On most projects we do not use specify worksets, this is why the default is open all, for large projects I just change the shortcut to specify. Some projects have Architecture and Structure in one file, so I have two shortcuts to open the same file but one opens with arch, the other with structure.
I'm open to any improvements!
UPDATE I have added the ability to change the username in the advanced tab and the script now checks to see if there is a recovery file in the local folder, if there is it gives you the option to open the recovery file or create a new one.
UPDATE 4/20/09 Now works with Revit 2010
UPDATE 6/2/10 Now works with Revit 2011, added function to repair common Revit problems by pressing Ctrl + R when launcher window is open, you can also view a list of variable by pressing Win + V
UPDATE 6/11/10 MAJOR update for 2011, now works with addins!

Links to files updated

I had previously hosted my files on AUGI, now that this is gone I have moved my files to dropbox, I have updated the original posts with new links and below are the links all together
Navisworks Revit Grid Family – see this post
Navisworks Search Sets xml file I never posted this to the blog before, only on AUGI. This can be imported into Navisworks to bring in predefined search sets that correlate with Revit categories, AutoCAD MEP, Tekla, AutoSprink, etc. I’m always adding to this as I get different files types. If you have more to add please let me know so we can add to this master file.
Revit Launcher – This is another utility I only posted on AUGI, see this post