Updating Projects Using a Journal Script Files

I have prepared script files that can bulk upgrade and audit to Revit 2017 the following files:

  • Families
  • Projects (Not Central Files)
  • Templates

Contact Micrographics if you would like a quote to deliver the files and provide training to implement the workflow.

1

The Apps on Autodesk Exchange do not currently audit when upgrading (I confirmed this):  https://apps.autodesk.com/RVT/en/List/Search?isAppSearch=True&searchboxstore=RVT&facet=__version%3A%3A2017&collection=&sort=&query=upgrade. This is generally not sufficient to most professional users: What option does it leave them with but to spend a long time updating and auditing one project after another (projects are generally orders of magnitude larger than most families and don’t update as quickly).

2

It is important to audit files: http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2017/ENU/?guid=GUID-5A8746C7-0AC9-41EE-BA21-37A386F2EEA2.

3

I have seen this in practice where those that don’t have lost a large percentage of their work due to errors down the line. These can be minimised if the upgrade is performed after the first service pack for the new version is released. Auditing not only fixes some errors, but make one aware of issues that need to be attended to as projects and families are upgraded. If the upgrade scripts are run on current versions they will, in effect, audit them.

Revit files that link into other files should be upgraded first as they are upgraded each time within their containing projects (unless they have already been upgraded). There are therefore intelligent decisions within automation that a human can make to expedite the process, although if one were willing to pay a time penalty one could let the computer do the extra (repeated unnecessary work). If any exceptions are encountered the scrip will exit and some human input will be required (if one is working against a deadline then the process must not be unsupervised).

Although the script cannot upgrade workshared files, the following article provides excellent instructions for upgrading them: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Revit-Collaborate/files/GUID-3A96685A-13B4-4ED0-9160-C84E95650370-htm.html

While I managed to create these scripts it is not a workflow that I would recommend a novice. Also, there is no guarantee that a Revit journal file from one version will run on the next, but even within the 2017 API I have noticed that journal files won’t easily run to completion when dragged onto a Revit icon any longer. They are also difficult to debug or to find help on.

4

I am now of the opinion that although it is possible to create script files from journal files, when automating Revit, I would recommend programming against the Revit API using Visual Studio, write a macro or use Dynamo instead.

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