Revit Server Model Creation Command-Line Utility

Comments11

• c.suarezWed Aug 31, 2011 4:12 amI am just wondering if there is a Command-line tool to copy any file type (e.g. drawing.dwg) from a local drive to specified Revit Server destination path location. I want to keep all my project files in one location and that is a directory in Revit Server.
• hermeytheelfFri Oct 14, 2011 2:24 pmThe Command-line Usage Example is still missing crucial information. This would read better:
  
  To create a local model called "As-Built complex.rvt"
  
  •RevitServerTool createLocalRvt 2011 Hospital Project\As-Built complex.rvt -d "c:\LocalCopies\As-Built complex.rvt" -s "SERVER01" -o
  
  OR
  
  •RevitServerTool L Hospital Project\As-Built complex.rvt -d "c:\LocalCopies\As-Built complex.rvt" -s "SERVER01" -o
• hermeytheelfFri Oct 14, 2011 2:44 pmalso should be noted that the use of quotations in the example below is NOT required and the RevitServerTool will in fact not work if you use quotations as shown in the example
• leemichaelbMon Oct 17, 2011 5:58 amhermeytheelf:
  you are absolutely correct: the examples sited above contain an error, namely, they do not correctly identify the source central model being used to create the local. (Alternatively, perhaps the -d argument is misplaced as the "2011 Hospital Project\As-Built complex.rvt" may be intended to specify the central.)
  
  However, I believe the examples you site also contain an error. The "Hospital Project...." will require quotes to prevent ambiguity between spaces in the path/filename of the source central and spaces that separate arguments to the RevitServerTool command-line utility.
  
  I will correct the examples above - nice catch, thanks!
  Mike Lee
  Autodesk Revit Server QA
• hermeytheelfSat Oct 29, 2011 9:39 amChecking again and the quotation marks dont seem to make a difference for me???
  I can see how they might come in handy to be able to search and replace the contents between them"*" when scripting.
  
  I also made a simple .bat file that anyone can use. Nothing fancy as I don't really have much programming skills to speak of. Pasted below here. Copy the contents into a new .txt file and save as a .bat file. Edit the contents to match the models and locations that you are looking for.
  
  ::created by hermeytheelf
  ::created on 10/28/2011
  ::created for xxxz Project
  ::This batch file will execute the RevitServerTool to create new local copies of multiple models
  @echo off
  echo Create new local copies of XXX Models.
  echo This window will stay open until the batch has completed
  echo Upon copletion the RevitServerTool folder will open showing the created files
  pause
  cd\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Architecture 2012\Program\RevitServerToolCommand
  Revitservertool L "2011 Hospital Project\As-Built complex.rvt" -s "centralServerName" -o
  cd\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Architecture 2012\Program\RevitServerToolCommand
  Revitservertool L "2011 Hospital Project\1701-McCoy_Wing.rvt" -s "omac-inrevitp01" -o
  Start %windir%\explorer.exe "C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\RevitServerTool"
• bmccallum_dialogFri Jan 20, 2012 7:54 amBelow is the script we use to create locals from our Revit Server. We make specific changes to each copy of the script and distribute to the BIM Project Coordinator for each project. They can then run the script to grab locals from the whole project for archiving, testing, etc.
  
  The script does quite a bit and depends on certain date settings on the workstation (YYYY-MM-DD) and proper permissions to the Projects share on Revit Server, created by IT.
  
  This script can be run from the workstation if the user has permission to view the Projects share on Revit Server. Only our senior BIM staff have access to the share.
  
  The script goes through a project folder and will create locals for all folders (models) within that folder. We have a master copy of the script in development that will go through all subfolders and can create locals for every project on the server. IT will keep this copy for their use during backups.
  
  On the wishlist is a GUI for the script that will provide pull-downs for RS name and project number so we can use one script for everything.
  
  For now we're still doing it the 'old' way:
  
  SET Project=
  SET RevitServer=
  SET Today=%Date: =0%
  SET Now=%Time: =0%
  SET Hours=%Now:~0,2%
  SET Minutes=%Now:~3,2%
  SET Seconds=%Now:~6,2%
  ECHO.%Now% | FIND /I "P" >NUL && SET /A Hours += 12
  SET DateTime=%Today%-%Hours%%Minutes%%Seconds%
  
  CD "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Architecture 2012\Program\RevitServerToolCommand"
  
  FOR /D %%R IN ("\\%RevitServer%\Projects\%Project%\*.rvt") DO revitservertool createlocalRVT -s %RevitServer% "%Project%\%%~nxR" -d "C:\Revit\Local Files\%Project%\%DateTime%\%%~nxR" -o
  
  Start %windir%\explorer.exe "C:\Revit\Local Files\%Project%\%DateTime%"
• jacunsrFri Jan 20, 2012 10:23 amThanks for your excellent comment. This is a fantastic example of the kind of contribution we are hoping to see from the user community.
  
  Rick Jacunski, Autodesk Revit User Experience Team
• nbbjAdmnFri Mar 30, 2012 1:36 pmIn Revit 2013, you can specify whether the local file is being generated from the accelerator or the host. In Revit 2012 does the Revit Server tool create the local file from the Central Server, or from the Local Server?
  
  I would like to create about 2 gb of archive models to a Columbus network share; however, the Central Server is located in Seattle. Should I run the script from the Columbus Local Server? Or, should i run it from the Seattle Central server and use xcopy to move it to the Columbus file share?
• eric.stimmelThu Apr 26, 2012 11:56 am@bmccallum_dialog
  
  I'm not sure how your script is able to work. The path to the project ( \\%RevitServer%\Projects\%Project%\ ) does not seem to be accessible to Windows Explorer. How are you able to loop over the files to determine each model name? Is there some way to expose the list of files without making an HTTP request and parsing the response?
• bmccallum_dialogThu Apr 26, 2012 12:27 pmOur script runs on a shared folder 'Projects' in C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit Server\. The shared folder is only available to the BIM Managers in our firm and they only run the script at certain times of the day. We are considering running the script as a scheduled task on the server itself, without user intervention. This will probably be done overnight so there are fresh locals every morning that can be uploaded to the FTP site or used for troubleshooting.
• eric.stimmelThu Apr 26, 2012 2:30 pm@bmccallum_dialog
  
  I see. I misunderstood your script and thought you were backing up the .rvt files (not the .rvt folder). I'm looking for a way to get local copies onto a different drive (in an automated way) for distribution to our consultants and to feed into an already established backup regiment. This is good to know about, but doesn't solve our particular problem. I can write a utility that collects the file names using the REST API and then uses the RevitServerTool to loop over them and make local copies to our backup location. Thanks for the quick response.