Thursday, June 07, 2007

Review Warnings - Auditing that list

In a conversation with Lee Miller, Firmwide BIM Implementer for HOK, we were discussing the inability to export the warnings that Revit will store as they occur. I suggested we take a look at SnagIT's ability to capture information in dialogs by scrolling through the entire contents of the dialog's window. We were pleased to find that it works. You get a capture of the text and you can then edit it in word or drop it in excel and then review the list and track down the errors without staying in the Review Warnings dialog and keep re-opening it too. Thought I'd pass it along. SnagIT has really earned its keep with me.

Note to Revit development team:

  • Need to provide an export of Reviewable Warnings to text format.
  • I think the dialog should stay open when you resolve a warning instead of closing the dialog and forcing us to re-open it or at least an option to make the dialog persistent.
  • There should be Expand All and Collapse All buttons

Window's Keyboard shortcuts will provide the expand/contract behavior if you can remember them along with all the other shortcuts you may try to remember.

NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)
Display all subfolders under the selected folder.

NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Display the contents of the selected folder.

NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Collapse the selected folder.

Cheers!

3 comments:

Aaron Maller said...

Very much agreed on all fronts. I sent a request in as well, outlining the need for an overhaul on the UI for Reviewing Warnings.

I didnt know you could do that with snagIT though... ill have to check it out! Thanks for the tip!!!

Anonymous said...

I also agree on all fronts. It's a shame too, because "review warnings" is one of the most important overlooked feature when diagnosing problems in a project file. There are times when I've had the weirdest buggy behavior in Revit, and by fixing some minor warning (e.g. actual number of risers in stairs don't equal desired number of risers), it makes the strange behavior go away. But man, it's a drag to keep having to open and close the review warning dialog box!

Dave Baldacchino said...

Also, if the object is listed in the dialog box, why isn't there a button that opens the properties dialog of that object from there? For example if I have duplicate type marks in doors, why can't I select the offending door and go directly to the properties to change them? Instead I have to show the door (or exit the dialog and find the door), fix it and do it all over again. No wonder users never go back to clean up their act! The only option Revit gives you is "Delete Checked", which is often (99.9%) not what you want to do.

On a similar note but slightly different...you can place your cursor in a schedule row and then click the Show button. Revit will find that object in an open view or ask whether you want it to search for a view. Again....why not have the ability to open the properties of that object right from the schedule?