Thursday, September 13, 2012

Working in the Central File

We are supposed to work in local files. Occasionally people will fire up Revit and end up working in the central file instead. These days it is more deliberate because they have to un-check the Create New Local option to do so.


Revit has been tweaked over the years to deal with central file editing. I've read claims in a couple books recently that working in a central file prevents other users from using Synchronize with Central (SwC). It isn't true in my experience. If I'm working in a local file I can use SwC as much as I need. The person working in the central file on the other hand will be forced to create a local file when they try to use SwC. They'll get this message.


I can work in a central file as long as necessary, as long as nobody else is working on the project in local files too. Isolation is fine, collaboration is where the conflict arises. We encounter the message above when a change has been made via a local file while the central file is being edited. While someone is editing the central file a local file user has been able to add or alter an element and then use SwC. When the local file user completes a SwC and the person working in the central file attempts to use SwC the central file editor will get this message (remember Save is disabled in a Central File).

The message also explains how to resolve the situation, just Save As to save the file with another name, which turns it into a local file. Now SwC will work.

There are some legitimate reasons to work in the central file, just do it in isolation.

6 comments:

Brian Beck said...

That's usually me in the CENTRAL file at 11pm doing my voodoo. Next morning staff just goes to work wondering what the elves do at night.

Steve said...

You get around too, where ever I go I use BBeck as my username. ;)

Anders said...

I've found that if a user is trying to open a workshared project at the same time as another user is synchronizing with the central file, the create new local checkbox is greyed out. By then clicking Open the user accidentally end up opening the central file.

DaveP said...

I've been harping about this for years, but I wish the whole "Make Local Copy" thing would disappear. NOT go away, mind you. Just disappear. I wish we could ALWAYS open the Central file, and Revit would ALWAYS make a local file for us. But the "disappear" part means that it would all happen behind the scenes and the typical user wouldn't even know it's happening. Right now, it's far too easy for an unsophisticated user to open the Central file by accident. Double-clicking from Windows Explorer is the prime culprit. If even that would create a new local file, we'd have less problems. Of course, administrators would need a back door so they could REALLY open the Central, but that should be buried.

DavidSimpson said...

We've also had issues with Revit LT users opening a central file. A new central is automatically created, appended with LT, but the user cannot synch it back with the original central. It can be synched back if opened with full Revit. However, if another user opens the original central in the mean time, the two central files become divergent and cannot be synched back together; one of the users will lose work, unless objects can be cut and pasted between the two projects.

Steve said...

@David Simpson, good to know, thanks!