Revit 2016 - Deleting Revisions

It's possible to select more than one Revision at a time now. In the past we could only select one at a time. Now if we need to clear out a model of its revisions it is easy. Select all the rows (except just one, Revit needs one Revision to function) and click Delete.

While you're checking this out in the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog have a closer look at the new numbering and Alphanumeric options for Sequence, Prefix and Suffix as well as being able to use Alpha-Numeric sequences too.

I keep expecting to find the Revision button on the Annotate ribbon but it isn't. It is on the View Ribbon > Sheet Composition tab. Is it just me? It's also on the Manage ribbon > hiding under Additional Settings fwiw.

Revision Numbering

A month or so ago I received an email from a friend asking about dealing with revision numbering in Revit. Apparently the project team is expecting some specific habits to be followed that Revit doesn't support adequately. My response to him was much calmer than the curse words I muttered to myself. I wrote this post then and let it simmer till now. I'm all for Revit being better. It's just that I think sometimes we get a bit carried away with "our" methods or systems.

In California (where I live), and most any other for that matter, they manage to uniquely identify millions of cars with 8 characters (yes I admit, a combination of letters and numbers). In Revit we can choose between Numeric or Alphabetical (or no numbering), not a combination of them. Let's say for example we could live with Numeric. That means every revision will get a unique number starting with 1 or a letter like A.

But Steve we want the revisions to be like this: 01, 02, 03 (those first nine numbers should start with 0), or we want 1A, 1B, and then to start again with 2A, 2B, or we want architecture revisions to be A1 and structural revisions to be S1 and so on and so on.

It takes effort to resist the urge to be unpleasant...

1,2,3,4,5,6... aren't those bloody unique enough! Just say'n...

Let's not kid ourselves, it really does cost money to "do" things, especially things that a given (Revit) software doesn't support. Does providing the fussier nicer numbering scheme make the project recover money lost to a revision? Does it prevent the expense in the first place? Does it save "man hours"? How many man hours does it actually cost to do what "they want"?

I'd rather use the feature as intended, live with the limited sequence of numbers or letters, than put more energy into creating additional bureaucracy for a team to deal with (and yes cost "us and them" money). Working within the Revit system, however flawed we view it to be, will at least ensure that our documents are consistent, predictable.

Creating and applying workarounds opens the door to the very circumstances we hope to avoid in the first place. We aren't just typing "dead data" into text or attributes like drawings completed by hand or with CAD. The clouds, tags, sheets, views, schedules and revision dialog are all working together to organize them into something we can rely on (assuming we know how to use the tool at all).

Failing that, I sure hope we'll be compensated for the hassle of dealing with it in some other way. If not I hope we'll keep track of the time and effort so next time we'll know how much it really cost?

Perhaps the time and money could be put to better use to avoiding the circumstances that created the need for them (revisions) in the first place?

Managing Revisions

Every time I want to edit the Revisions for a project I activate the Manage ribbon tab. It's never there, no matter how many times I try. The Revisions Button is on the View tab and the Sheet Composition panel. It obviously made sense to the development and user interaction team but not me. I think the correct place to access the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog is the Manage tab. Despite the inclusion of "Sheet Issues" in the dialog name, mentally I "manage" revisions with that dialog. I'd find it quicker if it were on the Manage ribbon instead. I'd be happy if it was either part of the Settings panel or the Manage Project panel.

Potayto...potahto?

Revisions on Sheet Dialog

This dialog lets you have some additional control over the visibility of Revisions in the Revision list on a sheet (assuming your title block family uses a Revit revision list).

If you hide a revision cloud in a view using the right-click option "Hide in View > by Element" you'll find that the revision is also removed from the listed revision on the title block. You may not realize it until later if you are hiding them in the view and printing them out later (ouch).

If you do hide them this way then just remember the Revisions on Sheet dialog, you can turn them back on there!

Dept. of Deja Vu - Workset Updates

I've revisited a some of my earlier posts about worksets to clean up the language that is now used with Revit 2010 and going forward. This way when someone reads them today or in the future the language will be more consistent.

I still have some more work to do I suspect because as I dig back into them I stumble onto another reference to Save to Central etc. If you read a post that ought to be updated don't hesitate to post a comment or send me an email to let me know. It'll help me catch them up.

Updates so far are:
Workset Quick Reference to Terminology
Central File in "Four Easy Steps"
Local Files - How, How Often and Where?
Which one STC or STC? now - SWC or SWC

It's deja vu all over again!

Dept. of Lost and Found - Revisions

Rolly Stevens with Ellerbe Becket shared this one with me the other day.

He writes:
"Just when I've started to like the new Revit 2010 interface, I had to go looking for the Revisions dialog. Common sense told me to look under the Manage tab" I'm with ya Rolly!


He writes: "When that failed miserably, I searched other, less logical places. I finally had to resort to the help file (which, for any Revit geek, is admitting defeat). The help file said to look under View. Bewildered, I look under the View tab. Then I look again, finally I had to re-read the help file!"Go Rolly, go Rolly!

He continues: It turns out that there's a tiny diagonal down arrow in the bottom corner of the Sheet Composition panel. That is the new "Logical" place for the revisions dialog!


He writes: "By the way, there's also a hidden down arrow in the Graphics panel that opens the Advanced Graphics Settings dialog.

Thanks for sharing Rolly!!

Edit: Hey Rolly! Rick pointed out in a comment that it IS on the Manage tab, but listed under the Settings Split Button. So much for "discoverability" 8-)