Worksharing Monitor is Dead - Long Live Worksharing Monitor

Well it took a LONG time but Autodesk has finally made the Worksharing Monitor application available for Revit 2016. I was thinking that it being missing was a test of our commitment to it. "Will they really miss it? Do they use it?"

Well I missed it and appreciate it coming back to life.

Long live Worksharing Monitor...at least until it truly isn't needed anymore...

Show History and I am Working in Central

We can use the Show History feature to see the save history of our project. If worksets are enabled we'll be described as Working in Central if we are also using Worksharing Monitor. This happens if we browse to the central file to access the save history. If we do this while working in a local file we'll be listed twice in Worksharing Monitor, once for your local file and another for the central.

No worries, we are not really in the central file, at least not in a position to save or alter anything. Review the history and close it when done, no harm done.

Are You Red - Worksharing Monitor

Overheard the other day, "Hey Englebert, you are all red dude!" (name changed to protect the guilty or course). What he's referring to is the color a user's name becomes in Worksharing Monitor when they are working in the central file instead of a local as expected.

Don't be red! You might get this baby telling you off?

See Floyd? He's playing along nicely.

If you do get caught in the central file, no worries. Just use Save As to create a local copy the manual way (old timer way). Put it where your local files usually go and save it like your other local files. You'll be able to Synchronize with Central (SwC). If you don't do this Revit will end up telling you to do it when you try to SwC. The only time Revit doesn't care if you are working in the Central File is when you are alone, or the other people working in Local Files have not used SwC themselves. As soon as they do the next time you try to use SwC you'll get the message.

Revit's developers added this to avoid creating data reconciliation conflicts when someone does end up working in the central file. Just don't get caught "red handed".

Revit Worksharing - Instant Messaging via Bluestreak

Project Bluestreak on Autodesk Labs has introduced a new communication feature

Overview
Autodesk Project Bluestreak is a cloud-based collaboration solution that helps AEC project teams collaborate informally and coordinate their work efficiently. Project Bluestreak simplifies AEC project team communication by consolidating the information silos used alongside design, analysis, and data management applications. Project Bluestreak is the first collaboration solution to integrate informal project team communication and automated notifications from AEC applications, starting with Revit. By combining team communication tools with Revit worksharing notices and one-click file access in a compact desktop app, Project Bluestreak consolidates multiple tools for BIM processes, making team modeling more efficient.

The most recent update includes the following enhancements:

Bluestreak Desktop - a compact window that works alongside any Autodesk or other desktop application so you can stay connected to your distributed AEC project team with real-time communication and automated application notifications.

Autodesk Revit Activity Stream App – an app that connects Revit to Bluestreak cloud services. It combines automated notifications of Revit worksharing events with informal team comments so team members can communicate when models are saved to central to ensure efficient hand-offs.

Autodesk ID - Autodesk Bluestreak now uses Autodesk ID so you can sign in to multiple Autodesk applications with a single username and password, making it easier for you to remember and manage your account information.

Liability? That a firm must allow users to participate in Autodesk Bluestreak so that they can collaborate. One more thing for EyeTee to do, so to speak.

Worksharing Monitor - Are you Using It?

Worksharing Monitor was created as a separate application and originally made available at the Autodesk Subscription site back in January 2008. I mentioned it in THIS POST and also mentioned that David Light had put together a nice summary of its features on his blog.

What is it intended to do? Provide more information to a team using worksets, such as when files are out of date or when an editing request is generated.

Flash forward to the present and I still find that few firms are aware of it, or if they are, actually using it routinely. This makes me wonder about how effective the delivery of the tool is. Users might be aware of subscription and that there is a site at Autodesk for it. Fewer users actually have access to it or are able to download from it. Since we are talking about a separate software installation that means we are asking an IT department, for any firm large enough to warrant having one, to get it installed. It might be more effective to have it installed as part of the Revit deployment itself.

When I first saw the tool I imagined it was a perfect example of Autodesk using its own Revit API (Application Programming Interface) to deliver features apart from the primary code for Revit. A faster way to deliver features because it didn't rely on a formal release cycle or planned development to get it done. Said another way, a rogue solution that could ultimately be incorporated into Revit itself. That bit hasn't happened so far and I suppose that having it separate give us the choice to use it or not.

If you use worksets for your projects and would like to improve how you interact with Revit as a team then you and your team should be using Worksharing Monitor. If you aren't using it I encourage you to look into it and see what is preventing it from showing up on your desktop.

It isn't perfect however, for example, if you are using Remote Desktop Server it doesn't support that kind of connection at this time. I have also heard about some issues with latency, where it doesn't update as quickly as it should. Overall however it has been a benefit to most everyone I've met that IS using it. I personally prefer to be able to use it when I'm working with a group.

Worksharing Monitor - Doesn't Work with Some Files

David Duarte posted a reply to a thread on this subject at AUGI stating that the Worksharing Monitor tool (available via Autodesk Subscription) does not detect activity with files that contain an additional period (.) in the file name.

For example: MyAwesomeProject.NoReally.central.rvt

I imagine this is because Revit uses an extra period (.) followed by four numerical values to define backup files.

For example: MyAwesomeProject.0003.rvt

Odd since that only really applies to stand-alone projects. Regardless this little bit of information may help resolve what otherwise seemed a bit mysterious.