Revit Backup File Notice

If you’ve used Revit, you pretty much know that you should avoid opening up a backup file unless it’s absolutely necessary to do so.  What I mean by that is you typically aren’t going to open up a file that has “filename.0000.rvt” (for example) as a name…the .”four digits”.rvt (or .rfa) in the file name means it’s a backup.

Well, the other day I was explaining to a group of new Revit users how saving and Revit’s backup files work and I opened up a backup file to show that it is a full size, fully functional backup file.  I went to hit save to show that when you save the file, it would still allow you to save the file.  To my surprise though, a little notice popped up asking if I actually wanted to save to the ORIGINAL file, not the backup!  This was a surprise to me since every time I’ve opened a backup file, I’ve always performed a “Save-as” to give the file a new name or overwrite the original file.

If you click “Yes” on this message, it will actually save the file over the original file, just as if you would have opened up that file instead of the backup.  If you click “No”, then you’ll be saving the changes to the backup file, thus creating a “new” file and the subsequent backups will now be “filename.0001.0001.rvt”!

I’ve been working with Revit since it was Revit Building 7 (I believe, whatever it was called in 2005) and I’ve never seen this.  So, I went back to Revit Architecture 2011 (which is as far back as I have installed) and this message does appear.  I’m not really sure if this has always been there or when it was introduced?  Regardless, I like the message and hopefully it will help those that accidently open a backup file save the changes to the appropriate file. 

Can’t Change Scale of Elevations, Sections, Callouts

The screen shot below is the Ribbon/Options Bar after initiating the Section tool….notice anything missing?

What used to be in the Options Bar is now gone….the ability to “set” the scale of the View you are about to create.  In 2013, you have to basically just create the Section, Elevation or Callout, then once the view is created change the scale. 

Not sure the reasoning behind this one, but it’s kind-of annoying that you can’t set the scale prior to placing/creating the View.

Can’t Copy Light Fixtures in Gyp Board Ceiling Revit 2013

Something weird I ran into a while back while teaching a class…not being able to copy a Light Fixture in the out-of-the-box GWB on Mtl. Stud Ceiling.  I can copy Fixtures all day long in a 2x2 or 2x4 ACT Ceiling (even the Generic Ceiling), but as soon as the ceiling is changed to the GWB, I get the following error…

The 2nd part or the error just says the the “Elements were deleted”.

This happened even with the latest service pack installed (Update 2).  The only work-around I’ve used and have told my students to use is to basically use either the 2x2 or 2x4 ACT Ceiling for all of your Ceilings to start.  Once you get the Lights placed, then swap your Ceiling out to the proper type.  I even tried taking one of the ACT Ceilings, duplicating and making a new Ceiling Type (mimic the GWB type), no go.

BUT, I did find that if the Ceiling Type doesn’t include the Gypsum Wall Board Material, the Lights can be copied just fine!  And it doesn’t matter what Gypsum material I used from the Library…as soon as Gypsum was applied to the Ceiling Type, the Lights didn’t copy.

Remove Dimension from String Revit 2013

In Revit 2013 (all flavors), we now have the ability to remove a single dimension in the middle of a string!!  It’s always been painful to tell people that they needed to wipe out one end or the other and recreate the string if something in the middle needed to be removed for whatever reason.

Here’s a very, very short video on how it works…just remember, don’t select the string and try to Edit Witness Lines to remove a dimension this way.

Removing Single Dim from String

BDS-U 2013 Doesn’t Install NWC Export

For those you don’t know what BDS-U is, it’s the short form for Building Design Suite Ultimate.

Anyway, finally got this bad boy downloaded, extracted and installed yesterday.  Installed practically everything in the suite and popped open Revit 2013 and noticed the Add-Ins tab wasn’t showing.  This was a little odd since the Suite is supposed to install the NWC Exporters, so the Add-Ins tab should be there.  Even checked the Export within the Application Menu, no NWC Export Option (new feature of 2013 by the way).

Great, I can see the numerous amount of support calls/emails coming in about this.  It’s a simple, yet annoying fix…and I’ve already posted about it.  See this post about the NWC Exporters not installing and how to fix it.  Even though the post is from 2009 (2010 software), it’s the exact same process.

I really, really hope I had the odd-ball install where the exporters didn’t get installed in the proper order…