I have been working on a small VB.net application in the evenings for a couple of weeks now. The goal of the project was to handle the business of creating a local file and opening that file in Revit. It may not seem like much work but it seems to cause headaches with each user doing things slightly different and to often not getting a fresh copy in the morning.
It is still a work-in-progress but I am posting it anyways. All the source code is included and it is covered under the GNU/GPL. As I make updates I will post them here and once it is in a semi-complete state I will do a full writeup on my programing wiki. If you use this and make improvements I ask only that you share them with me so that I can update my version.
Creates backups of the existing local file if there is one.
Copies the selected file down to the local machine.
Launches the specified version / year of Revit and opens the file.
Features
Inno Setup installer for easy installation and customization.
XML based settings files allows for easy customization.
Creates a log file for tracking the use and copy of central files.
Support for MEP/Arch/Strut 2009 - 2011 Versions.
32 and 64 bit Compatible. Tested on XP & 7.
Requires only .Net 3.5 Framework
Semi documented code. Should be easy to pickup for any VB.net user.
Settings
There are two settings files one is Project.xml and Settings.xml.
Project.xml is intended to be kept on a server share and it's path is set in the local settings.xml file. It contains a list of projects that user will be shown to select from. Each project contains 4 settings.
Logical name is what text will be presented to the user
File name is the central file name and path that will be copied to the local machine
Year is the year of Revit to launch, 2009 - 2011 supported. 2008 maybe soon.
Version is the flavor of Revit to launch MEP, Arch, Strut.
Several other settings are in there as well such as a small browser window to display updates and news to the user and so on.
If your not familiar with Photosynth I put up a post awhile back that shows what it is all about.
Back when I first saw it I realized it was deriving point cloud data from the images and thought it would be interesting if we could get that raw data set. Well we can't get it directly but Kean Walmsley over at the Through the Interface blog has a write up showing how it can be obtained. I can not wait to start playing with this.
Links:
Background - Reality check
Code Part 1 - Importing Photosynth point clouds into AutoCAD 2011
Code Part 2 - Importing Photosynth point clouds into AutoCAD 2011
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