Forums >> Revit Building >> Technical Support >> Backup vs. Journals

notagain

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coreed

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Journal files capture the actions taken by the software during a session of Revit Architecture, from the time the software starts to the time it stops. These text files can be used to troubleshoot technical problems with the software.

Revit Architecture creates a new journal file each time you use the software. The journal file with the highest number is the most recent file. By default, journal files reside in the following location:

C:\Program Files\<Revit product name and version>\Journals

If you encounter problems during a Revit session, your support provider may ask you to send the journal file and any backup files to help with the troubleshooting process. If you do not encounter problems during a Revit session, the journal file is of little use and can be deleted

 Back-up file are just that, a back-up copy of your project file.

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coreed,aia

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"Revit has to be implemented, Not installed." 

Long Live Revit

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notagain

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archdan

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There are up to 3 files which are used to sotre the project's history. The first are the single user backup files (named project.0001.rvt) these are useful to go back to a previously saved version of a file. By default a Revit project will keep the last 4 saved versions but this can be changed to as many as desired (at least 1). They are always created in the same directory as the project file.

The second type are the found only when using worksets.  These are stored in a folder (named 'project_backup') in the same directory as the project file. These keep a record of all of the changes which have been made by all users in a file.  Each user's local file also creates a backup folder which contains all the changes specific to that user.  These can restore previous versions of the file through the "Backups" command in the File menu.

The thrid type are journal files.  As mentioned in the previous posts, journal files keep a record of every command, movement, and input into a session of revit.  These are an incredibly powerful tool to restore work which was unable to be saved to the project.  Autodesk will frequently ask for these files when sending in a file for repair.  In the past I have been able to open these files in Revit after having Revit crash and have the program recreate some of the work lost as a result.  If you are going to run a journal file after an error though, it is usually best to edit the file and remove the last few command sequences, else you will risk repeating the error again.

Hope this clears up some of the confusion around these files.

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notagain

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WWHub

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If you have files named xxx001.rvt then you are not using worksets and the number of these files is controlled under your options settings.

Using worksets, you will discover that the totalfile size of the backup often is less than a single copy of the central file.  We like to periodically compress the central file and at that time we might make a new central with a new central backup.  If we do that, we might keep the old one for one cycle but most times we feel this is not necessary.

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