Forums >> General Discussion >> Revit Project Management >> A local file enslaved to another local file? Is that possible?

salam

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Joined: Mon, Feb 25, 2008
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Hey! I'm working on a Revit 2010 project here at the office, and we've contracted part of a building that's being designed at another firm elsewhere. Our network connection to their server isn't exactly light fast, and there's nothing we can do about that. The central file is on their server, they are the main firm behind the project work. Hence, we have local files saved to our individual machines, linked to a central file that is slow to access. It takes quite a long time to synchronise with central! We've opted out of linking two Revit projects, since we're doing interior design and they're doing architectural work within the same spaces.

 However, it occurred to me that a solution could be that we have master local file saved to our server, and individual user local files of that local files on our machines. That way, we all coordinate work with one sub-central file on our server, and intermittently, I'll go into that file and synchronize it with the master-central file on the client's server.

 Is this possible? Do you have better suggestions?

 Thanks guys, always a pleasure.

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Steve_Stafford

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Joined: Fri, Dec 12, 2003
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Autodesk currently recommends linking central files, not local files. The answer may just be to create a new detached central file on your server and use that as your link. You won't have a concurrent model that will update each time you reload latest or use sychronize with central. You have to decide if creating a new central file every now and then is worth being out of sync compared with waiting for the remote central file link to get reload each time.

To reiterate:

Download their central file

Open the central file using the Detach from Central option

Save the file on your own server in a "linked models" folder

Import this "local" version of their project file

Decide how often this needs to happen and repeat as required. Once a day...once a week... 

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salam

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Joined: Mon, Feb 25, 2008
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So I would open the central file from their server while detaching it, save that detached file on our server as a new central file, create local files on our computers of that new central file that's on our server, and intermittently synchronising our central file with theirs?

Will this work with our sheet set as well, updating their central file with our updated sheets? What if they make a lot major changes during the day, would we be unable to synchronize if our central is too out of date with theirs?

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WWHub

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Steve_Stafford

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I don't think the Working Offsite or Offline section really applies to his description unless I misread it.

Opening their file with Detach from Central is probably too slow, I'd download their file using Copy and Paste. Creating a new central file from their file (this is similar to get a copy of dwg files from a consultant) means that you will be out of sync. How quickly and how important that lack of synchronization is depends on you and them.

A linked model doesn't provide any sheets though they can be scheduled in your drawing list, if that's what you mean.

If you continue to work the way you are you can't really make it any "faster". Your choices are to create a frozen copy and use that for some time period or change how you work by reorganizing how everyone gains access to the data. For example you could host all the central files and the remote team(s) could use Remote Desktop to access a computer in your office so they can work "at your office" from theirs via your local computer. This means you have to make a computer or computers available for each remote person. This can get expensive. Another technique involves using Riverbed products to "speed" up your network connectivity between offices. This too is expensive.

My initial response was focused on "easy" rather than expensive. 

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WWHub

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Steve ... Working offsite/offline is exactly what they want to do....As such, if they mess with model elements, they are at risk but doing interior design, they may be working in a workset they can check out - added furniture families and working on limited sheets doing annotative work.  As such, this will work.  They just need to understand the risks and what they can and can't do.

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Steve_Stafford

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