Worksets for the single user

[Henry D]

I am doing this three story building with intricate three story pilasters, entablatures, balustrades, etc. So the 3D views are really starting to slow down and I am looking for ways to speed things up.

The workset online training class discouraged the use of worksets for the single user, but I know Aaron Rumple has mentioned that he uses them to speed things up in single user environments.

I am considering putting different elements of my project into worksets so I can have an easy way to turn off the visibilty and get faster 3d regenerations. I would not be creating other local files. Is this a good way for me to go?

Thanks

[aggockel50321]

Yep,

Works for me.

Take some time & study the tuturial. The hardest part is getting used to the workset methology & interface.

[Henry D]

Good to hear that. I just put all my resource hogging fancy exterior decorations into another workset and it's already better.
As a single user, do you put your worksets into different files or just keep everything in one file?

[aggockel50321]

One file (save to central), unless I'm crazy enough to check out & take home some work & do it on another machine at home, & want to keep the file size down. But that doesn't happen too often...

[Scott D Davis]

You enable worksets, and then "Save to Central". This creates the main database file. (which you never directly edit again). Then you "save as" the central file, appending your initials or some other designator to the file name. That is the file you open and work on, periodically clicking the 'Save to Central' button which updates the main database. so for a single user, you will have two files....the Central file, and your working file.

Do the tutorial, it will really help understand the concept!

[Henry D]

O.K.Scott, I did the whole tutorial (not just half of it like I usually do :lol: ). I now have a central file and a users file and all my worksets are set up with their respective elements. I can see clearly why it's done this way for multiple users. But I'm still not clear on why if I'm the only user I need two files. Can't I just open and edit my worksets in the central file and not have a second file - it seems redundant for a single user. I think I am missing something here.

[Steve_Stafford]

You can...I do until I start actually sharing...now watch everyone will tell me how dangerous that is :D

[Scott D Davis]

Oh my gawd! That is so DANGEROUS! :shock:

No....not really. It would only be dangerous if someone edited the Working file, and someone else edited the Central file. If edits are made to both, and then you try a 'save to central' you will get errors. I would continue to keep the Central file untouched, and consider it a 'backup'. If something were to happen to the working file, open Central, do a Save As, and make a new working copy.

[ajayholland]

Henry:

After saving the local file, I just click on the disk icon for periodic saves during a work session. You can do this without the warnings about relinquishing your worksets. Then when I REALLY want to save, I use "Save to Central". Its an extra level of safety if I screw things up!

A. Jay Holland

[bclarch]

After completing my first set of CDs in Revit I can see the value of having some methodology to control subsets of the project. (I am signed up for Thursday's worksets online tutorial.) However, the help files also seem to suggest that scope boxes could be used in a manner that would allow more specific control over portions of the project. Can anyone out there give me a sense of when to use worksets vs. scope boxes to exert control over different aspects of the project? (In a single user setting, worksets being an obvious must for multi-user.) What is each one good for or not good for etc.? I know that this is a very broad question that touches on a lot of things. I am not necessarily looking for detailed implementation instructions but for overall conceptual methodologies.

[aggockel50321]

Scope boxes (if I'm using them correctly) seem only to control the visibility of annotation objects, like grids and reference planes.

They're nice if your project is getting overwhelmed with reference planes, but I'm not sure they'll enhance the performance of the software by only dealing with objects within the scope box.

[bclarch]

Looks like you've got a good handle on it Andrew. I just re-read the help file for scope boxes and they do deal only with what they refer to as "datums" i.e. ref planes, levels, grids...

[Martin P]

Ok - have done the tutorial on worksets and I think I am getting the idea now (and it looks pretty simple after shying away from it for so long!!),

I just wondered if the point in here about not just working in the central file is still a valid one.

Is the main advantage of creating a local file (for a single user) mainly in that you can do partial loads and make the file smaller o work with?

I also wondered, although I am what you would call a single user of worksets in the office - others will on occasion have to open my drawings. What is the best way for me to make it easy for them (they wont want know anything about worksets, and likely wont want to!) should I "hide" the central file and make a local file with everthing made editable?

[hand471037]

Is the main advantage of creating a local file (for a single user) mainly in that you can do partial loads and make the file smaller o work with?

no, it's so that if your system crashes while working the central file isn't in danger. It's also nice to have all those logs and tracking and backups that come in as soon as you start using Work sets. If you're working in the Central File when Something Bad happens, it can be corrupted, and you'll have to go to the last Save-To-Central backup via Workset Backups, or go to the backup tapes and pray. ;-)

Mind you I've only seen this happen twice in two years or so that I've been doing stuff with Worksets.


I also wondered, although I am what you would call a single user of worksets in the office - others will on occasion have to open my drawings. What is the best way for me to make it easy for them (they wont want know anything about worksets, and likely wont want to!) should I "hide" the central file and make a local file with everthing made editable?

No. You should just do a Save-To-Central at the end of the day, and relinquish all rights. With Revit 8.1's new 'borrow as you go' style of working, this isn't even a pain the behind anymore, for you don't have to check things out in the first place (unless you want total control over part of the project) and Revit by defaults checks back in anything you borrowed when you save to central...

(p.s. I have used Worksets on all of my projects for the last three years or so, regardless if I was working solo or not. They make a big difference at times...)

[Martin P]

no, it's so that if your system crashes while working the central file isn't in danger. It's also nice to have all those logs and tracking and backups that come in as soon as you start using Work sets. If you're working in the Central File when Something Bad happens, it can be corrupted, and you'll have to go to the last Save-To-Central backup via Workset Backups, or go to the backup tapes and pray. ;-)

Mind you I've only seen this happen twice in two years or so that I've been doing stuff with Worksets.



No. You should just do a Save-To-Central at the end of the day, and relinquish all rights. With Revit 8.1's new 'borrow as you go' style of working, this isn't even a pain the behind anymore, for you don't have to check things out in the first place (unless you want total control over part of the project) and Revit by defaults checks back in anything you borrowed when you save to central...

(p.s. I have used Worksets on all of my projects for the last three years or so, regardless if I was working solo or not. They make a big difference at times...)

Thanks for quick reply :) I might use them today :o

I can see very quickly how useful worksets will be for a single user as well as multiple user, particularly on a large project - which in my office is only ever done by one person! - So I should make the central file the one that is available to everybody on the server - where they might for example need to make a few tweaks for the client if I am on holiday, or just print off some drawings... - do you just have all the sheets in the central file then? you dont work on them locally as a single user?

[sbrown]

The local file has all the sheets in it, it is truely a complete copy of the central, in fact to create a local you can just drag a copy of the central to your desktop, when you open it it will tell you its a local.

There are 2 main reasons I can think of to work in the local instead of the Central.

1. redundancy, - plain old safety, if one file gets corrupted, you still have the other.
2. Save times, local files reside on your workstation, while the central is on the server, so it will be quicker to save locally all day long, then to central only a couple times.

[bclarch]

So I should make the central file the one that is available to everybody on the server - where they might for example need to make a few tweaks for the client if I am on holiday, or just print off some drawings... - do you just have all the sheets in the central file then? you dont work on them locally as a single user?
A local file is a complete copy of the central file in every detail, including all sheets and views. I would suggest making a second local file for other users instead of having them muck about in the central file. The second local file can lay dormant until needed. When needed, it can be opened and the latest changes can be loaded from the central file. This will give them a 100% up-to-date copy of the project to work with without endangering the integrity of the central file.

[Martin P]

So the central file could really reside on my desktop rather than the network (that way nobody but me can mess about with it and cause problems!) and the local file on the network - where if they edit it wont be a problem... I know this sounds back to front but if I put the central on the network, other users will just go in and work on it!


This also means that I have 2 exact copies of files on different machines as well which is good..

[iru69]

I know this sounds back to front but if I put the central on the network, other users will just go in and work on it!.
I guess you can do anything you want - but that does sound backward and somehow doesn't seem like such a good idea.

The bigger question is: are the people in your office so untrustworthy that you can't keep a file on the network without it being messed with? Maybe that's something you guys need to discuss ;)

[bclarch]

So the central file could really reside on my desktop rather than the network (that way nobody but me can mess about with it and cause problems!) and the local file on the network - where if they edit it wont be a problem... Yes and no. The central file can be located wherever you want (our office is a peer-to-peer network and I have the central file and my local copy on my machine for our projects) but you will still have to allow access to it over the network. The other users need access so that they can update the other local file. You need to allow full access, not merely "read only". This is because reloading worksets also saves changes back to central.

[Martin P]

I cant leave a file on the server and be certain it wont be used by others! - if you arent about the boss will sometimes have to get somebody else to adjust something he needs done, very annoying for all concered - he tries to avoid it, but it does happen :(

I suppose though if somebody else did go in now and again and tweaked the central the file it wouldnt matter too much would it? - its not often that others work on my drawings but it does happen - if they made a few minor tweaks in the central file it wouldnt be the end of the world I suppose!

[hand471037]

If you're concerned about others working on it when they shouldn't, you can always just check out everything in your name and not relinquish rights to it until you're done with it. Just because you have it checked out doesn't mean it's not saving back to the central file, or that someone else still couldn't open the central file and print; it's just that if you've got everything checked out, and someone does open the central file and tries to change something they will get a error, saying that you've got that item checked out (since you've checked everything out) and that they will need to get your permission to Borrow it.

Now, with Revit 8.1's 'Borrow as you Go' work flow, the only time you really need to check things out (like you do in the tutorial IIRC) is when you want total control over it while you're working on it. See, checking out a Workset gives control over everything within the Workset to that user; borrowing something only gives control over that one single item that the user is trying to edit.

So now that Revit will automatically borrow something on-the-fly if no one else has it checked out, the typical workflow now is to simply not check out any worksets, just make your local file and start working away, and Revit will keep you from stepping on another user's toes because if they have changed something but haven't saved to central yet (so those changes haven't been 'published' to the whole team yet) Revit will see that it's already borrowed (by them) when you try to do something with it, and won't let you (so you won't be able to 'clash' with your edits). It's a much, much more eloquent way to work and goes much faster.

So, in your case, you'd just do it the 'old way' in that you'd just check everything out to yourself so that no one else could mess with it while you're working on it, and check everything back in when you know you'll be out of the office or something so that then they can make whatever edits they want. Or you could just check out the model, and not the views or sheets, so that they can't mess with the Building but they can be helping you annotating views and such...

Worksets are great. :D

[bclarch]

I cant leave a file on the server and be certain it wont be used by others! - if you arent about the boss will sometimes have to get somebody else to adjust something he needs done, very annoying for all concered - he tries to avoid it, but it does happen :(
This is an office policy issue that the software cannot help you with. However you can take advantage of human behavior. Most people like to take the path of least resistance or even just the path that they are most familiar with. Make it easier for the others to access their local file than the central file. Put a shortcut on their desktop that takes them to a folder that just contains the "public" copies of the local files. If they can open a file with two clicks they are less likely to take the trouble to navigate their way across the network to the "private" central files. Other than that, just whack 'em with a ruler if they get out of line.

[sbrown]

Just so you understand, another user could just open the local file on the server, change something and STC and it would mess up your central. So you can't keep someone intent on screwing up your file from doing so.

[Shaun v Rooyen]

If you're concerned about others working on it when they shouldn't, you can always just check out everything in your name and not relinquish rights to it until you're done with it. ...



Just so you understand, another user could just open the local file on the server, change something and STC and it would mess up your central. So you can't keep someone intent on screwing up your file from doing so.

Scotts right!!! Even if you do own all the worksets and never relinquish, one just has to match your user name in Revit and change away. Not secure enough!


I cant leave a file on the server and be certain it wont be used by others! - if you arent about the boss will sometimes have to get somebody else to adjust something he needs done, very annoying for all concered - he tries to avoid it, but it does happen.....

My concern is, is what kind of people are you working with? That you dont trust them!
Maybe I don't understand, cause we always workv in teams. Thats 90% of the point of a central file/worksets isn't it?