Revit content libraries and versions

[Dave Lewis]

I need to support all 3 versions of revit plus I am wondering about previous versions.
Should I install the content libraries on the network into their own sub folders IE
X:\Revit Content\Revit Building 9
X:\Revit Content\Revit Structure 4
X:\Revit Content\Revit Systems 2

Or should I combine all the libraries into one?

Then what do I do about previous versions
Right now I have
X:\Revit Content\Revit Building 8.1
X:\Revit Content\Revit Building 9
X:\Revit Content\Revit Building 9.1

If I start adding content to the libraries and then upgrade to say
X:\Revit Content\Revit Building 10
then I would be missing out on all the old custom content

Any thoughts?

[dbaldacchino]

I'd keep them separate. If you do custom content, don't mix them with the stock libraries; create a special folder. You can map that in the ini file of each installation. In theory, you could point all versions to the oldest content file. So if you just install the 8.1 content, 9.0 and 9.1 would still work (they'll upgrade the file upon opening). But then you'd be missing out on line based families.

[Dave Lewis]

if you are working with a consultant who is using an older version of revit then you need to run the same version and thus need the old libraries. If you load a familiy from 8.1 into 9.1 then it upgrades the family in the library. Once loaded into 9.1 then 8.1 would not be able to use that family.

So you are saying to keep arch, struct and mep seperate?

[dbaldacchino]

We keep the content separate but we don't manage different versions. We require our consultants to upgrade. After all, we pay them hefty fees and we cannot afford to baby sit and spend a bunch of overhead managing different versions. Autodesk needs to take a better stance on this and figure out a way to make Revit backwards compatible and give it the capability to save down to earlier versions. The fact that files between point releases are also not compatible is quite ridiculous in my opinion.

[Dave Lewis]

and to further complicate things you need to keep a chart saying which vertical is compatable with each other

like revit systems 2 = building 9.1

And I have to upgrade all 3 at the same time :(

[Wesley]

Upgrading a family upon loading it into a project does NOT upgrade it back in the library, only within your project, so you don't need to worry about that. I would let the programs install all of the libraries independently for now, unless you have serious space problems on your X: drive

Definitely keep your custom content in a seprate folder structure from the Autodesk content. Let Autodesk worry about keeping that up-to-date, and you only need worry about your custom stuff.

Point release files are compatible with each other, David! Oh, and don't worry about the vertical compatability chart, soon to be obsolete. The point about working with older versions IS valid, if it is the CLIENT who is on the older version!! Bit of a pain, but doable. We currently are running 8.0, 9.0 and 9.1 for differnt clients / projects.

Wes

[dbaldacchino]

Point release files are compatible with each other, David!
Wes
Uhmmm....a RB9.1 file or family cannot be opened with RB9.0. That's what I mean by files not being compatible between point releases.