my first corrupt project

[ws]

A rite of passage of all Revit users I guess ;)

Create a project yesterday, will not open today - 'Data in file corrupt... must be manually recovered.... Contact Autodesk Support' (which I've done).

3 Backups same and only one journal file - which I tried dragging and dropping on the Revit icon (amazing trick that... wish I could work as fast as the journal replays itself :) )

Anyway, the question is - can you interrupt a journal file to stop it short of the point where it exits, presumably because of the corruption - in my case very nearly at the end?

[dhurtubise]

You can open the journal file in notepad and delete actions

[mccurdyks]

Worked for us on an 8.1 project:

Open the file with "audit" checked and under open worksets pick "all" if workset enabled.

Saved us from contacting support.

[ws]

thanks Daniel - I opened it in Ultraedit32 which has the benefit of showing line numbers
( http://www.ultraedit.com/index.php?name=UE_MoreFeatures if anyone is interested )

I imagine this is an unsupported feature of Revit...
but any tips welcome.

@mccurdyks - thanks, I did try opening with Audit but same error message appeared (I must have done something really naughty )

[ws]

Hmm, I notice that if you open the journal that was created when the backup journal was run, it tells you the line number at which the backup journal exited...

[dhurtubise]

You would be amazed at what you can do with a journal file ;-)

[ws]

Indeed ;)

Very educational, if a bit time consuming.

Reading up on the Revit API and suchlike I see that journal files are used for regression testing. From bits and pieces of posted information it seemed to me that the journals must be a series of commands followed by user actions(?) within the commented out lines. I read that there is a limited amount of space for storing user actions.

Anyway, the main thing is... I have fixed my project :)

(Autodesk support have just been back to me by email with a standard series of questions - it will be interesting to see what they say - eventually)

Now that I knew what were commands, I deleted from the end back up to what seemed a sensible point, just before I loaded some 3D sanitaryware.

Ran this trimmed journal file and Revit stopped at just the right point, allowing me to save 99% of the project - and all seems well again.

Phew! :)

[rjcrowther]

Thanks for having this open discussion with us. I have no doubt it will come in handy at some stage.


Rob

[ws]

Umm, just as well I fixed this project myself because Autodesk support have not replied beyond the 24 hour first reply asking for a standard list of information I had already posted with the initial 'critical' :roll: support request (doesn't surprise me but it is disappointing).

Is this sort of timescale typical in other users' experience?

Perhaps I'll have a reply by the time I return from holiday ;)

[Justin Marchiel]

i have not had any experience with corrupt files, but when i put in a support request (usually as moderate) i have an answer same day, and if not early the next morning.

maybe there is more wrong with your file then you think (I am not trying to be mean!)

Justin

[ws]

Yes, could be, thanks - although it's a tiny project and only just started with a few walls and a roof in it.

I did wonder where the support requests went - i.e. do they all go to Autodesk in the US? or Bulgaria ;) - i.e. are they 'locally' dealt with?

I'm not too bothered as you learn a lot from working out how to do things for yourself and I am sure they will eventually get back to me.

I think it was around 2 weeks the last time I submitted a support request about installation problems - but they did come back with an answer.

[twiceroadsfool]

Glad to hear you got the file fixed...

Thats drastically different turn around on the time since sending it in, however. The only different is i did not call mine critical either, but i have sent a file in and gotten an email bck with questions in a matter of hours, and a final response with solution/explanation by the next business day.

We did have one file that was really screwed up that they kept for a few days before getting back to us, but they DID get back to us with the reason for the problem we were having.

I wonder if they are really busy at the moment...

[jeffh]

I did wonder where the support requests went - i.e. do they all go to Autodesk in the US? or Bulgaria ;) - i.e. are they 'locally' dealt with?

Support requests are handled by teams "in geo" which means The support requests generated in the Americas are handled by a team in Manchester New Hampshire. Support requests from Europe are handled by a team in Neuchatel Switzerland. The support requests from the Asia Pacific area go to a team in Singapore.

The teams do communicate with one another on support requests but once assigned to a tech that tech will typically handle the case from beginning to end.

All techs contact development in Waltham Massachusetts if the support request needs their attention to get resolved.

[ws]

thanks Jeff for taking the trouble to explain.

I thought it must be something like that.

I'll be near the Swiss border during my holiday - I could always drop by and see how they were getting on? ;)

(only joking... I'll be too busy trying to remember the German for 'two beers, please' :beer: )

[ws]

Hmm, back from sunny Italy and Austria... still no reply from our European support friends via email or the support site entry...

However, an email enquiring as to what was happening produced a quick reply with the fixed file.

Maybe they expect you to pester them about it?

that's what clients do to me anyway :roll: ;)

Edit: just had a closing note from support to say next time don't hesitate to request a corrupt file after 3 to 4 days

[Wes Macaulay]

William, is the file a single-user file of a substantial size? We find that unshared project files (no worksets) blow up on occasion when writing across a network... it's a Windows bug I believe, but it would be great to hear from the Factory on the topic...

[ws]

Umm, no Wes, at least I don't consider it large by Revit standards - around 3MB and I don't use networked drives. I had only just started work on the project - a few walls, a roof etc.

It all seemed to go wrong when I brought in 3D sanitaryware (knew it was a bad idea.. what tempts you into these things :roll: ;))- may have been a coincidence as the fixed file still contains those 3D fittings.

I fixed the project myself by stopping the journal script before those fittings were loaded.