Hyperlinked callouts to autocad

[Martin P]

Having come back from my holiday to discover a load of detailing has been done in Autocad for a job I am working on -

I would like to be able to have a callout that hyperlinked to the appropriate autocad file AND the correct paperspace tab , I realise I could import the details etc - but we want to keep the details in autocad now anyway, as our autocad user is going to do the details, while I do the sections, plans, elevations etc, I will need to look at them regularly - and make sure the detail numbers etc tie up.

[Steve_Stafford]

I have no idea if this is really possible, what if they were saved as dwf's. Can you hyperlink them that way? Create a family that has some labels that are hyperlinks pointing to those, then they might pop up your I browser??

Just thinking on screen...

[Martin P]

I have no idea if this is really possible, what if they were saved as dwf's. Can you hyperlink them that way? Create a family that has some labels that are hyperlinks pointing to those, then they might pop up your I browser??

Just thinking on screen...

it sounds as though you think I can at the moment create a hyperlink using annotations families? I will check that out, it might do pretty much what I need, didnt know hyperlinks were possible in revit anywhere.

[Steve_Stafford]

I think I'm full of beans about the annotation family...but you can add a URL to a family. Like a window for example, then in the properties of a window, you can click on the little arrow in the URL category and Revit will open the web browser and take you to the site. It may still be possible to do something like you describe, but probably not as nicely as you imagine.

Okay, I experimented quick, I created a generic model, made three types and added three parameters that have two web sites and a dwg file as the destination. Then I made a generic model tag to display the URL path. I imported the link family into a project and tagged em. The downside, to actually call the link, you have to select the family type, choose properties, choose edit/new then click on the URL link button. For the dwg, AutoCAD opened the drawing, for the web sites, my browser popped up the web page. Pretty cool, but not very cool actually getting the link.

I can send you my test files if you want to try it out.

[Scott D Davis]

I would seriosly consider linking your ACAD details into detail callouts in Revit. That way, you let Revit take care of the drawing managment, and your detail guy can still draw 'em in AutoCAD. If they are linked, he can make changes and they will update. It's really not going to take that long for you to set up, and will definately be quicker than trying to build hyperlinks.

[Steve_Stafford]

I agree w/ Scott even though I was messing about with that other concept...just make sure you don't use custom symbols in text or dimensions that Revit won't properly display. True for blocks with attributes. These subtleties are what makes linking or importing difficult to implement.

[Martin P]

Yep, linking would probably be the way to go I suppose - I just wish the lineweights that that our Autocad guy uses in 2004, would come into revit as lineweights..... (make that my wish now )

[JamesVan]

Yep, linking would probably be the way to go I suppose - I just wish the lineweights that that our Autocad guy uses in 2004, would come into revit as lineweights..... (make that my wish now )

You can adjust the settings of imported lineweights according to layer color from DWG/DXF in File--> Import/Export Settings and save or load the settings from a text file. I've used this and it works wonderfully.