Autocad hyperlinking in Navisworks

[Anonymous]

I need to hyperlink submittals (pretty much .pdf files) into a .dwg file but I then need these links to be able to work when opened up in Navisworks.

I do not actually have Navisworks so I need some help.

What do I need to do on my end (in Autocad - with 3D objects) as far as hyperlinking .pdf files and then exporting that into a file format Navisworks can open with the hyperlinks still working.

[Anonymous]

I need to hyperlink submittals (pretty much .pdf files) into a .dwg file but I then need these links to be able to work when opened up in Navisworks.

I do not actually have Navisworks so I need some help.

What do I need to do on my end (in Autocad - with 3D objects) as far as hyperlinking .pdf files and then exporting that into a file format Navisworks can open with the hyperlinks still working.

[john.lipp · Accepted solution]

Hi tfisch86,

AutoCAD hyperlinks are a supported entity in Navisworks and should be automatically brought across when you import a DWG or export to an NWC file via the nwcout command. To view your hyperlinks in Navisworks, click the Links button in the Display panel of the Home tab.

The hyperlinks in Navisworks will use either relative paths or absolute paths to the linked files based off of what you had specified in AutoCAD for your hyperlinks. If you are using relative paths for your hyperlinks in AutoCAD, then after exporting to the NWC, you’ll want to ensure that you don’t move either the NWC or the PDF file to a different folder that will break that relative path. For example, if you export the NWC to the same folder that the hyperlinked PDF resides, and you later move the NWC file to a different location, then the link to that relative path will be broken, as the NWC will be looking for the PDF in the same folder that it resides in. 

Likewise, if you use Absolute paths, you’ll need to ensure that that absolute path is accessible on the machine you are opening the NWC file on, and that the PDF exists in that location.


Best regards

John Lipp



Product Support Specialist
Autodesk Product Support

[Anonymous]

Hi,

This is related to Linking in Navisworks.  I've imported AutoCAD files into Navisworks and saved the .NWF file.  All of the hyperlinks (PDF files) work within the .NWF file.

When I convert the NWF file to an NWD file, the links stop working.  Is there anyway I can keep those links maintained without having to go into each link (+1,000 links) and change it's location?

Please help if possible.

Jon

[john.lipp]

Hi JonathanBurke7415,


Are you opening the NWD on another machine that doesn’t have the PDF files or at least not in the same locations?

When you edit a hyperlink in Navisworks, is the path to the file the entire absolute path?

Are you creating the hyperlinks in Navisworks or in AutoCAD?

If the hyperlinks were created in Navisworks and you have to change their paths from Absolute to Relative, you’ll manually need to go through each one to do so.  I recommend logging an enhancement for editing multiple hyperlinks on the feedback page if you are running into this:
 - http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=1109794

If you created the Hyperlinks in AutoCAD and they were set there as absolute paths, then there may be a way to change all of them to relative as described in the following post using the REPURLS command which is part of EXPRESS TOOLS:
 - http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2009/Changing-many-absolute-hyperlinks-to-relative/m-p/2494118...

Please let me know if this helps


Best regards,

John Lipp

Product Support Specialist
Autodesk Product Support

[Anonymous]

Hey John,

I'm not opening up the NWD files on another machine and the files have stayed in the same location they have always been.

The NWF files link AutoCAD files with PDF files hyperlinked to certain pieces in the NWF file.  For example all of the sprinkler heads are linked to a PDF of the submittal for that sprinkler head.  When you turn links on in Navisworks, you can click on the link and it opens that PDF of the submittal.  When I save the file as an NWD in the same location as the NWF all of the links stop working.   This does not make any sense.

The hyperlinks were added in AutoCAD and were relative links.  I tested this out by moving the NWF file to another drive.  All of the links still worked.

I followed the link for REPURLS, but it didn't work.

Shouldn't the NWD file package all related files when converted from an NWF, or at least maintain the links?

I am trying to provide an owner a NWD file of their As-Built with the submittals linked as was required per their contract.  I would provide them with the NWF file, but Navisworks Freedom will not open an NWF file.  I'm at a dead end here and need some more help.

Thanks,

Jon Burke

[john.lipp]

Hi JonathanBurke7415,


Thank you for the update.  This is odd behavior, and I’ve been unable to reproduce the issue you are seeing.

Which version of Navisworks and AutoCAD are you using?

When you edit the hyperlink, is the “Link to file or URL” path the same in the NWD as it is in the NWF?  If not, what is the difference between the two?

Does it occur with any DWG or item?

Does it occur if you create a hyperlink yourself within Navisworks rather than those brought through the AutoCAD file's hyperlink?

Would you be able to post a non-sensitive dataset that demonstrates the issue?

When you save to an NWD or publish to one, the files that the hyperlinks reference do not embed in the NWD; however, the paths to the links should remain the same as they were in the NWF.


Best regards,

John Lipp
 
Product Support Specialist
Autodesk Product Support

[Anonymous]

I'm using AutoCAD & Navisworks 2011.

The link is to the file and the file location stays the same as a NWF and NWD.

If the link is created in Navisworks NWF and then transfered to NWD it remains active and working.

What I ended up doing was opening a new NWD file and appending the DWG files within the NWD file.  This took a lot of extra time and I had to move the DWG files to their proper location again.  The links work now though as a NWD.

It still does not make any sense why the NWD file lost those links when it was saved from a NWF.

[john.lipp]

Hi JonathanBurke7415,

Does this occur with any file type you link to or just PDF files?

I did a test on a machine without a PDF reader installed, and the error message failed to resolve link occurs if the reader or acrobat application isn't installed.  Even though the link is correctly pathed to the file, since an application doesn't load the file, the failed to resolve link occurs.

Best regards,

John Lipp

Product Support Specialist
Autodesk Product Support

[Anonymous]

I am having the same issue with links not working in an nwd file. I create the hyperlinks in AutoCAD, the links work in the nwf. Once I save it to an nwd (so someone with Freedom can view the model) the links no longer work.

This is on the same machine, same folder structure, file path (the links are relative).

This makes NO SENSE!

Please help if you can.

[Patrick_Aps_9121]

Just some ideas:
Check your Options of both Freedom and Simulate to see if they have the same settings about the Hyperlinks.
Try Freedom 2014 to open the NWD you created with Simulate 2011.

[AdvancedCM]

I'm using some links to a Microsoft Sharepoint site and the URL is longer than the 255 characters allowed in AutoCAD so I get an error. However I can use the same link in Navisworks and it works. I would like to have the link in AutoCAD so it gets updated when objects change so Navisworks just reads the new data.

Any ideas?