topic Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ? in Navisworks API Forum

How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

ssomasundaramKDYFP — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 11:13:40 GMT

I am trying to collect viewpoints from my model and store relevant data in an external database. How do I make a connection from the database to the model to capture changes to the viewpoints.?

It apparently seems like the saved viewpoints don't come with a unique identifier. the Viewpoints does have a GUID parameter but returns only a series of zeros for all saved viewpoints.

Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

naveen.kumar.t — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 04:55:22 GMT

Hi @ssomasundaramKDYFP ,

I don't think Navisworks create unique GUIDs for viewpoints yet.

I have raised your issue to the Navisworks Engineering team to check whether we have any other approaches to specifically identify the viewpoints .

I will come back to you as soon as I receive a response from the engineering team.

Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

naveen.kumar.t — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 07:59:22 GMT

Hi,

Here is the response I received from the Navisworks Engineering team.

"The full path (i.e. folder and name) should be unique in a given file"

Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

ssomasundaramKDYFP — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 08:54:28 GMT

Hi Naveen, thanks for your reply, This means that the connection between the navis viewpoints and the external database will be lost if we change the parent folder or viewpoint name?

I wonder how this is been implemented in applications like BIM track where it maintains the relationship between the viewpoint and their database ( when using Views to Issues).

Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

naveen.kumar.t — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 09:27:00 GMT

Hi @ssomasundaramKDYFP ,

Sorry, I have no clue.

Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

alexisDVJML — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 09:43:50 GMT

Wondering if you could catch changes in document SavedViewpoints, create a unique GUID and replace said SavedViewpoint.
Of course this would work only if your Plugin is active but maybe worth considering?

Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

burkhard.walger — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 12:02:06 GMT

@ssomasundaramKDYFP

We do save viewpoints in an external database for BIM usage. To achieve that we write every information a SavedViewpoint keeps into the database. Camera, redlines and overrides are saved in json format.

On loading the viewpoint a new empty viewpoint is created, fixed up with data from database and then set as current viewpoint.

This essentially imitates the saved viewpoints mechanism of Navisworks but prevents model editors to rename or delete SavedViewpoints causing disconnection.

One drawback of this approach is that the overrides saved with a viewpoint in database may loose their connection to model items after those where moved or deleted. I currently use a heuristic in a batch run to recreate the connection. Not ideal but works - kind of.

Re: How do I get a saved viewpoints identifier ?

mtrainottiGHXJH — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 04:12:31 GMT

This doesn't work because you can have multiple viewpoints with the same name?