topic Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained. in Revit Architecture Forum

Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

mdhutchinson — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 16:41:58 GMT

Question

Given that the Central File exists here ---> W:\ProjectName\ParrentDir\Model\MEPCentral.rvt

Linked Arch model:

Absolute Path: W:\ProjectName\Links\Revit\ArchFile.rvt

Relative Path: ..\..\Links\Revit\ArchFile.rvt

The ../../ means to move back two folders.

Isn't this correct?

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

David_Knight — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:55:49 GMT

looks right to me.

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

mdhutchinson — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 18:16:55 GMT

Thanks David for sharing,

I'd like some further discussion... but lets continue.

So in the Manage Links dialog this looks correct that these 'Saved Paths' are in fact "Relative"

... in this case the Path syntax as well as the Type shown in the below screen shot confirms this.

However, in the same Revit Model... the CAD Links do not look like "Relative" Path Types at all. In fact they appear to be "Absolute".

How can this be? Can a Path Type say one thing, but the actual Saved Path indicate another?

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

David_Knight — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 18:34:00 GMT

Yes, I see the same thing in Revit 2018. When linking a cad file - it never gave me the option to link it with a relative or absolute path. When changing it in the manage links dialog, it does not update or change the paths.

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

mdhutchinson — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 18:58:27 GMT

So... I'm trying to understand this in order to trouble shoot an issue we seem to be having.

So, where or when should you have an option to link it as 'Absolute' or 'Relative' ?

I only control to change the Path Type that I can find is in the Manage Links dialog after the file has already been linked.

However, even for Revit Links in the testing I am doing at the moment... I do not see any change in the syntax of the path when I change the Type.

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

David_Knight — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 19:05:42 GMT

It does not prompt me at all when attaching. On the Mange links dialog - revit tab, When I change the "path type" it does update for me.

I am not in a central model.

I am in a single revit file.

If you are in a multi-user environment you may need to have all users sync their files to the central model, then exit.

I would then open the central model directly, try to change the links to relative. Save the central model.

Then have everyone create new local copies.

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

mdhutchinson — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 07:36:28 GMT

So, in file based work sharing you have to use the UNC path in order to make use of 'Relative' pathing. This looks to be the case whether the file is a Revit Link or a CAD Link.

ah... This knowledge base article seems to shed light on this issue. Apparently this is a limitation of file base work sharing.

I am wondering if I can corroborate this from another source?

Could someone else chime in?

@mdhutchinson - This post has been edited by the moderation team as the legacy links were no longer valid.

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

Viveka_CD — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 19:55:04 GMT

@mdhutchinson Yes, apparently this is a limitation and for file-based work sharing.

The suggested workaround is to 'reload From' and navigate through the UNC path through 'My Network Places' to find the folder instead of the mapped drive path.

I will update if there is more feedback from the team.

Regards,

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

mdhutchinson — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 21:07:59 GMT

Yes... We have to type in, or copy/paste to/from clipboard to access the UNC Path. I looked at this browse from 'My Network Places' to access the UNC. For us, apparently this is not an option. (I won't go into details of just why this is at the moment.)

Since I've been looking into this... I've found that in some cases we can paste in UNC path, and it gets properly evaluated as a Relative path (adding the typical dot,dot,slash ../../), however, I've discovered that in other cases the UNC path indeed is what was being used... however, the path is still fully qualified, defined Absolute path, instead of a Relative path.

I am wondering what, in our system, is causing UNC paths from inconsistently being processing as Relative?

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

Viveka_CD — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 17:16:56 GMT

Hi @mdhutchinson

We need to dive deeper to analyse this issue.

Can you please send me a journal file from the affected computer(s) using the following procedure to ensure that only the relevant information is recorded in the journal:

Close Revit completely (so that a new session can be started).
Reopen Revit.
Reproduce the issue.
Without closing Revit, collect the latest (highest-numbered) journal file. Journal file names have this format: txt.

Journal files can be found here:

Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\<Product name and release>\Journals (NOTE: If you don’t see the AppData folder, you may need to check the Show Hidden Files and Folders button in the Control Panel.)

Please let me know if this helps. If you need more help, I'll be glad to help further.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

mdhutchinson — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 17:52:48 GMT

Would the Journal elaborate on an error; the fact that it is an Absolute path, but says it is Relative?

... it doesn't seem to be throwing consistent errors at least to the user...

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

Viveka_CD — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 17:59:06 GMT

@mdhutchinson

I can send you a collector utility gather more files for us to test, and yes a journal might help when we make a comparative analysis.

Let me know and I can forward you a private link to upload the files and extract the collector bat.

Regards,

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

Viveka_CD — Mon, 07 May 2018 20:08:04 GMT

Hi @mdhutchinson

If you want to continue the conversation, feel free to post here for additional questions. For now, I've marked solutions for a couple of relevant posts to benefit the community seeking similar answers.

I'll also update here if I have further feedback on this issue.

Regards,

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 15:42:58 GMT

Hi.

This is the closest thread toward solving a problem I am having.

What is the correct way to link CAD underlay files to a Cloud-Based BIM360 model? The model exists on the BIM360 cloud.

I would like the links to be relative in that I would like my colleagues who open the BIM360 model to be able to see the CAD underlays and not be constantly getting error messages for broken links.

Thanks,

Tim

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

tlc_coreyschiller — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 17:48:36 GMT

Yep relative paths are super busted again in Revit 2018.

Apparently file pathing is a pretty tricky thing, as every few Revit release years it works completely differently. Relative pathing used to work with both UNC and mapped drives (up till about 2015?) then UNC only (2016-2017), then completely broken.(2018)

Of course it's different again for 2019; the path wont update and still displays as absolute, but behind the scenes Revit will find the link in a relative manner. And the good news is relative pathing from mapped drive letters seems to be mostly working again, provided you completely close/reopen Revit before attempting to open a moved project with relative paths.

Are we having fun yet??

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

avis_ambalathil — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:59:58 GMT

For Revit 2018 & Revit 2019, the CAD links path shows full path when we set to relative for a file even if model is not a workshared model i.e (no difference in absolute and relative). But for Revit 2017, 2016, when we set path as relative it shows only the relative path (not full path) in saved path. In order to change the path we are now using External Links manager to change the full path and it is working. But i would like to know the reason for this in Revit 2018 & Revit 2019.

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

avis_ambalathil — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 07:59:32 GMT

Hello,

Again I found some other problem with Revit 2019. When I used UNC path and set the path as relative for Revit links to a shared file (central file) there was no path shown. But when I sent the file to some other location, the path was still from the old location (i.e it was still looking links from old location even though the path was relative. The behavior is Absolute though the name is relative. Whys is this so?. So the relative option won't work for shared files/Central files?.

Re: Relative vrs Absolute Path Types Explained.

_XYZ — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 14:38:03 GMT

I use Civil 3D at work.

The last company I worked for always stresses using overlay and full path when using xrefs.

But the company I'm working for currently uses attach and relative path when using xrefs.

I tried the overlay and full path for my current company and the block wouldn't appear.

Can you tell me the difference between relative path and full path, attach and overlay?

And, by the way, my current company has always use AutoCAD not Civil 3D

And I just noticed I'm not in the Civil 3D forum.

Thank you,