Desktop Connector - 2 issues

[Chad-Smith]

One of my customers has provided me details on two issues with the Desktop Connector.

I have followed them exactly with a colleague and we can reproduce it.

I would like to post these in the hope of some input from Autodesk, as well as other users to see if they are experiencing the same.

TEST 1

1. Drag and drop a file onto the BIM 360 Team drive in Windows Explorer on computer 1;
2. The file comes up straight away on computer 2, after refreshing the view in Windows Explorer;
3. The file also comes up on computer 2 in the Open dialogue in Revit but it can't be opened from there and it produces the error File not found;
4. However, the same file on computer 2 can be opened by double-clicking on it in Windows Explorer.
5. It can also be opened on computer 2 from the Revit Open dialogue provided it wasn't the first time it is trying to be opened.

Conclusion: In the above, the models cannot be opened (for the first time only) straight from Revit. Windows Explorer is required.

TEST 2

1. Open the model on computer 1, make a small change, save it, and closed it;
2. The backup file shows up straight away everywhere;
3. Switching Windows Explorer to Extra Large Icons view you can see the change in the thumbnails on both computers;
4. After refreshing the view in Windows Explorer on computer 2 and double-clicking on the model the updates do not show in Revit;
5. Also trying to open the file from within Revit (Open dialogue), the updates don't show on computer 2.

Conclusion: The updates don't come through from one computer to the other.

The literature over on the blog suggests that this should be working.

https://projectdelivery.autodesk.com/blog/desktop-connector/

"With Desktop Connector, you can now open, save, move, rename, and delete files from your cloud-based BIM 360 Team hubs directly from your desktop or desktop application."

[yurikim]

Thank you for your posting @Chad-Smith. 

I have tested for Test 1 and 2, but couldn't reproduce the error "File not found". Usually this will be triggered when file is not complete, or failed to save.

For Test 2, I have observed that this might happen when model is opened in both machines, and changes were made on one of the machines. From my testing, I was able to see the final version as in BIM 360 Team on both machines. Though it doesn't seem a best practice to work directly on Autodesk Drive for non C4R files, it could create a lot of confusion if there are multiple users working on the same file.

[Chad-Smith]

Thanks Yuri for the investigation.

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@yurikim wrote:

I have tested for Test 1 and 2, but couldn't reproduce the error "File not found". Usually this will be triggered when file is not complete, or failed to save.

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I'm curious if you tested this with two different users, on different PC's, and on different network (or offices)?

This is how my customer has tested it, and so too myself with my colleague.

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@yurikim wrote:

For Test 2, I have observed that this might happen when model is opened in both machines, and changes were made on one of the machines. From my testing, I was able to see the final version as in BIM 360 Team on both machines. Though it doesn't seem a best practice to work directly on Autodesk Drive for non C4R files, it could create a lot of confusion if there are multiple users working on the same file.

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Same question as per my previous one above with different users/locations.

In this case, the files could be non-workshared Revit models, and therefore only one user will be working on them at a time. Much like any other document type stored in the Desktop Connector.

If it is a workshared Revit model, then I would agree that C4R should be used as the Desktop Connector is missing the underlying system architecture to facilitate this.

All of the Autodesk knowledge information suggests that this Desktop Connector is an option instead of using something like Dropbox, and therefore files of any type can be worked on. If this is not the case, then Autodesk should clarify what the exact use case for the product is.