Accessing Revit modal data from AWS S3 bucket.

[shefypattambi]

Hi,

I would like to ask you; is it possible to extract the element parameters from a Revit file that is stored in the AWS S3 bucket using a python CLI?!.
if not possible; appreciate it if you could share some other method or workflow for the same.

[jeremy_tammik · Accepted solution]

There are two ways to access Revit BIM data:

• Download the model to a Windows desktop and load it into a running end user Revit session
• Load the model into a Autodesk Forge viewer instance in the cloud and query it with JavaScript

Here is more on the latter: https://forge.autodesk.com 

[shefypattambi]

Hi @jeremy_tammik,

Thanks for your quick clarification. Appreciate it if you could answer the below questions.

1. Is Revit(server) available as SaaS - what are the means to run it in the cloud
2. Does the Revit server have an API that dynamo script or a Python notebook can access as a client to

• post Revit file
• Query the Revit model

1. What are the options for running Revit in the cloud independently or via forge

      1)    if via forge server, can forge be accessed via API from an external cloud software, without using the forge  viewer?

      2)   Can multiple clients (say python notebooks or other JavaScript based clients)  access the forge API to  POST, Query

[jeremy_tammik · Accepted solution]

Afaik, your questions are immediately answered by taking a quick look at the Revit Server end-user documentation, e.g., How Revit Server Works:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2022/ENU/Revit-C...

The first sentence answers your question 1:

> The Revit Server network architecture is designed to support worksharing of multiple central models across a wide area network (WAN).

So, the answer to question 1 is no, not exactly. You set up your own WLAN network to work with Revit Server. I guess you could call that a cloud, if you want, but I do not think that matches common usage.

Afaik, the answer to question 2 is yes: it is a REST API, so you can work with it using any programming language you like, cf:

https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2013/08/the-revit-server-rest-api.html

To answer your second question number 1:

> What are the options for running Revit in the cloud independently or via forge?

None, afaik.

Finally, according to my meagre knowledge, the answers to your last two questions are yes, in both cases.

Please also note that this discussion forum is dedicated to programming desktop Revit using the Windows desktop ,NET Revit API. For all Forge-related questions, you should ask through the dedicated Forge help channels:

https://forge.autodesk.com/en/support/get-help

I hope this clarifies.

[shefypattambi]

Thanks @jeremy_tammik for the clarification.