RFA to RVT conversion

[harishogguharis]

"I'm encountering issues converting .RFA files to SVF for browser viewing. While .RVT to SVF conversion works correctly, the .RFA translation fails. Could you please advise on how to convert .RFA files to .RVT?"

[longt61]

Maybe you just load the .rfa file, which is a family, into an empty .rvt file, create an instance of the family then convert to .svf. 

[harishogguharis]

Hi @longt61 ,

Thank you for your reply. However, the current solution requires manual opening of the Revit application. Our requirement is to perform the conversion programmatically using the Design Automation API.

To achieve this, I am following the approach outlined in this guide: https://github.com/autodesk-platform-services/aps-tutorial-postman/blob/master/DA4Revit/instructions....

Unfortunately, I am encountering an issue while running the WorkItem. I am able to obtain the WorkItem ID, but the process subsequently fails. The error report and appbundle.zip is attached for your review.

Here's a summary of the steps I've followed:

Step Purpose

1	Get Forge Access Token (OAuth2 client credentials)
2	Set app nickname (only once)
3	Create & upload AppBundle (with your Revit add-in DLL)
4	Create Activity (executes the DLL inside Revit)
5	Upload .rfa to OSS
6	Run WorkItem (RFA in → RVT out)
7	Download result from OSS

Could you please assist me in identifying the cause of this failure?

[longt61]

I am not sure if we can solve all problems in one go, let fix them one by one.

1. Make sure you choose the correct Revit engine version. Please check the report file line 59 and 60, it states that the addin file has issue at location 2,2, which you state that the bundle should use Revit 2025 engine with .Net 8 and later. Meanwhile, when I check the .dll file that you compiled, it use .Net Framework 4.8, which is for Revit 2024 and earlier. 

2. I use Dotpeek to read the .dll file of yours and notice that you just use normal IExternalApplication and normal IExternalCommand, which are not suitable for DesignAutomation. You can donwload Nuget package for DesignAutmation, use the IExternalDBApplication for your app. Then, subscribe to "DesignAutomationBridge.DesignAutomationReadyEvent" event in your Startup event.

3. Try to open the Revit project and load the family inside the "DesignAutomationBridge.DesignAutomationReadyEvent" event and see if it works. 

4. You might need to modify the "PackageContents.xml" file so that the bundle is loaded when the app is started. I do not remember the correct details at the moment, but I believe you can find sample file from tutorials online .

These are a few issues and solution I can think of right now.