Not able to unlock a custom Revit Library

[VROBrien]

I am having an issue with a material library that was created as an external library file from a project and saved to BIM 360. When it is loaded into a new project, it appears to be locked and cannot be modified (I can't modify materials in it or add new ones). When I browse to it in the file explorer or BIM 360 it is not shown as locked. I experimented creating a new test library, and it seems to be working. I can load it into a new project and modify it, but we don't know how the other one got locked. It appears that it gets locked as soon as I load it in the material library. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[RDAOU]

@VROBrien 

1. Either material library file is set to Read Only (open in explorer >>> right click >> uncheck read-only)
2. or you do not have access to write/modify files in that directory (log in as admin or power user that has sufficient read/write access)

[VROBrien]

Thank you, @RDAOU for your reply. When I right click on the file in file explorer I don't have the read-only option.

And I do have admin rights for that directory, so it must be something else. Do you have other ideas?

Thank you.

[RDAOU]

@VROBrien 

OPEN WINDOWS EXPLORER >>> Right Click file >> Properties >> Uncheck Read Only

      

[barthbradley]

Why do you need to unlock it?  

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2021/ENU/Revit-C...

[VROBrien]

@RDAOU It looks like the file for which you access these properties is stored on a local computer. As I mentioned before, our library is in BIM 360, so the options are different (see the image in my previous reply). We tried copying it to a desktop to look at the options they way you did, and the attributes were not set to read-only. 

I want to be able to access the file so I can modify materials inside the library and add new materials to it in a Revit project. 

[RDAOU]

@VROBrien 

Sorry the image you posted is not loading at my end...

Assuming you have admin/full folder manage access and have 360Sync

1. You need to create a local copy of it...
2. The local copy is the one you edit.
3. Once edited and done...you sync to update the one hosted on BIM 360

You know how to sync folders/files between ACC and Local server/Computer?

[VROBrien]

Thank you @RDAOU. I attached the image I was referring to.

The process you described appears to be working. The library file loaded from BIM 360 gets locked in the material browser for some reason, but if I download it to a local computer and then upload it into a project, it doesn't get locked. I still don't understand why the library from BIM 360 gets locked, but this may be a way around this problem. 

How do I sync this updated library file saved locally to the one stored in BIM 360? What will happen if instead I delete the old one and upload the updated file?

[ToanDN]

Do you use Desktop Connector?  Shouldn't you be able to modify the file attributes in your local Desktop Connector folder then sync it to BIM 360?

[VROBrien]

I do have Desktop Connector, but I don't see how I can modify file attributes in it. I attached an image to the previous post showing the options I get when I right click on a file stored in BIM 360. 

[Lance.Coffey]

In order to access these files like normal system files, close the Desktop Connector (Right click on the icon in the system tray and select Exit) and then find the files in the following folder:

C:\Users\%USERNAME%\ACCDocs\

However, I’m not sure how the change in the file will be detected by the Desktop Connector (when it is restarted). If the change is not detected or sync’d to the cloud, it would probably be better to save the file out of the cloud / Desktop Connector, fix/set the desired properties, then re-upload/overwrite.

One other thing to keep in mind is that ADSKLIB files are not current supported for use with Revit and the Desktop Connector. For a list of supported file types see the following help topic: About Autodesk Docs Connected Drive Integration with Revit

[RDAOU]

@VROBrien 

Drag and Drop the material library to the project directory under C:\Users\<Your User Name>\ACCDocs\[Account]\[Project]   this folder is the local directory synced with your Cloud docs

In the Revit Project, Load the the library from the same directory given above. This will be unlocked and will sync to the cloud ... See GIF below

[VROBrien]

@RDAOU I did as you said, but when I loaded the library into a project, it got locked again...

[RDAOU]

@VROBrien 

Odd it works just fine as shown in the GIF above!!...

Do you have latest updates both Revit and Desktop Connector? 

[VROBrien]

@RDAOU We use 15.1.0.1587 Desktop Connector. We are on Revit 2019.2.4 transitioning to Revit 2021.1.5. 

[RDAOU]

Try the DC update issued 2 weeks ago

[barthbradley]

Are we sure this is even possible?  From what I'm reading, this is a wish-list item that has been accepted and added to the roadmap for a future release.  

[RDAOU]

@barthbradley 

Check the GIF in my previous reply #12 ... I am not making it up. 

What doesn't work is the Reference Explorer but you can share and load it into the project. I would still recommend working with a local library...Material Browser already lags as it is.

[VROBrien]

If a library file is saved locally from BIM 360 to be imported in a Revit project, then all the material image links will get broken, won't they? How can a library file be moved from place to place? The file itself is one part, but then there are all the images used to create materials.