Revit 2020 bug or feature? New instance of Revit every time I open a file

Revit 2020 bug or feature? New instance of Revit every time I open a file

ldonkle
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Message 1 of 29

Revit 2020 bug or feature? New instance of Revit every time I open a file

ldonkle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

After Upgrading to Revit 2020, when I double-click a Revit file (in Windows), it always opens a new instance of Revit 2020.

 

When I did this in previous versions (Revit 2014-2019), it would always opens the file within the same instance of Revit.

 

Is this a feature of 2020, or a bug that can be fixed?

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Replies (28)
Message 2 of 29

RobDraw
Mentor
Mentor

It is not advisable to open Revit files by double clicking them especially if you have multiple versions of Revit. Revit files are version specific.


Rob

Drafting is a breeze and Revit doesn't always work the way you think it should.
Message 3 of 29

barthbradley
Consultant
Consultant

Are you saying that Windows always opens an rvt file in a new session of Revit?  Sounds like a Windows thing, not a Revit thing.  

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Message 4 of 29

ldonkle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I thought so too at first, but it definitely is an issue with Revit 2020...

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Message 5 of 29

Anonymous
Not applicable

I agree with RobDraw...it is not advisable to open a Revit file by double-clicking on it from Windows (File Explorer, Desktop, etc.) especially because it denies your option to Detach from Central or Create New Local from a Workshared Central model and instead opens the Central model. That is usually not the file you should be working in. There is also no way of knowing which version the file is from outside of Revit. Since version 2019, Revit displays which version the file is below the preview window.

Annotation 2019-07-16 085101.jpg

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Message 6 of 29

RobDraw
Mentor
Mentor

@Anonymous, very good point.

 

@ldonkle, even though you are seeing different behavior, you really should not consider this a bug in the software and stop opening from File Explorer. It's a bad practice and can bring a project to a screeching halt in a workshared file.


Rob

Drafting is a breeze and Revit doesn't always work the way you think it should.
Message 7 of 29

ldonkle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

But my company doesn't use worksharing.  We work with multiple, small, locally-saved Revit files (all upgraded to 2020).  Opening through Windows Explorer has worked great since 2009... now Revit 2020 is behaving differently.

Message 8 of 29

RobDraw
Mentor
Mentor

@ldonkle wrote:

But my company doesn't use worksharing.  We work with multiple, small, locally-saved Revit files (all upgraded to 2020).  Opening through Windows Explorer has worked great since 2009... now Revit 2020 is behaving differently.


 

There are a lot things that have changed in Revit throughout the years. We've all had to adapt.

 

In my first day of training in Revit, it was stressed that we should always be sure of the version of the project and use Revit to open the files. There are other good reasons for it. If you want to risk upgrading a project unintentionally or having to wait while the upgrade process to happen for you to just close the file without saving despite being told it's a bad practice, go ahead. No one is stopping you.


Rob

Drafting is a breeze and Revit doesn't always work the way you think it should.
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Message 9 of 29

barthbradley
Consultant
Consultant

I read a lot posts over the years where people preach that you should never open Revit Files this way.  I do and I've never had an issue.  

Message 10 of 29

RobDraw
Mentor
Mentor

@barthbradley wrote:

I read a lot posts over the years where people preach that you should never open Revit Files this way.  I do and I've never had an issue.  


I've never gotten burned by spilling coffee on me but they still put warnings on the cups.


Rob

Drafting is a breeze and Revit doesn't always work the way you think it should.
Message 11 of 29

s.borello
Advisor
Advisor

You should get out of the habit of opening Revit models by double clicking.

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Message 12 of 29

rebeca-toribio
Explorer
Explorer

Hello.

I was seeing the same behaviour and was able to solve it by using Revit with user rights, as opposed to administrator.

 

Open the properties of the Revit shortcut you normally use, and under Compatibility make sure that the box 'Use this program as an administrator' is UNCHECKED.

 

Hope this helps!

 

PS:  That being said, consider not opening files by double clicking them on Windows Explorer.

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Message 13 of 29

s.borello
Advisor
Advisor

1

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Message 14 of 29

SteveKStafford
Mentor
Mentor

Re Double Clicking to open - When you only have one version of Revit installed and don't use worksharing it's not a big deal. It works.

 

As for separate sessions, if double clicking is no big deal then multiple sessions is also no big deal unless you intend to use copy/paste clipboard features. That's also a Windows toolset and requires the same session.

 

However as soon as we have more than one version (and in the past more than one discipline version) we realized/learned very quickly that double clicking was a time waster. Windows opens the last installed version of Revit regardless of the actual version of the Revit file because double click to open is a Windows feature (borrowed from the early Apple/Mac computers).

 

When worksharing is enabled then you run the risk of open the central file instead of creating a local and you don't get the option to choose which worksets to close/open first.

 

The only file type I double click on these days is PDF.


Steve Stafford
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Message 15 of 29

ldonkle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

@rebeca-toribio Thanks for the reply

 

This didn't work for me though - 'Use this program as an administrator' was already unchecked.  (Checking it did not change the issue for me.)

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Message 16 of 29

rebeca-toribio
Explorer
Explorer

124

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Message 17 of 29

rebeca-toribio
Explorer
Explorer

Hi @ldonkle 

Have you already installed the latest update, Hotfix Revit 2020.2.1?

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Message 18 of 29

ldonkle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

@rebeca-toribio yes, updated Revit and it's showing the same behavior

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Message 19 of 29

SteveKStafford
Mentor
Mentor

FWIW, you can also drag the file in explorer to the already open session of Revit's icon on the taskbar, Revit will pop up and "drop" the file on the Revit session.


Steve Stafford
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Message 20 of 29

Anonymous
Not applicable

I'm not sure what my company has done on the back end.  But we've got our Windows setup to automatically launch the correct version when double clicking a file, it also opens a new local and does not open the actual central model.  

 

It's also good practice to put the model version in the file name itself: RevitProject_MEP_v20.rvt