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What's New in Ideate Automation

November 2023 Release (3.1 Update)

The November 2023 release of Ideate Automation includes an important fix to support a change to Single Sign-On (SSO) behavior. Prior to this fix the Refresh List process was not able to complete. This also includes fixes to all file export scripts, such as PDF, DWG, etc. to support writing to folders with commas. Dynamic scripts, such as IBL-Export_PDF_Combined_Dynamic were also changed to set the default to match the best practice of importing the BIMLink definition from an external location, rather than from the version saved within the file.

October 2023 Release (3.0 Update)

Ideate Automation 3.0 addresses many customer requests for improvements, fixes, and most importantly, for new workflows. All improvements, unless otherwise noted, are designed to support Revit versions 2020-2024.

This version has limited backwards compatibility and tasks created under previous versions may not work. If you are migrating from version 2.1, we recommend:

Refresh the Cloud File list for all projects.
Remake each file list using the AUT-Generate_Revit_File_List script
Remake any previously scheduled task.
- If you’ve previously created custom Tasks using any of the Ideate provided scripts in our Sample Content, please review the Version Upgrade Script Comparison section for details on scripts that have been upgraded.

General Improvements

In this release, the Ideate Automation Task History information, which is displayed on the Home page, is preserved across sessions of Ideate Automation. This change makes it’s much easier to Repeat or Clone a task that was run a few days/weeks earlier. Additionally, Automation tasks can now be run simultaneously while the same version of Revit is being used, eliminating any disruption to normal Revit production work.

The Refresh File List tool (formerly known as Sync Files) has been redesigned to allow a refresh on a per-project basis from your BIM360/ACC hubs/accounts as shown below. This targeted file access allows you to get up and running more quickly, only focusing on your relevant projects, and allowing you to quickly add new projects from your own or any shared hub.

Ideate Automation 3.0 includes new in-product task scheduling, making it much easier to Create, Delete, or Export scheduled tasks.

Numerous improvements have been made to many of the scripts. These changes are designed to make it easier to customize the script without using a text editor. This means that some scripts that have the same name as in Automation 2.1 may have amended scripts. Look for the script requirements, shown in yellow below.

New Workflows

New workflows are supported by one or more matching Automation scripts. Refer to the list below for details on the new scripts that are now available.

Automation Scripts

These new scripts require only a license/trial version of Ideate Automation to run.

\01 General

AUT-Open_RVT_Files
AUT-Open_Exclude_Worksets
Use these scripts to quickly find and open Revit files. This was an excellent AU 2022 request from several customers that we are delighted to deliver on.
- Learn more in How To…Schedule Revit File Opening
AUT-Get_File_Data
Like AUT-Generate_File_List, this script is a prerequisite for certain other Ideate Automation scripts. This script, for example, is required for the PDF export scripts if the option to specify worksets is used.

\03 Publishing

AUT-AdskCloud-Publish_Model
Use this script, shown below to publish on demand or via a scheduled task. This script works for Revit versions 2020+ even though Revit only supports the no-link option in version 2023+. If you are testing, be sure to wait until BIM360 has received the updated model changes before you try and run this command. Learn more in How To…Schedule a Publish to BIM360
AUT-Export_IFC
Use this script to do create one or more IFC model files using the built-in, custom settings, or a JSON file (imported automatically). Learn more in How To...Export to IFC
AUT-Export_NWC
Use this script for standard NWC exports of one or more files with an option to specify a View or View Set name. Learn more in How To...Export to NWC.

\04 File Maintenance

AUT-RemoveBackupFiles
Use this script to delete common backup files from a selected folder/subfolder. Use this as a scheduled task to delete family and project file backups and free-up disk space!
AUT-SaveFileAs_RVT
Use this script to create new files for testing or archiving purposes.
AUT-Audit_Compact_RVT
Use this script to schedule regular maintenance of your Revit project files.
AUT-Families-Upgrade
This script points to a folder of family files (RFA) and asks for a Revit version to which to upgrade the families.

Ideate Software Scripts

Ideate Software scripts require a license of Ideate Automation and one or more Ideate Software plug-ins.

ISW-Health_Check-PowerBI
This script is no longer installed with Ideate Automation.
- It has been greatly improved, along with an updated PowerBI template, and can now be requested separately by Ideate Automation subscribers.
- The ISW-Health_Check script remains and has also been improved.
IBL-Export_NWC_Dynamic
Similar to the script above, but more flexible, this script uses an externally defined BIMLink definition to dynamically create the list of views. The example used in this script finds any view that contains NWC but can be customized to meet your naming criteria.

Fixes

Improved handling of BIM360/ACC copied files. Previously, if a Revit file was copied on BIM360/ACC and then the original renamed within BIM360 we were not properly tracking the updated name in our user interface.
The Ideate_Health_Check.xlsx template file has been modified to improve handling of linked file data and to make it easier to customize the metrics used for key performance indicator (KPI)
All scripts that create a file output have been modified to better support version control when copied into Desktop Connector.

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