As we celebrated our country’s Independence Day last week, some exciting news was announced at the recent Autodesk Technical Summit (ATS) for software developers.
The Revit product team introduced what could be a serious game changer. Up to this point, Revit users have had to deal with limitations in exchanging BIM data with an external database. Built-in parameters which take advantage of a database, such as Assembly Code and Keynote, simply accesses a single .txt file. And if changes had to be made to the database, they can only be made by one user at a time, editing directly into the file.
The new approach presented at ATS shifts towards data as a “resource”, rather than merely “files”. Developers will now have the ability in the Revit API to create add-ins that can connect and utilize external databases, regardless of origin. This opens up tremendous potential for a more data rich BIM, as even non-Revit users can contribute key pieces of information from practically any external application. Add the ability to access this data from the cloud, and you have the potential for greater collaboration across all aspects of the AEC/FM professions.
For detailed information, check out this entry on Jeremy Tammik’s blog, The Building Coder:
http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2014/07/referenced-files-as-a-service.html
