Sneak peek into Dynamo 2.0

It’s been a while since the last “major” Dynamo update (Dynamo 1.0 was released way back in 2016). And if you are tired waiting for something new, you can download and install one of the latest Dynamo 2.0 daily builds from the Dynamo development builds webpage.

Starting from this year’s daily builds, Dynamo team has changed the way Dynamo installs, so that it doesn’t interfere with existing 1.x installs:

• DynamoCore and DynamoRevit will be installed in the folder named using DynamoCore major version instead of major version point minor version;
• Installing the new Dynamo 2.x build should not affect your existing Dynamo 1.x installed;
• Installing a new Dynamo 2.x build with a larger minor version will overwrite the content in major version folder.

Considering that Dynamo 2.0 will save files to a format that is not compatible with earlier versions, it is highly important to backup your existing Dynamo content folders. Please read this safety note from Dynamo team before downloading and installing daily builds:

These are the early stage builds that are leading to the Dynamo 2.0 release. Please keep in mind that it is early days for these builds, there are still a number of large moving pieces and, as always, this area should be treated as an active construction site. If you do decide to participate, please wear your hardhat!

Dynamo 2.0 brings a plenty of changes, including:

• New JSON file format instead of XML-based one;
• Updated node library with different organization: 
• New OOTB (out of the box) dictionary nodes:
• Custom packages have been moved to the dedicated “Add-ons” submenu;
• Usability fixes for those who work with Python (code execution button, custom templates, multiple editor windows, etc.).
• And, of course, a lot of tweaks under the hood. You can view the full list of the future changes here.

Dynamo 2.0 can be installed side-by-side with existing 1.x versions, allowing you to experiment with the early pre-release tools without interfering with your existing workflows. You will be prompted to choose which version you wish to run when first launching Dynamo in Revit:

This setting will be saved per-session of Revit. Restarting Revit will enable you to switch to a different version of Dynamo. Please don’t forget to back up your existing Dynamo workflows, packages and files. And do not use unstable software in the real project environment!

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Revit RFO benchmark fails with journal error on localized Revit installs

Revit Forum’s RFO benchmark is a super handy (and possibly the only one) tool to measure Revit performance on different machines. The most recent version is 3.1 and it can be downloaded after logging in to the RevitForum (RFO benchmark v3.1). This tool is based on the Windows PowerShell script which uses Revit journal files to run the tests.

The only problem is that these journal files included in RFO package are built for English Revit. This means that if you try to launch RFO benchmark in localized Revit, you’ll end up with the journal error like this:

Luckily we don’t need to modify Revit installation to get benchmark working, as far as Revit comes packed with different languages. All we need to do is temporarily switch Revit language in the ‘Revit.ini’ file, which is located in the current user AppData folder. Depending on whether you use roaming profiles or not, AppData paths may be different.

Local user profile folder:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2017\Revit.ini

Roaming user profile folder (in case you use Microsoft’s roaming profiles):

\\SERVERNAME\Profiles\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2017\Revit.ini

Find and open the Revit.ini file and scroll down to the language section that looks like this:

[Language]
Select=DEU

[Applications]
Mechanical=
Electrical=
Architectural=
Structural=

[InstallationSettings]
Language=DEU

Make sure to backup your Revit.ini file before making any changes. 

Change the highlighted language code inside the ‘Language’ section to ENU and save the file. Do not change the second language code inside the ‘InstallationSettings’!

Make sure to save the ‘Revit.ini’ file, then launch the RFO benchmark. Now it will successfully cycle through the testing process.

When you are finished with tests, either restore or modify your ‘Revit.ini’ file to bring back localization. And in case you’ve forgotten your language code, here is an article @ Autodesk knowledge network  with available Revit languages.