Additional setup for Admins
This guide tells you how to setup Night Runner on your project for the first time.
Who is this setup guide for?
Either:
The first person to 'setup' Night Runner for your project. Or...
A BIM Manager admin (or managers) who will be running Comparisons between Type Files and Project Files. Or...
Someone setting up a Remote Desktop/ Server to schedule a Comparison run at regular intervals (for example, every night).
Normally this is only a small handful of users in an organisation, most users will need to follow these simple instructions instead.
Prerequisites
Download the latest Toolbox installer.
A Toolbox license key - ask your manager to provide this if you have already bought licenses for your company, otherwise speak to the Reope team.
Get the latest version of the Revit Batch Processor. If you have it already, great! If not you can download it from here. (The lowest supported version is v 1.6.0)
We leverage PowerBI Desktop for analytics, so make sure you have it installed on your machine if you want to make use of the Analytics dashboards! You can download from here.
1. Install and activate the Add-In
First you will need to complete the guidance for individual users to install and activate Night Runner.
2. Configure the Night Runner Add-In
First things first, we must configure the Settings of the Night Runner Add-In. You can access these Settings via the Add-Ins tab of a Revit ribbon (after you have installed Night Runner), and click on Settings.
For both tabs of Settings, we include a full guide to help you understand what each Setting does and what you need to change.
2.1 Push and Pull tab
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From the image above:
Stored Type Files - this area shows previously added Type Files to Push and Pull from. If the File Name is shown in Red (as shown in this picture), it means the file can no longer be found and so you must re-add it using buttons 2, 3 or 4 (see below).
Add File - let's you select a Type File from a Local file path. If your Revit Models are stored on a local server (i.e. not BIM360), you will need to use this.
Add BIM360 - let's you select a Type File from a BIM360 location. This requires 4 pieces of information about the BIM360 model. To learn more about this, click here.
Modify - let's you Modify an existing Stored Type File, that is currently selected in area 1.
Remove - let's you Remove a previously added Type File.
Push & Pull Report Directory - allows you to specify where you want to save Push/ Pull Reports. Note: push/ pull reports are created automatically when a user initiates a Push or Pull.
Enable Night Run & Push -
Night Run Settings - this enables the Night Run Settings tab (click here for more information about running Comparisons) (Password: Admin123)
Push button - this enables the Push button (and functionality) in the Night Runner Revit ribbon (Password: Push123)
Save - any changes you make need to be explicitly saved, before you Close the Settings window, and when you Save. If the text in the Save button is still Red, it means you still haven't saved changes. When you click Save, the button will turn green.
2.2 Night Run tab
As the name suggests, this tab is required before you run a Comparison operation in the Revit Batch Processor. The numbered buttons above:
Settings File - this Settings file controls all the other Settings in this tab. To get started, using the "Night Run Settings.json" file in the Downloads - we recommend you save it in a location that is accessible to all on the project, so that they can reference the same file easily.
Type File for Comparison- specify your Type File, using Browse if the Type File is saved locally, and Add BIM360 if the Type File is stored in BIM360.
Comparison Report Directory - select a Folder to store the Reports (after a Comparison, a .csv report is created which can then be analyzed in PowerBI - see our later tutorial on that).
Synchronize - this is a really important setting, if Synchronize is selected, Night Runner will synchronize (and overwrite) any variations found between the Type File and the Project File. USE WITH CAUTION!
Pin Unpinned Elements - if this is checked (and Synchronize is checked), Night Runner will pin all unpinned elements during the Comparison. This includes levels, grids, links.
Use a Category Filter - as described, you can select this and only compare the Categories you select from the list.
Parameters to skip - here you can select parameters name to skip in the Comparison. You must type the name of the Parameter as a string (with the correct Case).
Save - all changes to the Settings must be Saved before closing. This will overwrite any Settings.json files you loaded into the first 'Settings File' input (button 1).
IMPORTANT: if your Revit model is utilising Worksharing, you will need to Sync your changes back to the Central File. This will store the Settings for the next time you need them (and also mean that other people on your project don't need to repeat these steps).
3. Revit Batch Processor Settings
The Revit Batch Processor is required if you want to conduct a Comparison between a Type File and one or more Project File(s) on the project. You can read more about the Comparison functionality here.
Your Revit Batch Processor should look like the above screenshot.
The key 'inputs' that are important for Night Runner are:
Task Script field - we have created a short Python script that initializes the Night Runner process in the Revit Batch Processor. You will need to click "Browse" and find the script file in the Toolbox installation folder at the following location:
C:\ProgramData\Reope\Toolbox\Revit\RBP_NightRunner_Script.py If you can not find it, please make sure to run Revit at least once after installing Toolbox and the latest version of the files will be downloaded automatically.
The Revit File List - this is a plain .txt file which tells the Batch Processor which files to Compare against the Type file.
The structure of the Revit File List is different depending on whether you store your models locally or in BIM360. This next section explains:
3.1 File List Structure for BIM360 Projects
You will need a .txt file with the following contents (where the values in the square brackets are replaced with actual numbers!):
[Revit_Version] [BIM360_Cloud_GUID] [BIM360_Project_GUID] [Display_Name]
Here's an example of what this could look like:
You can extract these details from an open BIM360 project, by simply clicking on the button 'BIM 360 Info' in the ribbon.
If you want to learn more about the Revit Batch Processor, how it works and how the inputs work, check out their GitHub.
3.2 File List Structure for locally-stored Models.
You will need a .txt file with the following contents (where the values in the square brackets are replaced with actual numbers!):
[Direct_path_to_Design_File1]
[Direct_path_to_Design_File2]
[Direct_path_to_Design_File3]
Here's an example of what this could look like:
If you are performing a Comparison on multiple Project Files, you might want to use the Comparison Settings Override functionality (explained in more detail in this tutorial). This allows you to set the Revit Night Run Settings externally from a Revit and apply this one Settings.json file to all Project Files in the Comparison, saving you setup time.
Ready to go!
At this point you should have everything you need to start working with Night Runner.
If you are working on a single project, the tasks mentioned here only have to be done once.
It you plan on switching projects, you will need to revisit these settings. In the Revit Batch Processor, you will need to point towards a different cloud_file.txt file (or just edit the contents of this file), and you will need to change the Night Run Settings in the Night Runner Add-In.
If you still have questions about anything you have read, head over the to Frequently Asked Questions section and if your query is still not answered, feel free to contact a member of the Reope team, who will happily help you get setup.
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