Revit Journal Files They

Aren’t Just for Autodesk

Brian Mackey
BD Mackey Consulting

• Brian@BDMackeyConsulting.com
• @TheRevitGeek
• /in/MackeyBrian
• BDMackeyConsulting.com/Blog
About the speaker
Brian Mackey
BD Mackey Consulting
Independent consultant in the Denver, Colorado area
with more than 14 years working with Revit and 30
years in the AEC industry
 Revit Journal Files…

• This session is NOT about trouble shooting journal files

• This session is NOT about understanding all the language in a
journal file
• This IS about understanding why journal files were created and how
the developers utilize them
• This IS about utilizing journal files for automation
 Revit Journal Files…

What are they: from the help file:

Journal files capture the actions taken by the software during a session
of Revit, from the time the software starts to the time it stops. These
text files can be used to troubleshoot technical problems with the
software

http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2018/ENU/?guid=GUID-477C6854-2724-4B5D-8B95-9657B636C48D
 Software Development

• Managing source is like worksharing

• One source code
• Perforce
• git
• Multi user
• Multi team
 Developer Culture

• No integration department
• Automated testing from day 1
• Code changes daily dozens of times
• Self disciplined dev teams
• We are all in this together!
 Developing Complex Software

• Like in BIM, we also want to capture “design intent” in the code to

allow us flexibility later.
• When we change the code, we need to make sure existing features
still work.
• Testing, testing, testing…
 Regression Testing

• “Regression” – when an existing functionality no longer works the

same way
• Revit is rebuilt daily from “central” repository
• New build is tested to prevent regressions
• 18000+ automated tests
 Automated Testing

• Regression testing uses “journal” files

• Every Revit session creates a visual basic script that records
every mouse click and command
• Unit testing
• Executed as part of build process
 Primary Uses of Journal Files
Debug

CER Exception

18000+ Self Diagnosis

Usage Statistics
Defect Reproduction Session Recovery

Robust Automated
Workflow Testing Dev/QA Diagnostics
Tests CustomerUsage
 Virtually no manual regression testing

Use Revit 18000+ nightly

Domain Experts, Test Created Protected

QA, Dev
 Regression Farms

• Hundreds of physical and virtual machines

• Running 24/7
• Located near the dev teams
• CrsTest.exe
• Home-grown tool used to send tests to the farm
Regression Farms
 Common Journal Files

Examples used commonly

• Family Upgrade Utility: Autodesk
• Shipped with discs (Back in the Day)
• Suggestion on Autodesk Forums
• RFO Benchmark Utility: Revit Forum – Gordon Price
• https://www.revitforum.org/hardware-infrastructure/35955-rfo-
benchmark-v3-x.html#post191932
 Journal Files

• Journal files can be re-played by Revit

• Drag and drop the journal to the Revit icon
• If the initial state of the session was the same, the replay will repeat what
was done.

(This is intended for internal testing – it is not an officially supported workflow)

 Journal Files

Located at:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\<product name and
release>\Journals
 Journal Files

What are the contents

• Information about computer, peripherals, add-ins, recourses, commands
etc.
 Journal Files as Scripts

Start with a template

• Start with a file that has all the necessary code to
utilize as a script (such as open from a list and save)
• Copy code from a journal file into the template
 Files to Open List

Text file containing family names

• List of files in a directory or
subdirectory for the journal file to utilize
• A batch file may be used to generate a
list of files from a folder
• Include deleting back up families from
the folder
 Run the Journal File

Drag and Drop

• Simply drag and drop the journal script onto the Revit icon (must be
located on the desktop)
 Journal File Failures

Fragile environment
• If all of the settings aren’t correct you will be placed in “Interactive
Mode”
• Note: this is a great way to open Revit with out any extension enabled
 Journal File Failures

Reasons for Failures

• Bad environment variables
• Incorrect schema

Image Comparison Selection Comparison Different Output

 Journal File Examples

• Template file
• Default Reference Planes set to “Not a reference”
• Turn off Reference Planes in families
• Renaming View Types
• Dimension Set
• Purging

(This is intended for internal testing – it is not an officially

supported workflow)
Questions?
Please rate this session using the app!

Brian Mackey
BD Mackey Consulting

• Brian@BDMackeyConsulting.com
• @TheRevitGeek
• /in/MackeyBrian
• BDMackeyConsulting.com/Blog
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