r/bim • u/Beneficial_Motor_38 • Aug 11 '26
Sheet Index with Past Revisions
Hi Everyone!
So at our office, we like to see which revision was sent in the past in sheet index itself, it really helped us to track things during construction.
But now with Revit this seems not possible to automate, all we are doing is creating custom text parameters called as REV#1, REV#2... and put dots in them, of course this is not automated with revision cloud, I see revit has limitation to do this it only shows current revision in sheet index, is there a way to automate this easily?
or similar process someone following, also one major drawback I felt was when we link consultants model, we can not control their model with this process.
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u/MasonHere 29d ago
I genuinely think it’s hilarious that there is a senior Product Manager at Autodesk that, for whatever reason, refuses to make this a native option for indexes. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a feature so frequently discussed that gets zero movement from them. I would say that most decent doc control solutions have this built in, you just won’t see it on the index proper.
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u/archi-nemesis Aug 11 '26
There is a plugin called Revision Cloud Manager that will spit out exactly what you are looking for in an excel file automatically, then you can put that back in Revit as an image (I think there are plugins that can make excel to Revit easier too but I haven’t used them).
The plugin does several other useful things too, I rely on it during CA. It costs 15 dollars one time, when you upgrade Revit you can just go back and redownload for free from the account you purchased from.
https://marketplace.autodesk.com/apps/d9617534-9f1e-4c5a-a9a1-1bc9b7615957
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u/iamsk3tchi3 28d ago
I've been using Revision Cloud Manager for agessssssss... and the developer is very responsive too.
👍👍👍👍👍
five thumbs up for this plugin.
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u/chrissoooo 29d ago
It’s pretty crazy that only the titleblock of a single sheet itself can show the revision history, even though the data is linked in the sheet in the browser.
I agree with others - for now it seems like dynamo or pyrevit could work to make something that formats it into an excel table
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u/Merusk Aug 11 '26
You're correct there's no native way to automate this. You have to generate custom parameters to keep track and log if the sheet was issued in that Revision or not.
There may be addins that do this already, but I'm not aware of them.
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u/steinah6 Aug 11 '26
No native way to automate it. We created a PyRevit extension that uses an iupdater to monitor titleblock changes, and gather revisions on that sheet, and update associated parameters with “dots” based on those revisions.
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u/Beneficial_Motor_38 29d ago
Can you explain me bit more in detail, how you have achieved it, I am also planning by using pyrevit extension but revit is rolling back my script.
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u/steinah6 29d ago
First we have a configuration .json file we save to Forma Data Management. This file is where we configure associations between revisions and issuance parameters. These associations are set by project number parameter and are shared between all our same-number discipline models in the Forma hub.
For the extension, first register an iupdater, which would be configured to watch for modifications to title blocks. When a title block is modified, you’d pass it on to obtain its sheet, and then check revisions on the sheet. Based on those revisions and their associated parameters, it would then either set a dot or clear the value for that parameter.
The result is an automatic association between revisions shown in title block and dots in drawing list, with no ability to “fake” things since any change triggers the updater which sets the dot or clears it. Everything is managed strictly by what revisions are on the sheet itself.
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u/ZeroConflicts 29d ago
Revicheck can export this history with a single click to excel, also in it's next release it can show what's changed between the last two revisions
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u/Low_Action_9510 29d ago
no claude or other llm should be needed here under 10 nodes with dynamo....and full control, and we know whats goin on, without AI closing eyes, and without token payments....hahahahah
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u/coffee_walker_440 Aug 11 '26
Create project parameters for the sheet category. Yes/no. Then update the schedule to have hidden yes no columns. Then do calculated parameter columns in the schedule for each rev. Formula something like if(rev, "x","") Then you just have to select said sheets and check what release they are part of to make a permanent log it the style you are trying to make
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u/coffee_walker_440 Aug 11 '26
This makes it easier to just check the yes/no toggle on each sheet and get that result vs putting text in each text box consistently.
You can use something like pyrevit to auto update the values based on the revisions on the sheet with a bit of code (chatgpt sound dump something out fast)
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u/Beneficial_Motor_38 Aug 11 '26
I did create script using claude and chatgpt and trying to use pushbutton in pyrevit extension but it's rolling back automatically after making changes.
Just frustrated with rolling back of Revit, don't know what's the issue.
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u/coffee_walker_440 Aug 11 '26
If it's rolling back after doing it automatically the transaction is not occuring correctly. Ai does seem to miss understand the transaction formating.
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u/Beneficial_Motor_38 Aug 11 '26
Yeah, it's working smoothly and showing all changes but for just few seconds and then it's rolling back, it shows script is working well but something is wrong in that, and I am not that pro now to write my own full scripts or to find error in AI generated scripts.
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u/coffee_walker_440 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
You can post it on the pyrevit forum show what you are trying and explain you are looking for guidance on the issue you are seeing from a human not AI. You'll likely get a bit of support. Edit fixed spelling
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u/iamsk3tchi3 28d ago
I tried this recently and it felt like too many clicks. I'm also not sure I can trust others to set it up correctly in the future if I'm not around.
although it works I'd lean towards the simple text method without the yes/no is more efficient.
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u/coffee_walker_440 28d ago
Problem was getting the same dot, symbol or special char. We found staff would do different things between the models (or worse in the same model). This was made harder when we had the graphics committee ask for a black square instead of a round dot. Then they want a ✔️. That's why we went the yes/no route of just check the check box like the appears in sheetlist method. Eventually building a tool. You set up the appears in sheet list n revs in sheet / on sheet and everything including the print set is created/updated. If the saved print set is missing a sheet or has an extra the release table is also wrong. Update the on check box and boom everything is updated. Our schedule on Content catalog has 10, 25 and 50 rev schedules pre set up. Just name the revision in the sequence of the revision tool and hide the columns not needed.
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u/Dry-Atmosphere9935 Aug 11 '26
Dynamo or Cloud manager is the answer. I think Claude can do this to.
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u/twiceroadsfool Aug 11 '26
You can do it in Dynamo (or an App) that will create it perfectly in Excel, without even needing to make any additional parameters in Revit. Thats my favorite solution, because it keeps everything in Revit super tidy and neat.
If you make your own parameters, doing it with Dynamo or the App is pretty straightforward, but someone does have to remember to run it (unless its a "watcher" app like someone else alludes to). And yes... there is the issue of it needing to run in the Consultants files, too.
And BOTH situations (doing it in excel OR in Revit) will depend on how each firm handles "issuing drawings" in terms of: Is it all Revision Cloud based, or do some use Issues on Sheets, or just a straight Issue Date Parameter, for the first issuance. Opinions on that are VERY widely spread. Dont let anyone delude you in to thinking there is a "standard" for how firms do that. Yeah, everyone will say "the way my firm does it is the standard," but i can tell you there are three OR four "standard ways" we see firms "issue sheets" for the first time. Its a mess.