There are four types of worksets in any project: User-Created, Families, Project Standards, and Views. User-Created worksets such as Shared Levels and Grids and Workset1 are shown by default, and you have the option to make the others visible by selecting the check boxes at the bottom of the Worksets dialog box.

The Worksets dialog box lets you add and remove User-Created worksets and take and relinquish permissions over existing worksets. By default, when a new workset is created, it does not contain any model elements or components.

When dividing your project into worksets, it's important to think about the holistic building rather than trying to isolate its individual components. A good way to think about dividing up worksets is to consider the building elements and the number of people working on each of these elements. A basic breakdown of a project's elements might include the following:

This breakdown mirrors some of the roles and responsibilities on the project as well. There might be a small group working on exterior skin design and detailing, another group working on interior partitions, and a third working on FF&E.

For the Jenkins Building, we have divided the model into four worksets, as shown in Figure 6.6.

Figure 6.6. Workset organization for the Jenkins Building

Notice that Workset1 has been renamed, in our case, to Exterior and Structure. The title Workset1 is not descriptive enough to be of much use, so it can be modified once all the model elements have been moved to relevant worksets. The worksets we've set up demonstrate how a typical breakdown might occur in a project of this size, but it's by no means limited to this scheme. Depending on how you structure work in your office, the worksets might be quite different.

Now that you've activated worksharing, you need to set up the new central file to initiate the multiuser environment. To do this, you'll first create the central file on your network; then you'll create the local files that the team will be using.

To create the central file, click the Application button and choose Save As

Figure 6.7. Save As dialog box

Before renaming the new file, click the Options button at the lower right of this dialog box. A File Save Options dialog box opens that will look like Figure 6.8.

Figure 6.8. File Save Options dialog box

This dialog box contains some important settings. At the top, you can set the number of backups the file will keep in the folder history after saves. The default value is 20. Depending on the storage availability on your network, how often your network is backed up, and the number of people working in the model (remember, local files are also backups), you might want to reduce this number. Because of our space limitations, we've reduced this number to 3.

Also note here that the Make This A Central File After Save check box is selected and grayed out. This is because we've activated worksharing in this file and Revit assumes that we will be making a central file on the next save. Click OK to exit the dialog box.

Back in the Save As dialog box, choose a network location for your central file that everyone on the team has access to. Be sure that when you are naming your new central file, you choose a new name. Do not save over the existing Revit file. There are two reasons for this. First, it automatically gives you a backup of your pre-workshared file in case you need to revert to a non-multiuser file for some reason. Second, saving over an open Revit file can sometimes cause corruption, even if it is the same model.

Once you've entered a new name for the file, click OK to save the file. Now that your file is saved to the network, close all the open windows. Make sure that you never work directly within the central file. Doing so will change the file attributes on the server and prohibit anyone with a local file from being able to synchronize with the central file. The possibility of losing a lot of work and effort from team members exists, so it is safer to err on the side of simply never opening the file.

As one final step, make sure that as the person who has created the central file, you don't accidentally retain any rights over the objects and elements within the central file, thereby prohibiting anyone from editing those elements.

To do this, select the Collaborate tab and click the Worksharing button again to open the Worksets dialog box. In the Editable column, change all the Yes entries to No, as shown in Figure 6.9. This will ensure that you have relinquished all the permissions over elements before creating any local files.

Figure 6.9. Relinquishing permissions

Now that you've made a central file, you'll need to create a local file to work from. To do this, simply open the network location of the central file and drag a copy from the network to your desktop or anywhere on your C: drive. Be careful not to move the file—only copy it.

Now, open the new local file. The first time any local file is opened, you'll see a warning message alerting you that you are opening a local file (Figure 6.10). All this means is that you've made a local file and you'll be the owner of the local file. Click Close to dismiss the warning and continue the file-opening process.

Figure 6.10. Opening a local file for the first time

Each local file is "owned" by the local machine, and once it's opened, Revit will pair the local machine with that local file. By default, Revit assigns a username to the local file that matches the login name on the active workstation. So, a typical Windows login might be first initial and the last name, such as ekrygiel. That user would then become the owner of the local file. In this case, the local login is Administrator, which you can see in the Owner column of Worksets dialog box (Figure 6.11).

Figure 6.11. Workset and element ownership

It can be a good idea to adjust this naming convention to help team communication and identification of who owns what on a project. In a smaller office, it might not be as necessary, but in a larger office or if you're working across multiple offices, clarification of ownership is vital. A good workflow is to change this name to a first name, last name, and phone extension. This way, team members can quickly identify and contact you if they need you to relinquish permission over a given element. To make this modification, follow these steps:

Figure 6.12. Changing the default username

Once in a worksharing environment, every element in the file and added to the file belongs to a workset. To make sure that you are placing elements in the proper workset while working, there are a couple places to ensure the right workset is selected.

One such location is on the Collaborate tab, where we originated worksharing to begin with. In Figure 6.13, our active workset is Exterior and Structure. Note that this also tells us that the Exterior and Structure workset is not editable. What this means is that as a user, we have not taken ownership of this workset. However, as we mentioned earlier, you don't need to own a workset to add elements to the workset. It just needs to be visible in this window.

Figure 6.13. Changing the active workset

The second location is new to Revit 2011 and is located in the status bar at the bottom of the application (Figure 6.14). This drop-down menu serves the same function as the Collaborate tab, but it allows you to visually verify the proper workset is active without having to bounce between tabs and interrupt your workflow. From this location you can also change the active workset and even open the Worksets dialog box using the small button to the left of the drop-down menu.

Figure 6.14. Changing the active workset from the status bar

A helpful tool located on the Collaborate tab is the Gray Inactive Worksets button. This disables all the elements that aren't active, helping you identify what elements are in your current, active workset. This is a temporary view state and will not affect any printing or other output.

Once in a workset environment, you can see or change an object's workset by accessing its Element Properties. At the bottom of the Element Properties dialog box, you can view which workset an object or group of objects belongs to, and you can modify that workset. Note that you can move elements to other worksets only if you own the elements. You do not need to own the entire workset to do this—just the individual elements.

Additionally, you can always tell what workset an object belongs to by hovering your mouse pointer over the object and viewing its workset in the status bar. This location will also display an object's family and category. In the example shown here, the chair is in the Interiors workset, in the Furniture category, and its type is an Armless Chair.

Once you begin working in a worksharing environment, it will eventually become necessary to save your work and share your progress with others in the model. There are three ways for you to both save work and view others' efforts:

Figure 6.17. Using the Synchronize Now option

Revit will remind you to save your work at regular intervals. Once worksharing is enabled, you will receive an additional reminder to synchronize with the central file as well as to save your work (Figure 6.18). You can always dismiss these dialog boxes by clicking Cancel at the lower right, but remember, it's always a good idea to save regularly so you don't lose any work.

Figure 6.18. Changes Not Synchronized With Central dialog box

When the Save To Central dialog box appears, you'll have three options to choose from:

The reminder time shown in the dialog box can be modified at any time by clicking the Application button and selecting Options and then choosing the General tab.

It is possible to update your model and review or load work from other team members without publishing your own work back to the central file. This process, called Reload Latest, basically updates your model and refreshes the content so you can continue working with current information. Since you are only downloading content from the central file, this process only takes a portion of the time a full SWC does. To do this, click the Collaborate tab on the ribbon, and choose Reload Latest from the Synchronize panel (Figure 6.19).

Figure 6.19. Using Reload Latest

Once your worksets have been established, you'll need to separate your existing model elements between those worksets. The easiest way to move elements between worksets is by subtracting them from a 3D view. The following exercise will walk you through moving elements from Workset1 to the worksets we have established using a subtractive method to locate and move the model geometry. Note this should be done by a single person who owns all the elements. This is will ensure there are no permissions issues when elements are being moved between worksets.

At any point in this process, you can check your work by opening the Workset tab in the Visibility/Graphic Overrides dialog box and clearing all the boxes but one to see what is in each workset. Figure 6.21 shows the Furniture workset with all its elements.

Figure 6.21. The Interiors workset

Moving Every Instance of an Element

A quick way to move every instance of an element type to a new workset is to use the Select All Instances option from the context menu. For example, select a chair in the model and right-click it. From the context menu, choose Select All Instances

Another way to select all instances of an element is to right-click the family name in the Project Browser tree under the Family node. Simply navigate to your family in its proper category.

When working in a worksharing project, it is not always necessary to take ownership of an entire workset in order to begin editing elements. As we discussed earlier in this chapter, it is possible to take permission of singular elements (one by one or in groups). This process is referred to as borrowing.

By borrowing elements, team members can take ownership of only portions of a workset, leaving the remainder of the workset to be edited by someone else. Taking permission of elements in this style creates a more "take what you need" approach to editing and usually results in less overlap between team members.

If you need to work on an element that already belongs to someone else, Revit will alert you that the element(s) have already been checked out, and you'll be given the option to request permission.

Borrowing is a critical concept in Revit for multiuser teams; it allows users to transfer permission of objects without having to constantly save all their work to the central file and relinquish all worksets. Let's look at this interchange of permissions in more detail.

Imagine you are happily working away on your model in a workshared environment and you realize that someone else is an owner of an element that you need to modify. What do you do? When that situation occurs, you will be presented with a dialog box that allows you to request permission of that element from the other user (Figure 6.24). This will happen every time you are working in a model with worksharing enabled and you attempt to modify (even if it's indirectly) an element owned by another team member.

Figure 6.24. Placing a request for permission

Looking at the dialog box, you have two options:

Figure 6.25. Check Editability Grants dialog box

Once you have placed your request, you're in a bit of a holding pattern. You cannot continue to edit this element until the other user has granted permission over it, and you cannot continue working on other portions of the project. It is also important to note that the other team member will not receive any notification through Revit that you have placed a request. You will need to contact the team member so your permission can be granted, and you can get back to work.

Once you've made your request known to your team member, you can click Check Now and see whether the request has been granted or whether there are additional steps you'll need to take to gain permission over that element. While this is happening, you always have the option to click Continue. This will undo your most recent edit to the element you are attempting to borrow and let you get back to working on another portion of the project.

Once the other user has granted your editing request and you click Check Now, you'll see the dialog box shown in Figure 6.26, alerting you that your permission has been granted and you can resume your workflow with your edits intact.

Figure 6.26. Permission granted

Now suppose you are on the other end of this scenario, where you have been working away and you receive a call or IM or visit from someone looking to acquire permission for an element you own in the model. How do you grant permission?

On the Worksets panel of the Collaborate tab, there is a button called Editing Requests. Clicking this button will open a dialog box allowing you to see all the outstanding requests you have for elements in the model.

To deal with the request for permission, you have a few options, as shown in Figure 6.27:

Once you are ready to grant permission of the element, one of two things will happen. If there have been no edits to the element, you can simply click Grant and the permission for the element will be transferred to your team member.

If you have made edits to this element or one that is dependent or hosted to the element in question, you will be alerted that you'll need to SWC before the permission can be switched. Your team member on the other end will also need to SWC to receive the recent changes, and then they can begin editing the most recent version of that element. Permission requests that require an SWC are flagged in this dialog box by an asterisk next to the permission request.

Figure 6.27. Editing Requests dialog box

It is not always necessary to wait for a request from another team member to relinquish permission over your elements. Fortunately in Revit, there is a tool to do just that. On the Worksets panel of the Collaborate tab is a button called Relinquish All Mine (Figure 6.28). This feature returns the permissions for any elements you have not edited back to the central file so they are freely available to the rest of your team.

Figure 6.28. Relinquish All Mine

Eventually, you will need to close your project and Revit and leave for lunch or go home for the day. Don't worry—the project will still be there tomorrow. But in the meantime, it's important to understand how to close the project correctly so you don't accidentally leave the office and maintain permission over any elements. This situation—where a team member has accidentally left the office and not closed Revit or relinquished permissions—leaves the other team members without a way to edit those elements or even request permission. So that you are not the unfortunate victim of their wrath upon your return, make sure you close Revit properly.

The most thorough way to close the file is to simply quit the application completely. You can do this by clicking the red X at the upper right or clicking the Application button and selecting Close. Both will provide the same results. You'll be presented with a dialog box asking you to save your file locally. After that, you'll see a second dialog box asking you to Synchronize With Central (Figure 6.29). As we noted, if you do not SWC, your changes will not appear on the network for other users to see and you'll maintain permission over some of your elements.

Figure 6.29. Saving to the central file

Sometimes you've opened a file to do something simple such as review a detail or print a set. You might have inadvertently taken permission over an element or group of elements but not performed any edits. On closing the file, you'll get a dialog box like Figure 6.30, alerting you that you have permissions that need to be reconciled. Again, the proper workflow is to choose to relinquish elements and worksets.

Figure 6.30. Editable Elements dialog box