Thursday, February 25, 2010

Reaching the "ZEN" of Revit; aka: The Power of the API

Since my last Post it's been a busier time than what I thought it would be thinking I would have contributed more posts, LOL. Working on a Large Semi-BIM Project (MEP was the non-BIM member) I thought since it's BIM fewer RFI's right, but I think the Contractors got smart & said Let's make it a Fast-Track type Project so the likelyhood of having Holes of Info is greater, LOL. (In the beginning the Pressure is on the Architect, but it's sweet because we get the last laugh because towards past the middle it all starts to fall on them to perform.) Tho there has been a plus of 800 RFI's & over a 3rd of which they failed to fully coordinate all the DWGS on there part (telling them to Refer to the latest Revision of the Sheet or Refer to Sheet so & so Dummy or that it no longer applies due to changes in a P.R., LOL) so technically the "Real RFI Count" is closer to the 400's or less taking away the "confirming RFI's" regarding meetings. They tried to have a Case built up just in case they tripped and fell behind schedule to say the we are delaying them because of the many RFI's that are past due (they complaint if even 1 RFI went past due saying it's delaying them, but how is asking a ? over something that they know it will be resolved when issued on a Scheduled date delaying them and not in the current scope of building it till it's issued?), but that ain't happening, LOL. And that's the Rant for today.

The more I have immersed myself in the world of BIM I have had an apiffany of sorts. Now that I see the majority of Users are getting more comfortable & confident in there abilities. Recollecting when I was an Athlete in the best shape I was always looking for the little things to improve my technique/skill/abilities by looking for the new age workouts/equipment that would give me that edge. So this is what I'm getting at with the API being that think that will aid in that improvement, and in this case it's Time rather than technique/skill/abilities. As the saying goes "Time is Money" or as an Athlete every little "inch/extra step/split second/or as Madden says UMPH" counts.
So I'm starting to visit all the API Blogs & AU Classes. The AU Class that Poped out to me that I can relate most to is the class CP304-2. He has his own blog @ http://jasongrant.squarespace.com/. Basically because I'm in his shoes right now when he was looking into developing tools throught the API & being someone on the Production Team & not a "Techy" so to speak. So check him out.
Right now I'm looking into utilizing the DB LINK tool as much as possible (beta testing M$ 2010 64-bit ODBC drivers with Revit) then developing any API tools to accommodate our workflow & or ones that we can implement into our workflow. So in the coming weeks I'll share some of that experience. Learning C#, VB.net, VSTA, OH MY!

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