Setting the Visual Studio Version for Specific Solution Files

If you have multiple versions of Visual Studio installed such as 2010 and 2012, you can easily control what version of Visual Studio will be used to open your solution when it is double clicked.

First open your *.SLN file in notepad and adjust the very top two lines in the file to the following:

• Visual Studio 2010
• Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 11.00
• # Visual Studio 2010
• Visual Studio 2012
• Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00
• # Visual Studio 2012

CASE Add-In Manager Updated

Guess what! The CASE Add-In Manager has been updated! You may not notice anything too spectacular about this update, but just about everything about it has been improved.

http://apps.case-inc.com/content/add-manager

• Previously installed tools on your system will be detected and checked as already installed when you run the manager
• If you have a strong firewall policy at your office and you've previously seen zero of the tools in the manager, this update might fix that for you! Give it a try and let me know!
• We will be unveiling a suite of paid subscription tools this year at AU2012, so the
  "Activate Subscription" button will remain grayed out until this official announcement...
• New snazzy icon (I made it myself)!

Prevent Double Click Opening of Central Files

It happens all too often that a rookie user or non Revit savvy person double clicks on an RVT file to open it. If this RVT is a work shared central model then it is a real cluster F%#&. This can be disastrous to anyone working in the model as well as the model's health in general if not correctly saved back as a central model with all elements properly relinquished.

This post will show a way to keep RVT files from being able to be opened by double clicking them (do this on the client machines where you think run a high risk of causing an issue with this). This still will not prevent a "smart" user from dragging an RVT file onto their Revit shortcut on their desktop though, so be aware of that.

This can easily be setup in your IT Manager's Group Policy for all current users of a domain if you really want to enforce this for everyone... or maybe just to users within a certain group?... you get the idea.

You do NOT need admin privileges to make this adjustment because it will change the setting for the current user only.

Create a new txt file (or download mine) and place the following lines in it
(save it as "RevitFileOpenTroll.reg"):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\rvt_auto_file]

@="BIM Model :P"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\rvt_auto_file\shell]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\rvt_auto_file\shell\open]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\rvt_auto_file\shell\open\command]

@="explorer http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Revit/enu/2013/Help/00001-Revit_He0/2278-Collabor2278/2333-Working_2333/2354-Working_2354/2363-Opening_2363"

Double click this file on any machine that you want to make this change for. After running this registry updater, double clicking an RVT file will open the Autodesk Wiki page showing the proper method for opening a workshared model.

You can change the web site to one of your own if you like that tells the proper method for opening an RVT in your organization.