Autodesk continues the annual Get Ready for Autodesk University barrage of important product updates. For reasons that may, or may not, be obvious to all the folks in Civil 3D Land the updates remain focused on the Autodesk Cloud products. This week’s Autodesk Cloud goody is the latest and greatest Autodesk Desktop Connector 16.5.0.2083 (ADC).
Just to remind you last week the Autodesk DWG Migration for Docs app was released.
See the recent DWG Migration for Docs post for more about why we should all get up to speed on these Autodesk Cloud tools.
The Autodesk Cloud tools do help us all build, edit, and maintain better local Civil 3D Projects even if we don’t employ an Autodesk Cloud Collaboration environment. Hoorah.
Autodesk Desktop Connector 16.5.0.2083
The Desktop Connector is an application that runs on the desktop and creates a virtual drive that serves as a bridge between the local file system and data in the Autodesk cloud. This data is stored in one of the connected drives: ACC Docs, Drive, or Fusion.
Once installed we can read or write files to these virtual folders on our local drive and those changes will be automatically synced to the cloud.
The ADC allows us to access and work with our cloud data from our local machine and only download the files we need giving you a faster experience working with cloud data.
Get Started in Civil 3D with the Autodesk Construction Cloud
In this recent 30 Minute Workout video, Jeff Bartels delivers a concise demo of how to get a Civil 3D project started with Autodesk Docs and BIM Collaborate Pro in the Autodesk Construction Cloud. Jeff starts things off appropriately by first sharing a PDF Plan Set and some related files in Autodesk Docs.
There are more detailed How to video training walk-throughs available in our Autodesk Cloud Tools section. Autodesk Construction Cloud video training courses and tutorials available online are very helpful, detailed, and worth watching. Just sayin’.
What’s New in the ADC
Read the ADC Release Notes
My favorite ADC Tool remains the Reference Explorer tool. Want your local Civil 3D project to run better with fewer issues and problems? Install the ADC and resolve the many hidden potential reference issues with the help of the Reference Explorer.
The new Desktop Connector Reset Utility and the Retry tool included in the latest ADC are quick ways for non-administrator users to clean up their local machine store and effectively reset the local store. There are a number of important steps for users to take BEFORE employing the Desktop Connector Reset Utility batch file tool. Think last resort.
New Features and Enhancements
Desktop Connector Reset Utility
- Added a new Desktop Connector Reset Utility designed for users who wish to Reset Desktop Connector and put their current install back into a clean state
Retry
- Added a new Retry command to the Home Screen to help retry all eligible failed jobs. An eligible job would be a data set that meets the necessary requirements or for uploading to the cloud with Desktop Connector.
Upload Tools
The Desktop Connector is not a bulk migration tool, the following resources are provided for managing and uploading data to the cloud.
- The existing Upload Files and References tool in Desktop Connector may be employed as an option for uploading individual datasets to the cloud
- The new and separately installed Autodesk DWG (Data) Migration Tool for Docs app and tools is built upon Desktop Connector and will run checks on data and references
Issues and Fixes
- Addressed an issue where, when a user updates a file in the web and then initiates a move, the move would not consistently occur before the update. Desktop Connector has been enhanced to prioritize move/rename operations over create/update operations so that those operations will succeed.
- Fixed the erroneous recreation of folders for the delete actions performed by another user in the cloud. Providing a more accurate and consistent representation of your cloud storage.
- Addressed an issue where unsynced and excluded files were not being captured in the Diagnostics Logs Collector when Desktop Connector was inactive. Now, the diagnostic log utility will operate smoothly even if Desktop Connector is not running.
- Presto backup files are no longer blocked when uploading with Desktop Connector. Presto backup and recover files will no longer be uploaded, allowing the upload of the Presto authored file to be succeed.
- Fixed a bug where users encountered a situation where synchronization jobs initiated would get stuck in an endless loop, preventing them from completing successfully.
- Previously, quickly moving a file to a newly created folder would result in a software crash. We have identified and resolved this issue to ensure a smoother and more reliable user experience.
- Resolved an issue that following the opening or editing of a DWG file in AutoCAD or Civil 3D and subsequent saving, the file would incorrectly appear without a lock icon in File Explorer, even though it was correctly shown as locked on the web.
CAD Workflows
- We blocked ReCap backup files from uploading so that the authored ReCap file upload will succeed.
- Improved performance with a faster opening of Revit files through Desktop Connector.
- We stopped uploading Revit template backup files. An 00001.rte backup file will no longer be uploaded, therefore will never be locked and cause downstream conflicts.
- Revit template files (.rte) files will no longer be deleted and then upload again as version 1 in the cloud.
- Revit family files (.rfa) were creating new versions in BIM360/ACC each time they are opened with Desktop Connector. These files will no longer version up when opening.
- Revit template files (.rte) were creating new versions each time they are opened with Desktop Connector. Revit family template files will no longer version up when opening.
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