How do I implement Transmittals mid-project?

Owned by Chris Price, created
Last updated: May 18, 2023
2 min read

 Problem

I’ve got an existing project that has already had documents issued, but I’d like to start using Xrev Transmit’s transmittal feature ongoing. I’ve been using Microsoft Excel (or similar) prior to this.

 Solution

As this operation really only occurs once, when you first start using the software, there would be significant development effort for Xrev to implement a solution for this once off use case. As such, there is no quick built in solution to build/populate historic information that occurred prior to the use of Xrev Transmit. Also, implementing such a feature has the potential to threaten the integrity of the system by allowing users to enter data that’s not connected to actual historic events.

That said, it is possible to manually build the history within the system, but it will take some time as essentially you have to mimic what happened in the past.

  1. Create a temporary detached copy of your Revit Project ensuring you have the Project Number set correctly

  2. To speed up the process, go to a 3D view and delete all the model information from the project. (this way when we print the sheets it will go much faster)

  3. Clear all the revision history for every sheet

  4. Save the Project.

  5. Using your Excel or previous transmittal tool as a reference,

    1. Add the first revision to all applicable sheets that represent your first issue. (you can use Xrev UpRev to quickly add a revision to many sheets at once)

    2. Run the Print/Export command and select all the sheets and output them in PDF

    3. Select Generate Transmittal

    4. Select the appropriate sheets and populate all the information as per your history requirements (recipients, formats, dates, methods, reasons), you can back date the transmittals to match your original issue dates.

    5. Repeat this process for each issue.

  6. You have now built your Transmittal history. You can delete this temporary Revit project now and continue working in your live project as normal and use use Xrev Transmit for all future issuing.

Xrev Transmit tracks all its data against the Revit Project Number - not the Revit Project File. This is because your Revit Project may have a number of Revit Project files each containing sheets. For instance, you may have a Site File containing all the site information and then a number of buildings each containing their specific documentation. Xrev Transmit collates all the information/history against the Project Number ensuring your transmittal can show all the sheets for all the files.

Creating a detached copy ensure we don’t mess up our live project. Particularly if we are using Revision clouds for revisioning. For the purposes of rebuilding the history, we can simply just add revisions to the sheet, rather than using Revision clouds as it is much faster.