Navigating the Navisworks DataTools maze - Beyond Design: the Construction and BIM blog

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09/12/2011

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Lee Mullin

Hi Sherif, Yes as long as you get the ODBC driver and have a suitable string to query the data

sherif

Is it possible to link Navisworks to mySQL DB

Lee Mullin

As long as you have a unique ID there's nothing to prevent you linking at any level of the selection tree

Yang Zou

Many thanks. very valuable and useful information!
Just wondered if the linkage is only for objects? I think Object is the minimum element in BIM. As in Navisworks a model's hierarchy is like 'project', 'site', etc, I am wondering if we could link some information in Excel or Access to the higher levels (i.e. project, site) instead of only the object?

Lee Mullin

Apologies for any confusion. It's just not currently supported for Freedom to view these Database properties. We do know about this and there's an enhancement request to support this in a later version.

Bishop Brown

Lee - I'm going to quote directly from the Navisworks Manage 2012 help file:

Quote:

Database links can be saved inside Autodesk Navisworks files (NWF and NWD). You can also save database links globally, making them persistent across all Autodesk Navisworks sessions. The global connection information is saved on the local machine. If the associated database is available on loading the NWF/NWD file, the link automatically establishes itself when an object is selected. On selecting an object, if the database is available, and there is data associated with the object, Autodesk Navisworks adds an appropriate database tab to the Properties window, and displays the appropriate data.


Data linked from a database connection can be extracted and embedded as static data within the published NWD file.
/End Quote

If the ability to embed the data statically exists, why can't Freedom see it?

Lee Mullin

Hi Yuri, It isn't currently possible to embed database properties in an NWD, the other user would need access to the Database and a version of Simulate or Manage.

Hi Demmy, I think I may have seen you post this elsewhere but if not try asking on the Navisworks API forum where they should be able to help. http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Navisworks-API/bd-p/600

Yury

If the model is saved in nwd after link the database and i send this file to my client which has the freedom version of navisworks the properties of database is avable?

Demmy

I tried out your idea on linking navisworks to the MS database and it worked. But i tried to open the same database through a plugin and it isn't opening. Why is that? The reason why i am doing this is to create a textbox and use the textbox to update the database when a botton is clicked. I am using C#. Can you help try this out to see it it works?

Lee Mullin

It's not currently possible to edit properties or CAD data inside Navisworks. You'd need to have the two running alongside each other and changes in the Database should be reflected when you refresh the model in Navisworks.

Demmy

This is a very nice presentation. It works on a 64 bit system.
But my question is this: How do you update or change the database properties from navisworks? Isn't there a way to write back to the database form navisworks?

Lee Mullin

Hi Teresa, Unfortunately yes it does. It was only last summer before 64 bit ODBC drivers were available which caused quite alot of frustration. The Office 2007 drivers were 32 bit drivers that would work on 64 bit, not 64 bit themselves.

Teresa

Thanks for the information! With 64bit ODBC, I am assuming this means an upgrade to Windows Office 2010 which has full 64bit drivers as opposed to MS Office 2007 which only had compatible but not 'real' 64bit ODBC?

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