JOURNAL FILES

Revit Journal File Messages

Journal files record and include a number of messages. Many of them are helpful to troubleshoot or isolate an issue when it does occur.

I’ve included 5 journal messages below, generally what they mean, and if there is an approach to resolve a potential issue. These files are constantly being written to in the “C:\Program Files\Revit Version\Journals” folder:

1. DBG_INFO: [TKY] Not sure which partition borrowed element -1 (original 1219) came from. Probably need info from central file rather than using local info. Try Reload Latest Worksets

Most likely a crash occurred in the local file, this message occurs when it is opened back up. Most occurrences can be resolved with this technical solution.

2. [TKY] mirrorId origId = 870666 creation = 7f4e7301-6ec9-4115-8710-197375bbeb56 != invElemId origId = 870665 creation = 7f4e7301-6ec9-4115-8710-197375bbeb56: line 3711 of .\DocView\EditingPermissions.cpp.

The element ID’s will vary, but the message should be similar. This typically indicates issues with an outdated file. Open the central file with audit, resave, and create a new local file. New local files should be created on a daily basis.

3. DBG_WARN: Could not create a bitmap. Probably memory is low.\PreviewUtil.cpp

If you come across repeated lines of this in a users journal file around the time of a crash, thumbnails should be disabled on the workstation through the registry. I have included the steps below:

-Open the Registry Editor : Start > Run > REGEDIT.

-Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\

CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.

-Double-click the DisableThumbnailCache value, or go to Edit ->

New -> DWORD value to create a new value by that name.

-Enter 1 for its value.

-Click Ok and close the Registry Editor when you're done;

restart the workstation afterward.

4. DBG_WARN: Sub-inst not in super-inst table: line 126 of .\Elem\FamSubInstStuff.cpp.

This message could occur when loading a family with several nested families inside. This should be resolved by applying the update 2 service pack for Revit 2010 products.

5. DBG_WARN: [TKY] readWorksetCheckouts guid cd281bf4-58c3-49a3-8157-2256ad3fbf90: no DSIRecord: line 11712 of .\MFC\DocumentStorageIndex.cpp.

Again the numbers will vary, but this message indicates a central file location has changed since the project file was last saved. For example if the project file was physically moved, or a user accessed the file through a different mapped location and saved it. See #5 in this technical solution for additional information, and the dialog which the user should see.

Example of using Journal to find cause

Many of us have been in a situation where we create a new local file, and notice specific elements missing from the file. It might be tags, keynotes, text, etc... The question is how did these elements get deleted?

More often than not if a specific object type is missing throughout the entire project, “Select all Instances” may have been used to select them. Once selected they may have been deleted from all views.

The following journal excerpts will give you a better idea of what to look in a journal file to isolate this scenario. In this example let’s use “text” as the missing object type…

The user selects a portion of text:

"SEL RESULT: Text Notes : Text : 1/4"" Arial"

User then right-clicks, “Select all Instances”:

Jrn.Command "ContextMenu" , "Select all elements that have the same type as the selected element , ID_PRJBROWSER_SEL_ALL"

User then deletes them:

Jrn.Command "AccelKey" , "Delete the selection , ID_BUTTON_DELETE"

All matching instances of this text deleted from project:

Jrn.Data "Transaction Successful" , "Delete Selection"

Identify IDs in Linked files - example

Should you see this message, it would be after linking a Revit file into the host project. The warning is as follows:

Room computations only succeeded without considering the following elements.

In the Revit 2011 release, room bounding elements are calculated internally through a linked file. If there is a bounding element that cannot be calculated it will be excluded. It is important to note that this is rare, and the user will be notified when the project is linked or reloaded into the host project.

The warning dialog box currently lists the element id of the Revit link, not the element id of the specific element being excluded inside the link. It is important to note the linked file itself is not being excluded, instead only the specific element[s].

If you would like to capture the specific element id of the excluded element it is visible in the journal file. Open the current journal file located in “C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit version\Journals” and look for the following line:

TB- RegionMaker fails: Broken LoopSegment chain

TB- Info on failing curve 2540:

TB- Element id 1234567, ForeignElemRef 8888888

The element id in this example is 8888888. The linked project could be opened directly and this element id could be isolated to see why it may be excluded from calculation. The most common reason for exclusion is a very slight misalignment or off axis line.

Locate the Image File Location when Rendering

You render a view and receive The following render appearance images are missingwarning: