Revit Beta Install?

Runtime
1

Hello,
Is there a way to install pyRevit on a Revit beta test version? The version says 2025.
The install was ignored, but maybe there is a way to tweak something?

Thanks

2

Hi @lorhal, we (pyrevit developers and contributors) still have to get our hands on the beta, so we didn’t do any work to make it compatible.

If you feel brave enough, you can start by adding the revit info at the end of the bin\pyrevit-hosts.json file.

It won’t certainly be enough, but it is the easiest thing to do and try without recompiling the code.

Let us know if that changed anything and if you are willing to gets you hands dirty and help us to support revit 2025 :wink:

3

Hi @sanzoghenzo, thanks for getting back to me.
Well, I added Revit 2025 info to the pyrevit-hosts.json, but no dice. I have a feeling there are too many things to change (unless you have other tweaks to try?). If you have a pyRevit build to compile, I’ll give it a shot.

Doesn’t @eirannejad have a Preview release? That’s what I have. I checked out your Meetup #2 video and was glad you guys are being proactive about the .net upgrade. I plan to swing by your Meetup #3 for hopefully more good news.

Sure, I can do some testing if betas are hard to come by. Not sure my skill level is much more than running/writing scripts and documenting, but would be glad to help where I can.

Best,
@lorhal

4

Yes, unfortunately we need to move all the code base to .net 8, because it cannot load assemblies (.dll files) made for/with .net framework 4.8. But then we lose the compatibility with the previous versions, so we’ll need to make the project multi target - at least for the common code.

Also, we have to add a project in the sources:

  • duplicate an existing project in the dev\pyRevitLabs.PyRevit.Runtime folder for the 2025 version
  • edit the file to set the RevitVersion variable to 2025 (here we should also address the change of target framework, moving it from the directory.build.props file to each .csproject file)
  • Create the dev\libs\Revit\2025 folder
  • Add the RevitAPI.dll, RevitAPIUI.dll, AdWindows.dll UIFramework.dll files from the revit installation to the newly created folder

This is the way to proceed with the assumption that the API didn’t change, but only the target framework did. If there were changes, we should look at each of them to see where we need to differentiate the code that uses the API directly.

5

Oh my, that’s a lot of stuff and not including API changes, which are inevitable. Looks like you know what needs to happen, though. I asked the Revit Lookup devs about their plans for 2025, and the response was basically: …We’re already in .NET6, so it should take 1/2 hour or so…
Not that you can compare them, pyRevit is a whole ecosystem, but I was not expecting that quick. Oh well, no good deed goes unpunished!

6

The source code in RevitLookup github repository still targets .net framework 4.8.1, so I suppose they refer to the fact that they already prepared (but not yet released) the version targetting .net6, which was the runtime that autodesk planned to use a while ago before switching to .net8 (because the switch is simple, indeed).

The “problem” lies in transitioning from .net framework to .net6/8, not between versions of the same type (.net6,7,8 as of now).

And as I mentioned before, the big task is to maintain the retrocompatibility with older revit versions (at my office we still have revit 2018 copies for a big project started a long time ago…)

7

OK that transition makes sense.

Don’t get me started with old Revit versions! What a nightmare.
Actually, one of my projects is to use pyRevit to extract data from a Revit model into a spreadsheet where you can regenerate a model from it, thus obviating the version issue. Still working on that one, but it’s going well.

Question:
Have you heard from other AEC app developers about updating to .NET8, for instance Revit Python Shell? They also target 4.8, from what I can tell. I can reach out to them unless you know their plans already. Just curious.

Best,
@lorhal

8

If you’re feeling brave you might get it to sort of work by coping/pasting the .addin file to the local addins folder for 2025 if you’re installing preview beta on PC vs using the virtual machine offered.

Depending on how the code is authored for pyrevit it might not work though, but I recall this worked in 2024 for the preview release. It works for addins sometimes. Revit 2025 is using .NET 8 so I suspect that might be a pretty big spanner for most addins this time around…

Addin folders are stored at:
%AppData%*Autodesk* \Revit*Addins*

9

Guys, we are working to port pyrevit to .net8, please be patient!
It’s not an half an hour job, and it involves more steps than changing a file.
I shouldn’t have suggested to try in the first place, sorry for that.

Stay tuned! :wink:

3 Likes