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    #1

    Shared read only graphs? Possible? Needed?

    I am exploring the implication of Dynamo in an office environment, rather than Dynamo as Tool of the PropellerHeads. Seems to me that one thing that would be desirable is a shared, vetted, read only library of nodes, packages and graphs. Most users would never need more than this, as they are "users of tools", not "makers of tools". Basically it's what most of us do now with family libraries. A small subset of the office makes or modifies families, most people focus just on using those families.
    Anyway, I have this working for nodes and packages. But, despite the fact that I have Dynamo configured to store backups in userAppData (according to the settings file at least), when I open any graph I get a backup folder created in the same folder as the graph. If the graphs folder is read only, Dynamo barfs and won't open the graph at all.
    So, I guess first question is, is opening a graph the way those "users of tools" will work? Or am I missing something and there is a way to "run" a graph without opening it first? Or, open a graph read only/not for editing?
    And second question, has anyone actually started using Dynamo as a general use production tool? Or is it still the purview of a small set of visual programming power users, and the general staff doesn't actually use it?

    Gordon
    Pragmatic Praxis
    Tags: None
    #2
    You have seen the Dynamo Player (part of 2017)? dynamo player.png
    Alex Page
    RevitWorks Ltd
    Check out our Door Factory, the door maker add-in for Revit

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      #3
      Duh! Somehow I was thinking that Dynamo Player still depended on opening in Dynamo. But, now for the down side, they Implemented Dynamo Player with the worst, most limited file open approach imaginable, so we can't provide links to content like we can in the full featured .NET file dialog used in Dynamo proper. So, users are forced to drill down manually for everything, which is pretty useless. Maybe ADSK can fix the various issues with Player for the next Dynamo or Revit update.
      Pragmatic Praxis

      Comment

        #4
        Hi Gordon- Have you tried updating the Security permissions of the folder? Make sure that the folder has read permissions, but you explicitly DENY write permissions. Let us know if that solves your problem.

        I will bring your concern about "File Open..." to the team.

        Regarding Dynamo as a general use production tool, I will leave that to other customers to answer more directly. (You might want to check out the types of problems others are trying to solve at the dynamo forum and ask the same question there) With that being said, we have been seeing significant adoption over the past few years with customers utilizing Dynamo in not just geometry creation, but for automating tasks and running macros. As evidenced by the amount of classes (~50) at AU this past year, customers are using Dynamo as part of their everyday work. Check out this great blog post by Zach on AU2016.

        Hope that helps Thanks to Sol for directing us to this thread.

        Comment

          #5
          FYI folks.

          Attached Files

          Sol Amour
          Architectural Explorer, Digital warrior, Affectual adventurer and Curious Human Being
          Portfolio Website @ Cargo Collective

          Comment

            #6
            Originally posted by RacelWilliams View Post
            Hi Gordon- Have you tried updating the Security permissions of the folder? Make sure that the folder has read permissions, but you explicitly DENY write permissions. Let us know if that solves your problem.

            I will bring your concern about "File Open..." to the team.

            Regarding Dynamo as a general use production tool, I will leave that to other customers to answer more directly. (You might want to check out the types of problems others are trying to solve at the dynamo forum and ask the same question there) With that being said, we have been seeing significant adoption over the past few years with customers utilizing Dynamo in not just geometry creation, but for automating tasks and running macros. As evidenced by the amount of classes (~50) at AU this past year, customers are using Dynamo as part of their everyday work. Check out this great blog post by Zach on AU2016.

            Hope that helps Thanks to Sol for directing us to this thread.
            Racel,
            I did indeed set the permissions. It works fine with Dynamo Player, limited by the fact that the File dialog is not very enterprise friendly. In Dynamo proper, despite the fact that I have the settings XML putting backups in user app data, Dynamo wants to create a backup folder when opening a graph, in the same folder as the graph, so it throws an error and fails to open. Which is workable, if ugly, as it means a regular user can't modify a graph.
            As for Dynamo use, I think we may find that the vast majority of offices have a very few people actually using Dynamo, mainly because as implemented it is just not viable for broad use. WAY too much opportunity for rogue downloads and unvalidated workflows, and if RevitCity taught us anything, it's that allowing junk into your office is a very good way to make yourself sad.

            I just posted on my blog with some thoughts that have come from a few weeks of trying to implement a rollout and management workflow. Would be interested to hear from offices if what I outline makes sense to them, and from the Factory as well.
            Pragmatic Praxis

            Comment

              #7
              Hi Gordon- We thought we fixed the read-only issue with the 1.2 release. What version of Dynamo do you have?

              Thanks for pointing us to your blog. We are taking a look now. We have had similar concerns expressed by other customers about rollout/management...

              Comment

                #8
                Racel,
                I am using Dynamo 1.2.1 and Revit 2017.2. Dynamo install is via the EXE download from the Dynamo web site, NOT the MSIs in the Revit 2017.2 update exe. In theory it shouldn't make a difference, but maybe? There was different build numbers between the installer in Revit 2017.1.1 and the independent Dynamo installer, but I am pretty sure I saw the same build number with both methods for 2017.2.
                Let me know if I can help set the agenda on deployments. It's a topic near and dear to my heart.

                Gordon
                Pragmatic Praxis

                Comment

                  #9
                  Gordon,

                  Zach and I tried to reproduce this, but we are unable to. Could it be something with your permissions setup? Even after setting up the permissions of a folder to explicitly Deny "Write", we are not seeing a crash...Any additional details on your permission settings or steps to reproduce would be helpful.

                  Also, what version of Windows are you using?

                  Attached Files

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Not a full blown crash, just an error that it couldn't open the graph. FWIW, I do have this stuff on a NAS, not a Windows server. But everything else shares nicely. I'll try to reproduce it again and give you more detail. As for OS, I am working on a Win7 VM, but I can test on a Win10 VM as well, over the weekend.
                    But honestly, with the file dialog in Revit Player I can't do anything to facilitate ease of access anyway. The only option is old school drill down. Which is a bummer when you see the crazy tree depths that Architects like to use.
                    Pragmatic Praxis

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