Table Of ContentTeamwork Essentials
GRAPHISOFT
®
2009 (version 1.1)
Teamwork Essentials
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................3
SETUP/PREPARATION........................................................................................................................................3
STARTING THE SERVER; THE BIM SERVER CONTROL CENTER...................................................................................................4
CREATE SERVER LINK......................................................................................................................................................5
WORKING OVER THE INTERNET........................................................................................................................................5
CREATE A NEW TEAMWORK PROJECT.................................................................................................................................6
WORKFLOW.......................................................................................................................................................7
OPEN OR JOIN A TEAMWORK PROJECT...............................................................................................................................7
RESERVATION................................................................................................................................................................8
EXTERNAL CONTENT IN TEAMWORK.................................................................................................................................10
PROJECT SYNCHRONIZATION...........................................................................................................................................10
TEAM COMMUNICATION..................................................................................................................................10
REQUEST....................................................................................................................................................................11
ASSIGN.......................................................................................................................................................................12
ASK FOR REVIEW..........................................................................................................................................................12
BUILT‐IN TASK BUTTONS...............................................................................................................................................12
PROJECT MANAGEMENT...................................................................................................................................13
SERVER MANAGER.......................................................................................................................................................13
SERVER PREFERENCES...................................................................................................................................................15
MANAGE SERVER LIBRARIES; LIBRARY MANAGER...............................................................................................................16
TEAMWORK PROJECT SETTINGS......................................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
This document is designed to give you a brief summary of the basic concepts and working
mechanisms underlying the new Teamwork for ArchiCAD 13.
For more information on Teamwork:
• For a high-level overview of the various collaboration techniques in ArchiCAD (including
but not limited to Teamwork), and their strategic use in the architectural office, see the
Graphisoft Collaboration Guide, available from the ArchiCAD 13 box.
• For a step-by-step tutorial on the main features of Teamwork, see the Interactive
Training Guide entitled “ArchiCAD Collaboration,” available for download at
http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad/training_guides/
• For more in-depth reference information on the features and functions of Teamwork,
see the Help file for ArchiCAD 13 (particularly the Teamwork section of the Collaboration
chapter), available from ArchiCAD’s Help menu.
• For tips and tricks on how to resolve specific Teamwork-related issues, see ArchiCAD
WIKI at http://www.archicadwiki.com/Teamwork
Setup/Preparation
Teamwork for ArchiCAD 13 is based on a client-server technology, in which one or more
server applications are connected through the network to client applications. Therefore, using
Teamwork in ArchiCAD 13 requires
(1) the ArchiCAD 13 client application, and
(2) the Graphisoft BIM Server.
Each of these two components must be installed separately, from the ArchiCAD 13 install DVD.
The BIM Server should be installed on a computer dedicated to server functionality.
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To install the BIM Server, choose it from the ArchiCAD 13 install DVD. At the end of the BIM
Server installation process, you have the option to configure the server. If you proceed, the six-
step “Configure BIM Server” process follows. If you skip the configuration process, you will
configure the server the first time you start the server.
Note: One component of the Graphisoft BIM Server is the BIM Server Manager, which
is installed automatically along with the BIM Server. However, you can also optionally
install the BIM Server Manager as a stand-alone application on remote machines.
Separate, stand-alone installation of the BIM Server Manager (available from the Tools
& Utilities section of the ArchiCAD 13 installation DVD) is necessary only if you plan to
manage the BIM Server remotely, from a machine other than the server itself.
For installation details, see Getting Started.
Starting the Server; the BIM Server Control Center
After you install and start up the Graphisoft BIM Server, its icon button will appear on your
monitor, generally in the lower right corner of the screen next to the clock. Right-click this button
to pop up Graphsioft BIM Server Control Center commands and to open the BIM Server
Control Center.
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Use the Control Center to start/stop the BIM Server and check its status. (If the server is not
running, the icon will be red instead of green). Additionally, use the Control Center to manage
users, projects and roles on the server, or to change server preferences. For details, see
Project_Management.
Create Server Link
The Create Link command at the bottom of the BIM Server Control Center is an optional
function to make it easier for Teamwork users to access the BIM Server when they are opening
or joining a project from their client machines. This function is only necessary if, for some
reason, the client machine is unable to automatically locate the BIM Server on the network.
There are two “Create Link” options: one to create a link for the local network and the other for
the Internet. If you create this link and send it, the recipient will be able to access this BIM
Server from either the local network or the Internet without having to know its IP address or port
numbers. To use the link, the recipient should choose “Add More BIM Servers” from the Choose
Server list in ArchiCAD when opening or joining a Teamwork project, then the option “Browse
for a server link file.”
Working Over The Internet
After you install and configure ArchiCAD 13 and the BIM Server as described above, you are
ready to start using Teamwork within the office. However, the system is designed to enable
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users to access the BIM Server and its projects over the Internet, too. Remote access to
Teamwork projects requires additional network settings; these are described in a separate
“Networking Basics” document, available on ArchiCAD WIKI at
http://www.archicadwiki.com/Teamwork
Create a New Teamwork Project
A Teamwork project can be created in two places.
• Share an ArchiCAD file (either a new project or one that already contains any number of
model elements), using the Teamwork > Project > Share command from ArchiCAD.
In the dialog box, choose the server on which to create this newly shared project, with a
user name that is defined for that server. That user must be either a Server
Administrator or a Project Administrator. (These user definitions can be defined on the
Users page of Server Manager. Moreover, the initial user entered during BIM Server
configuration is automatically given Server Administrator rights.) Sharing works across
all platforms supported for ArchiCAD 13: XP, Vista, OS X. In this same dialog box, you
can tailor the set of users who can access this project, or the project’s backup settings,
but if you just leave the default settings, a single click on the Share button creates the
project without any further ado.
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• With the Create command from the Projects page of Server Manager, Teamwork
projects can be created on the server without the need for ArchiCAD 13. One possibility
here is to duplicate an existing Teamwork project – for instance, to use it as a template.
Another way is to import an existing Teamwork project file.
Workflow
Open or Join a Teamwork Project
Once a project is created on the BIM Server, users can join the project from ArchiCAD.
Use the Teamwork > Project > Open/Join Teamwork Project command.
From the Choose BIM Server pop-up, choose the BIM Server on which the desired project is
located and select a user name (from the user pop-up at top right). If the user name is not valid
for the chosen server, you must choose another user name or another server.
Note: Don’t forget that the user name and password must first be added to the BIM
Server. Only then can the client join the Teamwork project from ArchICAD, using this
name and password.
The User pop-up will remember the user/password combinations that have been entered to
access BIM Servers from each specific computer, so when you Open/Join a project at a later
time from the same machine, you do not have to re-enter your password. In any case, only
when a valid user name and password are entered will a connection to the BIM Server be
established.
The list of shared projects accessible to this user then appears. If the list is very long, you can
filter it by project category (see Custom Properties). Keep in mind that the dialog lists only the
projects that the given user is authorized to join – it may not be a complete list of all the projects
on the server.
The user chooses the desired project from the list and clicks Join to join the project and open it.
(If the user is already joined in, he/she clicks Open.)
Joining the project also entails downloading a local copy of the project, which means that the
user can later work on the project even if he/she is offline.
Note: Once you have Joined a Teamwork Project, you can open or close the project as
many times as you like, without losing your reservations or dumping your local copy.
When you finish working for the day, do not leave the project; just Close it. The next
day, you will not have to join the project (you are already joined in); just Open it.
However, once you Leave the project (as opposed to closing it), you lose your
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reservations and dump your local copy. It is recommended that you do not leave the
project unless you do not plan to work on it any more in the foreseeable future.
Reservation
In contrast to earlier versions of Teamwork, workspaces do not need to be reserved when
starting work; you can create new elements freely, without the need to reserve anything.
To work with an existing element or data type in Teamwork, you must first reserve it.
Reservation can be done at any time as you work in ArchiCAD; you must be online.
You should only reserve an item/data type for as long as you need to work on it. Once you are
done working on it and have sent your changes, you should release your reservation.
To reserve an element, just select it and click Reserve. (The Reserve command is available
from the Teamwork Palette as pictured here, as well as the context menu and the Teamwork
menu.)
As soon as you click Reserve, the reservation data is registered on the server, and all other
users receive feedback that the element is now reserved by you; the reserved element will not
be free for others to use until you release it. Reservation status is always up-to-date as long as
you are online; there is no need to send and receive to ensure that reservation data is current.
You can select multiple elements to reserve them all simultaneously.
You can also reserve entire logical groups of elements without having to select any of them:
set up reservation criteria (similar to ArchiCAD’s Find & Select criteria) for any specified region
of the project – e.g. “all objects on Story 2” - using the “Reserve Elements” dialog box. If it turns
out that some of the elements you designated could not be reserved - because of ownership
conflicts - the Reservation Results dialog box lists these and lets you conveniently send a
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Request message to the elements’ owners, asking that they grant the element(s) to you now.
(See Request, below.)
Releasing elements is equally straightforward: select the elements, then click Release.
Naturally, you can reserve project data that are not elements, such as attributes and Navigator
items (e.g. Layer Settings, any View Settings, or a Publisher Set). To modify such a data type,
you must first reserve it in ArchiCAD. Go to the relevant dialog box (e.g. Layer Settings) or
select the desired Navigator item (e.g. a view). Colored control lights (at the bottom of the
dialog box or Navigator) will indicate the current reservation status of the attribute or item.
• Blue indicates that the data type (e.g. Layer Settings) is
free for reservation; click Reserve to make it yours.
• Green means that it is already reserved by you, and you
can now edit the settings.
• Red indicates that it has been reserved by somebody else (and shows that user’s name),
next to a Request button so you can send a message asking that he/she grant it to you
(see Request).
• A grey control light indicates either that the server is offline, or that your role does not
allow you access to this data (see Roles).
All users joined in to the project see these control lights, which are always up-to-date. (For
example, if you reserve the Layer Settings dialog box, your control light turns green; at the same
instant, the Layer Settings control lights of the other users turn red.)
If a user leaves the project, all of his/her reservations are released.
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External Content in Teamwork
You can work with Hotlinks in Teamwork just as in solo projects, provided that you have the
requisite access rights (see Roles). One such access right enables you to work with specific
instances of placed modules; a separate access right is needed to add new hotlinks to the
project and to use the Hotlink Manager to manage the source files.
Similarly, a separate access right is needed to place an external Drawing into a Teamwork
project. The external Drawing may have its source in another Teamwork Project. In this case,
use the Place External Drawing from Teamwork Project command. Naturally, to access the
server and its projects, your user name must be added to the BIM Server and also present on
the project’s User list (see Teamwork Project Settings).
Project Synchronization
Changes to model data must be sent to the server and received by other users in order for all
users to have an up-to-date project.
Teamwork for ArchiCAD 13 features the new DELTA-Server technology: only the changes since
the last Send & Receive will be sent through the network and processed by the server or clients;
this greatly reduces network traffic and improves performance.
Send/Receive does not affect the reservation status of data; reservation status is always up-to-
date as long as you are online.
As needed, the program will prompt you to do a send or receive if that is required to carry out a
command: for example, if you try to release an element without first having sent your changes to
the server, you are prompted to “Send and Release”.
Team Communication
Efficient communication and interaction with fellow users are supported by Teamwork’s context-
based, live messaging system. Messaging is available among all users joined in to the
Teamwork project, even if some users are offline. (They will see their new messages once they
are online again.)
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Description:mechanisms underlying the new Teamwork for ArchiCAD 13. but not limited to Teamwork), and their strategic use in the architectural office, see the
