Managing Extracted Drafting Views¶

Drafting View Extractor converts drafting views held within Revit library files into individually managed Revit files.

The extracted files are stored within the Flow content library so that reusable drafting content can be maintained separately from the source files in which it was created.

How Extracted Views Are Stored¶

Flow stores extracted drafting views within a _draftingviews folder in the corresponding area of the Revit content library.

The source library structure is retained beneath this location so that extracted content remains associated with the area of the library from which it originated.

For example, a source file stored within a library structure such as:

Library
└── Category
    └── Subcategory
        └── Container.rvt

will have its extracted drafting-view content organised beneath:

Library
└── Category
    └── _draftingviews
        └── Subcategory
            └── Extracted drafting-view files

The library structure is maintained automatically

You do not need to choose an output folder for each extraction.

Flow determines the appropriate _draftingviews location from the location of the selected source file.

Extracted File Names¶

Each drafting view is saved as an individual .rvt file.

The filename is built from:

Source Container Name + Drafting View Name

For example:

ContainerName_Drafting View Name.rvt

Characters that cannot be used in Windows filenames are replaced automatically.

Associated preview images use the same base filename:

ContainerName_Drafting View Name.rvt
ContainerName_Drafting View Name.png

This allows the extracted Revit content and its preview image to remain associated within the library.

Keeping Extracted Views Current¶

Drafting View Extractor checks whether an extracted file already exists before recreating it.

Existing files are classified according to when they were last updated.

Missing¶

If no extracted file exists, Flow creates it.

Older Than Seven Days¶

If the existing extracted file is more than seven days old, the normal extraction workflow updates it.

Seven Days Old or Less¶

If the existing file was created or updated within the last seven days, the normal extraction workflow skips it.

Use Extract Missing / Old Only for routine maintenance

The normal extraction mode avoids unnecessarily rebuilding content that has already been extracted recently.

Regenerating Existing Content¶

If recently extracted content needs to be rebuilt, run the extractor again and select:

Force Extract All

This regenerates the extracted drafting-view files regardless of their age.

Force extraction replaces existing output

Force Extract All bypasses the seven-day recent-file check.

Use it when the source content has changed and the extracted version needs to be refreshed immediately.

Source Files and the Content Library¶

Source RVT files must be located within the configured Revit content library.

Flow uses the source file's position within the library to determine where its extracted drafting views belong.

Source files must be inside the library

If a source file is outside the configured library root, Flow cannot determine the corresponding _draftingviews location.

Use library source files when creating centrally managed drafting content.

Revit Versions¶

Flow automatically uses the content library associated with the current Revit version.

The drafting-view template used during extraction is also resolved for the current Revit version.

This keeps extracted drafting content associated with the appropriate Revit library.

Preview Images¶

Preview images are generated automatically after successful drafting-view extraction.

The preview uses the same base filename as its corresponding extracted RVT and is stored alongside the reusable content.

There is normally no need to run Preview Generator separately after extracting drafting views.