In Revit, each Link is bound to both a Type and an Instance. So you can have one Link ‘Type’ – relating to a single RVT file that is linked into the project. But it can be placed multiple times in the project, thus having multiple instances. In workshared projects, the Type and the Instance can belong to different Worksets.

Did you know you can use Linked Views to display two identical copies of the same linked model in different ways?

To add control, you should create 3 worksets – 1 for the Type, and 1 for each Instance, as shown below:

Then, set up two different Linked Views in that linked model. In this particular case, I want to use a model converted from ArchiCAD to a single Revit file. But I want to be able to separately load and display the Site objects, and the Building objects. So I have an Link Instance for each, and linked views for each. The whole rig can be seen in the image below.

Using the worksets, I can separately Load / Unload each Instance (closing a Workset unloads any Link instances on that Workset from memory). And using the Linked Views and Overrides for the Instance, I can display each instance as I like. I can also load both instances and show both in a ‘combined’ view.

Final note: Link Instances can be located in different positions in the Host model, and they can have different Shared Coordinates. Using the methods above, you have a lot of flexibility to be able to use a single linked Revit model in many different ways…

Interesting post by troywright on AUGI, in relation to setting up segregated links as room bounding in your Revit MEP file:  
We have this issue frequently, as with major projects we will receive different models for architectural fitout, shell and core and facades etc. 

The solution we have (in your example) is to; 
– Link the structural model into architectural as an overlay, set to room bounding 
– In your MEP model link in the structural model and the architectural model. 

That’s it. Essentially it is an extra step, but it means that the architectural model knows it is bound by the structural model, even though it is only an overlay! I think someone else mentioned this method earlier but with worksets. I can’t see a point in doing this as the nested structural model is an overlay, so it’s irrelevant. 

Another issue you may have is that your spaces act up when an architectural model has floor finishes set to room bounding that are higher than the level they are on. To fix this just change all of your levels to have a calculation height above that of the floor finish.

via 2014 MEP Spaces

If you want your entire geographically separated team to have access to the same linked files, you need to upload them to Revit Server. This also goes for CAD / DWG files, which will need to be imported into an RVT if you want to save them directly to RS.  2D DWG files can be referenced by Linked View in the host project if necessary.

Here is a bit of a workflow that may help:

1 Open the consultant model in appropriate version of Revit
2 Enable Worksharing (if it isn’t already)
3 Save As … 
a) if this is the first “save” of the consultant model to Revit Server, use a generic name like link-Structural.rvt and save onto Revit Server in the appropriate folder (if you have one for links)
or/ 
b) if this is an updated model, overwrite the existing consultant model, using current name in the Revit Server Link folder
4 Use Reload on this new Consultant model in Manage Links of Architectural (our) host model
5 Close the Shared Levels and Grids workset for the Consultant Model, like this:
 
6 Sync with Central.  The Consultant model has now been imported / updated onto Revit Server, and other team members should be able to access it.

More info:
Help: Linking Server-Based Workshared Models

Other links and info:
This RFO post details what some firms are doing with Revit Server and links:
Revit Server & Linked Consultant Files

Revit Server Administrator 2013 displays “Server Error” upon loading the GUI

10 Things to Know About Revit Server – The Revit Clinic

Removing and Replacing Models on Revit Server – The Revit Clinic

Groups or links?  Or something else?

via

EDIT – Some additional research:

1. Model groups for Floor Plates is a bad idea. Between Editability issues, Canvas editing mode, reconciliation issues, etc, its almost a given that the groups will eventually fail. Links- while more complicated- are much better suited for tall buildings and floor plates. Groups are also a lot heavier to work with, when you have something that large, and a large number of them.

2. As for how to model walls? i model the walls based on the intent of the walls. If its an exterior facade wall, and my intent is that the wall is 70 feet tall from the ground level, i model it 70 feet tall, from the ground level. If that happens to span 5 storeys so be it. A wall on the interior OF a floor? It DOESNT span multiple storeys. The only case you can make for interior walls spanning multiple storeys in revit, is really Shaft Walls. Even then, we dont do them this way, since groups for small things like Cores handle any alignment issues.

However, Navisworks isnt even a consideration. If youre doing any kind of real coordination in navisworks, youll be exporting to NWC in multiple segments anyway, so it doesnt even matter if you model the walls full height or storey by storey. Ive got an 11 floor building where the facade is modeled full height, and i still have everything (facade included) broken up in Navis Level by Level. Revt Section boxes and multiple export views make this a cinch.
via
Wall- Storey by storey or Multi-level – Page 2

The other issue with floor plates is it becomes too big of a group. Rooms (imho) are the perfect sizes for groups, so yes… We use Groups inside of Links. A few key things about groups:

1. They dont always check for item editability rights until you hit FINISH group…
2. Everything gets lost fi you cant succeed in finishing the group.
3. They break apart often if they have conflict resolutions

I did an AU class on using Links as a replacement for groups in taller buildings. The handouts are on my blog. I even talked about a slightly unconventional approach we use with a single floor plate and Design Options, which makes it so you only have one floor plate modeled, for all variations in upper floors. It works fine, as long as you dont try to use the upper plate models as Room Bounding. Its not an issue for us, since we put our rooms IN the Upper Plate model, for those floors. The only other drawback to it is it cant be Space Bounding (Room Bounding) for MEP, either. Room Bounding properties of linked files do not respect any option other than Primary, since Linked File Room Bounding is a File Type selection and DO is a view selection.
via
Best Practices for Groups in High-rise Tower Models

Aaron Maller is one of the top Revit guys in the world.  In a recent blog post, he provides some handouts for download – this is basically stuff about Links and Groups for the Advanced user – very interesting!

So here they are!
Sample Data Sets

Class Handout

via
Malleristic Revitation: Class Materials- Autodesk TA event- Dallas

Sometimes you want to save some Revit elements for later – like throwing them in the cupboard until you need them.  Here are five ways to do that:

  1. Group, then Link, then Unload the Link (you can copy / paste things from a link instance later)
  2. Add the elements to a secondary Design Option
  3. Put the elements on a Hidden Workset
  4. Put the elements in a Future Phase (after the current job phase).  Or, put them in a phase previous to Existing and then demolish them all in the same phase.  You can also put Views, like Sections, in a Future Phase to keep them in the model but stop them from showing in any plan views.
  5. Group the elements, Pin the Group, Duplicate the Group Type, then delete everything from the new type.  (Technically, you will need to keep at least one thing in the Group – so keep something that won’t print in there.)

I printed a PDF from Revit today, and was presented with this output:

The text was not printed from a linked DWG.

This problem resulted because:

  1. I linked a DWG into a Detail (Section) View
  2. I then rotated the Detail View in Plan.
  3. I moved the linked DWG back into position.
  4. But obviously Revit was not impressed with this course of events!

It was a relatively simple fix – I used Ctrl-X to ‘cut’ the DWG into nowhere, then pasted it back into the view, and also ‘reloaded’ the DWG from the Manage Links dialog.

Here’s how:

  1. Make sure each link has a ‘unique’ family with a ‘unique’ Mark parameter.  For example, put a Sprinkler family with a Mark of 1234567 into each RVT link.
  2. In the ‘Site’ RVT, create a Sprinkler Schedule.
  3. Tick ‘Include elements in linked files’
  4. Add parameters –
    RVT Link:File Name
    Mark
    Count
  5. Filter by Mark = 1234567
  6. Sort By
    RVT Link: File Name
  7. Untick ‘Itemize every instance’.

The Count field should be showing how many of each RVT Link you have in the project.

Have you mastered file and folder navigation in Windows Vista yet? If you haven’t, here are a few simple tips, guaranteed to increase your productivity (well, hopefully 😉

  1. Use Vista ‘Links’.
    What is it? It is a special list of shorcuts to your favourite locations. When you open Windows Explorer, these show up as ‘Favourite Links’ in the top-left area of the window. To add items to the list, simply drag and drop from the ‘Folders’ list into the ‘Favourite Links’ area (be careful not to drop items ‘on top’ of each other!) Once you have a good list of your favourite locations, its time to put them to good use, so…
  2. Add your ‘Links’ to your Taskbar.
    In Vista, simply right-click on your Taskbar, go to ‘Toolbars’ and click on ‘New Toolbar…’ In the resulting dialog, click on your ‘Links’ folder (you can get to it by going to your main ‘username’ folder, then you will see the ‘Links’ folder) and then click ‘Select Folder’.
  3. Make your ‘Links’ visible in the Start Menu.
    Click on the Start button, then right-click in a blank area and go to ‘Properties’. Click the ‘Customize…’ button, scroll down to ‘Personal folder’ and click on the ‘Display as a menu’ radio button. Click OK twice, and now your Personal Folder can expand to show your ‘Links’ directly from the Start Menu!
  4. Use your Links in Revit.
    You can add the ‘Links’ list to your Revit Places. Simply go to an ‘Open’ dialog in Revit, browse to your ‘Personal folder’ (this is the one that is usually your name), then drag the ‘Links’ across to the Places area in Revit. I then drag this to the top of the Places so I can quickly access the ‘Links’.

I’m sure there are other ways to use this ‘Links’ list. What are your Vista navigation tricks and methods? Feel free to comment. I hope this has been of some help to you all. Happy Reviting!