Approved Content Sources

In This Article

• Why You Need This Feature
• Customize Approved Content Sources
• End-User Experience

Approved Content Sources provides Guardian level of protections by presenting a Command Message when an end-user attempts to load a Revit family from a non-approved location. Approved Content Sources can respond differently to incoming families based on different conditions and rules, such as enacting Incoming Properties when the family comes from a non-approved source and disabling scanning and processing for content inserted from the firm’s content management solution.  

Guardian does this by comparing incoming families with any rules created by administrators. These rules can be specific to the location the file is loaded from, the families category, or even the name of the file itself. If a match is determined, Guardian will, or will not, scan and process the family’s Incoming Properties as determined by the user experience set by company/project administration for that rule. If the protection mode for the triggered rule is set to Guide or Prevent, Guardian will provide the end-user a customized Command Message.

Why You Need This Feature

Firms and project administrators spend a tremendous amount of time and money creating and maintaining Revit family libraries that align with the firm’s standards and BIM infrastructure at large. Too many times, these standards are undermined when end-users load Revit families from locations other than the firm’s library. Guardian’s Approved Content Sources does exactly as its name implies, it ensures Revit families are being sourced from the firm’s libraries and discourages families from unknown sources.

As BIM managers, we work hard to keep a clean, curated, and comprehensive family library. It is imperative to a healthy file and to maintaining company standards. It is generally preferred that end-users use this content first before downloading from online sources or digging into that desktop folder they have been collecting over the years.  

Customize Approved Content Sources

When Approved Content Sources is first enabled within Project Configurations under the Custom Interactions tab, it will be adopted by each project model once the model is registered. Approved Content Sources can be further customized at the project level within File Settings on a model-by-model basis. Select the Setting Cog next to Loading family rules to customize the Guardian protections for Approved Content Sources.

Within the Loading Family Rules dialog, one or more rules can be established. Guardian provides pre-loaded rules to use as a template. Any rules created will be shown in this dialog.

Select the New button to create a new rule. Once created, the rules can be modified, deleted, or re-ordered. It is important to note that the rules will run in order from top to bottom until a match is found (if any at all).

Within the Rules dialog, a rule name can be entered and the criteria for the rule can be set.

Many condition types are available to specify the type of file or file location that the rule should capture.

The user experience for Revit families loaded into projects can be specified under the Scanning/Processing Experience (A) section of each rule.

The available options are explained below:

• Do not do anything: Guardian will not perform any action on incoming Revit families.
• Silent Mode: Guardian will perform all standard actions in the background. No dialogs will be shown to end-users.
• Show Dialogs (one time mappings): End-users will be prompted with a dialog where they can see incoming properties and create one time mappings if desired.
• Show Dialogs (full mappings): End-users will be prompted with a dialog where they can view incoming properties and create full mappings if desired. Any mappings created will be added to the current applied Mapping Configuration.

The protection mode (B) can be customized for each rule:

• Mode: Set the Guardian Protection Mode to: Monitor, Guide, or Prevent
• ‍Require Comment: If checked, requires the end-user to provide a comment to proceed.
• Frequency: Determines how often the end-user will be shown the Command Message.
  
  • Every time: The end-user will get the Command Message each and every time they execute the Revit Command. Please note, it is recommended to set the command frequency to Every time for Prevent protections. Otherwise, a backdoor around the Prevent protection is provided.
  • Once per session: The end-user will get the Command Message only the first time they execute the Revit command for that Revit session. Each subsequent time the Revit command is executed, the Command Message will be suppressed but registered with Project Central and Guardian Backstage.
  • Every 3 days and 7 days: The Command Message will be suppressed for the time selected, but the command will be registered with Project Central and Guardian Backstage.
• User Can Edit: Provides the ability for the Revit end-user to self-select the frequency.
• Allow 'Never': Enables the end-user to opt to never receive this Command Message. If the end-user selects a frequency misaligned to their Revit capabilities, User Overrides can be used to reset the command frequency for that user.
• ‍Send Email: If checked, will notify the Project Administrator when an end-user attempts the action.
• ‍Edit Message: Allows the Project Administrator to customize the Command Message the end-user will see when they attempt the action.

End-User Experience

When an end-user attempts to load a family from a non-approved content source, Guardian will alert them with the custom Command Message provided by the Project Administrator. Depending on the applied Protection Mode settings, the end-user may be required to input a comment and/or password before proceeding. The Command Message will also show the name of the rule that triggered the protection. Depending on the user experience, the end-user may be required to process the incoming Revit family’s Incoming Properties.