Octo for Navisworks
Octo can write, test and run the routines that merge and convert models in Navisworks without opening the interface: Batch Utility, Roamer without a screen, the Automation API and plugins. You approve the plan and each batch; it prepares the script and returns the NWD (Navisworks file) and the log of what failed for review.
Six possible deliverables, drawn from the research. In all of them, Octo proposes the approach, writes the script and tests it on a sample before the batch.
Builds the list of models (formats such as RVT, IFC, DWG and NWC) in a UTF-8 text file, one path per line and no quotes, and calls FileToolsTaskRunner.exe with /of to generate a single federated NWD or NWF (Navisworks files).
Converts each model on the list into its own NWD, in an output folder (/od) or next to the original (/osd), with a log in Portuguese (/lang pt-BR). First it checks the form of /log on your version, which changed between help versions.
Writes the Roamer.exe switch sequence: -NoGui, -OpenFile, -AppendFile, -SaveFile and, last, -Exit, which closes Roamer after processing all the switches.
When another system needs to trigger the merge, it uses the Automation API: a C# program starts Navisworks invisibly, opens, appends and saves, and handles file and automation errors.
Deliverable: C# console app (.NET Framework 4.8)The Automation API only opens, appends, merges and saves. For selection, properties, clash (interference detection) or publishing, it writes a plugin on the .NET API and calls it with -ExecuteAddInPlugin. It compiles for the installed major version: a 2025 plugin won't load in 2026.
Batch Utility has a button that schedules the command in Windows Task Scheduler, both for merging models and for converting to individual NWDs. Octo prepares the list and the command and checks the run through the log.
Deliverable: scheduled task + logThe same Octo cycle, applied to Navisworks. Each arm has a narrow role; the decisions are made by a person at your company.
Which files go in and in which format, which product is installed (Manage, Simulate or just Freedom) and which version. Checks the Batch Utility syntax on that version, because /log, /od and /osd changed between help versions.
The input list in UTF-8, no quotes; the name and folder of each NWD; the output format version (/version); where the log goes and in which language.
All automation uses the installed Navisworks and consumes the machine's license. Before building a service, your company checks the license agreement. COM (Windows Component Object Model) registration for all users requires an administrator.
Batch Utility for a list of models; Roamer for an open, append and save sequence; the Automation API when another program triggers it; a plugin when it needs the model's content; a Windows VM when the company only has Linux.
Batch with your version's install path, Roamer with -Exit at the end, plugin on .NET Framework 4.7 (2018+) or 4.8 (2024+) and recompiled for each major version.
Runs with a few models and checks by the result: the NWD exists, opens and has all the models in the selection tree, and the log has no errors.
With your OK, it runs the whole list or leaves it scheduled, and checks model by model what went in and what failed, without taking a success message as proof.
Version, install path, the form of /log that worked and what was confirmed on your machine, such as Batch Utility's “Run Command”. The next batch starts from this record.
Nothing runs in batch before your OK. Nothing is overwritten without your knowledge.
The criteria Octo uses to choose. Command-line tools first; a plugin only when the task needs the model's content.
| Task | Recommended path | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Merge a list of models into one NWD or NWF | Batch Utility: FileToolsTaskRunner.exe /of | Roamer.exe -NoGui -OpenFile … -AppendFile … -SaveFile … -Exit |
| One NWD per model | Batch Utility with /od or /osd | Roamer.exe -nwd per file |
| Generate NWC cache | Roamer.exe -nwc or -CreateCache | — |
| Run at a scheduled time | Batch Utility's schedule button (Windows Task Scheduler) | — |
| Trigger from another .NET program | Automation API (NavisworksApplication) | Roamer per process |
| Selection, properties, clash, publishing | Plugin on the .NET API, called with -ExecuteAddInPlugin | COM API (legacy) |
| Linux server, no Windows | Windows VM with licensed Navisworks | — |
| macOS | There's no Navisworks version | — |
Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results in your operation.
A proposal, not a promise
On a Windows machine with Navisworks Manage or Simulate, you ask in business terms and get the proposed batch, to review before it runs.
The federated NWD no longer depends on a request and can be rebuilt at a scheduled time, through Windows Task Scheduler.
A custom plugin, called on the same line with -ExecuteAddInPlugin, works on the federated model before saving.
Each point below has a source published by the vendor, the project or the responsible agency. The sources are in the next section.
4
points with a published source, each with its reference alongside.
-OpenFile, -NoGui and -ExecuteAddInPlugin switches are on the Autodesk help page, alongside -AppendFile, -SaveFile and -Exit.Source: “Command Line Switches” help (2022)ExecuteAddInPlugin, which runs a plugin.Source: API reference, NavisworksApplication (2017)Octo prepares everything, but doesn't sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.
Surveys, calculates, organizes and generates the documents: spreadsheets, reports, drawings and drafts.
Deliverable: material ready to checkThe licensed professional checks what Octo delivered before signing. If something doesn't add up, it goes back to Octo with the correction.
Step: review by the signerOcto does not sign. Designs, technical reports, ART/RRT (Brazil's professional responsibility records), accountability reports and any official document are still signed by the company's or agency's licensed professional: here, the designer or the engineer responsible for the project.
Sign-off: designer or responsible engineerAutodesk documentation used on this page, plus two mirrored API reference pages.
The assessment starts by reading your model list and your installation, without changing anything. You get a map of what can be automated and decide with it in hand.