Batch conversion
It can build the input list (UTF-8, one path per line) and the FileToolsTaskRunner.exe call to convert each discipline's models, with a log, and schedule the job in Windows Task Scheduler.
Octo for coordination in Navisworks
Clashes show up in the model, before construction.
Navisworks brings together the models from each discipline, and Clash Detective finds where they intersect. Octo can set up batch file conversion, standardize clash tests and turn the reports into lists for the coordination meeting.
Clash Detective4 typesHard, Hard (Conservative), Clearance, Duplicates
ReportsXML, HTMLand tabular HTML, which opens in Excel
Available inManageClash Detective is only in Navisworks Manage
Sources8listed at the end of the page
01
What Octo does in coordination.
Five possible deliverables. The decision on each clash stays with the coordination team and the leads of each discipline.
Standardized clash tests
It can propose the set of tests (Hard, Clearance with the distance the team defines, Duplicates) and export them so every coordinator uses the same ones.
Deliverable: tests exported for the teamList for the meeting
It can read the Clash Detective XML report and build the list of clashes by discipline, in the format the coordination team uses.
Deliverable: clash list for coordinationClashes across the schedule
With TimeLiner linked to Clash Detective, the tests take time into account. Octo can prepare the links between tasks and objects.
Deliverable: proposed links for reviewAutomation through the API
Navisworks offers a .NET API to automate tasks and drive the program from outside the interface. Octo can write the plugin or the routine.
Deliverable: plugin for the team to review
02
Eight arms, one clash round.
The same Octo cycle, applied to this workstream. Each arm has a narrow role; the people who approve and sign are on your team.
-
Discovery
Identifies models and versions
Which disciplines deliver a model, in which format, and which Navisworks edition the team has: Clash Detective is in Manage.
-
Data
Sets the rule for each test
Which disciplines intersect, what distance for the Clearance test, what is a real clash and what is accepted. Without a written rule, the clash count means nothing.
-
Security
Respects the client's model
The models belong to the client and the designers. Octo works in the folder the coordination team gives it access to.
-
Architecture
Picks the path
Batch Utility from the command line to convert, exported tests to standardize, the .NET API when the routine needs its own logic.
-
Development
Writes the routine
Input list, the
FileToolsTaskRunner.execall, reading the XML report and, when needed, the plugin. -
Review
Checks against a known round
Compares with a clash round the coordination team has already analyzed.
-
Release
Delivers to coordination
Only with your OK, it schedules the conversion and leaves the list in the project folder.
-
Documentation
Records the tests
Tests, distances and decisions from each round are recorded for the next one.
Octo does not decide which discipline changes its design. That decision belongs to the coordination team and the technical leads of each discipline.
03
Each task, its own path.
The criteria Octo uses to choose. The tool your team already uses remains the reference.
| Task | Path | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Convert each discipline's models | Batch Utility: FileToolsTaskRunner.exe with /i and /log | Can be scheduled in Windows Task Scheduler |
| Standardize clash tests | Exporting Clash Detective tests | Tests based on explicit selection are not exported |
| Clash list for the meeting | XML or tabular HTML report | Tabular HTML opens in Excel 2007 or later |
| Clashes across the schedule | Clash Detective linked to TimeLiner | Navisworks Manage |
| Run without the interface | roamer.exe with the no-interface switch | Faster when the interface isn't needed |
04
From request to routine.
Three steps. Each one only makes sense after the previous one has shown results on your team.
A proposal, not a promise
On-demand rounds
You send the week's models and Octo prepares the conversion and the list.
- Conversion of each discipline's files
- Clash list by discipline
- Comparison with the previous round
Standardized tests
The coordination tests become the same for every project in the company.
- Exported test set
- Written distances and rules
- Scheduled conversion
Coordination over time
With the schedule linked to the model, clashes can be seen across the construction sequence.
- Links between tasks and objects
- Tests with TimeLiner
- Log of each round
05
Confirmed by sources.
Every point below has a source published by the vendor, the project or the responsible agency. The sources are in the next section.
6
points with a published source, each with its reference alongside.
- ConfirmedClash Detective only in Manage
- Clash Detective finds clashes between disciplines in the project model and is available only in Navisworks Manage. Linked to TimeLiner, it runs time-based clash checks.Source: Navisworks 2025, Clash Detective
- ConfirmedTest types
- Hard: objects intersect. Hard (Conservative). Clearance: a clash when objects are closer than a set distance. Duplicates: objects identical in type and position.Source: Navisworks 2026, test types
- ConfirmedReports
- The clash report comes out in XML, HTML or tabular HTML; the tabular one opens in Excel 2007 or later.Source: Navisworks 2026, reports
- ConfirmedReusable tests
- Generic tests can be exported for use by other Navisworks users; tests based on explicit selection are not exported.Source: Navisworks 2023, exporting tests
- ConfirmedBatch conversion
- The Batch Utility automates file import and conversion and can be scheduled in Windows Task Scheduler. From the command line,
FileToolsTaskRunner.exeaccepts/i(UTF-8 input list, one path per line),/of,/od,/osd,/logand/over.Source: Navisworks 2023, Batch Utility - ConfirmedNo interface, and through the API
roamer.exehas a switch to start without the interface, which is faster when the interface isn't needed. Navisworks offers a .NET API (COM is legacy) to automate tasks and drive the program from outside the interface.Source: Navisworks 2022, command line; APS, Navisworks
06
What Octo does and what stays with you.
Octo prepares everything, but does not sign. The document of record stays with whoever is accountable for it.
Octo prepares
Surveys, calculates, organizes and produces the documents: spreadsheets, reports, drawing sheets and drafts.
Deliverable: material ready to checkYour team checks
The 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 signerWho signs
Octo 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 responsible engineer or architect, with an ART or RRT.
Sign-off: engineer or architect, with ART/RRT
07
Sources.
Autodesk documentation used in the research. Accessed on October 28, 2026.
- Navisworks: Clash DetectiveManage only; link with TimeLiner
- Navisworks: test typesHard, Clearance and Duplicates
- Navisworks: clash reportsXML, HTML and tabular HTML
- Navisworks: exporting testsGeneric tests for other users
- Navisworks: Batch UtilityAutomatic import and conversion
- Navisworks: Batch Utility from the command lineFileToolsTaskRunner.exe and its switches
- Navisworks: roamer.exe switchesRunning without the interface
- APS: Navisworks.NET API for automation
Coordination with the list ready for the meeting.
The assessment starts with a clash round your team has already analyzed, without changing the models. You get a proposal for what can be automated and decide with it in hand.