Just got done reading the new release notes for Dynamo 2.1. I have some question I think many are also having so I figured I would start a post. For those looking for the release notes follow the link below. https://dynamobim.org/dynamo-core-2-1-release/
“This means that Revit will release new versions with Dynamo installed as a standard component without a separate installer and without affecting previous Revit installations.”
Will there ever be a situation again like 1.x and 2.x? If we find ourselves in this case again where scripts are not compatible we will have to maintain two versions of the script. I am still dealing with fallout from this upgrade.
“As Dynamo is now a feature of Revit, you will not be able to remove, uninstall or downgrade your Dynamo version but will also no longer have to support multiple versions of Dynamo with each install of Revit nor update Dynamo versions in Revit.”
It is not unheard of to use three versions back of Revit. Does this mean that Dynamo will also be three years old if I boot up Revit 2020 in 2022? What about 2018 and 19 next year and the year after?
“This also means that the Dynamo team will no longer deliver installers for Dynamo Revit and Revit will instead start shipping newer versions of Dynamo on a regular basis.”
Will we be getting one last installer for Dynamo 2.1? Right now 2.0.2 has a lot of bugs "Oops – sorry for this one. " Most firms wait until the first major update to start projects in a new version of Revit. Also, many projects do not get upgraded as they progress. Are we now stuck with 2.0.2 until we have a project in Revit 2020? Will one last stable installer be released for Revit 2018 and 2019?
Sorry if I went on a bit of a rant. Just want to make sure we have what we need in years to come.
Our IT guy was having no luck upgrading with the download either. No Installer he said. This was a very odd release. It sounds like only the sandbox was upgraded? Or only REVIT 2019?
No worries about the rant. I’ll do my best to shed some light on what I believe the intent to be, but this stuff is going to develop over time and we’re all going to go through it together, on the open ended “ever” timeline you posed.
Yes. 3.0 would be the next breaking change per semantic versioning. Then 4.0, 5.0, 6.0… I have no idea when this might happen, but keep in mind that from 1.0 to 2.0 two years went by. And even then most firms waited another year to adopt 2.0 as the Revit installers pushed 1.x versions only until yesterday. Fortunately, there is a method to allow you to keep your graph library up to date with coming changes: Sign up for a beta program for your host software. Revit, Civil 3D, Alias, Advanced Steel, Formit all have beta availability of some sort. This will allow you to not only test the coming Dynamo builds, but also other aspects of the software as well.
Revit updates will include Dynamo updates. So unless you don’t update Revit over those 3 years (this is WAY to frequently the case) it’s unlikely we’d see that. The last update to Revit 2016 was in April of 2017, when Dynamo 1.3 launched (yep 1.3 is 2 years old now), so I’d expect you’d have 1.3.0 on that build. Remember if it runs in 1.3.0 it runs in 1.3.9999999 per semantic versioning. If you recall the way 2019.2 installed a different point release of Dynamo than 2019.0 did, well that same idea will apply going forward, but without breaking your 2018, 2017, and 2016 graphs.
There is a daily build (2.0.3) which addresses many of the issues found in 2.0.2, and works with 2017, 2018, and 2019, so test away.
Dynamo is no longer Revit centric, and by tying the Dynamo build to the host application the Dynamo build only has to be stable in the build of the host product. As such we should see less issues and less handcuffs on the development teams so faster development in all of the different Dynamo environments.
No offenses taken, but I’ll take a moment to clarify my question.
We don’t have standard deflections. We’re just here to help (why else would I be posting on my Saturday morning or any other time - no one has ‘spend time posting in the Dynamo forum’ as a part of their job description).
The reason I asked is so that I could get more insight that could allow me to recommend alternatives, push the product team to get features included or product updated, try to get a package developed and released, inform you of other developments, or help in some other way.
For some of those efforts like pushing for a feature, the ‘why’ has to be pretty specific. A restaurant making good money selling hamburgers isn’t going to convert 1/2 the kitchen to a pizza oven without good reason.
So, hopefully my question ‘is there a specific feature of Studio which you need that the 2.1 Sandbox doesn’t have?’ makes more sense in this light. Tell us the ‘why’ and we will help out as best as we can.
Lastly, for any news on Dynamo Studio and other product updates, keep an eye on the Dynamo BIM blog as that’s where news hits first.
Understood JacobSmall…thanks for taking the time Sat. morning and at all the other times.
Here is the link to a previous conversation for clarification.
So…What’s going on is that if you need a standalone…you really need Revit. I’ve been fortunate with the recommendations on not initializing the revit install.
I just installed Revit 2020, and along came Dynamo 2.1 with it. Unlike last year, it did not have any effect on my Dynamo installs in earlier versions of Revit (as you and the release notes state) - thank goodness. However, I was wondering how the versioning of each software will work over the years, bearing in mind that most companies have to maintain 3 or 4 Revit versions (or more). Currently the highest Dynamo version supported by Revit 2016 is Dynamo 1.3.2; presumably we’ll be seeing something similar for Revit 2017 now (from Dynamo 1.3.3 up to 2.??)?. Will this mean that we’ll need to maintain different versions of our Dynamo graphs for each Revit/Dynamo version (or at least each pair of consecutive versions)? I know that the graphs are supposed to work for any version in the major release number (1.00 - 1.99 etc), but that isn’t always true.
As we will need to continue managing Dynamo versions for Revit 2017, 2018 & 2019 for a couple more years yet, is there a compatibility chart for Dynamo/Revit anywhere?
We need to get it updated on the DynamoPrimer to reflect the Revit 2020 changes, so I have added an issue to the repo to track this.
*Edit: Also, if I am not mistaken. 2.10 Dynamo graphs will be compatible with 2.0.2. So that would enable you to have compatibility for Revit 2017,2018,2019 & 2020. (In my tests, graphs built in 2.1.0 have opened just fine it 2.0.2, YMMV)
“Also, one version of Dynamo will not be supported across multiple versions of Revit”
Should probably be revised to discuss the compatibility between major versions… 2.0.x with 2.1.x and so on. The video makes it sound like each Revit version will have their own version of DYNs which can be alarming. lol The whole reason we ran into incompatibility issues with 1.3.x and 2.0.x is because of a fundamental file format change from XML to JSON. With 2.1.0 this is not the case since it is continuing forward as JSON.
Another, (unrelated) comment that confused me on the video was the comment on the icon on the Dynamo window. This has been that way for as long as I can remember, but I could very well be missing something.
Regarding this topic (and a bit toward the (near) future) how is python 2.7 related to Dynamo and will dynamo move to python 3 since it is now made public that python 2.7 will retire in 2020 https://pythonclock.org/.
This sounds great. It has been a huge pain point making the transition to 2.x and I am still wondering if I should go back to 1.x.
I just downloaded the latest 2.0.3 I hope most of the critical errors have been fixed. One I did notice still present was not being able to use the delete key or ctrl functions in 2019. Yes we can use the edit menu and rick click remove but its a pain. I know I know we will never be happy.
I am really looking forward to trying 2.1 though. I am considering installing Revit 2020 just so I can do all of my developing in it and then run the testing in 2018. Save 2019 for the player.
On your updated blog chart, I think that the latest Dynamo version supported by Revit 2016 should be 1.3.2, I think - unless something changed?
I’m glad to hear that your 2.1 tests opened in 2.02. Which version of Revit was that running under? It would be great if a 2.1 graph created in Revit 2020 could run under 2.02 in Revit 2017, as that would be 4 consecutive years compatibility of graphs (even if not officially supported by Autodesk). If that is true, then there is a good incentive for us to move up to Dynamo 2.xx on all our Revit versions, as soon as we no longer need to support any Revit 2016 projects (with Dynamo).
Yes, that comment in the video is scary - I hope they don’t mean it so literally.
Per semantic versioning, a 2.1 graph may work in 2.0.2, with some exceptions new features not being backwards compatible. We had this previously in 1.2 when the list atlevwl feature came to be. This at if you used the feature, graphs wouldn’t likely work correctly in 1.1. If you didn’t use the feature, they would be a higher likelihood of it working in 1.1.
Personally I think my strategy would be to use Dynamo 2.0.2 for my development inside of Revit 2018, and update into 2019 and then 2020 before a larger roll out. Revit 2017 projects are likely not in heavy production so leaving them with just what’s already available shouldn’t be an issue, though 2.0.2 does work there so they’d likely be good to go but would have to test on their own (an ambitious developer could do so for them though). Revit 2016 is no longer supported (3 year look back so 20, 19, 18, 17), so those teams should update to 18 or 19 as needed.
Note that the video is no longer up, so don’t be too scared.
Thanks Jacob. Yes, it would be wise to develop the Dynamo Graphs in an earlier version of Revit (such as 2018), and then use them in later Revit/Dynamo versions.
However, your statement “Revit 2017 projects are likely not in heavy production” is not necessarily true. In the real world, there are many projects still running in earlier Revit versions - I know of large companies still supporting projects in Revitt 2016 and 2017. It is not a fun situation for BIM Managers - we’d all much rather upgrade all projects as soon as possible, so we can all be using the latest features. However, we have to work with other companies, who all have to agree on upgrading a project together, and there are many situations when someone can’t upgrade - so the whole team cannot. Yes I know that 2016 is no longer officially supported, but that doesn’t mean it (or 2017) is not heavily used in the industry.
Yes we can use the edit menu and rick click remove but its a pain. I know I know we will never be happy.