Worksets Hopping About a Bit?

When using a workshared file, we've found that on occasion, the active workset seems to change itself for no apparent reason. This particular quirk has always stumped us. Recently however, we have got to the bottom of this. I'm not entirely sure if this is a bug or by design, but the following is the behaviour that causes this to happen

In this scenario. Worksharing is enabled and 'Workset1' & 'Shared Levels and Grids' are created automatically. In addition, I have added a workset called 'A'

'Workset1' is the active workset. Note the following rules:

• On opening the workset dialogue, the Active Workset combo box always has initial focus
• The Active Workset combo box can only be populated by open worksets

Now we decide that we want to close 'Workset1'. On leaving the Workset dialogue, everything is normal and 'Workset1' is still listed in the main Active Workset box at the bottom of the main screen

Now we want to re-open 'Workset1', so we go to the workset dialogue. Under the two rules above, Revit jumps straight to the active workset combo box and says "Hang on, 'Workset1' isn't open, so it's not in the list. Therefore I will leap quick smart to the first entry in the list, in this case 'A'". 

Because the user's focus is on re-opening 'Workset1' in the table below, this sleight of hand by Revit is easily missed, resulting in the following

So the moral of the story is to remember to set back the active workset immediately after. Hope this helps

A couple of Workset Tips that you should take heed of ..

• Never Work in the Central File
• Save often! Both locally and to Central
• Always relinquish all borrowed elements and Worksets before leaving work for any extended period of time ie Going to lunch, going home, going on holiday etc.
• Recreate your Local file regularly. You can create it as often as you like, but do it at least once a week.

Autodesks take on Worksets ...

The Revit platform originally implemented Worksets as a mechanism to enable multiple users to collaborate on a single model by taking temporary ownership of user-defined element groups. Making an entire Workset editable, or “Checking out” a Workset, prevented other users from editing any part of that Workset until control was relinquished on a Save to Central operation.

Revit® Architecture 8.0 implemented transparent element borrowing, which automatically assigns ownership of an edited element to a user, allowing more intuitive interaction with the model in a multi-user environment. Using element borrowing, users select the elements to edit, allowing the Revit platform to silently grant and manage ownership of the elements until the user’s next Save to Central makes the edited elements available to all other users of the model.

Worksets remain extremely valuable for data segregation and managing workflow, since they enable selectively opening and closing portions of a project across all project views. This level of control can represent an advantage over view dependent features such as View Filters or Visibility / Graphics in certain workflows.

While the capability to check out a Workset remains valuable under certain circumstances outlined below, in general the best practice is to utilize Element Borrowing rather than checking out entire worksets. The Revit platform team recommends that Worksets should be employed most often to segregate conceptual areas of a project, such as:
o Separate buildings
o Grid and levels
o Building core
o Building shell
o Spatially identifiable areas of a single building (wings, for example)
o Linked RVT and DWG files
o Room or Space Separation Lines (see Volumes - Rooms and Spaces section)

Checking out a Workset may occasionally be of use if certain model elements, such as the building grid or linked files, need to be protected from accidental change. In that event, BIM managers or team leaders will sometimes check out a Workset containing project elements that should not be casually edited or relocated.