TDV - Transfer Drafting Views

TDV (Transfer Drafting Views) is a tool for importing and exporting drafting views between Revit documents and a central library. It enables teams to maintain a shared collection of standard drafting views that can be distributed across projects.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/manifest.yml:1-45

Overview

TDV provides two primary operations:

Export to Library - Copy drafting views from the active document to a central library file
Import from Library - Copy drafting views from a library file to the active document

The tool handles worksharing, creates local copies for edits, and synchronizes changes back to the central library file after export operations.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvExportCommand.cs:18-27

Features

Core Capabilities

Bi-directional transfer - Import and export drafting views between documents
View type mapping - Map source view types to destination view types, or retain original type
Conflict detection - Real-time detection of naming conflicts with existing views
Replace mode - Option to replace existing views with the same name
Preview panel - Live preview of selected drafting views with pan/zoom support
Batch transfer - Transfer multiple views in a single operation
Transaction grouping - All transfers wrapped in a transaction group for atomicity
Progress tracking - Per-view progress feedback during transfer operations

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvService.cs:106-330

Crash Hardening (2026-02-07)

The TDV import/export apply path was hardened after a Revit 2026 hard-crash investigation:

Destination-bound transactions - The transfer group and per-view transactions are now started against the explicit destination Document, not implicitly against ActiveUIDocument.
Cross-document safety checks - TDV now validates that source/destination contexts are valid live documents and not the same document.
Transfer run diagnostics - Transfer start logs include run id plus source/destination title and path to improve post-crash forensics.
Non-activating library open - TDV now opens library files with Application.OpenDocumentFile(...) (no activate) so the host model stays active during transfer and cleanup.
Cleanup-safe close path - TDV commands now use best-effort close (TryCloseAsync) for library cleanup to prevent cleanup-only close failures from surfacing as command failure banners.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvService.cs:106-372 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvDocumentService.cs:186-246 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvDocumentService.cs:137-168 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvImportCommand.cs:120-130 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvExportCommand.cs:143-168 Source: src/DBTools.Core/Revit/Transactions/ITransactionGroupService.cs:5-18 Source: src/DBTools.Core/Revit/Transactions/CallGateTransactionGroupService.cs:99-280

Library Management

Multiple library files - Configure multiple library files with fallback paths
Path validation - Automatic validation of library file accessibility
Local copy workflow - Creates local copies from central files for worksharing
Automatic sync - Syncs changes back to central after export with detailed comments

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvDocumentService.cs:26-126

View Transfer Details

When transferring views, TDV:

Creates or prepares the destination view with the selected view type
Copies the view scale and description parameters
Copies all elements from the source view (excluding viewports, title blocks, schedules, etc.)
Copies element graphic overrides from source to destination

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:145-189

View Type Resolution Rules

The row View Type combobox is destination-scoped for the active transfer direction:

Import (library -> host): combobox options are drafting view types from the host document.
Export (host -> library): combobox options are drafting view types from the library document.

Retain Original always resolves to the source view's drafting type name for that row. If that type name is missing in the destination document, TDV creates it by duplicating an existing destination drafting ViewFamilyType and renaming the duplicate.

If source type name resolution fails, TDV records a per-view SourceTypeNameUnavailable error and does not silently fall back.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvService.cs:47-95 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvService.cs:186-213 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:52-99 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:233-277

Architecture

TDV follows the MVVM pattern with a clean separation between UI, business logic, and Revit API operations.

Project Structure

src/Tools/Common/TDV/
├── Bootstrap/               # DI registration
├── Contracts/               # Interfaces and DTOs
├── DesignTime/              # Design-time view models
├── Features/                # Command implementations
├── Properties/              # Design-time resources
├── Revit/Services/          # Revit API operations
├── Settings/                # Configuration models
├── Tests/                   # Unit tests
└── UI/
    ├── ViewModels/          # MVVM view models
    └── Views/               # WPF views

Service Registration

Services are registered as scoped to properly handle Revit's run-scope dependencies:

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Bootstrap/TdvServiceExtensions.cs:11-33

services.AddScoped<ITdvTransferService>(sp =>
    new TdvService(gate, tx, groups, logger));
services.AddScoped<ITdvLibraryService>(sp =>
    new TdvLibraryService(settings, RevitInstanceIdentifier.RevitYear));
services.AddScoped<ITdvDocumentService, TdvDocumentService>();

Key Interfaces

Interface	Implementation	Purpose
`ITdvTransferService`	`TdvService`	Core transfer operations
`ITdvLibraryService`	`TdvLibraryService`	Library path management
`ITdvDocumentService`	`TdvDocumentService`	Document open/close/sync
`ITdvContext`	`TdvService.RevitTdvContext`	Abstraction over Revit Document

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Contracts/ITdvTransferService.cs:1-23

Transfer Service Operations

The ITdvTransferService interface defines:

Method	Description
`BuildViewItemsAsync`	Collects drafting views from source document
`ApplySelectionAsync`	Executes the transfer operation
`WouldConflictAsync`	Checks for naming conflicts
`ExportPreviewAsync`	Generates preview image for a view

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Contracts/ITdvTransferService.cs:6-22

UI Components

Main Window (`TdvWindow`)

The main transfer window provides:

Filter controls - Filter by view type and search by name
Data grid - Lists all drafting views with transfer options
Preview panel - Shows selected view with pan/zoom
Status bar - Displays selection counts and transfer results

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/Views/TdvWindow.xaml:1-537

The TDV window now binds its overlay instance to itself (ProgressOverlayService.For(this)), ensuring overlay ownership and dispatcher affinity are tied to the active TDV host window.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/Views/TdvWindow.xaml.cs:59-74

ViewModel (`TdvWindowViewModel`)

Key properties and commands:

Property	Type	Description
`Items`	`ObservableCollection<TdvViewItem>`	Filtered list of views
`Search`	`string`	Search filter text
`SelectedViewTypeFilter`	`string`	View type filter
`SelectedItem`	`TdvViewItem`	Currently selected view
`PreviewSource`	`ImageSource`	Preview image
`HasAnyConflict`	`bool`	Indicates naming conflicts
`Status`	`string`	Status bar text

Command	Description
`ApplySelectionCommand`	Executes the transfer
`ClearSelectedCommand`	Clears all selections
`ClearSearchCommand`	Clears search filter

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/ViewModels/TdvWindowViewModel.cs:22-409

View Item (`TdvViewItem`)

Represents a single drafting view in the UI:

Property	Type	Description
`SourceViewId`	`int`	Revit element ID
`ViewName`	`string`	Editable view name
`ViewType`	`string`	Selected destination type
`ViewTypeName`	`string`	Original source type name
`Checked`	`bool`	Selected for transfer
`Replace`	`bool`	Replace if exists
`HasConflict`	`bool`	Has naming conflict
`HasTypeWarning`	`bool`	Source type unavailable
`RowState`	`string`	Transfer status (pending/success/failure)

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/ViewModels/TdvViewItem.cs:9-106

Preview Features

The preview panel supports:

Debounced loading - 200ms debounce prevents excessive exports
LRU cache - Caches up to 32 preview images
Pan and zoom - Interactive image manipulation via ImagePanZoomBehavior
Zoom Extents - Fits + centers the preview image in the viewport
Best-effort cropping - Preview exports are cropped to content bounds (non-background pixels) so extents-based zoom targets the real view content
Dark theme background - Consistent preview appearance (RGB: 43, 44, 61)

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/ViewModels/TdvWindowViewModel.cs:74-81 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:19-28 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/Behaviors/TdvImageZoomExtentsBehavior.cs:72 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:350

Cache Locations

TDV stores transient files under %APPDATA%\\DBTools\\Cache\\TDV\\:

LibraryLocals\\ - Per-operation workshared locals (deleted after the operation closes the library document)
Preview\\ - Per-window preview export images

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Services/TdvCachePaths.cs:13 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvDocumentService.cs:203 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/ViewModels/TdvWindowViewModel.cs:446

Settings Configuration

Library Settings

TDV uses the MasterLibrarySettings class to store library file configurations:

public sealed class MasterLibrarySettings
{
    public IList<LibraryFileEntry> Files { get; set; }
    public bool HasWarnings { get; set; }
}

public sealed class LibraryFileEntry
{
    public string? MainPath { get; set; }
    public string? FallbackPath { get; set; }
    public string? Alias { get; set; }
}

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Settings/MasterLibrarySettings.cs:1-8 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Settings/LibraryFileEntry.cs:1-8

Each library entry supports:

Main path - Primary path to the library RVT file
Fallback path - Alternative path (e.g., for different network locations)
Alias - Optional friendly name used in the Import/Export library picker

Settings Pack

The LibrarySettingsPackContext provides the settings UI with:

Tree-based library file management
Add/remove library files
Add/remove fallback paths
Real-time path validation
Pending changes tracking

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Settings/LibrarySettingsPackContext.cs:19-352

Settings Path Presentation

Library paths in settings are rendered with:

Validation icon at the left of each tree row (green check / red error)
Tooltip showing the full absolute path
Compact display text that keeps root + filename + the final 3 folder levels

This avoids horizontal scrolling while preserving useful location context.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Settings/LibrarySettingsPackView.xaml:33-77 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Settings/LibrarySettingsPackContext.cs:296-313 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Settings/LibraryPathDisplayFormatter.cs:1-63

Path Validation

Library paths are validated for:

File existence
.rvt extension
Revit version compatibility (file's saved version must match the current Revit session)
Accessibility

Invalid paths trigger a settings warning that disables the import/export commands.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvLibraryService.cs:100-160

Library warnings are evaluated on startup, so the Import/Export ribbon tools may be disabled immediately if configured library paths are invalid.

Source: src/DBTools.App/Addin/AddinEntry.cs:324 Source: src/DBTools.Core/Settings/Features/DbtSettingsStartupWarningEvaluator.cs:36

Revit Version Validation

Library files are checked at two points to prevent version mismatches:

Validation time (TdvLibraryService.ValidatePath): Uses BasicFileInfo.Extract() and RevitInstanceIdentifier.ParseRevitYear() to compare the file's saved Revit version against the current session. Mismatched files are marked invalid with a descriptive failure reason and excluded from the accessible library list.
Open time (TdvDocumentService.OpenLibraryAsync): A belt-and-suspenders check before opening. Throws InvalidOperationException if the file version doesn't match, which is caught by the command's try/catch and displayed as a banner.

This prevents two dangerous scenarios:

Workshared files: WorksharingUtils.CreateNewLocal() would throw a version mismatch error at open time
Non-workshared files: Revit would silently upgrade the file, which is destructive

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvLibraryService.cs:135-155 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvDocumentService.cs:30-45

Dialog Suppression During Document Open

When opening a library document, the TDV commands wrap the OpenLibraryAsync call with DialogSuppressionHook.SuppressAvailabilityDialogs(). This suppresses cascading Revit "availability command failed" TaskDialogs (TaskDialog_External_Tools_Command_Failure) that can occur during document switching when Revit re-evaluates IExternalCommandAvailability checks.

The suppression uses a scoped pattern mechanism: a regex pattern is pushed onto a thread-safe stack and automatically removed when the using scope ends.

Limitation: DialogBoxShowing suppression only applies to Revit-hosted dialogs (TaskDialogs and some built-in dialogs). It cannot reliably prevent other add-ins from opening their own WPF/Win32 modal windows during document open/close operations. When third-party modal dialogs block TDV flows, the practical mitigation is to disable the conflicting add-in(s) for that Revit session or expand DialogSuppression patterns for known Revit TaskDialogs.

Source: src/Tools/Services/DialogSuppression/DialogSuppressionHook.cs Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvImportCommand.cs:92-101 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvExportCommand.cs:96-105

Manifest Configuration

The tool is configured via manifest.yml:

id: DBTools.TDV
assembly: DBTools
moduleType: DBTools.TDV.TdvToolModule
order: 0

sandboxWindows:
  - id: DBTools.TDV.Main
    displayName: "Transfer Drafting Views"
    group: "Common"
    windowType: "DBTools.TDV.UI.Views.TdvWindow"

tool:
  settings:
    configSection: Core.MasterLibrary
  settingsPacks:
    - key: core.library
      title: "Library Files"
      warnings:
        - id: core.library.invalid
          title: "Library Paths Invalid"
          message: "One or more library file paths are invalid..."
          disableTools:
            - DBTools.ExportToLibrary
            - DBTools.ImportFromLibrary

  ribbonTools:
    - internalName: DBTools.ExportToLibrary
      commandType: DBTools.TDV.Features.TdvExportCommand
      availabilityType: DBTools.App.Tools.Availability.DbtDocumentAvailability
      runProfile: InlineUi
      displayText: "Export\nTo Library"
      iconBaseKey: export
      tooltip: "Export drafting views to the library"
      controlKind: StackedButtonItem
      splitGroup: library_transfer

    - internalName: DBTools.ImportFromLibrary
      commandType: DBTools.TDV.Features.TdvImportCommand
      availabilityType: DBTools.App.Tools.Availability.DbtDocumentAvailability
      runProfile: InlineUi
      displayText: "Import\nFrom Library"
      iconBaseKey: import
      tooltip: "Import drafting views from the library"
      controlKind: StackedButtonItem
      splitGroup: library_transfer

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/manifest.yml:1-45

Ribbon Configuration

Property	Export	Import
Internal Name	`DBTools.ExportToLibrary`	`DBTools.ImportFromLibrary`
Command	`TdvExportCommand`	`TdvImportCommand`
Run Profile	`InlineUi`	`InlineUi`
Icon	`export`	`import`
Control Kind	`StackedButtonItem`	`StackedButtonItem`
Split Group	`library_transfer`	`library_transfer`

Error Handling

Per-View Error Codes

Transfer failures are categorized by error code:

Code	Description
`Unknown`	Unspecified error
`DestinationTypeMissing`	Target view type not found
`SourceTypeNameUnavailable`	Cannot read source view type
`CreateViewFailed`	Failed to create destination view
`CopyElementsFailed`	Failed to copy view elements
`OverridesFailed`	Failed to copy graphic overrides

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Contracts/TdvPerViewErrorCode.cs:1-12

Error Reporting

After each transfer attempt, TDV now always surfaces result UX:

Top banner on the TDV window (success/warning) with selected/processed/result counts
Summary alert with:
- Selected, processed, added, replaced, and error counts
- Optional per-view issue table when failures exist
- Action buttons: Accept and Transfer More and Close Tool
- Copy-to-clipboard for per-view issue rows

TDV also records and surfaces selection accountability:

Transfer logs now include selected view identifiers/names (bounded preview)
Result payload includes SelectedCount, ProcessedCount, and Cancelled
UI warns when selected/processed counts diverge

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/Views/TdvWindow.xaml.cs:111-231 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/UI/ViewModels/TdvWindowViewModel.cs:274-348 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Contracts/TdvApplySelectionResult.cs:5-13 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvService.cs:125-372

Revit API Operations

Getting Drafting Views

new FilteredElementCollector(doc)
    .OfClass(typeof(View))
    .WhereElementIsNotElementType()
    .Cast<View>()
    .Where(v => v.ViewType == ViewType.DraftingView && !v.IsTemplate)

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:30-39

Copying View Contents

Elements are copied using ElementTransformUtils.CopyElements with a custom IDuplicateTypeNamesHandler that uses destination types when duplicates are found.

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:145-162

Skipped Categories

The following categories are excluded from copy operations:

Title Blocks
Viewports
Views
Schedules
Guide Grids

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Revit/Services/TdvOps.cs:13-16

Command Reference

Library Selection Dialog Sizing

TDV export/import library selection dialogs override default alert dimensions to a compact tool-specific size:

Width: 640
Height: 420
MinWidth: 520
MinHeight: 340

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvAlertWindowOptions.cs:1-17 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvExportCommand.cs:75-84 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvImportCommand.cs:70-79

Library Picker Display

The library picker list uses:

Alias (when configured) for a short readable name
A compact tail-of-path suffix when no alias is present (keeps the dialog narrow without losing location context)

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvImportCommand.cs:70 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvExportCommand.cs:75 Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Settings/LibraryPathDisplayFormatter.cs:8

Export Command Flow

Validate library paths are configured
Prompt user to select a library file
If workshared, create a per-operation local copy under the TDV cache folder
Open library document
Show TdvWindow for view selection
Execute transfer to library
Sync changes to central with comment
Close library and reactivate original document

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvExportCommand.cs:31-137

Import Command Flow

Validate library paths are configured
Prompt user to select a library file
If workshared, create a per-operation local copy under the TDV cache folder
Open library document
Show TdvWindow for view selection
Execute transfer to active document
Close library (no sync needed)

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Features/TdvImportCommand.cs:27-107

Cross-References

Architecture Overview - Application architecture patterns
App Project - Main application and tool hosting

Testing

TDV includes unit tests for:

TdvViewItem - View model behavior
TdvLibraryService - Path validation and library management
TdvAdapter - Service adapter tests

Source: src/Tools/Common/TDV/Tests/

Last updated: March 2026

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