Creating a Project using Navisworks

To create a project using VIM files sourced from Autodesk Navisworks Manage:

Use the VIM Exporter for Navisworks to create your VIM file.
In VIM Enterprise, on the Projects tab, click New Project.
In the New Project dialog, type a Name for the project.
Under Source, select VIM Merge and click OK.

note
The VIM Merge project type allows you to select the VIM file you exported from Navisworks.
In the VIM File Path field, click the folder icon and select a folder in which a copy of the exported VIM file will be stored, and click Save.
If you want to use this project with Power BI, complete the rest of the steps in this procedure.
Obtain the database connection string required for the next step and copy it to the Windows clipboard.

info
If your IT department created the Azure SQL database, you will need to contact them to obtain the database connection string.
- If you created an Azure SQL database, log on to Microsoft Azure and go to the resource page for the SQL database you will be using with this project. In the left panel under Settings, click Connection Strings. On the SQL database Connection strings page, in the ADO.NET (SQL authentication) field, click the Copy to clipboard icon in the lower right corner. Before you add this connection string to the VIM Enterprise project settings, you must update the {your_password} placeholder with the password you used when you configured SQL authentication for the Database Server. See Creating an Azure SQL Database
- If you created a local SQL database, use the following connection string, but replace {database_name} with the name of your database:
```
Data Source=localhost\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog={database_name};Integrated Security=SSPI;TrustServerCertificate=True;
```
In VIM Enterprise, on the project settings panel, right-click in the Database Connection String field and choose Paste. By default, the database string is hidden. Click the Show/Hide icon beside the field to view the string.
Obtain the Azure Blob SAS URL required for the next step and copy it to the Windows clipboard. The Blob SAS URL is generated on the Microsoft Azure Container page. See Creating Shared Access Tokens.

info
If your IT department created the Azure Storage Account, you will need to contact them to obtain the Blob SAS URL
On the project settings panel, right-click in the Container Shared Access Signature (SAS) URL field and choose Paste. The same SAS URL can be used for all of your VIM projects.
Click Save.

The fields in the Power BI section of the project settings are populated automatically from the Azure Blob Storage and Database settings. If you have a local SQL database using Windows Authentication, the Database User Name and Database Password fields will be empty.
Scroll to the top of the project settings panel and click Run. When complete, the project Status will say "Done!", and a green checkmark will be displayed beside the project in the projects list.

Updating a Project using VIM files from Navisworks

To ensure your Power BI reports contain the latest data, you will need to export the VIM file from Navisworks and then "Run" this project to update its underlying SQL data.

note

After a VIM Enterprise project has been updated, you will need to click Refresh in the Queries section of the Power BI toolbar to get latest the data.

Updating a Project using VIM files from Navisworks​

Updating a Project using VIM files from Navisworks