Spotlight: BIMcloud SaaS, and a public link that is not a Teamwork seat
Graphisoft made BIMcloud public links generally available. What BIM leads should lock down before a consultant downloads the folder.
This week’s leftover authoring note was Archicad 30. The unused CDE note is public links on BIMcloud SaaS. Graphisoft finished the October SaaS roll-out this week. Boldizsár Vermes, BIMcloud’s product manager, closed the early-access programme on 15 October. The guest page is the useful change, not another Archicad recap.
Firms already park issued PDFs, IFCs and BIMx files on BIMcloud, then mint a Graphisoft ID so a consultant can fetch them. The new path is a URL. No account. That is faster. It is also easier to leave open.
What actually changed
Graphisoft’s BIMcloud page now lists public links as a SaaS sharing method: browse and download, no login. The October improvements list is the GA note. Password, expiry, zip download, visit and download counts, and one admin list of every link.
The how-to is still the detailed source. Public links start disabled. An administrator turns them on under Servers, BIMcloud Manager, General Settings, and can require a password and an expiry of at most a set number of days. Those rules apply to new and edited links. Older links stay as they were. If you later disable the feature, every public link is deleted.
Creating a link needs Modify details on the item. Pick one file, folder or BIMcloud Project on the Projects page. You can mint more than one URL for the same item. Graphisoft says a later file version shows up on the same link. Expired links stop working, then drop off after 30 days unless someone edits them.
Two limits matter more than the guest page. You cannot create a public link for a Teamwork project or a library. If those live in a folder you share, they are omitted. A folder or BIMcloud Project share only includes items the creator can already see. Two people sharing the same folder can hand two different packages to the same consultant.
The guest sees names, sizes and modified dates, then downloads one file or a zip. Empty folders are left out. If the link is deleted, it expires, or the owner loses access to the content, the page shows the BIMcloud instance name and nothing else.
What a BIM or VDC lead should do
Do not rewrite the information standard because a consultant no longer needs a GSID. The rules in our ISO 19650 note still hold: the issued package is named, dated and approved. A living URL is not a revision.
If the firm already runs BIMcloud SaaS, this is worth a side-by-side on one non-sensitive issued folder. Enable it in Settings. Require a password and an expiry. Then ask four questions: does a Teamwork project stay out of the zip, as Graphisoft says; does a second user with fewer rights share a thinner folder than the BIM lead; does replacing an IFC on the same path change what the guest downloads; and do visit and download counts show up for the administrator who was not the author.
Do not share the working model this way. Put the published PDF, DWG and IFC in a folder that is the deliverable. Copy the password out of band. Revoke the link when the package is superseded. Count who has Modify details before you tell the room that “anyone can send a link.”
Start with Graphisoft’s October improvements list, the 15 October close of early access, and the public-link how-to.
Frequently asked questions
What did Graphisoft ship in the October BIMcloud SaaS release?
Public links left early access. A BIMcloud user with Modify details can create a unique URL for a file, folder or BIMcloud Project. Recipients browse and download in a guest page, including a zip of the whole share, without signing in. Graphisoft rolled the SaaS build automatically this week.
Can I share a live Archicad Teamwork model this way?
No. Graphisoft’s documentation says public links cannot be created for Teamwork projects or libraries. If those sit inside a shared folder, they are left out of the guest download.
Who can turn this on, and what should be mandatory?
Servers > BIMcloud Manager > General Settings. Public links start disabled. Admins can require a password and an expiry window. Those rules do not rewrite existing links. Turning the feature off deletes every public link at once.
Does this replace an ISO 19650 guest on the CDE?
No. It is a download of files the creator can already see. Count visits and downloads, set an expiry, and keep issued IFC, PDF and DWG in a folder that is the deliverable, not the working model.