DATUM BIM — user manual

Version 1.6.8 BETA · generated from the add-in source on 11 September 2026

DATUM BIM is a Revit add-in for architectural documentation: opening specifications, tagging, view and sheet management, room finishes, and batch export. It installs its own tab, called DATUM BIM, and changes nothing else about Revit.

This is a beta. Every version released so far is a beta build, including this one. The tools are in daily use on real projects, but they are not finished: a command can still fail, wording can still change, and a tool can still be reworked between versions. Everything a command writes into the model is a normal Revit transaction, so Ctrl+Z undoes it — but work on a copy if the model matters, and report what breaks: support@datumbim.com.

1. What you need

Autodesk Revit 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027, on Windows 64-bit. One installer covers all of them and places the right build into every Revit it finds on the machine — the runtimes differ across that range, so the builds are not interchangeable and picking one by hand is not necessary.

Nothing else has to be installed. There is no separate framework to add, no Python, and no dependency on pyRevit or any other add-in manager.

2. Installing

Close Revit, run DatumBIMSetup.exe, and start Revit again. The DATUM BIM tab appears next to the Revit tabs. The installer writes two things per Revit release:

What	Where
The add-in	%APPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\<year>\DatumBIM\
The manifest Revit reads at start-up	%APPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\<year>\DatumBIM.addin

Both live under your own user profile, so installing needs no administrator rights and affects nobody else on the machine. To remove DATUM BIM, close Revit and delete those two entries; settings and logs are described in section 7.

Revit asks whether to load an add-in it cannot verify the publisher of, and answers that question again each time the file changes. Signing is prepared in the build and waits on a certificate from a public authority; until then, choose Always Load.

3. The licence

Press License, the first button on the tab, paste the key you received by e-mail, and press ACTIVATE. The window then lists every module and marks what your key unlocks. The free tools work without any key at all.

A licence is tied to the device it is activated on. Release this device hands the seat back so it can be used on another machine.

The check runs in the background and never delays Revit starting. Being offline is a supported state, not an error: the signed token is cached on disk and the paid tools keep working for a grace period, which the licence window counts down for you. Reconnect and they renew themselves silently.

4. Updates

DATUM BIM keeps itself current. At start-up it asks the site what the current version is; if there is a newer one it downloads the installer, checks it against the published checksum, and runs it — the installer waits for Revit to close before it replaces a single file. Nothing is installed from a download whose checksum does not match.

The License button turns red when a version is waiting. The next time you start Revit, a WHAT'S NEW window says what changed in the version now running; it appears once per update. Check for updates in the licence window asks immediately rather than waiting for the next start.

5. The ribbon

Seven panels, grouped by the job rather than by which module sells them. A button whose module you do not own is greyed and its tooltip carries the price; pressing it explains what it does and where to buy it, and never fails silently.

Two conventions run through every tool. A tool that succeeds says nothing — it does the work and closes, and only a failure raises a window. And where a tool has a setting, Shift+Click opens it; the notes below say which tools have one.

5.1   DATUM

5.2   OPENINGS

5.3   ANNOTATION

5.4   VIEWS

5.5   ROOMS

5.6   LIBRARY

5.7   FILE

6. Modules and prices

Every paid tool is a monthly licence. The table is the same catalogue the add-in checks against your key, so what is listed here is what a key can unlock.

Module	Price	Tools
License	Included	License
Settings Exchange	Included	Settings
Home	Included	Home
Autosave	Included	Autosave
Sync Views	Included	Sync Views
Tab Coloring	Included	Tabs Color
Door & Window Specification	€7/mo	DR Spec, WN Spec, Swing, Auto Swing
Curtain Wall Specification	€7/mo	CW Spec, CW Arc
Tag All Elements	€3/mo	Doors, Windows, Floors, Stairs, Walls
Rename Elevations	€5/mo	Elevations
Grid to Section	€3/mo	Sections
View Placement	€3/mo	Place
Template Exchange	€3/mo	Standards
Rename Rooms	€5/mo	Rename
Room Finishes	€3/mo	Finishes
Light Norms	€7/mo	Light
Schedule Styles	€4/mo	Schedules
Content Catalog	€4/mo	Catalog, Sources
Families Rename	€3/mo	Families
Storage for Norms	€4/mo	Norms
Custom Print	€9/mo	Export

All of them together cost less than the sum of the parts; the current bundle price is on the Plugins page, which is also where a single module is bought.

7. Where DATUM BIM keeps things

What	Where
Your settings, including every switch	%APPDATA%\DatumBIM\config.json
Errors, when a tool has failed	%APPDATA%\DatumBIM\errors.log
What the updater decided, and when	%APPDATA%\DatumBIM\update.log
How long each tool took, one line per run	%APPDATA%\DatumBIM\commands.log
A downloaded installer, waiting for Revit to close	%APPDATA%\DatumBIM\update\

Nothing is written into your project files except the changes a tool is asked to make, and every one of those is a normal Revit transaction you can undo.

Settings, on the FILE panel, carries all of that to another machine as one file — every tool's preferences, the room rules, the finishes table, the export presets and the paths to your regulations. Your licence is not in it, and neither is your answer to the crash-report question: a licence is signed against one computer, and consent belongs to the person who gave it. The same window has the switch for the timing log below.

commands.log records one line per tool you run, with how long it took, the outcome, and which tool it was. The time is from pressing the button to the tool finishing, so it includes any question the tool asked you. It never leaves the machine; it is there so that "this got slower" can be sent as a number rather than an impression.

8. Crash reports

The first time DATUM BIM runs it asks, once, whether a failing tool may send its error to us. What travels is the version, your Revit release, which command failed, and the technical error with its stack. What never travels: project names, file paths, family or element names, and nothing identifying you. Nothing is sent unless something has actually gone wrong, and a refusal is remembered — the question is not asked again.

9. If something does not work

Two things answer most questions before you write in. errors.log in the folder above records anything that failed; if the file does not exist, nothing has thrown. And several tools give a diagnosis under Shift+Click that says which of their requirements is not met.

Then write to support@datumbim.com. Include your DATUM BIM version, from the licence window, and your Revit release. A screenshot of what you see settles most things in one reply.

DATUM BIM 1.6.8 BETA · Sofia, Bulgaria · datumbim.com. The command reference in section 5 is generated from the add-in source, so it describes this exact build.