Navisworks 2017 Cobie Explorer

By James Philip

The new Cobie export tool in Navisworks 2017 is easy to use once you have created an export template file.

First you must append all your project files, then open the Data pane on the Cobie tab, seen in Fig 1.

 Fig 1

Once opened the pane looks as shown in Fig 2.

Fig 2

The tool comes with a Cobie export template file, to create your own version, it is easier to edit the provided one and then save it as a different file. To do this select the imported file in the Selection Tree, shown in Fig 3.

Fig 3

Then go back to the Data Pane and select the Property Configuration Button seen in Fig 4.

Fig 4

The dialogue box in Fig 5 appears. Use the open file button to find the provided Cobie Template file.

Fig 5

To add field values, first select the category from the Cobie table list, the field values will appear in the central pane.

To add more you can expand the appropriate category in the right-hand pane and drag and drop the field into the value box in the central pane. See Fig 6.

Fig 6

Once this task has been completed, save the file with a different name to create your own template file.

To create the Cobie file, close this window and return to the Data Pane. Select the Import from Navisworks button as show in Fig 7.

Fig 7

Navigate to the Template file you just created and select it. See Fig 8.

Fig 8

The Cobie file is then generated from the fields in your template file which extracts all the data from the Appended files. Resulting in the file shown in Figs 9 & 10.

Fig 9

Fig 10