Surprised?
I would be too. Have you ever wondered who gets this error message?
Brief
This error message has multiple meanings in Revit, it fails to be unique. Understanding it takes context and a good deal of knowledge in the complexities of Revit and Docs. Even experienced users and managers fail to grasp the relationship between their models and the cloud.
Robert
Project Engineer (via BIM Manager)
When inserting the Revit link, it says "Failed to load document." We have checked firewall settings, file permissions, and clearing cache files, and have had no issues accessing said file in the past. No one on our team has been able to link in the file, leading us to believe it is not an issue with our machines or our network settings.
Debrief
Imagine the time and money wasted checking firewalls and permissions before contacting support. Even the BIM Manager who normally might have insight with this could not understand the issue.
Rebecca
Reseller Technical Support
We get an error " Failed to open Document" and "Cannot open linked document bim360…" We have tried to clear the cache files and to link files from other projects to determine if original files were corrupt.
Debrief
This is an issue even some technical support agents are unable to resolve. How are customers able to understand it Use unique messages in Revit to help understand issues.
Findings
A clear message stating the exact issue. In these cases it was the model could not be linked because it was a Revit Cloud Workshared (RCW) model which contained RCW links, this was linked from Desktop Connector, instead of External Resources. A better approach would be researching how to either redesign the linking process for it to be clear.