Looking for a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to update family parameters?
I’ve created a 2014 install for In-N-Out Parameters. It is also enhanced so that it works with Length parameters of cm, mm, and other non-foot units. Get it at https://boostyourbim.wordpress.com/products/#InNOutParameters
From a discussion on Twitter last night, I put together an API solution to export the name of every subcategory and material in a group of RFAs.
In this sample it is hard-coded to check every RFA in the C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\RAC 2013\Libraries\US Imperial\Doors folder. The output is written to individual files in the TEMP folder (one file for material info & one file for category info).
The source code is available in my Udemy course on the Revit API
The API can be used to parse a warnings HTML file exported from Revit and then delete the “less desirable” instance in each pair of instances in the same place.
The instance that gets deleted is the one
A reader asked how to compute and schedule the placement point coordinates of adaptive component families. Here is a sample using the Parameter API and Dynamic Model Update to get and set those values.
private void Module_Startup(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
AdaptivePointParamUpdater updater = new AdaptivePointParamUpdater(this.Application.ActiveAddInId);
try
{
UpdaterRegistry.RegisterUpdater(updater);
UpdaterRegistry.AddTrigger(updater.GetUpdaterId(), new ElementClassFilter(typeof(FamilyInstance)), Element.GetChangeTypeElementAddition());
UpdaterRegistry.AddTrigger(updater.GetUpdaterId(), new ElementClassFilter(typeof(FamilyInstance)), Element.GetChangeTypeGeometry());
}
catch{}
}
public class AdaptivePointParamUpdater : IUpdater
{
static AddInId m_appId;
static UpdaterId m_updaterId;
public AdaptivePointParamUpdater(AddInId id)
{
m_appId = id;
m_updaterId = new UpdaterId(m_appId, new Guid("1BF1F6A2-4C06-42d4-97C1-D1B4EB593EFF"));
}
public void Execute(UpdaterData data)
{
Document doc = data.GetDocument();
Autodesk.Revit.ApplicationServices.Application app = doc.Application;
foreach (ElementId id in data.GetAddedElementIds())
{
adaptivePointParams(data.GetDocument(), id);
}
foreach (ElementId id in data.GetModifiedElementIds())
{
adaptivePointParams(data.GetDocument(), id);
}
}
public string GetAdditionalInformation(){return "Data about adaptive parameters";}
public ChangePriority GetChangePriority(){return ChangePriority.FloorsRoofsStructuralWalls;}
public UpdaterId GetUpdaterId(){return m_updaterId;}
public string GetUpdaterName(){return "AdaptivePoints";}
private void adaptivePointParams(Document doc, ElementId id)
{
FamilyInstance fi = doc.GetElement(id) as FamilyInstance;
if (fi != null && AdaptiveComponentInstanceUtils.IsAdaptiveComponentInstance(fi))
{
int ctr = 1;
foreach (ElementId elementId in AdaptiveComponentInstanceUtils.GetInstancePlacementPointElementRefIds(fi))
{
ReferencePoint rp = doc.GetElement(elementId) as ReferencePoint;
XYZ position = rp.Position;
if (ctr == 1)
{
fi.get_Parameter("point1x").Set(Math.Round(position.X,3));
fi.get_Parameter("point1y").Set(Math.Round(position.Y,3));
fi.get_Parameter("point1z").Set(Math.Round(position.Z,3));
}
else if (ctr == 2)
{
fi.get_Parameter("point2x").Set(Math.Round(position.X,3));
fi.get_Parameter("point2y").Set(Math.Round(position.Y,3));
fi.get_Parameter("point2z").Set(Math.Round(position.Z,3));
}
ctr++;
}
}
}
}
Thanks to everyone for their enthusiasm and feedback on my recent posts about exporting family parameters to Excel and modifying the parameter data.
I’ve added the Shared Parameter GUIDs, the ability to modify parameters stored as text, integer, and double values, and UI for specifying folders and files. Are there other changes that would be valuable to make before I publish the tool?
Thanks to feedback from reader Arno, I’ve added two new features to this app. I hope the provides the flexibility and control that everyone – or almost everyone 🙂 – would like. If not, please let me know.
Thanks for all the great feedback I got from the recent posts about RFA security. I’ve submitted “Family Security Guard” to Autodesk to have it published (for FREE!). I will let you know when it is ready for download here.
The user will be prompted for a password in two situations:
After the password is successfully entered, the user will not be prompted again for the password during this Revit session. The password can be set in the pwd.txt file in the BoostYourBIM-FamilySecurity.bundle\Contents folder.
NOTE: This app only protects families when this app is installed. There is no protection when someone without this app attempts to modify families. (I know many people would like to protect families all the time, but unfortunately Revit does not support this)
Yesterday’s post was about getting Family Parameter data out of Revit and into Excel. Here you can see:
Cool?
After the recent discussions about the OmniClass and UniFormat parameters, I’ve been thinking about more generic tools optimized for modifying multiple parameters for multiple families.
One option would be to build a big grid-like UI as part of a Revit API app where the parameters could be edited.
Easier would be to export everything to Excel, let you make changes there, and then modify the parameters by reading back in the Excel file. The first half of this process (Export to Excel) could look like this:
In its current state, this isn’t usable for parameters that store element IDs (like Material). But if you could read this data into Revit to set text and numeric parameter values, would it be helpful?
public void FamilyParametersToExcel()
{
Autodesk.Revit.ApplicationServices.Application application = this.Application;
string directory = @"C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\RAC 2013\Libraries\US Imperial\Columns";
string s = "";
// loop through all files in the directory
foreach (string filename in Directory.GetFiles(directory))
{
s += "Family Name,Family Type,";
Document doc = application.OpenDocumentFile(filename);
if (!doc.IsFamilyDocument)
return; // skip any files that are not families
FamilyManager familyManager = doc.FamilyManager;
// sort the family parameters alphabetically
List<string> paramSorted = new List<string>();
foreach (FamilyParameter fp in familyManager.Parameters)
{
paramSorted.Add(fp.Definition.Name);
}
paramSorted.Sort();
// create a header row listing the parameter names for this family
foreach (string paramName in paramSorted)
{
FamilyParameter familyParameter = familyManager.get_Parameter(paramName);
s += familyParameter.Definition.Name + ",";
}
s += "\n";
// create a row for each family type
foreach (FamilyType familyType in familyManager.Types)
{
if (familyType.Name == " ") // skip the 'default' family type with no name
continue;
s += doc.PathName + "," + familyType.Name + ",";
foreach (string paramName in paramSorted)
{
FamilyParameter familyParameter = familyManager.get_Parameter(paramName);
s += ParameterValueForType(familyType, familyParameter) + ",";
}
s += "\n";
}
s += "\n";
doc.Close(false);
}
// write the CSV file to disk
string outfile = directory.Replace(@"\","-").Replace("C:","") + "-Parameters.";
outfile = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments), outfile);
using (StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(outfile))
{
streamWriter.Write(s);
}
// open the CSV file
Process.Start(outfile);
}
private string ParameterValueForType(FamilyType type, FamilyParameter p)
{
// return a string with the value of the parameter for this type
string paramValue = "";
switch (p.StorageType)
{
case StorageType.Double:
paramValue = type.AsDouble(p).ToString();
break;
case StorageType.ElementId:
paramValue = type.AsElementId(p).IntegerValue.ToString();
break;
case StorageType.Integer:
paramValue = type.AsInteger(p).ToString();
break;
case StorageType.String:
paramValue = type.AsString(p);
break;
}
if (paramValue == null)
paramValue = "";
return paramValue;
}Â 
To follow up my Twitter conservation with Martijn and Aaron, here’s my take on what could be a useful app to create shared type parameters for OmniClass parameters
If you want to use the existing family-wide parameters “OmniClass Number” and “OmniClass Title” then select the “Built-In Family Parameters” radio button.
But if you want to use your own shared parameters so that each family type can have its own OmniClass values, then select the other radio button, select your shared parameter file, the family type, and the text parameters from that shared parameter file that should receive the OmniClass data.
When you push the OK button, the two shared parameters would be created as Type parameters in the family (if they don’t already exist). The OmniCode data selected in the grid control would be set for those 2 parameters.
Is this what would be useful?
I’m putting the finishing touches on the app I mentioned here for setting the UniFormat values for Assembly Code & Assembly Description. The Revit UI has  Assembly Code & Description as Type parameters, so each type of a family can have different values.
But does anyone ever give each Type of the same family a different Assembly Code? Or do you want them to act more like the OmniCode parameters, where every Type has the same Assembly Code?
Yesterday’s post was about putting password protection on the Edit Type button in the Properties dialog. It was great to see so many comments and page views from people interested in this.
Here is another part of limiting access to modifying families – preventing unauthorized users from opening family files in the Family Editor.
This could be combined with the Edit Type password requirement shown yesterday but here are a few issues that would need to be resolved. It would be great to hear your ideas on these.
A reader asked if it was possible to require a password before allowing users to push the Edit Type button. Is this of interest to others?
Following up on the previous post, here is how to put all the pieces together to find a door’s glass area above 2′
public void MesaureGlassArea()
{
Document doc = this.ActiveUIDocument.Document;
UIDocument uidoc = new UIDocument(doc);
FamilyInstance instance = doc.GetElement(uidoc.Selection.PickObject(ObjectType.Element)) as FamilyInstance;
// Get the surface area of glass in the family
string info = "Total glass area in door = " + getGlassAreaInFamily(instance) + "\n";
// Open and edit the family document
Document familyDoc = doc.EditFamily(instance.Symbol.Family);
// The family geometry is going to be edited (to create the void to cut off the bottom 2' of glass) and then reloaded into the RVT.
// After this is done, call getGlassAreaInFamily to get the modified glass area.
// But in the end we don't want to keep all the transactions created by CreateExtrusionAndCutGlass.
// A transaction group can be used to rollback all the transactions that were committed inside the transaction group.
using (TransactionGroup transactionGroup = new TransactionGroup(doc,"Glass measurement"))
{
transactionGroup.Start();
// Cut off the bottom 2 feet of glass
CreateExtrusionAndCutGlass(familyDoc);
// Load the modified family back into the RVT
// FamilyLoadOptions tells Revit to overwrite the existing family instances in the RVT
FamilyLoadOptions loadOptions = new FamilyLoadOptions();
familyDoc.LoadFamily(doc,loadOptions);
// Get the surface area of glass in the modified family
info += "Glass in door above 2 feet = " + getGlassAreaInFamily(instance);
// Rollback the transaction group so that the reloading of the family and modifications to the family are discarded.
transactionGroup.RollBack();
}
TaskDialog.Show("Material info", info);
// Close the family document. False means do not save the file
familyDoc.Close(false);
}
private double getGlassAreaInFamily(Element element)
{
foreach (Material material in element.Materials)
{
if (material.Name == "Glass")
return element.GetMaterialArea(material);
}
return 0;
}
// FamilyLoadOptions tells Revit what to do when loading the family into a document that already contains the family
public class FamilyLoadOptions : IFamilyLoadOptions
{
// Always return true so that all existing families and their parameters are overwritten with the new family
public bool OnFamilyFound(bool familyInUse, out bool overwriteParameterValues)
{
overwriteParameterValues = true;
return true;
}
public bool OnSharedFamilyFound(Family sharedFamily, bool familyInUse, out FamilySource source, out bool overwriteParameterValues)
{
overwriteParameterValues = true;
source = FamilySource.Family;
return true;
}
}
private void CreateExtrusionAndCutGlass(Document doc)
{
Autodesk.Revit.ApplicationServices.Application app = doc.Application;
// Height of the void extrusion
double height = 2;
// Four points to define corners of the rectangle to extrude
XYZ pnt1 = new XYZ(-10, -10, 0);
XYZ pnt2 = new XYZ(10, -10, 0);
XYZ pnt3 = new XYZ(10, 10, 0);
XYZ pnt4 = new XYZ(-10, 10, 0);
// Create the four lines of the rectangle
// These are internal "Line" elements, not model lines or detail lines
Line line1 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt1, pnt2, true);
Line line2 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt2, pnt3, true);
Line line3 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt3, pnt4, true);
Line line4 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt4, pnt1, true);
// Put these lines into a CurveArray
CurveArray curveArray = new CurveArray();
curveArray.Append(line1);
curveArray.Append(line2);
curveArray.Append(line3);
curveArray.Append(line4);
// Put this array into a CureArrArray (an array of CurveArrays)
// Extrusion creation uses a CureArrArray so you can extrusion multiple loops
CurveArrArray curveArrayArray = new CurveArrArray();
curveArrayArray.Append(curveArray);
// Create a plane at the origin with a normal in the up direction
XYZ planeNormal = XYZ.BasisZ;
XYZ planeOrigin = XYZ.Zero;
Plane plane = app.Create.NewPlane(planeNormal, planeOrigin);
Extrusion extrusion = null;
using (Transaction t = new Transaction(doc, "Create Extrusion"))
{
t.Start();
// Create a sketch plane to be used for the extrusion
SketchPlane sketchPlane = doc.FamilyCreate.NewSketchPlane(plane);
// Create the extrusion. The "false" specifies that it will be a void
extrusion = doc.FamilyCreate.NewExtrusion(false, curveArrayArray, sketchPlane, height);
t.Commit();
}
// Cut the other 3D elements with the new void using CombineElements and a CombinableElementArray
CombinableElementArray ceArray = new CombinableElementArray();
// Add the new void extrusion to the CombinableElementArray
ceArray.Append(extrusion);
// Add all GenericForm elements with the Glass subcategory to a CombinableElementArray
foreach (GenericForm genericForm in new FilteredElementCollector(doc).OfClass(typeof(GenericForm)).Cast<GenericForm>())
{
Category category = genericForm.Subcategory;
if (category != null && category.Name == "Glass")
{
ceArray.Append(genericForm);
}
}
using (Transaction t = new Transaction(doc, "Combine Elements"))
{
t.Start();
// Combine the elements so that the void will cut the solids
GeomCombination geomCombination = doc.CombineElements(ceArray);
t.Commit();
}
}
In a comment to “Calculating the glass in a door“, the question was posed:
“Let’s say I have a 7′ tall, full glass door. How complicated would it be to add constraints, or limits, to the area in which you want to calculate? Say I want to calculate the total are of glass between 2′ and 6′ (assuming the total glass area was greater than that).”
The place to start answering this question is with API code to create a void that eliminates the glass in the door below 2′. The image below was created with “Double-Glass 1.rfa”.
public void CreateExtrusionAndCutGlass()
{
Document doc = this.ActiveUIDocument.Document;
Autodesk.Revit.ApplicationServices.Application app = doc.Application;
// Height of the void extrusion
double height = 2;
// Four points to define corners of the rectangle to extrude
XYZ pnt1 = new XYZ(-10, -10, 0);
XYZ pnt2 = new XYZ(10, -10, 0);
XYZ pnt3 = new XYZ(10, 10, 0);
XYZ pnt4 = new XYZ(-10, 10, 0);
// Create the four lines of the rectangle
// These are internal "Line" elements, not model lines or detail lines
Line line1 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt1, pnt2, true);
Line line2 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt2, pnt3, true);
Line line3 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt3, pnt4, true);
Line line4 = app.Create.NewLine(pnt4, pnt1, true);
// Put these lines into a CurveArray
CurveArray curveArray = new CurveArray();
curveArray.Append(line1);
curveArray.Append(line2);
curveArray.Append(line3);
curveArray.Append(line4);
// Put this array into a CureArrArray (an array of CurveArrays)
// Extrusion creation uses a CureArrArray so you can extrusion multiple loops
CurveArrArray curveArrayArray = new CurveArrArray();
curveArrayArray.Append(curveArray);
// Create a plane at the origin with a normal in the up direction
XYZ planeNormal = XYZ.BasisZ;
XYZ planeOrigin = XYZ.Zero;
Plane plane = app.Create.NewPlane(planeNormal, planeOrigin);
Extrusion extrusion = null;
using (Transaction t = new Transaction(doc, "Create Extrusion"))
{
t.Start();
// Create a sketch plane to be used for the extrusion
SketchPlane sketchPlane = doc.FamilyCreate.NewSketchPlane(plane);
// Create the extrusion. The "false" specifies that it will be a void
extrusion = doc.FamilyCreate.NewExtrusion(false, curveArrayArray, sketchPlane, height);
t.Commit();
}
// Cut the other 3D elements with the new void using CombineElements and a CombinableElementArray
CombinableElementArray ceArray = new CombinableElementArray();
// Add the new void extrusion to the CombinableElementArray
ceArray.Append(extrusion);
// Add all GenericForm elements with the Glass subcategory to a CombinableElementArray
foreach (GenericForm genericForm in new FilteredElementCollector(doc).OfClass(typeof(GenericForm)).Cast<GenericForm>())
{
Category category = genericForm.Subcategory;
if (category != null && category.Name == "Glass")
{
ceArray.Append(genericForm);
}
}
using (Transaction t = new Transaction(doc, "Combine Elements"))
{
t.Start();
// Combine the elements so that the void will cut the solids
GeomCombination geomCombination = doc.CombineElements(ceArray);
t.Commit();
}
}A recent post at whatrevitwants mentions some tools that can be used to find in-place families. Here is a tiny macro to do the same
public void findInPlaceFamilies()
{
string info = "";
Document doc = this.ActiveUIDocument.Document;
foreach (Family family in new FilteredElementCollector(doc).OfClass(typeof(Family)).Cast<Family>())
{
if (family.IsInPlace)
info += family.Name + "\n";
}
TaskDialog.Show("In Place Families", info);
}This is also a good excuse to show how to do something other than show the string inside Revit in a TaskDialog. For example, we might want to write the data to a text file or to an Excel file.
Text File:
public void findInPlaceFamilies()
{
Document doc = this.ActiveUIDocument.Document;
// Use the @ before the filename to avoid errors related to the \ character
// Alternative is to use \\ instead of \
string filename = @"C:\Users\HP002\Documents\In Place Families.txt";
// Create a StreamWriter object to write to a file
using (System.IO.StreamWriter writer = new System.IO.StreamWriter(filename))
{
foreach (Family family in new FilteredElementCollector(doc).OfClass(typeof(Family)).Cast<Family>())
{
if (family.IsInPlace)
writer.WriteLine(family.Name);
}
}
// open the text file
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(filename);
}
Excel File:
using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel; using System.Reflection;
Autodesk.Revit.DB.Parameter parameter = element.get_Parameter("Material");
public void findInPlaceFamilies()
{
Document doc = this.ActiveUIDocument.Document;
// set up Excel variables
Application excelApp = new Application();
Workbook workbook = excelApp.Workbooks.Add(Missing.Value);
Worksheet worksheet = (Worksheet)workbook.ActiveSheet;
string filename = @"C:\Users\HP002\Documents\In Place Families.xls";
int rowCtr = 1;
foreach (Family family in new FilteredElementCollector(doc).OfClass(typeof(Family)).Cast<Family>())
{
if (family.IsInPlace)
{
// write data to the next row in the spreadsheet
worksheet.Cells[rowCtr,1] = family.Name;
rowCtr++; // increment counter by one
}
}
// Save the file
workbook.SaveAs(filename,XlFileFormat.xlWorkbookNormal,
Missing.Value, Missing.Value, Missing.Value, Missing.Value,
XlSaveAsAccessMode.xlExclusive, Missing.Value, Missing.Value, Missing.Value,
Missing.Value, Missing.Value);
// Clean up the excel resources that were created
workbook.Close();
excelApp.Quit();
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(filename);
}Don’t mind all that crazy “Missing.Value” stuff. The Excel API is strange but it works.
Boost Your BIM 