Dept. of Quirky - Using Group Bar vs. Scrolling

If you like video I posted an example of this as well.

When you take a look at the properties of any element in Revit you are presented with parameters organized into Groups, the blue (at least in my Windows config) bar above parameters. This blue bar is one the "sneaky buttons" as I call them.


Clicking at any point along the blue bar will contract or expand the list of parameters. Okay you know that already...so here's the point.

You'll find that if you use a combination of the scroll bar AND the Groups that at times Revit will be unable to display all of the parameters toward the bottom of the list. This is particularly true of the Family Editor > Family Types dialog where I seem to spend a fair bit of time. In order to see them you'll have to expand all the Groups and then use the Scroll Bar.

I debated...is the Dept. of Subtle or Quirky?...Quirky won but it's a toss up!!

Duct Size Parameter - Inches - Revit MEP

If you used AutoCAD before using Revit you likely went through a bit of withdrawal from using inches as a base drawing unit. With Revit you had to get used to typing 0 space 6 for 0'-6" or 0 dash 6. Well in Revit MEP there is one instance at least where you get to enter relevant values when working through your design.

First if you are interested I posted a little video overview of this subject. Otherwise read on...

I am referring to the duct size parameters as the title suggests. In the Family Editor > Family Types dialog we can choose to Add Parameters to our family. Aside from providing a clever name we also can choose the Discipline > HVAC which in turn offers quite a few choices for "Type of Parameter".


When you choose Type of Parameter: Duct Size, Revit will require you to enter values in inches, which is easier since most duct sizes are referred to by their size in inches.

There's a catch though if you like to add parameters by using the Associate Family Parameter "sneaky button" in the properties of elements in the Family Editor.


This route precludes the use of the HVAC Discipline, Type of Parameter choices as it defaults to common and its subset of Types of Parameters. Not FAIR I say! I'm sure it is just an oversight!

To use it you need to start with Family Types > then Add Parameter. Then you can Associate the family parameter with the Element's parameter.

Pipe Materials

A fairly common comment from someone using the Piping/Plumbing features in Revit MEP is, "Where is Cast Iron?" Fair enough! Where is it? It ain't there! Getting it there is a matter of editing the Pipe Sizes.xml file (default location: C:\Program Files\Revit MEP 2008\Program). At least that's true for past versions. The information is now embedded in Revit MEP 2009 and accessible from a dialog found under Settings menu > Mechanical Settings. This is the dialog you get:


You click on "Sizes" at the bottom left of the dialog and you get the information displayed on the right side. You can now add Material, Connection, Schedule/Type as well as Sizes. Using the check boxes offered, you can filter the list of sizes so only appropriate ones will be offered to you when you use specific types of pipe. You also use this to allow RME to use the size when calculating "sizing" for you.

Keep in mind that the Project Units of your project will affect the pipe sizes displayed on the Options Bar too. You adjust this via Settings menu > Project Units and then choose Piping for Discipline. Like this:


Similarly Wires Sizes and Duct Sizes are embedded within RME.