Wish - Release Type Catalogs after Loading a Family

Revit needs to release the Type Catalog files after loading a family that use them.

That message makes the process of updating a type catalog tedious at best if you have to close Revit completely to release it so it can be edited, very inefficient. There was a brief period of time when Revit did release the file as it should, but that ended with 2018 if I recall correctly.

Fussy Type Catalog Syntax

Just a little reminder or tip. Type Catalogs (and Revit reading them) don't like it when we use commas as part of the information stored in the parameters. They also don't like lone quotation marks like this 5". I had a file tonight that just wouldn't display types beyond a certain type. The fact that the type's line had 683 characters in it didn't help me find the lone quotation. Eventually I did find it...fussy.

Want this? 5'-0" - Type: 5'-0""
Want this? Revit,BIM,Software - Type: "Revit,BIM,Software"

Remember, if you aren't sure what syntax Revit wants, just use the Export > Family Types feature. The resulting Type Catalog is what Revit wants.

Type Catalogs and MEP Parameter Syntax

The formatting of type catalog parameters has been consistent until the introduction of Revit MEP features. The WikiHelp at Autodesk provides insight into many things but it still doesn't tackle this subtlety yet. It does offer a number of sample entries, all without a bias toward MEP settings however.

The syntax for Common and Structure data types is parameter name##datatype##units
The syntax for MEP engineering data types is parameter name##discipline_datatype##units

MEP focused examples
Apparent Load##ELECTRICAL_APPARENT_POWER##VOLT_AMPERES
Flow##PIPING_FLOW##LITERS_PER_SECOND
Inlet Radius##PIPE_SIZE##MILLIMETERS
Voltage##ELECTRICAL_POTENTIAL##VOLTS

Structure and Common
MyStructuralParameter##FORCE##KIPS
Assembly Code##OTHER##
bf##LENGTH##FEET

Each MEP related parameter type begins with the discipline it is associated with. In other words when you create the parameter in the family which one of the available disciplines did you choose the parameter from?

If you choose from Common or Structural it isn't necessary to specify them first. It seems to only have been added since the introduction of MEP categories. Another subtle difference is that you'll also find that MEP parameters use the underscore (_) instead of spaces between words in both the data type and the units used.

Examine the Discipline and Type of Parameter wording when you create a new parameter. When you are ready to create your own type catalog headers, refer to those again and as a general rule you can type:

• Your parameter name
• ##
• Discipline
• _ (underscore)
• Parameter data type (with underscore between words)
• ##
• Units (with underscore between words)

When when I'm not sure what the correct format should be, I either open an existing family or create a new one from scratch that uses the parameter type I'm dealing with. Then I use the relatively new Export > Family Types feature to create a type catalog. If Revit makes it then it must be correct? Right? Better still using that feature can be a shortcut in itself, just clean out the extraneous parameters I don't really want to include in the type catalog. I wrote a post recently offering some advice on Working with Type Catalogs.

Create a Type Catalog

There is a relatively new feature available to create a type catalog automatically. Anyone who has tried to deal with this task using Revit MEP can relate to the awkwardness of trying to define the units for each parameter properly. The syntax and names used don't necessarily leap to mind.

If you visit the Application Menu > Export you'll find the Family Types option.

This does not create a perfect type catalog. By perfect I mean it may provide more parameters than you really intend to use in the catalog. That's because it will export them all. We often only provide the critical or most relevant values in a type catalog and leave others as default settings that all types will share. It works great if you want them all though.

Just to quibble though, I think that the name of the command ought to be Export > Type Catalog instead of Family Types. It would be more consistent with what the resulting file is called and used for, a Type Catalog.

Dept. of Echo - Type Catalog Formatting

Quick echo - David at Do U Revit? took the time to document how to format various parameters for inclusion in Type Catalogs. Nice effort, too nice not to echo!!

Check it out!

Here's a couple screen grabs of his charts.