View Reference User Experience Inequality

The View Reference feature reveals information differently according to how you access the feature. A post at RFO yesterday, and subsequent reply by pivoarch, made me see this subtlety finally.

When you create a new view and choose the Reference Other View option you get the sheet and detail number value (when the view is on a sheet) in the description in addition to the view name, like this.

When you want to fix or change a View Reference the sheet and detail number values are not presented to us, like this.

It would be very helpful to include the sheet and detail number values in every instance that it is displayed to us.

Conferences and Memory Lane - Revit View Reference

Reading tweets about RTC in Australia getting ready to open its doors I also read a thread about View Reference families. I wrote about a quirky move grip location issue four years ago to describe how they were misbehaving for me. Which reminded me about how I like to use them for a slide deck inside Revit.

I thought I'd echo that post here again in the spirit of the 2016 RTC season opening. To those attending RTCAUS, have a great conference in Hunter Valley. I hope to see you (some/many) at RTC this July in Scottsdale, AZ. Here's the post:

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Years ago I wrote about using Revit to help me coach my son's soccer team. Since I seem to have an unhealthy focus on using Revit for things that might not make any sense it should be no surprise that I'd find a way to avoid using Power Point. When Revit 2013 came out it expanded on what we could do with the View Reference tool (wrote about that before too).

Well since then, at the last few conferences I've been a presenter for, I've been using the view reference as a way to move forward or back through a "slide deck", a Revity slide projector. I did use Power Point to create the slides since that's what the templates were using already. I used a screen capture of each slide as an image inserted into drafting views.

Here's what my intro slide looks like for my session later today (four years ago) at Autodesk University 2012, it's called "Sharing Work with Worksharing Using Autodesk Revit".

See the little arrows on either side of the image? Those are my back and forward buttons, they are just referencing the previous and next drafting views (slides). Instead of showing the sheet reference information that it would normally show I just added the back and forward facing arrow graphics.

It's just the sort of Power Point that this Revit guy likes!

View Reference Example

Related to a past POST or TWO...or THREE.

Here's a quick example of a poorly crafted Plan View reference that can be used to indicate what sheet a plan view is from a Section or Elevation view.

Want to reverse engineer it? Download the View Reference family.

View Reference and Camera Location

We still have no annotation for camera or 3D views like we have for sections, elevations and callouts. With the introduction of View References as associated with the Matchline tool and their subsequent expansion in later releases we don't have to wait. We can make our own. It won't be precisely associated with the camera or its orientation. It will be up to us to make them reasonably close. Here's a quick example.

If we can do this for a camera view I hope this makes you realize that you could use the same technical to create other view annotation that isn't tied inherently to the view like sections, elevations and callout graphics currently are. It would be a little redundant but for example structural engineers often like to point to column details like this. If I create an enlarged detail of a column I can use a View Reference to provide the graphic look they want.

Something to consider.

If you'd like to reverse engineer these examples: CAMERA Ref and COLUMN Ref.

View References

You may recall earlier post about this relatively new feature? I also mentioned how the 2014 Sample Project file uses them. Hopefully you've found them useful in your projects by now. This post is how I imagine they could expand on the concept.

It's a common situation to need to refer to common details within the context of a schedule, like this.

I think we'd need a new Type of Parameter called View Reference. We'd pick it from the list when we add a parameter to a schedule.

I imagine the schedule interface getting this addition when we click in a field that has the view reference type of parameter assigned.

My goal is to tie a detail view reference to an actual view so that such information is really connected together logically. It doesn't really matter to me if the end result looks like what I've mocked up as long as the end result is better integration of the information.

Workaround Alert!

In the meantime, one way to deal with this issue (without my wish being granted) is to use schedule keys. Start by creating a schedule key(s) for each detail type that needs a reference. It may require additional parameters. It sure would be nice if we could use Shared Parameters for them too, but that's another wish list item.

We fill out the key with all of the detail reference combinations we will have. In a door schedule we can choose each detail for each condition from those listed in the key. Not hard and a bit more reliable than typing them manually for each door. At least this way we are picking from a prepared list.

Technically if we've entered one value for each detail reference we can just pick from the previous entries without the schedule key. That's not really the problem, just one aspect of it. It's the need to update all of the detail references if something changes to the sheet numbering or detail numbering on the sheet, for every instance it's been applied to a door.

Well, may wishes come true?!!?

Revit 2014 Sample File WikiHelp Links

After enduring the painful download, unpack and install process that literally took from Friday morning to Sunday night I got to run the shipping version of Revit 2014. It took over 30 minutes to open the first time, but AutoCAD took over an hour. I think there is something seriously wrong with my computer but all the usual things check out fine. I digress...

[Edit: I apologize if you read this before. I had View References on the mind, but these are just Generic Annotations. Thanks to Jeff Hanson for the reminder.]

The new sample file includes new help references.

These are Generic Annotation families that take advantage of the URL parameter to let you navigate to the WikiHelp page related to the features or elements that the documentation team placed a reference next to. Wherever you see a help "?" select one and then in the Properties Palette click on the sneaky "Browse" button (little button that appears with the ellipsis "..." at the right of the URL parameter field)

I wrote about using the view references before, to simulate a "next slide" arrow for presentations instead of using Power Point. View References do not have the URL parameter but Generic Annotation families do. Using the URL means we can do the same thing except browse to specific items on our network or elsewhere via the internet without storing the data inside the Revit model itself. These are not entirely new concepts since the URL parameter has been in Revit all along and View References are not new, but not very old...but it is a nice twist on how they are applied.

Imagine the office training project files pointing users to office standards or other code practices etc. Something to think about.

Revit Does Power Point

Years ago I wrote about using Revit to help me coach my son's soccer team. Since I seem to have an unhealthy focus on using Revit for things that might not make any sense it should be no surprise that I'd find a way to avoid using Power Point. When Revit 2013 came out it expanded on what we could do with the View Reference tool (wrote about that before too).

Well since then, at the last few conferences I've been a presenter for, I've been using the view reference as a way to move forward or back through a "slide deck", a Revity slide projector. I did use Power Point to create the slides since that's what the templates were using already. I used a screen capture of each slide as an image inserted into drafting views.

Here's what my intro slide looks like for my session later today at Autodesk University 2012, it's called "Sharing Work with Worksharing Using Autodesk Revit".

See the little arrows on either side of the image? Those are my back and forward buttons, they are just referencing the previous and next drafting views (slides). Instead of showing the sheet reference information that it would normally show I just added the back and forward facing arrow graphics.

It's just the sort of Power Point that this Revit guy likes!

View Reference Origin Location

I observed this the other day which remind me that it bothered me in the past but failed to bring it up before. The View Reference family that we can use in conjunction with Matchlines and now with Revit 2013 to create more general reference to views on sheets has an unpleasant effect on views that they are in.

They are assigned to the View Reference category but fundamentally began as a generic annotation family. When you create one from scratch or just edit the one the comes with Revit templates you'll find something like this.

The Move icon ends up very far away from the symbol itself when it is in view that are using finer scales. In a view that is assigned to something like 1/8"=1'-0" it is closer to the symbol. The downer about this offset is that it increases the "size" of the viewport when the view is added to a sheet. It just creates some unnecessary busy work to adjust views when this happens. If you find a viewport becoming "larger" than it should it might be related to this kind of situation.

Revit 2013 - Double Click a View Reference

I wrote about the enhancements to the existing View Reference feature in March when the software first was released.

I didn't mention this other little goody, for people working inside Revit. If you double click on the view reference family Revit will open the view! If you export to DWF and export all the sheets to the same file you'll find they behave just like other annotation for views, CTRL + Click will open the other sheet/view.

Revit 2013 - View References

If this was a snake I'd be writhing on the ground with a snake bite. If you are familiar with Matchlines and their related View Reference concept then you already have a sense of what this can do. You start the View Reference tool with this little sneaky button.

Then you get this on the Ribbon

Choose a view type and then a target view from the list of available views and you get something like this that you can place at the end of your note or possibly inline with some careful spaces inserted.

How about spending Two Minutes with View References?

View Reference - Customization

If you want to create your own view reference family you can start by editing the one that is provided with Revit. You can also start with a Generic Annotation family template and then assign it to the View Reference Category via Settings menu > Family Category and Parameters.


The View Reference family is a system family that can have different annotation families assigned as a type parameter. To use your own view reference annotation you can alter the existing one to use your family or duplicate the existing type and then assign your new family to the new type you just created.

To actually make the change you need to start the View Reference tool > click Properties > click Edit/New then either change the View Reference assigned or click Duplicate to create a second type to use.


Now you can use either the original or your new view reference.

Personally I think that a View Reference tag should show up in the Settings menu > > Annotations > Loaded Tags dialog just for the sake of consistency.

Workset Terminology - Quick Reference

Concept - Workset(s) - A feature that allows Revit to manage simultaneous multi-user access to a project's elements.

Workset Types:
User-Created Workset: A grouping of model elements that we create and manage.
Family Workset: Revit created and managed workset for each family definition in the project. Not for each individual door but for each kind of door loaded in the project.
Project Standard Workset: Revit created and managed workset for each project standard feature such as dimensions, linestyles, fill patterns etc.
View Workset: Revit created and managed workset for each view that is part of a project.

Workset Interaction is primarily limited to User Created Worksets. Family, Project Standard and View worksets are managed entirely by Revit. Users need only decide which User Created Workset to establish in the project and assign model elements to. Family, Project Standard and View worksets are only engaged when the user alters a property of an element that belongs to one of them. In this case Revit lends that Workset definition to the user and the User returns it when they use Synchronize with Central combined with relinquishing the relevant workset(s).

File Features/Actions:
Central File: A Revit file that has had worksets enabled.
Local File: A copy of a Central File that a user works in.
Synchronize with Central (SWC): The action of saving work (pushing) completed in a local file to the central file and loading (pulling) work completed by others via SWC. Your changes are now available for others to see.
Save Local: Saving work within your local file. Changes are not visible to others until you Save to Central.
Reload Latest: A command that will load (pull) and display any changes that others have submitted using Synchronize with Central.

Ownership/Borrowing:
Owner: To possess an entire Workset(s) that elements are assigned to and thereby preventing anyone else from making changes to it or any elements assigned to that workset.
Borrower: To possess individual element(s) that is/are part of a Workset, not the Workset itself.
Editing Request: User can request to borrow elements from others. User can Grant/Deny request. Granting a request can only be done if no changes have been made to the element. SWC is required if changes are to be kept.
Make Elements Editable: Borrow just the selected element(s), like "borrowing a book".
Make Workset Editable: Borrow the entire Workset that an element belongs to as well as the element(s), like borrowing a book shelf.
Relinquish: To return the element(s) you have borrowed so that others may borrow them.
Editable: The element or workset belongs to you. You are free to make changes to them.
Non Editable: The element or workset does not belong to you. You can’t change it/them unless you borrow it/them.

Viewing/Interaction:
Active Workset: The workset that is displayed in the workset toolbar. New objects will become part of this workset automatically. Note this toolbar does not display the workset name of a selected object nor does it change the workset of a selected object if you choose another while objects are selected.
Open: The workset is loaded into memory and Revit will display it in all views according to visibility/graphic settings of each view.
Closed: The workset is not loaded and Revit will not display it or process it in memory and any views regardless of visibility/graphic settings of each view.
Gray Inactive Worksets: View setting that will make inactive worksets gray, lighter color, than the Active workset elements.

Maintenance/Special Features:
Compact Central File: This will condense the Revit database and result in a smaller file size. Similar to the concept of defragmenting your computer’s hard drive.
Detach From Central: This allows you to open a central file as a separate and file while severing its relationship to the original. It can never be syncronized with the original central file. Examples where this is useful are: Project Manager review or exploration, Plotting, Exporting, Troubleshooting and archiving. In each case this allows unfettered access to the project and does no harm to the active project. It also allows the project team to continue working while “snapshot” tasks like plotting, exporting or archiving are done.

[Amended April 1, 2010:] Replace prior to Revit 2010 language: Save to Central is now Synchronize with Central