My User Name in Revit?

How does Revit know I am different from anyone else? Your User Name in Revit defines who Revit "thinks" you are. This is found via the Application Menu > Options button > General Tab.

[Edit: For versions before the 2010 release - This is found under Settings menu > Options.]

Why does it matter? In a stand-alone project it doesn't. In Workset projects it matters a lot! Two users with the same user name are not regarded as two people with the same user name. They are regarded as the same person working in two files. We don't want Revit to think this because the first of two "Mike's" to Save to Central wins!!!

A good strategy is to just use the same user name you log into your computer with. IT needs your user name to be unique and so does Revit, "That was Easy". This is the default behavior when Revit is installed. The first person to run Revit after it is installed will have their user name stored. For this reason you need to check it if another person uses your computer from time to time or if an IT person installs your software by working directly on your computer and then tests to see if Revit is working properly by running it while logged on as themselves.

The user name is stored in the Revit.ini file (located in Revit's installation folder) and looks like this Username=MyName. If you delete the name Revit will use the logon user name of the next person to run Revit. If you use Settings menu > Options > Username to set the user name it gets stored in Revit.ini and the cycle begins again.

Just to say it again if it wasn't obvious enough the first time, if you do NOT use the Settings menu > Options > Username to change the user name, and the Revit.ini file setting for username is blank, Revit will always apply the current logon user name to the session of Revit. The Revit.ini file value for username will stay empty/blank. It is only when you enter a value into the dialog within Revit that a value is stored in the .ini file. Unfortunately it is hard to prevent anyone from doing it and it is persistent thereafter. You have to remove the .ini file's value again to get it to work again.

It is important to check your user name routinely. If you use the Local File practices I preach you'll get a confirmation of your user name when Revit displays a warning message alerting you to the fact that the central file has been copied/moved.

Local Files - How, How Often and Where?

This post (a bit longer than usual) makes a rash assumption that you've been using Worksets for a bit already and may have experienced occasional errors or crashes. You may just be curious about comments others have made about making new local files every now and then.

Read THIS if you wonder why there is a Local File at all? Here is a quick reference guide to Workset terms. If you are using Revit 2010 versions then you might want to read this newer post first.

I suggest you make a new Local File every day you work.

There are many operations in Revit that require sending a lot of data to your Local File. In fact every SWC (Synchronize with Central) usually pulls more data into your Local File than you are sending to the central file. You can avoid some of this data transfer by making a new Local File since a copy has the latest saved data in the Central File. When team members are participating in the project sporadically it is easy to have many hours of work occur between when you made your last Local File and starting work now. Making a new Local File ensures that you are working with the latest saved data.

Teams seldom work identical hours. Somebody leaves early, comes in early, works late etc. You may leave an hour or two before others. Let's say three people worked for two hours after you left. If my math skills don't fail me that's 3 x 2 = 6 hours of work you missed. If you come in the next morning before anyone else, open your Local File from yesterday it is at least 6 hours out of synch, possibly more if others SWC after you left but had not done so for some time before you left. If you don't immediately use Reload Latest (it is too easy to forget isn't it?) you will begin work without seeing at least six hours of work. For some six hours is a lot of work while others, not so much. If you made a new Local File this morning instead you'd already have those six hours of work and no waiting for Reload Latest.

You might even consider making a new Local File midday. Let's imagine Joe made more, possibly major, changes to the project titleblock and there are a couple hundred sheets in the project. He does this a little before lunch and does his SWC just after the team heads out for lunch. When you each return from lunch and open your Local Files followed with Reload Latest, you each have to wait while Revit pulls the titleblock changes to your file and updates each reference to it. This may not be a major amount of time but it is certainly more than if you made a new Local File and just opened that instead.

That's how often according to me...what about making them...how?

Prior to the release of Revit 2010 I recommended that Local Files should be created using Windows Explorer by copying the Central File from the server folder to a folder on the local PC. Don’t use File > Open followed by File > Save As because it is TOO EASY to forget to actually do the Save As part. Even though this is the recommended procedure from Autodesk this establishes a normal or habitual opening, by EVERYONE, of the central file, which should really be avoided. Don't establish bad habits! With the release of Revit 2010 they've provided a bit easier process for most firms to use.

Don't routinely open a Central File!

Not that you will necessarily harm the project file by opening it but teams should form a good strict habit of not opening the central file. There are acceptable reasons to counter this rule but they are not routine things that all team members will need to do. Their normal interaction with the Central File should always be limited to working through a Local File.

Copying a Central File is also FASTER! Though this copy/paste process is a bit obtuse it is actually faster than File > Open and then using File > Save As since you are technically opening the file twice with that approach. It takes much less time to copy/paste a file than one File > Open operation does, by far! See the second to last paragraph in this post to consider how to make it REALLY FASTER.

Where do Local Files go?

Assuming you follow the strategy of naming a central file like this: (note with Revit 2010 the following is also a less stringent recommendation)

Central File - On Server: ProjectName-Central.rvt

Note: Adding the -central makes the file different than a regular stand-alone project file. It is just a little more obvious that it is special.

I recommend using C:\Revit\Projects or similar, not the project folder on the server or any server for that matter. They should be located on the root of the C:\ drive (or secondary drive "D:\" on a PC if desired) because any team member can log into another team members PC, as themselves, to find that user's Local File should they fail to return all elements when they finish for the day. You want to avoid relying on IT to get what you need, or rather avoid bothering them, right?

Therefore "My Documents (now User Documents in Vista or W7)" or "Desktop" folders are not a suitable home for a Local File because only users with sufficient network permission can access them. It is also a good strategy to have a common location so keyboard shortcut files and any other customization a firm does can be stored there, in a consistent reliable location.

What about Naming?

I prefer to alter the Central File once it is copied to remove the "-central" from the name and substituting the user name and month and day (mm/dd) for the date created. This makes the file different from the Central File and special so others can distinguish between a stand-alone project and Workset project more easily. It also makes it different from the actual Central File. Revit doesn't care about that honestly but as a support person it does make it much easier, at a glance, to see if a team member is working in the Central File or not, that and the lack of a Save "Local" icon on the tool bar.

For example:
Central File - On Server: ProjectName-Central.rvt
Local File - On Local PC: ProjectName-Username####.rvt

Note: Do not use an extra period in your Local File name because Revit may interpret this to be a Backup File. Revit uses a period to designate backup files. Specifically do not name files with the combination of .####.rvt because this is the format Revit uses for backup files. A space is a good separator but a dash (-) or underscore (_) will work.

Local Files can go on the user's PC because they do not need to factor into the data recovery strategies of your IT staff. They can be regarded as temporary or working files that need no data redundancy or backup even though Revit does create a backup folder for Local Files. So don't worry about discarding Local Files. You can get rid of previous Local Files as often as you see fit. Keep them from the previous day or days if it makes you feel more comfortable. But discard them eventually.

As I wrote earlier I said there are acceptable reasons to open the central file. This is usually for maintenance of the project like using the Compact Central File feature to clean up the database and reduce file size. Opening the Central File directly should be reserved for the most knowledgeable team member or your office BIM/Revit/Data manager.

There are several activities that justify the use of Detach from Central as opposed to working in either a Local or the project Central file directly. This is a useful option that is available when opening a Workset project file, either a Local or a Central File.

As for the copy/paste process itself I always encourage firms that have someone who can write scripts or have programming skills to automate the process for users. Ideally the result is as simple for your users as a double click on an icon on the desktop to get started each morning. There is a useful thread at AUGI where members have discussed as well as posted some of the methods they've used. As I repeat endlessly here, you need to join AUGI to download attached files there. Again this isn't as big a priority now the Revit 2010 provides a pretty simple process that will suffice for many firms.

I've written quite a few posts about Workset features over the last few years, enough that I had forgotten about some and was surprised when I searched my own blog to provide some related links! If you search for Workset related words you'll find quite a number of things to read.

Happy SWC's!

Network Deployment Fails

There are instances where attempts to create a network deployment will fail. It has been reported at AUGI and via support requests. Apparently the likely solution is related to needed features missing in the operating system of the computer used to perform the network deployment.

THIS PAGE at Microsoft offers the solution or least the likely solution to the problem in most cases.

Memory Management - Minimize Revit

There appears to be growing evidence that a simple task can contribute to improving memory issues with Revit. This POST by Scott Brisk at his blog Revit MEP outlines the evidence that he and Tony Isenhoff with (Eppstein Uhen Architects) have been studying.

Rodney Fiallo, a fellow Revit consultant observed this a month or so ago and mentioned it to me and we've been watching to see if it actually helps resolve a few memory related issues we seen when saving.

The simple task is just minimizing Revit and then restoring it.

Amended: Upon further examination I can't claim that it will resolve "out of memory" errors when attempting to STC (Save to Central). In an instance today I received an "out of memory" error when trying to save locally. It did permit me to do that. That is good, but when I tried to STC I received the error again. Hopeful that minimizing Revit would resolve that too...no joy! It did not! I was forced to close without relinquishing and re-open Revit to then STC. That did work.

I conclude that while the reported memory in task manager does fluctuate significantly when Revit is maximized and minimized it may not, in fact is likely not, to work in all cases. If you watch task manager you'll also notice that other applications behave similarly as well as subtle changes when a program is not maximized, just reduced in size on screen. I observed Internet Explorer 7 increasing in memory consumption as I've opened more tabs. In fact my poor old laptop has "hung" when I've worked in IE7 and used many tabs for a couple hours more often that I'd like.

Dept. of Subtle: Show Sheets/Views Printing/Exporting

I contributed another article to the HOK Cad Blog, here's a link:

Exporting/Plotting Multiple Views

Here's the text:

We resolved an issue in Houston today that was causing some confusion. You are probably familiar with these dialog boxes.

The Show options that appear for Sheets and Views are filters to control the display of views in the list above. They do not affect whether a view is selected or not. If you have Views selected and turn off Views display, they remain selected and they will print/export regardless.

It is important to either scroll down the list to make sure just the views you really want are selected or click the Check None button to start over, otherwise you may end up with a bit more than you expected.

Google Labs - Trends

There is just so much information, good and bad, available on the Internet. Google is working feverishly to be THE source and means to deal with it. I've succumbed to the "Google sphere" ages ago with this blog and more recently Gmail, calendar and so on. I just hope that they don't turn into the maniacal corporate software giant bent on "evil" doing as portrayed in numerous movies! I guess they'd have to bump "Macrofirm" off first? Gosh, I've strayed off Revit a bit too much, back on task, Steve.

More and more I've been seeing references to one of their projects found in Google Labs. The lab project that I'm referring to is Google Trends, a tool to see what the world is searching for.

I recently read a thread at the Archicad community forums. I ended up there after reading something else about Revit and followed a few links and before I knew it I was there not sure exactly how I got there. Well suffice it to say that I don't remember now but I saw a graph of how searches for Revit and Archicad compared. The graph showed Archicad with many more searches, like this one that is limited to the last 12 months.Now that image is for "all regions" which is essentially all the markets/countries that are represented by searches for these topics according to Google. Notice the graph above for searches compared with the littler graph beneath representing news articles found per criteria, more for Revit.

Just for grins I got myopic and changed the search to just the USA. Here's the image of the result.A complete flip, like the mirror tool.

What wild conclusions can I draw from these two reports? Well clearly Revit is King in the USA! While Archicad enjoys the nicer throne in the overall world. Well, all I can actually conclude is precisely what the graphs show, more searches for Archicad occurred in all regions...etc.etc....

I'm not starting "Archicad is better than Revit" banter. Archicad users are nearly as rabid as Revit users and you will not convince them that they are using the wrong software unless there is an intervention by family and friends. Besides I think the subject of my blog(s) make it obvious which side of the fence I'm on.

What I am interested in is starting the debate that Revit is better than Archicad AND Chief Architect!!! See my proof below!Now for those of you whose family tells you that you lack a sense of humor...this is "tongue in cheek", humor, me being "funny", okay? I'm glad you like Archicad and Chief Architect. The more the merrier.

Happy searching for the proof that you are "right" about "something", "anything"...hmmm what if I compare Revit to Godiva chocolate? What about Revit to BMW or Revit to Trabant's? What about Ice Hockey and Field Hockey?

API Tools - Part Three - Steve Faust

Steve is a fellow member at AUGI and he's decided to brush up his programming skills and tackle some ideas he and his co-workers had. He recently shared the result of one such effort. This routine helps you assess the elements that are associated to a level. Here is a portion of his explanation at AUGI.

The reason I created this is to help out with times when you want to delete a level. Revit does not warn you about what is associated with a certain level, and therefore will be deleted when the level is deleted. We have had cases where minor levels were deleted and we found out later that some elements were deleted with the level that we didn't realize were associated with that level.

So, simply run this tool, which will give a list of levels in the project, let you choose one, and then show you all the elements on that level or tell you if there are none. It will also then let you select or select and show the elements.

If you are interested in using this you can DOWNLOAD HERE, must be member to download.

P.S. Steve credits Guy Robinson and Elizabeth Shulok with Structural Integrators with providing important support for his effort.

Thanks for sharing it Steve!!

API Tools - Part Two - Guy Robinson

A fellow member at AUGI and from New Zealand, Guy is a programming consultant for Revit. He has unselfishly shared is knowledge and insight at AUGI ever since an API appeared in Revit. Some time ago I posted a thread at AUGI's Revit API forum asking if anyone had created a routine to count selected elements. It might startle users of AutoCAD to learn that there isn't a "list" command that will tell you how many things you've got selected. There is a presumption that you will use schedules to report data like this in Revit but sometimes it is useful to select some stuff and "count" them quickly.

As it happens there is an example software project that nearly does exactly that in the SDK (Software Development Kit) that is part of the content that comes with Revit. Guy was good enough to tweak it a bit and post it at the AUGI forum for me and anyone else who goes to the trouble to go there and get it (have to be a member to download it). The thread title is: "API Project: Count Selected Elements".

Using it is quite simple, select some stuff and launch the tool, you get a dialog box that lists the elements you selected plus a little bonus information.

I haven't add a chance to confirm with Guy that I can share his contact info here yet. Will do if it is okay, though I doubt getting inquiries is objectionable. In the meantime send me an email and I can put you in touch with him or simply send him a private message via the message system at AUGI.

Thanks Guy, I use it quite a bit!

API Tools - Part One - Avatech

I'm slow to write about this, been meaning too for over a month. Avatech has made several worthy tools available to Revit users for FREE. Naturally it is a obvious ploy to get people interested in talking with them about other possible applications but I don't blame them! The API is the developing frontier for Revit (pun intended).

The lack of an API (Application Programming Interface) was described as a significant weakness by detractors during Revit's early development. Not providing it was a strategic decision by RTC (Revit Technology Corporation). They wanted to delay API development because it would be a distraction from creating core functionality. With RTC it was also a core value to provide tools to users rather than requiring users to also be programmers to create their own tools. With the acquisition by Autodesk the harder line held by RTC has softened.

Some complain that Revit's development pace has slowed down considerably, and it is a fair statement. Some of this is due to the overall scope of Revit now but the ongoing development of the API to match each new feature and to support existing features also contributes. Development can move much faster when you don't also have to provide a way for external applications to "speak" to your code.

Alright, enough reminiscing. What tools has Avatech provided? If you haven't been living under a rock you probably have already read about them on another blog or in an Avatech email or ... somewhere...

Download them from HERE You must provide some basic contact information first but will be able to download them after submitting the form.

I have clipped the text from their site to describe the routines in their own words.

Room Renumber
This utility allows a Revit Architecture user to easily renumber existing rooms into an order defined by selection. In addition, rooms can be inserted into an existing series of rooms with the subsequent room numbers “shifted” to make space for the inserted room number.

Change Case
Does your company (or your client) have standards or preferences on whether rooms or views are named with UPPER CASE, Title Case or lower case? If so, this tool will save you lots of time! The tool can scan your model, and automatically fix “case issues” to whatever standard you would like.

Door Mark Update
Should your Door Marks refer to the room that the door swings into? This utility interrogates all doors and rooms to determine what the proper mark should be for each door, allows the Revit Architecture user to inspect and override the suggested marks, and updates the marks.

Revit City.com Content Browser
This utility gives you a web browser inside of Revit, which can connect to the popular RevitCity.com site. Once you find the content that you need, the utility makes it easy to download the content, store it in the proper library, rename it and load it into the current model – all in one step.

Earth Connector for Revit
The original Revit to Google Earth connection has been updated to work with the other Avatech Revit Utilities. Key features of this update include support for Windows Vista, as well as extensive support of Revit Phases working with Google Earth Timespans. Watch your building come together, phase by phase, inside of Google Earth!

I've used each of these, with the exception of the Revit City and Earth connector tools. I just haven't had time or the need to use them yet. They work well, are easy to get used to and install easily if you have the necessary rights to install software on your computer. When I installed them the first time I was working on a computer that wasn't mine and I had to hack my way through getting them installed. This forced me to read the "readme files"...shock horror! In doing so I found that some of the information was not consistent with the actual names of files and such. I imagine they've resolved that by now. I also made an observation that I shared with them but I'll share it here too so anyone can comment if they care to.

I like that the applications zoom to display the selected door or room but they zoom a bit too close and we can't use zoom functions to zoom out or pan while the Avatech dialog is present. I suggest considering making it non-modal (I always get this term backwards, is it correct?) to permit the use of zoom features or make the zoom to element an option instead of automatic? (similar to the Review Warnings dialog and behavior, but do it better!)

I include their plug here as well!

Do you need custom Revit software development? Avatech’s Software Development Solutions group specializes in the development of custom applications for Revit, including automation and system integration.

Contact Them for further information.

A big "Thank you" to Avatech for making them and making them freely available!!

January 2008 Leap Year Bug Update Available - New Build 20080101_2345

From a post by Scott Latch, Revit Architecture Product Manager, at AUGI's forums.

I am happy to announce that Autodesk has fixed the “Y2K8 bug”!

We just posted a new build (20080101_2345) of Revit Architecture, Revit Structure & Revit MEP that fixes the problem. It is still considered Web Update #3 because replacing the existing file was the fastest method of delivering it to the public. Therefore, the executable file names are the same as the previous build (20071102_2345).

We have updated the Web Update Enhancement Lists to add the following items:
Improves stability when editing groups, saving views/groups to the library or creating a new project with template set to “None”.
Improves stability when upgrading or linking a project from Autodesk Revit Building 8.1/Revit Structure 2 or older.

I would also like to inform everyone that we are only releasing this fix in the English version. Because of the time necessary to localize the update for the other languages, it would not be ready before February 1, 2008 when the problem will go away.

The Web Updates can be downloaded by going to:

RAC: Revit Architecture
RST: Revit Structure
RME: Revit MEP

Thanks to everyone for their patience while we work through this problem.

Builds or Service Packs?

This is a pure opinion piece and a little trip down semantics lane.

I prefer to think of the current version of Revit according to the build, not with service pack numbers. I realize that just knowing which you are using by either method works technically.

So what is a build, if you don't know already? Software is compiled from a version only software engineers can use. Compiled is another techy way to say it is has been prepared for use by your computer.

Until recently all releases of Revit referred to a build number formatted YYYYMMDD_TIME (24hr clock), for example the current Revit Architecture build is 20071109_2345 and also referred to as Service Pack 3. The software is compiled many times, weekly if not even daily or hourly at times for internal testing by various team members. They use this build value to differentiate between versions constantly. It seems only natural to use the same method to speak about the software when it is compiled and released to the public.

While this habit might be a little unfriendly to the lay person it has been the way and consistently so. Now we are also referring to service packs. The root of my complaint is the half-hearted, skin deep application of it. I say this because the only place the service pack reference occurs is on the web site and in documentation available there. After that the build number reappears, even in the release documentation detailing what the build addresses.

So I say (from my bully pulpit) bring back the builds and can the service pack. It is useless, redundant and even confusing to use both.

January 2008 bug

[Updated 20080107]

There is an unpleasant bug with all versions at this time that will cause odd errors with groups. This was reported at AUGI and Autodesk has responded there as well as to support requests that they are working on the problem. The issue is related to code that is supposed to deal with leap years.

Keep an eye on the download pages at Autodesk as this is a serious enough bug that I believe a new build will made available as soon as possible. The temporary workaround suggest by Autodesk is to briefly change your pc's date to either February or the previous month to permit the feature(s) that isn't working to work. This has its own problems and you should carefully consider this before doing it.

Known Conditions that generate error "Unspecified Error".
Saving Groups out of a project
Save Detail View out of Project
Edit Group from Project Browser via Right Click (Edit Group on Options bar works)
Create new project choosing Template: None then attempt to choose Unit of Measure

New Build - Revit Structure - 20071209_1300

Apparently a problem I reported was among issues that have prompted the Revit Structure team to post a new build just one month later. The issue I reported had to do with copy/paste tools applied to concrete beam families. I'm glad they figured it out!

You can download the BUILD HERE!

This is the list of comments in the pdf file found at Autodesk:

Improves API for beams creation with NewFamilyInstance (ref XYZ location,..)
Improves API for element coping.
Improves API for instance creation of cellular beam.
Improves API for rebar group distribution.
Improves File > Open performance time when opening some project files in Revit Structure software.

Allows the ability to array face-based families placed on a vertical face.
Allows the ability to maintain face-based instances on curved surfaces of a Revit file linked into Revit Structure when the link is unloaded.

Improves stability when selecting sections.
Improves stability when accessing the Help menu in Revit Structure on a computer with the Microsoft Windows Vista™ operating system.

Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet.
Improves performance when views contain many objects with overridden graphics by element.

USG Design Studio - Revit Content

There is new content available for Revit now from USG Design Studio. This text is found on their site:

USG Design Studio is a free service that does not require registration to use. By registering, you will receive updates on this page for latest content additions, enhancements, and upgrades.

They are currently featuring wall and ceiling assemblies that correspond with their products. Look closely at each page for a link to Revit content and/or template files. Since these are system families you'll need to copy/paste them into your projects or use File menu > Transfer Project Standards to get them loaded.

Revit MEP Content Extension Available

Interested in more MEP content? Probably! You can check out the extension HERE!

This is the text from the Autodesk page:

The Revit MEP® Content Extension provides new content for Revit MEP users. Both Imperial and Metric versions of the content are available for download below, in ZIP format. After download, users can then uncompress the file to the desired content location.

Before You Download
The content files are compressed with their path information included back to the root directory of the folder structure installed with Revit® MEP 2008 Web Update #2. For example, in a default installation of Imperial content, the ZIP file would be uncompressed at:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RME 2008\Imperial Library
In this situation, all files will be uncompressed to the correct folders.

New Builds - Revit Architecture, Structure & MEP - (20071109_2345)

A new build has been posted for each:

Revit Architecture, DOWNLOAD HERE!
Revit Structure DOWNLOAD HERE!
Revit MEP DOWNLOAD HERE!

This is the text from the pdf file listing the issues addressed by the new build.

Allows the ability to array face-based families placed on a vertical face.
Allows the ability to maintain face-based instances on curved surfaces of a Revit file linked into Revit Architecture software when the link is unloaded.

Improves stability when selecting sections.
Allows the ability to insert an electrical receptacle into a legend view.
Improves stability when accessing the Help menu in Revit Architecture on a computer with the Microsoft Windows Vista™ operating system.

Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet.
Improves performance when views contain many objects with overridden graphics by element.

Visa Lighting & Revit Content

Visa Lighting has created Revit lighting families. They feature a screen shot of Revit on their website and there are Revit families for each of their products. Be sure to check them out and let them know if you like them.

Brand New Modelling Tool

My ace reporter Freddy Latherdon has been on hiatus in parts unknown for quite some time but he just sent me this story. He's managed to discover the next great thing for architectural design. Here is his story.

"Three Letter Architects to Use New Design Software"

During a recent interview, Architect Bucky Fullminster, divulged that his firm "TLA" has decided to pull back from all the clever software they've been using. When prodded for the reason he said that they needed something that fit the sort of design work they do better. That software is called "Balloon Architecture" made by Larry Moss, Inc.
No computer requirements because no computer is needed. You just need balloons. The software comes with blue and white balloons but hey, you could technically use any color you want. "Hey! THIS is going back to real design", said Bucky. "We just gave away our pc's to good-will, and they were glad to get em too!" Bucky said, "The staff is reinvigorated, no training sessions on hard to learn regular software, back to using their hands and touching the physical model. Conflict with ducts and steel, no kidding it's right there knucklhead, see??"

I was unable to get a comment from the leading software companies and for this reason I suspect that they aren't taking this come from nowhere competition seriously. Time will tell what inroads this new kid on the block will make in this tough and opinionated market!

Well...I must say I'm stunned! After all this time working with Revit to have this come out of nowhere. Guess I better get myself a helium bottle and balloon nipple? What are you going to do?

If you want to get your own copy of Balloon Architecture, check out Barnes and Noble and search for the title or Author Larry Moss...

Family Editor - Parameter Order

In the past Scott Hopkins shared a method (at AUGI) to reorder parameters.

If you block out some generic parameters names up front you can assure a certain order at will and avoid the re-order hassle. It can be a bit difficult perhaps to anticipate what parameter you might need but a little planning can make a big difference.

Here's an example: Creating a new table family I expect to need four new dimension parameters but haven't settled on the names or maybe I have but I want them in a precise order. Create the parameters first like this.

Once they are created they'll stay in this order no matter what you change their names to later. After I work through things I can change their names to these.

If I had tried to create these names up front they would have looked like this.

If you can't plan ahead enough, then Scott's method to the rescue!

(This approach doesn't work for Shared Parameters, though. Neither will the Re-order technique since Shared Parameters are already created technically.)

Revit MEP Blogs

Just a quick note to point out that there are two new blogs focused on MEP! I've added a new category to the sidebar for Revit MEP blogs and you'll find these there.

Inside the System - Kyle Barnhardt (Autodesk Revit MEP Product mgr)
Revit MEP Blog - Scott Brisk (MasterGraphics, Reseller)

Both have lots of great info and worth keeping an eye on.