The Building Coder

Change Element Workset

We discussed reading the workset of an element, either using the built-in parameter ELEM_PARTITION_PARAM or, more easily, the dedicated document GetWorksetId method. This is actually another example of the possibility to choose your data access method by using either a dedicated property or a parameter, as we recently explored to achieve changing the viewport type. Although the Revit API provides a dedicated property to read an element workset, it does not do so for changing it, which begs the question:... Read more →

Read Material Asset Parameter

Even though it is still January, the days are already getting a little bit lighter, the sun has broken through now and then, sets half an hour later, some birds are starting to tweet around, and one can imagine spring coming... Meanwhile, in the Revit API, accessing materials tends to be tricky, so here is one little sample that hopefully helps clarify by demonstrating how to read a parameter value from a PropertySetElement attached to a physical material asset. Question:... Read more →

Duplicate Built-in Parameter Values and BipChecker Update

BipChecker is a tool that I would recommend every Revit developer to install, just like RevitLookup. It simply lists the values of all parameter data stored on a selected element. Similar access is also offered within RevitLookup by the option Parameters > Built-in Enums Snoop... BipChecker offers much more functionality, though, and is a really powerful Revit database exploration and debugging tool. The built-in parameter checker has been part of the ADN sample labs for ages now, and the original... Read more →

Basic File Info and RVT File Version

I presented an initial solution in Python for determining the version of an RVT file on disk from outside Revit making use of its OLE document Structured Storage format back in 2008. David Echols later shared a more full-fledged C# Revit OLE Storage viewer listing more information and displaying the preview image. Since then, the Revit API added support for reading basic RVT file info through the BasicFileInfo class. Victor Chekalin now presents another C# console application showing how some... Read more →

Delux Database Enabled Loading and Updating

This paper by Steven Rowland, Interior BIM Manager in a hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, describes a novel method to extend database functionality for a "smart" loading and updating process in very large Revit projects. The method is designed solve a somewhat unique problem, but the resulting solution has interesting possibilities for other projects of all sizes. Here it is: Database Enabled Loading & Updating eXperiment – DELUX Copy/Paste By Steven Rowland and Fredrik Sjödén. This short paper describes a novel... Read more →

Changing Viewport Type

Here is a question on setting the type of an element by using the built-in ELEM_FAMILY_AND_TYPE_PARAM parameter value, explored by Bettina Zimmermann of NTI Cadcenter A/S: Question: I'm inserting viewports on sheets and I'd like to change the viewport type to my own defined type. How can I this programmatically? By default, the API call creates a new viewport with type "Title w Line". I'd like to change that to e.g. my own type "Test". Here is my own self-defined... Read more →

Implement a Progress Bar and Abort a Lengthy Process

The time has come to talk of many things: of shoes and ships, and sealing-wax, of cabbages and kings [^]... or no, let's continue sticking to the Revit API for now, more or less; today's topics are: A walk in the snow and a crystal covered baby tree Implementation of a Revit add-in progress bar Aborting a lengthy process from the progress bar Harry's image generation video competition A Walk in the Snow I went for a walk in snow... Read more →

Determine Revit Demo Mode and Serial Number

Last week's updated Revit demo mode determination prompted a lively discussion between two strong Revit API experts and blog contributors, Victor Chekalin and Rudolf Honke the Revitalizer, partly on how to further improve the demo mode detection, and mainly on the value and risks of using unsupported features in your products. The thread is well worth a read, and I like Victor's final suggestion of reading the Revit serial number instead of using the language dependent title bar caption enough... Read more →

Revit 2013 Unit Conversion Utility

Here is a Revit 2013 update of the Revit 2011 unit conversion utility, originally posted and described for Revit 2010, by Harry Mattison. In his own words: I was looking at the great unit conversion utility and created a new version upgraded to Revit 2013 that I thought you readers might enjoy. I ran into one issue that required a code enhancement to catch an exception thrown by many parameters, such as HVAC_Temperature, HVAC_Slope, etc. The rest of the code... Read more →

Determine Revit Demo Mode Revisited

Almost a year back, we talked about how to determine whether the current running Revit application is a demo version or not. The initial suggestion was to test this by trying to execute real functionality modifying the model and then save it. That obviously incurs significant overhead and may cause other problems as well. Rudolf Honke suggested simply reading and evaluating the Revit main window title text instead. Now Madmed created and posted an implementation of Rudolf's idea. I took... Read more →

What I Do, Wall Layers and Open Transactions

One of my tasks today and tonight will be a minimal little contribution to an in... Read more →

Set Detail Curve Visibility

Mostly, the Revit API limits an add-in to pretty high-level operations, encapsulating and protecting the parametric BIM from reckless modifications. For the nonce, here is a little bit of nitty-gritty bit manipulation anyway, in a utility method provided by Scott Conover: Question: Why is there no DetailCurve.SetVisibility method exposed, similar to ModelCurves.SetVisibility? The UI has this functionality, and I would find very good use for it in reinforcement detailing. I want to programmatically create a detail family representing a certain... Read more →

URL and Other Buttons, XYZ Points and Vectors

Let me summarise a very few of the topics I have been chatting with people about in the past few days: Ribbon button identification Opening a URL from a ribbon button XYZ comparison and point and vector behaviour Autodesk API overview The Green Building Studio GBS REST API Actually, to tell the truth, it is just one day, so far, this week. Wow, my days are too full. I am getting nothing else done! Ribbon Button Identification Here is a... Read more →

Family Symbols versus Types and SelectionFilterElement

Here is a question that has been asked a couple of times recently and thus seems worthwhile clarifying: Question: If I access the OwnerFamily.Symbols in a family document, i.e. an RFA file, it returns an empty collection. If I load that same family into a project and access the Family.Symbols property, it returns the correct expected family types. Why does this property not work in the family editor? Put differently, the following code snippet will show zero in the message... Read more →

Create FaceWall on Slanted Mass Face

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful break and a good start into the New Year. I spent New Year's Eve with my sons and some friends in a Swiss mountain village. We had a nice hike up and snowboard ride down the neighbouring hill with the Wildhorn in the background: Now back to work and the Revit API. Here is a question that came up just before Christmas: Question: I'm trying to create a wall by face... Read more →