The Building Coder

Geometry Creation and Line Intersection Exceptions

Today, let's look at some geometry related questions, a small enhancement of the line intersection we discussed two days ago, NURB spline and solid creation: Creating a NURB spline GeometryCreationUtilities, moving and copying solids Line intersection enhancements Built-in parameter checker for Revit 2016 1001 discussion forum posts Creating a NURB Spline This question was raised by anarchyfree in the Revit API discussion thread on a NurbSpline creation error: Question: I'm working on a Revit plugin that in part accepts curves... Read more →

RevitLookup in Python Shell and Multi-Release Solution

Here is some exciting news from Daren Thomas on RevitLookup and the Revit Python Shell. The Python and Ruby shells came up a couple of times recently, and I also mentioned Daren's initial thoughts on making the RevitLookup snoop functionality easily accessible from within the interactive Python IDE: Curved wall elevation profile implementation in Python Live development Revit 2016 Python shell and RevitLookup incorporation Revit 2016 Ruby shell This idea has now come to fruition, and more easily than one... Read more →

Connecting Desktop, Cloud, Lines and Grid Segments

The call for Autodesk University proposals closes today, May 26th, and I quickly submitted my second one before the deadline falls. I also have another contribution from Magson Leone to share with you, a little helper function for calculating (unbounded) grid line intersections: Autodesk University proposal – connect desktop and cloud Intersection of Unbounded Lines Autodesk University Proposal – Connect Desktop and Cloud As said, the AU 2015 call for proposals ends today, so now is your last chance to... Read more →

A360 Viewer Widget and Selecting a DWG Export Setup

Today, let's look at the new A360 embeddable viewer widget and selecting a DWG export setup. A360 Embeddable Viewer Widget The Autodesk View and Data API makes easy it to interactively view and explore a 3D model in the browser without any further software whatsoever. As I just mentioned in the discussion on 50 ways to view your model, the new A360 Viewer Widget simplifies it further still, using a widget that can be embedded in web pages to view... Read more →

Migrating The Building Coder Samples to Revit 2016

I finally tackled the task of migrating The Building Coder Samples to Revit 2016. I also have another update on RevitLookup to report: Preparation Fixing the compilation errors Installing RvtSamples RevitLookup update displays all built-in parameter names Preparation Before doing anything else, I ensured that the entire project compiles for Revit 2015 with zero warnings. This guarantees that I am not using any API functionality that was already deprecated in Revit 2015 and therefore removed in 2016. I then replaced... Read more →

Autodesk University, Q1, ADN Labs and Wizard Update

I submitted my yearly Autodesk University proposal for the Revit API expert panel. Time for you to submit yours as well. The call for proposals closes in one week – the deadline is May 26th. Besides that, here are some other things I want to point out: Titbits from the Q1 report Autodesk University proposals ADN Revit API labs training material for Revit 2016 Updated Visual Studio add-in wizards for Revit 2016 Titbits from the Q1 Report Autodesk posted a... Read more →

Compatibilizar entre versões – API Compatibility Helper

Once again, the time has come to migrate add-ins to the new version of the Revit API. Magson Leone in Brazil has been through this process every year now since Revit 2012 and got tired of maintaining separate versions of his code for each release of Revit. He solved the problem by using Reflection to implement a whole host of Revit API compatibility helper methods that reroute the call to the proper underlying API method for any Revit API version.... Read more →

CopyElements, Revit 2016 Scalability, Python and Ruby

Here are a bunch of infos on and updates for Revit 2016, as well as some important hints on the use of the ElementTransformUtils.CopyElements method: CopyElements view argument is for 2D only Revit 2016 scalability enhancements Revit 2016 Python shell Revit 2016 Ruby shell RevitLookup for Revit 2016 CopyElements View Argument is for 2D only You should only use the ElementTransformUtils.CopyElements views argument when working with view dependent elements, i.e., 2D elements. This was pointed out by Arnošt Löbel in... Read more →

Live Development and a Share Bar

Let's reiterate a question that comes up quite regularly, on live development, i.e. debugging and editing your code without having to restart Revit and reload a model every time you make a change. First, however, let me say a few words about the new share bar. The Building Coder Share Bar I spent a couple of hours last night adding the share bar that you now see on the right hand side. Kean Walmsley added a ShareThis button to Through... Read more →

How to Retrieve Dimensioning References

Several cases recently came up asking how to obtain references to programmatically create dimensioning elements. These hints expand on the recently discussed topic of creating dimensioning between family instance insertion points. They were raised by the following queries on how to retrieve suitable references for dimensioning: Dimensioning to family instance centre reference planes Dimensioning between a grid and an edge of a face Dimensioning to the wall opening wrapping location Before getting to that, I'll just add that I returned... Read more →

Cloning a Solid, AngelHack, 3D Web Fest and Dubai

The Revit 2016 offers a whole host of exciting new functionality that I am dying to try out, e.g.: Custom exporter supports 2D output Improved ReferenceIntersector linked model support DirectShape supports curves, points and references Cool new Geometry API functionality And much, much more... Too little time! At least I can mention one useful aspect of the new geometry API that came in handy for an issue that came up yesterday. I am in Dubai right now, preparing for the... Read more →

Transferring a Wall Type

Let's look at transferring a wall type from one document to another. In fact, we already did so, way back in 2011, as an example about how to possibly approach the task of at least partially programmatically transferring project standards. Now Parley submitted a comment on that, saying: Question: We could still really use this... This post originally was from 2011. Any update on API access for this tool? Answer: Glad to hear it sounds useful to you. Well, nothing... Read more →