The Building Coder

SDK, Add-In Wizard and TrackChanges Updates

Analysing the recent Revit SDK update, and still setting up my new Mac PC – What's new in Revit 2023.1 – Revit 2023.1 SDK update – Add-In wizard template in VS 2022 – Track work with element lister + TrackChanges... Read more →

CultureInfoChanger and IronPython3

Happy New Year 2023! Topics to begin – Copy as HTML 2022 – Size MEP connector with CultureInfoChanger – Journal files AU class – Bulk reload families with IFamilyLoadOptions – IronPython3, APS and RPS... Read more →

Parameters, Snippets, Batch Mode and Self-Signing

Test run the Revit 2023 parameters service cloud – Roll your own verified publisher – Revit API code snippet repository – Batch processing and monitoring progress... Read more →

Symbol, Instance, Material, Data, Journal, Break

We close this year with an eclectic mix of topics – Symbol vs instance geometry clarification – Create new material with texture – RVT dashboard data access – Marking and retrieving a custom element – Advanced remote batch command processing – Midwinter break... Read more →

24x24 StackedItem, Ribbon Utils, Journal Encoding

Let's start the week with some ribbon button item and encoding topics – How to create 24x24 stacked ribbon items – Update on moving a ribbon button between panels – Revit journal file character encoding... Read more →

Auto-Executing an External Command

I had an extensive discussion on automatically driving Revit from outside to auto-execute a simple functionality with no user input, originally implemented by an external command. Also, a big thank you to all for the numerous congratulations on The Building Coder's eleventh birthday – Auto-executing an external command – Eleventh birthday congratulations... Read more →

Distances, Switches, Kiss-ing and a Dino

I continued my activity in the Revit API discussion forum and had lots of interesting discussions there. One recent thread caused me to bring up a favourite topic of mine, on keeping things simple. I'll also mention two other less recent recurring questions – Distance between two points in a specific direction – Revit command-line switches – Keeping things simple with the Revit API – Dino pondering lengthening days... Read more →

Automation, Ribbon Panel, ItemExecuted and Vacation

Here is an interesting exploration of using UI Automation to traverse the Revit ribbon items and subscribe to an event enabling you to determine when certain commands are executed. I'll leave you to ponder this while I take a vacation in the snow next week. Happy Revit add-in programming! Question: I would like to keep track of all add-ins that are started on a given Revit installation. We currently keep track of all our own using specific routines in the... Read more →

AU Ends and Batch Rendering Across Several Projects

Let me share a couple of thoughts and a batch of links to discussions of topics related to batch processing that came up answering a case today in between all the hectic activity at Autodesk University. For my part, AU is over now, and I am already sitting in the airport waiting for the flight back to Europe and the series of West European DevDays conferences starting in Paris on Monday. The batch-processing topic was raised by this query: Question:... Read more →

Programmatic Custom Add-In External Command Launch

One of the highlights of the Revit 2014 API is the new PostCommand functionality enabling programmatic launching of built-in Revit commands. The Revit SDK includes a new sample demonstrating its use, PostCommandWorkflow. However, that programmatically launches an existing built-in Revit command, not an external command added by a custom application. Furthermore, there was a problem launching custom external commands in the initial release of Revit 2014. Happily, it was fixed by the update release 1, UR1, a fact listed among... Read more →

Titbits of the Week

Here are a couple of things to round off this warm week (a least here) that I think might be of interest to us all: Identical document GUIDs Journal file path Opening a background document Creating a perspective view Identical Document GUIDs Every Revit document now has a GUID, which can be retrieved from the UniqueId property on the ProjectInformation singleton class. It would be very useful if that could be used to reliably and uniquely distinguish and identify documents.... Read more →

Elbow Fitting Selection and Dimensioning

Vacation time is approaching fast for me and lots of things need finishing off beforehand. Meanwhile, one thing that had a number of developers champing at their bits for a while now finally came to fruition: Autodesk Exchange The Autodesk Exchange store is now open for application submissions. Stephen Preston already published several articles exaplaining the full details: Summary information Information for Revit developers Publishing an app Here is another topic that recently kept me busy, with some helpful input... Read more →

Replacing Built-In Commands and Obtaining Their Ids

One main focus of the Revit 2013 API features is better support for add-in integration. This includes the possibility for an add-in to replace an existing Revit command with its own implementation. Note that you cannot call an existing command, just replace it entirely. Such a command replacement is demonstrated in a very simple form by the DisableCommand SDK sample, which disables a command by replacing its implementation with a simple popup message. A slightly more complex example is given... Read more →

Loading an Add-in With a Journal File

I touched upon journal files a couple of times in the past, for example to load an external application and automatically perform an action in the DocumentOpened event handler, or to implement a script automating IFC import. The Revit SDK also includes the Journaling sample which demonstrates how an add-in can define what information goes into the journal file while it is being recorded, and how to use that data to repeat the add-in's external command functionality during replay. However,... Read more →

IFC Import and Conversion Journal Script

In the past, people repeatedly asked how to export a Revit model to IFC. The ability to programmatically save to IFC format has been added in the Revit 2011 API, as we can see from the section 'Export model to IFC' in the Revit API help file RevitAPI.chm What's New section, which notes that the new method Document.Export taking an IFCExportOptions argument exports the document to the Industry Standard Classes (IFC) format. The inverse functionality, programmatically importing an IFC file... Read more →

External Command Replay

Matt Mason of Avatech Solutions pointed out a few important items related to the preceding post on replaying a journal file: One topic that you did not cover – using the journal file with Revit external commands. Here are some things that I've noticed in the past: If your external command has dialog boxes, your application will freeze if Revit is being driven by a journal. The alternative to this is to use the JournalData StringStringMap in the ExternalCommandData which... Read more →

Journal File Replay

In spite of pretty mixed weather I went on a climb in the alps with my friend Robert on Saturday, the route Kurze Kombination (4c) on the mountain Schmalstöckli (2012 m) close to the Lidernenen Hütte. Here I am after the climb, just below the summit: And this is Robert on the summit itself: We would made another climb on the same mountain if the weather had not been pretty grey and moist. Anyway, now it is Monday morning, and... Read more →

Getting the Journal File Path

Here is an edited excerpt of an interesting and useful dialogue between Greg Wesner and Harry Mattison, both of Autodesk: I am building an application that needs to access the journal file when Revit saves a document. The path to the journal file can be found at Application.RecordingJournalFilename. But you only have access to this Application object when a command is executed and you get passed an ExternalCommandData reference in your command method. If you just want to create an... Read more →