The Building Coder

DLL as Resource and Multi-Version Add-Ins

Lots of options to implement multi-version add-ins and examples showing how to store DLL dependencies in your add-in resources – Migration assistant rocks – ExportCncFab 2022 – Multi-version Revit add-in – Deploying a DLL file as a resource... Read more →

Snooping Parts, C# Templates and Python Topics

A neat RevitLookup enhancement, powerful new Revit add-in template, and a couple of Python related topics – RevitLookup handles PartUtils – Nice3point Revit add-in C# template – IronPython hosting in C# add-in – Python 3, CPython, pyRevit and Dynamo... Read more →

Nina and a VS Revit Add-In Extension

Two useful community contributions and some thoughts on global warming – Nina for Revit – The BIMdev VS extension – The Economist on climate change – We are the weather... Read more →

RevitLookup Update, Fuslogvw and Override Joins

Here are a couple of the interesting topics that came up in the last couple of days – Numerous RevitLookup enhancements – Revit API Labs training material 2022 – Visual Studio Revit add-in templates 2022 – The SetGeometryCurve overrideJoins argument – Exploring assembly reference DLL hell with Fuslogvw... Read more →

Revit 2021 Visual Studio Add-in Templates

Our tidbits for today – Revit 2021 Visual Studio add-in templates – Four important design patterns – Invisible shared parameters don't make it into Forge... Read more →

Visual Studio 2019 Revit Add-in Template Tags

A small enhancement to the Visual Studio Revit Add-in Template, and another interesting little AI surprise – Template tags for Visual Studio 2019 – My wizard works again – OpenAI plays hide and seek and breaks the game... Read more →

Face Intersect Face is Unbounded

My work on setting up a new PC is nearing completion. There is also a need to clarify the use of the Face.Intersect(Face) method – The unbounded Face.Intersect method – Making use of the unbounded face intersection – Rectangular face intersection ideas – Copy as HTML update – Visual Studio Revit add-in wizard update... Read more →

Roadmap, Rebar Curves, Wizard Zip and More

Topics for this week – Revit public roadmap July 2019 – Rebar curves – Built-in zip utility for add-in wizard – Only detail section views can be used for top view direction – Displaying an RFA family instance in DA4R – Revit 2020 alters the TEMP file system variable – Lattice multiplication... Read more →

Revit 2020 C# and VB Visual Studio Add-in Wizards

Continuing the update of my development environment for Revit 2020, I now turn to the Visual Studio Revit add-in wizards. I'll also highlight a couple of recent interesting AEC related job offers, an AI 101 intro, and some really important suggestions on how to ask a question well – C# and VB Visual Studio add-in wizards for Revit 2020 – How to ask a question well – Open Autodesk AEC related positions – AI for all... Read more →

Vacation and Multi-Version Revit Add-In Template

As I already mentioned, I am taking lots of time off in July. This is just a note to let you know I am alive, well and happy, currently in Brassac in Occitanie in southern France, on my way to practice awareness, care and attentiveness in the Buddhist monastery Plum Village near Bordeaux. On the road, I'll just share this quick note from a comment by Zhmayev Yaroslav on multi-targeting Revit versions using TargetFrameworks – Multi-Version Revit Add-In Template... Read more →

NuGet Package Update, Rooms and Views in Forge

Two little items to point out before we end the week – Select Rooms and Views to Publish to the Cloud – Revit 2018.1 API NuGet Packages... Read more →

Revit versus Forge, Ids and Add-In Installation

Forge versus Revit programming – Access Revit BIM data and element ids from BIM360 – Unique IDs for Forge viewer elements – Edit and export Revit properties in Forge – Upcoming Forge accelerators – Updated Visual Studio Revit add-in wizard installation – Question on RevitLookup installation – RevitLookup cannot snoop everything... Read more →

Revit 2018 Visual Studio .NET Add-in Wizards

I updated the Visual Studio Revit C# and VB add-in templates for Revit 2018. They enable you to create a new C# or VB Revit add-in in Visual Studio with one single click on File > New > Project... > Visual Basic/Visual C# > Revit 2018 Addin and define a complete skeleton Revit add-in, ready to immediately compile and run, including an add-in manifest file, external application and external command. Just hit F5 to start debugging; the add-in manifest is installed, Revit launched and the command is immediately available... Read more →

Add-In Templates Supporting Edit and Continue

Last week, I presented Andrey Bushman's new Visual Studio templates for Revit add-ins. Furthermore, we discussed many aspects of edit and continue in the past, including the solution to use the Add-in Manager. These two topics have now met and united, because Andrey added support for that and a bunch of other new functionality in his commit... Read more →

New Visual Studio Templates for Revit Add-Ins

I have been maintaining a simple Visual Studio Revit add-in wizard for a number of years. Now Andrey Bushman implemented a set of more advanced and convenient Visual Studio templates for creation of Revit add-ins for his own use. The discussion of those led us to once more revisit the topic of the Visual Studio settings for debugging Revit add-ins – New Visual Studio 2015 templates for Revit add-ins – Use Managed Compatibility Mode or Enable Native Code Debugging? – Machine learning software engineer job in Switzerland – FreeCodeCamp... Read more →

Dynamic Model Updater Tutorial and Wizard Update

The Forge DevCon is over and was a great success. I am really excited to see where our paths will lead us in the near future as we continue to improve the connections between the desktop, Revit and BIM to the cloud and move forward towards freeing our BIM data. I published pointers to all the 'Free your BIM data' resources yesterday. Our main topics today are completely different and purely Revit API related – Updated Visual Studio Revit Add-in Wizards – RevitPythonShell Dynamic Model Updater Tutorial... Read more →

Visual Studio 2015 Revit 2017 Add-in Wizards

I updated the Visual Studio Revit C# and VB add-in wizards for Revit 2017. They enable you to create a new C# or VB Revit add-in in Visual Studio with one single click on File > New > Project... > Installed > Templates > Visual Basic/Visual C# > Revit 2017 Addin. The wizard creates a complete Revit add-in skeleton, ready to immediately compile and run. Just hit F5 to start debugging; the add-in manifest is automatically created, copied to the proper location, Revit launched in the debugger, and your shiny new add-in is available in the external tools menu... Read more →

Revit Add-In Wizard GitHub Installer

I recently mentioned the unrestricted VendorId in Revit 2016, and pointed out that I would like to update the Visual Studio Revit add-in wizards accordingly. I now went ahead and did so, adding a couple of other enhancements as well along the way – oh, and I did some work on putting my personal calendar online, as well: Sharing a calendar via GCal, Google API, and GitHub Pages. Visual Studio Revit add-in wizards on GitHub. Updated VendorId tag value. Wizard... Read more →

Add-in Migration to Revit 2016 and Updated Wizards

I updated my Visual Studio Revit C# and VB add-in wizards for Revit 2016. Before presenting them, a quick important note on how to approach resolving issues that you may encounter migrating your existing add-ins: Please read What's New in the Revit 2016 API! Revit add-in wizards for Revit 2016 Revit add-in wizard customisation Revit add-in wizard usage Download and installation Please Read What's New in the Revit 2016 API! Every major Revit API release so far enhanced the existing... Read more →

Write Revit Add-ins No Coding Experience Required

Adam Sheather of YTL Corporation created and presented a complete and in-depth Revit API introduction titled Learn to Write Add-ons No Coding Exp Required! for RTC, the Revit Technology Conference 2014, held in Australia, Europe and North America. He describes it like this: This course is for expert users of Revit who wish to learn how to code. This will cut a lot of non essential information from standard and other coding classes to get users quickly up to speed... Read more →

Add-In Wizards for Revit 2015

I updated my Visual Studio Revit add-in wizards for Revit 2015. The 2015 version generates the same boilerplate code as the reliable old Revit 2014 one and its update did, which can be simply deleted if not needed. I selflessly also implemented and tested the Visual Basic version right away. Revit Add-in Wizard Customisation As I keep pointing out, it is important to understand how easy it is to modify the wizards for your own needs, and make copies with... Read more →

Multi-Version Visual Studio Revit Add-In Wizard

Developers often ask how to support multiple versions of a Revit add-in from the same codebase. Many have implemented solutions for this using various Visual Studio project settings. Alexander Ignatovich of Investicionnaya Venchurnaya Companiya went one step further and implemented a version of the Visual Studio Revit add-in wizard that automatically generates an add-in skeleton supporting both Revit 2013 and 2014 in the same Visual Studio project. He is very kindly sharing is with us here, saying: I have one... Read more →

Sun Direction, Shadow Calculation and Wizard Update

I enjoyed some wonderful hot sunny days since I returned from New England back to Switzerland. Summer finally arrived. A nice change after the rain and cold both here and in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Talking about rain and sun leads up nicely to today's topic, on the sun direction and shadow calculation in a Revit BIM. Before I get to that, though, I present an update of my Revit add-in wizards resulting in part from yesterday's post on the... Read more →

Add-In Wizards for Revit 2014

I updated my Visual Studio Revit add-in wizards and am taking the time to publish them today, which is Ascension Day and a holiday in Neuchâtel. That also gives me some extra time to prepare for the June 3-4 Tech Summit presentation of my cloud-based round-trip 2D Revit model editing project. The presentation must be pre-submitted by May 20, and a full recording by May 27, so pressure is rising. I completed the implementation and still want to catch up... Read more →

Update API Assembly References and Wizards

I finally completed my disk clean-up and managed to install the Autodesk Building Design Suite Ultimate 2013. Phew. Update API Assembly References That requires me to update the Revit API references in the projects I am working on accordingly. In order to easily compile all the SDK samples, I always create copies of the Revit API assemblies in the default installation locations for Revit Architecture, MEP and Structure. Here is the batch file cprvtapi.bat that I used to achieve this... Read more →

Add-In Wizard for Revit 2013

I have been using an updated version of my Visual Studio Revit C# add-in wizard for Revit 2013 for a while and thought you might find it useful as well. It now generates a bit more boiler-plate code up front which can be simply deleted if not needed: UIApplication uiapp = commandData.Application; UIDocument uidoc = uiapp.ActiveUIDocument; Application app = uiapp.Application; Document doc = uidoc.Document; // Access current selection Selection sel = uidoc.Selection; // Retrieve elements from database FilteredElementCollector col =... Read more →

Product and Add-In Wizard Updates

Here are several interesting updates and other little news items that appeared recently. Revit 2012 update release 2 Visual Studio Revit add-in wizard update Removing an Add-In Registered by the Wizard Global Leadership Summit at the One Team Conference Revit 2012 Update Release 2 A few days ago, I was very surprised to hear that some people neglect to update their Revit products when intermediate updates appear. I find that incomprehensible. I updated all three flavours myself yesterday with zero... Read more →

Visual Studio Add-In Wizards for Revit 2012

As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend was spent traveling to Verona to give a Revit API training here. Happily, I enjoyed some mountain air the weekend before, on Helgenhorn 2837m, Basodino 3273m and Cima di Lago south of All'Acqua in the Bedretto Valley (more photos by Jogi): Anyway, that was last weekend; back to here and now in Verona, where I was busy yesterday, preparing for the training, starting today. I already updated the DevTV Visual Studio wizards for creating... Read more →

DevTV Add-In Templates

Here are the add-in templates prepared by my colleague Augusto Gonçalves of Autodesk Brazil for the upcoming DevTV presentations. I really love both the implementation and the description, both are so short and sweet and yet complete! They save you a lot of typing and clicking when setting up a new add-in, and especially help avoid all the potential errors that insist on creeping in when you set things up manually. Support is provided for both external commands and external... Read more →