I’ve given several presentations now on the topic of Revit data management and in particular on the use of shared parameters and one of the consistent questions that I get is, “how can I push lots of parameters to Revit family files (.RFA)?” For those of you that are on Autodesk subscription, there’s a tool that does just that, though it’s a little difficult to find and navigate through. Here’s a recent article from the Autodesk Knowledge Network that mentions the tools, though surprisingly it omits this particular feature from the list.
After you locate and install the Revit Extensions you will find the tool hidden on the Extensions Tab under the Tools button. It’s called “Shared/Project Parameters” from the pull-down, but when it’s launched it will open a dialog that says “Shared Parameter Converter”.
This image shows that I am asking the tool to read all of the .RFA files found within my “11 Specialty Equip” folder and that I am going to read particular parameters from my Shared Parameter file and push them into these families. The modified families will then be copied into a new folder called “Updated Specialty Equip” and the results of this work will be included in my “!test” folder as a log file.
In this example my goal is to transfer two new shared parameters into these families. The Configuration dialog looks like this:
To confirm that this worked, I then loaded all families into a single blank project file (.RVT). Revit supports multi-select for this process. You can also drag-drop from Windows.
The results confirm the existence of these new parameters, but now I want to fill out the values. I can use Ideate BIMLink to complete this task.
Pushing multiple parameters to multiple Revit family files is a powerful function that is made possible by the Revit Extensions tool. Before you alter your families in this way you should be sure to consult with your BIM team and also to review whether the parameters truly need to be specified within the families themselves. You can read more on that topic, here: I ♥ Revit Parameters Part 1: Should It Be Shared?
For more information on the software solutions, training, and consulting Ideate provides, visit the Ideate, Inc. homepage.
Glynnis Patterson, NCARB
Director of Software Development
Glynnis is a Registered Architect and has worked within the BIM industry since 1998. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked as an architect, educator, and construction site manager. Glynnis is currently the Director of Software Development Ideate Software, and she continues to work with AEC clients worldwide, developing and consulting on solutions to Building Information Modeling challenges. In her spare time Glynnis does volunteer work for ECLC of New Jersey and Grow it Green Morristown. Follow Glynnis on Twitter.