Autodesk Revit Architecture

[#1]

We have suddenly had some problems showing up in some of our families.

Some objects are becoming 'locked' as if they are parts of one of the default family templates. These parts are not components of the template, they were created in-house.

Is there any reason why this might occur, and how do we fix it? Quite a few families, including some that are very complex are no longer editable.

An example is attached - some components are deletable, but you will find that most of the dimensions and linework behave as if they were part of the template (generic annotation) and cannot be edited.

[#2]

G'day aesdaile.w,

This would normally indicate that these elements were part of the template when the family was created.  Unfortunately there is little you can do for the reference planes, however the dimensions and lines are easily deleted in the following way.

1.  create a new reference plane

2.  edit the witness line of the dimension to refernce the new reference plane

3.  repeat step 2 (and 1 if required) until all witness lines reference that reference plane

3.  delete the reference plane

These steps unfortunately don't work for angular dimensions, however in the file you sent the centre reference plane that the angular dimensions use can be deleted, thus deleting the dimensions.

As for the lines

1. select the lines

2. click the "Convert Lines" button

3. Now delete them

This leaves you with four reference planes and a flip control that cannot be deleted.

I hope that gives you enough to work with.

[#3]

Yes, it's acting as if the lines were created as part of a template - except that they weren't.

Thankfully there is a partial work-around, but it still worries me when Revit 'goes bad' like this for no discernable reason, and there is little or nothing that can be done to diagnose why. Phase of the moon? Wrong colour shirt? Thursdays?

[#4]

Are you sure that family was not started with a custom template? Which template did you use to start this family?

[#5]

The family was created with 'Metric Detail Item.rft'.

I have found references to families exhibitng this kind of behaviour in this forum post: Autodesk forum post

I share the frustration of the original poster - the undocumented, uneditable 1% of Revit can cost you hours of time as you try to find a workaround to do what you want.

I fear that uninstallation / reinstallation is the only option: in a corporate environment this is a major hassle.