Scheduling Nested Families

[cgruwell]

Does anyone know of way to schedule the nested families of a family?  For example I have a panel family that contains connection families for that panel.  The schedule I am looking for would break out the connection families for each panel family.  So panel family WP1 contains the connection familes C1 and C2.  Panel family WP2 contains C1 and C3 and so forth.  Is there anyway to manipulate a schedule to give me this information perhaps with shared parameters?  All families are set to shared and I can get a total connection count for the entire project but need it broken out per panel. 

[AJA14]

Hi. if you want to be able to schedule the nested family you must declare it as shared.

Open the family you wish to nest, open the family category and parameters, go to the parameters, you will find a parameter called shared and a checkbox which is cleared, check that and you will be able to schedule that nested family. Hope this helps.

[cgruwell]

Wrong answer, please try again.  This time read the question before responding.  All the families are set to share their parameters.  I want a schedule that will tell me how many nested families are in each family. 

[CoreyDaun · Accepted solution]

You can add a Shared Parameter (Text, Instance) to each of the nested Families that would function as an ID for the schedule to filter out the other instances of those families. Add a similar parameter to the host family and link each of the nested parameters to this value. Note that the host family's parameter should only be that same Shared Parameter if you want it to appear in the Schedule as well.

Once loaded into the Project, you can select one instance of that Family and enter a text value for that parameter. Then you can create a Schedule and add Filters to exclude all elements that do not contain that specific text value.

[cgruwell]

Thank you CADastrophe!  That works and gives me the results in the schedule I was looking for.

[bjur]

If you use the assembly feature, you can schedule structural components and families along with the nested families in those components.  For example:  Say you had a steel beam with a double angle shear tab bolted to it.  You could make the steel beam and the double angle (which has a bunch of A325 bolts nested into the sheartab) part of the same assembly.  When you create shop drawings for the assembly, you can also create a schedule that shows all of the parts of that assembly.  If the bolts in the double angle shear connection are "Shared" (the shared box is checked) then the 6 bolts that are part of the double angle connection will be included in that schedule.  I think in Revit there are multiple ways of getting the job done.  You just have to decide which is easier.  The other way will work as well, but it makes you have to do more accounting.

[Anonymous]

i think i have the same problem as well and cannot get over it. I have a 5 type family nested and shared into a parent family. The 5 types have different names of course but also a shared parameter as an id for each one of them (an integer 1 to 5).

When inserting the parent family to the project i can schedule it but cannot filter it by nested name.

i see the nested id parameter to its own column.

when i try to link the shared id to a parent family parameter the shared id loses info which then takes from the family parameter.

any suggestions?

[CoreyDaun]

Hello, and welcome to the Discussion Groups!

If you want to control the order of the Nested Families in the Schedule (which is what I'm assuming the integer 1-5 is for), that would have to be a separate Shared Parameter from the ID Shared Parameter. The ID of the nested Families is supposed to be linked to the ID Parameter in the host Family, so the "pieces" can be sorted/grouped according to what gets inputted in the Project.

[Anonymous]

Let me refrase my problem. I have one parent door family. In it i have nested one door panel which has five types. Each type has exaclty the same geometry but different materials and id parameter. I have used the <family type...> parameter for the nesting. All parameters are shared.

When i put this to my project i want a schedule that filters according to the nested door types. The schedule can sort and group but cannot filter.

Thats why i introduced the id parameter from the nested families to the schedule but it counts them as individual components and does not match them to the parent family.

Thanks in advance.

[CoreyDaun]

OK, understood. Can you attach your Family file? That would make it easier to find a direct solution.

[Anonymous]

Thats a project file with the family uploaded and scheduled. sorted and grouped but not filtered.

[CoreyDaun]

So, since the nested shelving Families are not Shared, the nested components will not be Scheduled separately. This means that you do not need the "JUMBO_Product Section Code" Parameter in the nested Family. This is because there is no way for the host Family to "read" this Parameter from a nested Family.

I believe that the solution here is to add "JUMBO_Product Section Code" to the host Family and create an additional <Family Type...> Type Parameter that corresponds to each possible selection. That will allow you to control "JUMBO_Product Section Code" with a formula, based on the value of "JUMBO_Product Section Description". Here's what I propose:

In the host Family, create these <Family Type...> (Casework) Parameters as Type Parameters, and set them to the value listed.
Name             Value

JPSD_1          SECTION / ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ : TOYS / ΠΑΙΧΝΙΔΙΑ

JPSD_2          SECTION / ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ : CLOTHING / ΡΟΥΧΟ

JPSD_3          SECTION / ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ : SEASONALS / ΕΠΟΧΙΚΑ

JPSD_4          SECTION / ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ : HOME PRODUCTS / ΟΙΚΙΑΚΟΣ ΕΞΟΠΛΙΣΜΟΣ

JPSD_5          SECTION / ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ : OUTDOOR / ΕΙΔΗ ΕΞΩΤΕΡΙΚΟΥ ΧΩΡΟΥ

JPSD_6          SECTION / ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ : ELECTRONICS /  ΗΛΕΚΤΡΟΝΙΚΑ ΕΙΔΗ

Now, add "JUMBO_Product Section Code" to the host Family, and apply the following formula (you can Copy/Paste):

if(JUMBO_Product Section Description = JPSD_1, 1, if(JUMBO_Product Section Description = JPSD_2, 2, if(JUMBO_Product Section Description = JPSD_3, 3, if(JUMBO_Product Section Description = JPSD_4, 4,if(JUMBO_Product Section Description = JPSD_5, 5, 6)))))

Now, the Integer Parameter "JUMBO_Product Section Code" will be driven by the dropdown "JUMBO_Product Section Description", thus allowing you to Filter your Schedule by the Section Code. If you have to add more shelving types, just create additional <Family Type...> Parameters as above and add another nested IF/THEN Statement to the formula.

Don't hesitate to post with questions, or if I've misunderstood your intentions.

[Anonymous]

First of all i want to thank you and then i wanna have your babies.

So ..thanks for the instant reply and for the simple, ingenious and elegant solution.

[Anonymous]

CADastrophe,

I am hopeful about your description as a solution to my own problem, but I seem to lack the background to quickly test this. There is no image showing the result.

I am hoping to compress a mechanical Air Handler Schedule so that multiple components can all report their paramters in the same schedule, assigned to the same AHU family, to get a result that looks something like the image I include here.

If I could accomplish this result simply using parallel tier parameters in the AHU family, I'd bethrilled, but I don't think that's possible. My next idea is to make nested coil and fan families inside an AHU family.

For instance, a single air handler could have one or two coils (cooling only, or else both heating and cooling) and could also have more than one fan (perhaps both a supply and a return fan.) There are certain paramters that are specific to the host family, and others that would be specific to each of the nested families.

I have an idea that what you've described could result in the format of my example, but am not convinced... can you please help me out?

[CoreyDaun]

Hello, and welcome to the Discussion Groups!

Assuming that the supply fan and return fun are modeled as nested Shared components to the AHU, then this is possible since each fan will be Scheduled as an independent element. In order to group them together, they must inherit the name of the AHU in the Family editor. This can be done by creating a Shared Parameter (Text) if you have not done so already, and then adding it both the AHU host Family and each of the nested Families as an Instance Parameter. Then, in the host Family, select each of the nested components and under Properties, you'll see that Shared Parameter listed. Click on the small gray button to the right side of it and from the following list, select the Parameter of the same name (that's the one from the host Family). Now, you can group your Schedules by this Parameter.

As for the Graphics, one cannot "merge" cells in a standard Schedule, so it will look more like this:

_____________________________

  TAG           COIL TYPE         etc....

AHU-1               CLG             etc....

AHU-1               HTG             etc....

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the speedy reply. I will try this out as soon as I get a chance. But, I am a little worried that I will get a long result, that is, FOUR entries, as in the following snip... which, of course, defeats the primary purpose, which was to compress the schedule for QC readability.

[CoreyDaun]

Unfortunately, if the coils and fans are independent Shared Families, then you cannot mimic that schedule. Revit cannot combine multiple different elements in the same row in that manner.

[Anonymous]

For families that have nested families that will vary, I have created a parameter called CLASS to distinguish between the hosting family and the nested families, then I filter for hosts (which, in my case, are just collections of nested families) or the nested families using this parameter.

[RobertAGlover]

Riddle me this Batman!,

   Along the lines of scheduling sub-family information...

   I have about eighty VAV boxs (above ceiling mechanical equipment) that have four hanger rods each. I'm trying to easily and quickly get the layout points of those hangers for my Robotic Total Station (RTS). I've seen families with nested layout point families for this exactly this purpose, and I want to duplicate that so I don't have to manually place three hundred twenty points.

   I've got the points nested into the VAV family so that they show up where I want them in X Y and Z. Now I need to be able to export that location data along with some identity information for each point, and this is where I'm hitting a wall. I assume a schedule that then gets exported to CSV and given to my RTS guy would be best, but I can't schedule location data apparently. I've scheduled location data for room tags by exporting to AutoCAD then using a reporting feature from there, but that is a cumbersome process I'm hoping to improve. 

Does anyone have a suggestion on how I can do this better? Any information/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Think you should be more grateful for peoples time