Controlling visibility of nested families in familes with multiple types

[hboemtbrender]

Hi All,

I am creating a door family in Revit 2013. It has four different door width sizes with all parametrics created within the main family.

I have created a number of additional families made from 2D linework which show disabled access setbacks from the door. Each of these are nested in the main family on top of one another.
I want to be able to do the following:

1. Select a door width and for them to be unable to change the door width.
2. With a door width selected, I want them to be able to turn on and off the nested family that applies to that width. All other nested families for all the other door widths need to be greyed out ( or turned off).

Thanks all for the help and merry xmas.

[David_W_Koch]

Without seeing exactly what you are doing, it sounds like your nested access setback families are all of a fixed size, with multiple families/instances to get the four widths you need.  I would probably make the nested families parametric, with an instance-based property for the width that could then be tied to the width property in the door family.  But if you would prefer not to do it that way, or other considerations make that not possible, what you will need to do is create a separate yes-no parameter for each nested family instance (or possibly each width; I am not clear as to whether a given width could have multiple instances assigned).  Tie the visibility of each instance to the associated yes-no parameter.  Then in the types for the door family, only turn on the one(s) that apply to that width.

If you have multiple options per width, then you will have to either describe in more detail what you need, or, better still, post a sample family file that shows your progress so far.

[hboemtbrender]

Hi David,

Many thanks for the response. There are four door widths, 850, 900, 950 and 1000. These are created as separate types within a single parent family. Into this parent family is nested 8 child families - 2 for each of the four door types ( 1 on each side of the wall). All the child families are a number of 2d dashed lines that show the setback distance from each door face required by Australian standards for wheelchair access.

A given door width only has two nested families associated with it and both of these are switched on together to test if the door satisfies the setback requirements or switched off when testifying is complete.

My current setup does the following.

I have assigned yes/no parameters to all nested child families and gone through and applied these to the 4 door width types. I have gone through all nested families and added the following basic formula - for example for the 850 door which has a Width of 898mm, I have added " Width = <898> ". This immediately ticks the on/off parameter for the 850 access nested families and greys out all others, which is fine and does what I want however I am forced when using this formula to always have the access nested family turned on. I have no option in the instance for each door type to turn it off.

Any thoughts on how to do this?

Thanks

M

[David_W_Koch]

What I would do, assuming that your clearance families are either different types of the same family, or are all constructed in a similar fashion such that the insertion point and method of locking to the door/opening are the same and that they are all the same family classification, would be to create two type-based family parameters in your door family, one for the pull-side clearance family and one for the pull-side clearance family.  (I am assuming that the push and pull side clearance families are different.  If these are the same, one family parameter would do.)  These would then be set up to the classification type of the clearance families, and for each door family type, the appropriate clearance family types would be assigned to the push and pull family parameters for each door family type.

In the door family, you would then only need one instance of the pull-side family and one instance of the push-side family.  Place the type that goes with the currently active door type for both the push and pull sides and do what needs to be done to lock the families to the door/opening/wall.  Then select each of the clearance families in turn and assign the appropriate family type parameter in the Label property.  That way, when you change door types, the clearance family type set in the family parameters will be applied, so you get the desired cleance family for each door type.

Now you can add an instance-type yes-no parameter to the door family, and tie the visibility of both clearance families to the yes-no parameter.  You can set the initial (default) visibility to Yes in the door family.  In a project, when you add your door, assuming that the category used for the linework in your nested clearance families is set to be on in the view in which you insert the door, the clearance families should be visible, and you could then use the instance-based Yes-No parameter to toggle the visibility of the clearance families on a door-by-door basis.

You may also want to consider creating a unique subcategory for the linework in your clearance families, so that you can turn them all off in a view at the subcategory level, rather than having to go to each door and turn them off.  Whether or not you need to do that depends on your workflow and how many doors you have in a typical project.

[hboemtbrender]

Thanks for the great help David. All sorted now. Using type based family parameters was the trick I needed to get my head around.

Many thanks.

[hboemtbrender]

http://www.cadsoft-consult.com/blogs/architecture/2010/06/revit-families-endless-combinations-with-n...

[hboemtbrender]

Hi David,

I have provided a link to my family as it stands. I seem to be almost there but when I import the door family, I am unable to get the disabled access setback linework to change with the varying wall thickness across the 4 door widths.

To be honest, I'm a little lost.

Is there any chance you could take a look to see what can be done?

https://app.box.com/s/50bfv79ts0uwdmmc90ro

Thanks

B

[David_W_Koch]

Your nested families have a type-based parameter called Separation Distance. Somehow that has been tied to the wall thickness in the door family, although I did not take the time to sort out how that was done. There also was a reference plane in the door family parallel to the wall length that was set 60 mm off of the wall centerline to the side opposite the door swing. I think that your clearance families were locked to this reference plane, which kept them at a fixed dimension from the wall center.

I got rid of that reference plane and relocked each of the clearance families such that the clearance family reference plane at the ends of the clearance lines on the side opposite the door swing was locked to the door family reference plane at the frame face. This seemed to do the trick in a test project in which I placed multiple instances of the door in walls of varying thicknesses.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to an installed version of Revit 2013, so I cannot post back revised files.

[hboemtbrender]

I've tried to do what you say and align to the reference line 60mm from the wall centreline but when I change family type within the parent family I get a "Constraints are not satisfied" Error.

[David_W_Koch]

I did not align to the reference plane that was 60 mm off of the wall center line; I deleted that reference plane. To align/lock the families to the reference plane at the face of the frame, I first moved the family perpendicular to the length of the wall. That prompted Revit to tell me a constraint could not be satisfied - I then chose to remove the constraint. Having done that, I could then align and lock the family to the desired reference plane.