Connector description in a circuit schedule?

[sfidler]

This is a followup on my original post about coordinating with electrical, and how to make it easier for the engineer to know where each connector on my multi-circuit families should be circuited.

I fooled around with another test family that includes connectors for each circuit.  Inside that family, I included a text parameter for each circuit named Circuit n ID, then passed that parameter into the Connector Description parameter.

So far, so good; when I inserted an instance into a test project and tried to circuit it, the ID shows up in the drop-down listing the available connectors and in the electrical data field for the family.  However, Revit's still going to assign each connection to the first available space in the dimmer rack.  That leaves an ugly mess for the engineer to sort out.  My "brilliant" thought was that a schedule could be built that includes both the circuit # and the connector description.  In fifteen minutes of brainless work, someone could run down the schedule and match the assignments.  

Knowing that Revit is a giant database, it seems like this should be easy; unfortunately I can't find a way to get both parameters into the same schedule.  Revit's already linking this information in a couple places in the user interface.  Am I missing something, or are the two parameters just not exposed in the schedule dialog? 

[CoreyDaun]

Are you controlling the actual circuiting or is the electrical engineer? If you are assigning the circuit numbers, you could communicate that in the Connector Description, perhaps, but you won't be able to schedule those Parameters unless they're Shared Parameters.

[sfidler]

CADastrophe,

We dictate the circuit numbers within the dimmer/relay racks, but the electrical engineer owns circuiting within the model. 

I don't think shared parameters are going to work in my situation.  Since the parameters are keyed of a global unique ID rather than by name, must originate in a common shared parameter file and (if I'm not mistaken) you can only use one parameter file in a project, I would have to convince each MEP consultant we collaborate with to use the same file.

I'm going to noodle around with nesting the families (schedule two shared parameters) like you suggested in the reply to the post above mine.  If I can't make it work, I may just admit that there isn't an clean answer.

BTW,  Thanks for all the time you contribute to this forum.  I've read through a ridiculous number of posts over the last couple months while learning the program and planning how we're going to use it.  It's remarkable how many good answers you've provided, and without the attitude that often showed up in the Autocad forum years ago.  It's appreciated.

[CoreyDaun]

So I can get a better idea of your situation, what information/schedules are being shown by your company's drawings, and what is to be provided by the engineer's drawings? If the dimmer/relay racks are 'your' equipment, aren't you going to provide the schedules for them? I ask this because typically in this situation (more with food service), they just provide the electrical connection information, and we (the electrical engineer) circuit the power as we deem appropriate.

I really appreciate the positive remark! These forums are great for learning the programs in depth, by troubleshooting such a wild array of problems and situations, you learn a TON, especially how to improvise for work-arounds and such. Never simple dismiss and say that there is no solution. Sometimes it just takes a different approach to get what you want. Dance, Revit, Dance!

[sfidler]

Here are some cropped-in partial drawings, showing this equipment as it appears in our set plan, schedule, and device details.  Typically electrical does simply reference our documents for the schedules; my concern is getting the right number of home runs tagged in a manner that doesn't create a conflict.  If they end up just adding a note that says "xx #10 AWG to rack DR1, refer to Theatrical", I'm okay with that; if they want to do things "correctly" and tag the individual circuits, I'd like to make it easier to pick up the correct information.  

I've actually been thinking of food service equipment as a comparable level of complexity.  Our added complication is the need to arrange the circuit numbers in a logical fashion for the users.  The circuit numbers are referenced when programming the lighting for a show, and it gets annoying if they jump around in a haphazard way.

I completely agree about learning by forums.  They're how I've learned most of the software I use.  I find I'm picking up Revit more quickly than I expected, mostly because I can apply some familiarity with databases and basic programming.  I kind of enjoy figuring it out, too, in the same way that my wife enjoys crosswords.  I Where I find myself being cautious is that there seem to be some inconsistencies in Revit's organization, and I get the impression it can be painful to fix things if you don't start with a good overall view of how you want to set up your projects and families, especially in terms of shared parameters.

Thanks again

[CoreyDaun]

Keep in mind that I am not speaking from experience in this case, so I may not have the best of solutions. But, I would advise avoiding overlapping or redundant design work. If you AND the engineer are going to circuit your own models, things will certainly get messy, especially when changes come along. Here's what I think should be the situation:

The engineer Copy/Monitors your Dimmer/Relay 'Panels' in order to get the electrical loads. Regarding the circuits, he would have a view that displays your wires and/or elements and would tag YOUR elements through the link. This would require a little coordination (i.e., providing them with a Tag or telling them what Parameters to Tag) but would maintain a single level of design work.

Any Schedules (excluding Panel Schedules) or Drafting Views that the engineer would need to show or see can be copied over using the "Insert from File" command, since the elements in a linked Revit Project can be scheduled. You just have to ensure that you provide a common condition so that your elements can separated from his. For example, if you put an "X" in the Type Comments field for all of your elements, you could set that as a Filter for the Schedule. Shared Parameters won't work, as you know.

There were several users here regularly with better experience than me (Jrobker, embolism, asommer, julianjameson8403, dennis) so I hope their relative absence lately is not due to my encroachment. I never thought I would be answering as many posts as I have been, and I try not to answer them too quickly...