nested family parameters grayed out.

[revitworkbench]

Ok, This one sounds easy, but it has me particulartly stumped. One of my nested families has most of its parameters grayed out in the host family. Obviously one would think that the grayed out parameters are formula driven but these are not. I really need to associate these parameters in the host family for it ot work, but the little button next to the parameter doesnt exist when its grayed out please help! thanks

[CoreyDaun]

I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that it's only the Type Parameters that are grayed-out, and that the nested Family is designated as Shared. If this is the case, this is by design; those Type Parameters cannot be controlled by the Family.

The reason that this is so, is because you could have that shared Family nested in two separate host Families that could be driving the value of a particular Type Parameter, of which the values are likely different in each Family. Now, what would happen once those Families are loaded into a Project? Since the Shared Family gets loaded into the Project independently, there would be a conflict between the instances of the nested Shared Families being of the same Type but having differing Type Properties, which is not possible. The Revit universe would certainly collapse onto itself...

[revitworkbench]

Yeah, I am aware of that albeit it is always good to hear your perspective CADastrophe. However, your initial assumption was wrong. The type parameters are grayed out, but also the instance parameters. It is the instance parameters that I need to associate into the host family. This is strange because the family was working just  fine, but I renamed some of the parameters and made them shared so that my schedule would make sense, but now the family wont flex properly because the associations are now imposible. 😞 I can see them but not drive them. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[smbrennan]

Have you checked the nested family parameters? Are they locked, or being driven by a formula?

[CoreyDaun · Accepted solution]

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CADastrophe wrote:

"I am going to go out on a limb here and..."

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~ limb bends, cracks, and breaks ~

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smbrennan85 wrote:

"Have you checked the nested family parameters? Are they locked, or being driven by a formula?"

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I've received the Family file via private means (due to file size), and I see the problem, but I was not able to find a solution. He has several placed instances of a transition Family, and two of the Instance Parameters (Duct Size) are greyed-out in Properties. Upon investigating the nested Shared Family, the Parameters in question are not driven by a formula, nor are they locked.

In the host Family, I selected one of these instances and used Create Similar, and those parameters were now accessible in newly created element. I tried breaking the constraints and removing all other Linked Parameters from the existing transitions, but I could not make those Parameters accessible.

As a test, in the nested Family, I create a Parameter (Duct Size) "AAAAA" and then directly referenced this Parameter via a formula in one of the troublesome Parameters. Once loaded back into the host, I still could then access the "AAAAA" Parameter to change the troublesome Parameter, but that Parameter was still not directly accessible.

[smbrennan]

Just shooting from the hip here, but the two instances - I assume they are the same family. Is it possible that the double instance causes Revit to not know how to hand the parameters?

[RAndroseGlover]

Could the paramaters (instance or otherwise) be tied to locked elements? Such as a dimension between two reference planes that are both locked? I would hope not but it's a thought.