Adding parameters to a family

[Cenaero]

Hi,

I'm a little bit confused with the concept of Families, as I'm starting with Revit, and I have a question related to both API and Family Parameters in a more general context.

What I noticed : I created a small geometry in Architecture (4 walls), and exported it in IFC format. Then I reloaded it in Revit Architecture and played with the API to do some operations on that geometry. One thing I did while using the API on this geometry was to use the method "LookupParameter()" on walls, to access some parameters. And One of these parameters I accessed was 'IsExternal'.

Ok, but now, I downloaded an other IFC File I found on internet, which is a small house, and I wanted to do the same kind of operations on it. It all worked well until I tried to access this 'IsExternal' parameter on the walls... this parameter doesn't exist anymore for these walls.

I digged a little bit and realized that 'IsExternal' is actually an IFC parameter that Revit adds when exporting to IFC. I know that because I exported the house from Revit to IFC, then reloaded it, and ... 'IsExternal' is now there (except that it's set to 'True' everywhere... but no matter).

Now the question :

Can I add parameters to a family (in this case the 'wall' family, I guess) if I want to ? I think the answer is yes, but then, how ? Do I have to be in the 'Family mode' of Revit, or can I do that directly from withinside a project ?

The thing is that I see the workflow as the following : loading an IFC - checking is the 'IsExternal' parameter is there or not - if not, adding it to all walls - doing my other operations - exporting again to IFC.

If anyone can help I'd be grateful !

Arnaud.

[jeremytammik · Accepted solution]

Hi Arnaud,

I agree that it is confusing. For me too. You can add family paramewters in a family, and shared parameters in the project. More information on both of these is available from The Building Coder and elsewhere on the web. It is a larger topic than can be addressed in a quick reply in this thread, so prepare to sit down and do some research, reading and learning.

Cheers,

Jeremy

[Cenaero]

Hi,

Thanks !

I've been reading the Building Coder (great, btw!) for the last few weeks already, but it can be sometimes hard to know if I'm digging in the right direction

Anyway, your anwser allow me to look in the right direction, Thank you !

Arnaud.