A problem with temporary dimensions

[ali.safiaddine]

Hello there, I am facing a problem with temporary dimnesions when placing a window..one circle of the temporary dimension is fixed to first edge of the window while the second circle is at a distance from the other edge of the window..so i faced many problems locating the window

see the attached photo:

[LisaDrago]

Hi and Welcome to the Discussion!

You can set up the temp dimensions with different options...

If you go to the Manage tab>Setting palette>Additional Settings>Temporary Dimensions

a dialog box will pop up with the options - image attached for reference.

LD

[ali.safiaddine]

Thank you but i tried this and the same problem still appearing.. the temporary dimension still at a distance from the window edge

[LisaDrago]

Okay  - so I totally missed that one...

Its not that they are going to the edge - it is that it is NOT on the window... Right!?

I would open the family and see if there is something else there that may be being referenced...

Can you post the family?

LD

[ali.safiaddine]

yes thats right.. the family is M_sliding with Trim..it is shown in the file that i attached in the first post 

thank you

[LisaDrago]

Okay - it is dimensioning to the trim - image attached.

If you make the dimension permanent - you can re-associate the dimension to the opening.

LD

[Dominicano0476]

hi,  i also have a problem with temporary dimensions....when i select a face in a model the oposite face shows the temp. dimension, not the selected face...please advise

thank you....

[LisaDrago]

Hello @Dominicano0476 and welcome to the Discussion!

I so totally get your frustration! I hated that when I first started....but once I understood what it was doing - it made sense..

So what it is doing - for the face you have selected - the temporary dimensions are showing relational information between that and a reference object. it is not giving you information about the object itself. I imagine you want to know the length(?) of the face... you would need to select a vertical object to show a horizontal dimension - as if you want a vertical dimension shown - you will need to select a horizontal element.

 I have attached an image for reference...

Does this make sense?

LD

[Dominicano0476]

Lisa,

thank you for the welcome to the chat....yes i understand, and like you said its very fustrating.. i would like to know if there is a way to get it back to the way it was before (when you select a face you get the temp. dim. for the selected face, not the oposite face)? or its something permanent.?

thank you again,

[SteveKStafford]

Revit's logic for displaying temporary dimensions is a bit quirky and is wrong at least 50% of the time, at least wrong in the sense that it decides to reference something other than what I'm interested in. Revit is guessing, in a way with its own logic, what the selected element should be related to. The more elements there are the harder the guess gets.

FWiW, when you see a temporary dimension there are two kinds of actions you can take with the little blue dots that appear: left click and left click/drag. When you click on the little blue dot (grip/control) it will act like a button and the dimension witness line will jump to another reference. This is true of walls, doors, windows and other families that have reference planes defined well. It is also possible to click on the blue dot AND drag it to another element to reference entirely. It's important to drag your cursor over something else so that it highlights, which is Revit telling you that it sees it, and then release the left mouse button.

With walls, when the temporary dimension appears it will usually favor the centerline (unless you change the settings that Lisa mentioned earlier). Click on the blue dot and it will jump to the inside face of the wall, click it again and it will jump to the outside face...cycling back through each time you click on the dot, center, inside face, outside face...center...repeat.

Revit will now remember what you did to override the location the temporary dimension was referencing when you select the element to activate the temporary dimensions again. Well that's true assuming things haven't changed significantly since the last time you did it.

[Dominicano0476]

steve,

thank you vert much for your help....