Is there a way to select just one of the temporary dimensions to convert to a permanent dimension? Usually, when I select a wall for example, there will be at least two temporary dimensions displayed. I want to select just one those dimensions to be permanent and then lock to establish the constraint. The other one is not relevant and just clutters up the drawing. Any way to do this?
Define which dimension you want to convert, and then click on its symbol to convert to permanent.
I am new to Revit and trying to understand how the permanent dimension function works. When I click on the icon to make a temporary dimension permanent, what am I really doing? Am I locking the length of a wall to a fixed dimension? No, this doesn't seem to be the case since I can still trim and extend it to a different length. So then, why can't I also change the dimension by typing in a new value for the wall length? It doesn't seem to let me do that. Is it just to have the dimension show on the screen at all times (whatever it's value is).
What is the purpose of this function? What is it designed to do?
After converting a temporary dimension in a project to a permanent dimension than it is just that. It shows you the dimension of something. It is an annotation object and therefore will only be visible in the view you created it in. In general they are used for your drawings to show dimensions to the reader.
When I select the object the dimneiosn is dimensioning to in most instance the number of the dimension will turn blue. I can click on it and them chage the value. The object will change depending on the value (e.g length change, move).
However the object is not constrained by the dimension. I just as well could have dragged the object and the dimension would have reported the new value.
If I click on the dimension itself you see something different
In this case a chained dimension. You see locks and an EQ. If I click on these symbols I can constrain the objects in a certian way.
Closing the lock would fix the distance. Clicking the EQ symbol would mean the distance on the left and right would be made equal.
Now when I start moving one of the objects the dimension I linked to, the other linked objects would react to keep the constraints fulfilled.
If you have many of these constraints It might happen that when you change one of the objects not all the constraints can be fulfilled. Revit will then show an error/warning message.
Now in the latest revit version, when you are on subscripiton, it is even possible to add parameters to your dimension.
Louis
Please mention Revit version, especially when uploading Revit files.