topic RFA file export options in Inventor Programming Forum

RFA file export options

Andrii_Humeniuk — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 15:17:24 GMT

Hi everyone,

I recently found out (link, link) that it’s possible to choose the export version of an RFA file. This feature works perfectly through the user interface, but when using the API, I’m not getting the expected result.

In the sample below, I’m trying to save an RFA file to an earlier version using my custom template. The template is applied successfully, and I get a Mechanical Equipment family as intended. However, the RFA version remains the current one (in my case, 2025).

Dim oInvApp As Inventor.Application = ThisApplication Dim oDoc As Document = oInvApp.ActiveDocument Dim oDef As ComponentDefinition = oDoc.ComponentDefinition Dim oNameValueMap As NameValueMap = oInvApp.TransientObjects.CreateNameValueMap oNameValueMap.Add(“CustomRevitFamilyTemplate”, "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\RVT 2024\Family Templates\English\Metric Mechanical Equipment.rft") oNameValueMap.Add("RevitFileVersion", "Legacy") Dim oBIM As BIMComponent = oDef.BIMComponent oBIM.ExportBuildingComponentWithOptions(IO.Path.ChangeExtension(oDoc.FullFileName, ".rfa"), oNameValueMap)

I’d really appreciate any insights or suggestions on how to make the API export to a previous version correctly.

Thanks in advance!

Re: RFA file export options

Curtis_W — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 19:44:02 GMT

@Andrii_Humeniuk , I did a quick test and I see the same issue as you, in both Inventor 2025 and Inventor 2026 .

I wonder if @chandra.shekar.g or @MjDeck could take a look and tell us if there is a bug or if some change of syntax is needed.

Re: RFA file export options

chandra.shekar.g — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 10:37:15 GMT

Hi @Andrii_Humeniuk ,

Please try to change below line:

oNameValueMap.Add("RevitFileVersion", "Legacy")

to:

oNameValueMap.Add("RevitVersion", "Revit 2024")

Thanks and regards,

Chandra shekar G

Re: RFA file export options

Andrii_Humeniuk — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 11:35:12 GMT

Thank you very much @chandra.shekar.g !

I suspected that "Legacy" might not be relevant, so I've been experimenting with it for the last 2 days, choosing from the following: "Revit 2024", "Revit2024", "RVT2024", "RFA2024", "2024", "24" and many others. But I didn't think that the key name might be wrong.

Re: RFA file export options

Curtis_W — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 14:20:07 GMT

@chandra.shekar.g thank you for this reply.

Would you be able to get the documentation updated for this also?

I could not find any information in the help files that documented this.
Maybe add a sample as well?
https://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2026/ENU/?guid=BIMComponent_ExportBuildingComponentWithOptions

Re: RFA file export options

chandra.shekar.g — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 03:06:35 GMT

Thanks @Curtis_W ,

The message has been forwarded to concerned team.

Thanks and regards,