BIM Exchange / Content missing elements

[Peter.deVries]

Hello everyone,

I am currently working with Inventor release 2018.1.1 (build 171) and trying to export a part to a Revit Family (.rfa).

Yes, 'trying', because the ribbon in the Environment tab doesn't say 'BIM Exchange', but 'BIM Content':

And the 'BIM Content' tab is different than I come across in the tutorials and forums:

What happened to the 'Check design' and other commands?

Furthermore, when I just click 'Export Building Components' and open it in Revit 2018, there are no properties or editable geometry. It is just one big block.

Clues anyone? Because it is rather frustrating to find a solution ...

Regards,

Peter

[Peter.deVries]

Hi all,

Never mind - my company has pushed the wrong version. It should be 'Autodesk Inventor Professional' and not just 'Autodesk Inventor'.

So now I am waiting for the correct one 🙂

Kind regards,

Peter

[DarrenP]

this is not an Inventor Professional feature

this was changed in 2018

[Peter.deVries]

Let me update this issue.

This morning, I installed Inventor Professional 2018 and indeed, the 'Environments' ribbon has changed - as shown in this picture

 

This ribbon does not have the 'Recognize Revit Features' button, nor does 2018 has the 'BIM'-ribbon add-in as 2017 does have.

But it is just as DarrenP has indicated: this seems to have changed in Inventor 2018. The question to this is: Why?

It was working perfectly in versions 2016 and 2017: the Inventor dimensions were accessible in Revit 2016 and 2017 respectively. An export of an Inventor Part using 'Export Building Components' also displayed the action 'Rebuilding Revit family file':

Not so with Inventor Professional 2018! When exporting an Inventor Part to Revit, Revit displays the part as one solid only (after a necessary exploding), with no features recognized what so ever, nor are there any dimensions transported to Revit.

In short, how can I export an Inventor Part (or Assembly) to a Revit family?

By the way, a similar question c.q. related issue can be found here:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/inventor-2018-command-regression-check-design-in-bim/i...

Hope if anyone has the answer - other than installing Inventor 2017.4 and reference the 2018 parts and have it exported there.

Regards,

Peter

[DarrenP]

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@Peter.deVries wrote:

Hope if anyone has the answer - other than installing Inventor 2017.4 and reference the 2018 parts and have it exported there.

Regards,

Peter

---

this maybe the only answer right now

@johnsonshiue do you know why this changed in 2018?

[johnsonshiue · Accepted solution]

Hi Guys,

The change is intended. Some tools like Check Design and Recognize Revit Features are removed in 2018. It is because the significant difference between Inventor and Revit making improvement on the two particular workflows extremely difficult. Also, the two commands do not allow assembly to be exported. The team decided to remove the commands based on user feedback and technical difficulty.

Many thanks!

[djohnson]

Very VERY disappointed this feature has been removed, Surely no one has fed back that they do not use this feature. For this reason alone I cannot progress past V 2017. Even if we simplify the model we still need to know if it passes Revit features. I would like a more thorough explanation with detailed reasons why this has been removed as the above reason is poor. p.s. we only moved to Inventor from Creo for the BIM exchange features as per V 2017. I may as well revert back to Creo and get there .IFC exporter add-on....

Regards

[johnsonshiue · Accepted solution]

Hi Dean,

If you still want the features partially recognized in Revit file, there is actually an API access. Here is the code. You can copy and paste it to a VBA module within a part. Make sure you change the export file name at the bottom.

Sub Part2RFA()

Dim oPartDoc As PartDocument
Set oPartDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument

Dim oBIMComp As BIMComponent
Set oBIMComp = oPartDoc.ComponentDefinition.BIMComponent

Dim oNameValueMap As NameValueMap
Set oNameValueMap = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateNameValueMap

'  ExportMethod
'  "NativeRevitFeatures", only support part
'  "DerivedSubstitute", support part and assembly
Call oNameValueMap.Add("ExportMethod", "NativeRevitFeatures")
Call oBIMComp.ExportBuildingComponentWithOptions("C:\aaa.rfa", oNameValueMap)

End Sub

Many thanks!

[Peter.deVries]

Thank you very much for this workaround, johnsonshiue!

This works great for me.

And thanks to you djohnson as well for pressing on, so we got the workaround through API Access.

Kind regards and have a wonderful day you all,

Peter

[djohnson]

Hi

Thank you for the response, as I am new to Inventor could you please point me in the right direction with instructions how to implement the above in Inventor 2018.

Regards

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! There are ways to make this process more elegant. I can show you the simplest way. Start up Inventor and go to Tools -> VBA Editor -> click on the default module under ApplicationProject -> copy and paste the code I provide. Now, open a part you want to translate and go back to Tools -> Macros -> set Macros filter to All Application Projects. You will see "Part2RFA." Just run it. You will get an rfa file in C:\. Please note that the output file name can be changed in the code.

Many thanks!

[jnoordzij]

Just how long will this method remain applyable?

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! The process should remain available until a replacement workflow has been identified.

Many thanks!

[Anonymous]

Hi. i know this is old, but could you explain me this instruction "change the export file name at the bottom". Where exactly must i change the file name? Could you give me an example, please?

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! In the sample code I shared, there is a line saying "C:\aaa.rfa." If you don't change the name, all exported files will be aaa.rfa and newer one will overwrite the older one.

Many thanks!

[m.loorendejong]

Hello Shiue,

I have a question;

Does this method (vba code) also work in Inventor Professional 2019?

I copied the code in Inventor Professional 2019, I get the following error code;

Run-time error '5':

Invalid procedure call or argument

(see also the attachment for the inserted VBA code)

Maybe you have a solution?

Thanks!

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Indeed, the VBA script I provide no longer seems to work on 2019. I need to check with the project team and understand the behavior better.

Many thanks!

[EvanGu]

Hi! Are you using Windows10? Looks it does not allow to save files to the root directory of Disk C, change to another directory and try again.

Sub Part2RFA()

Dim oPartDoc As PartDocument
Set oPartDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument

Dim oBIMComp As BIMComponent
Set oBIMComp = oPartDoc.ComponentDefinition.BIMComponent

Dim oNameValueMap As NameValueMap
Set oNameValueMap = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateNameValueMap

'  ExportMethod
'  "NativeRevitFeatures", only support part
'  "DerivedSubstitute", support part and assembly
Call oNameValueMap.Add("ExportMethod", "NativeRevitFeatures")
Call oBIMComp.ExportBuildingComponentWithOptions("C:\temp\aaa.rfa", oNameValueMap)

End Sub

[m.loorendejong]

Hi EvanGu,

Thanks, the VBA code is working now. But i still can't edit the geometry in Revit. I exported some parameters like width & length. These exported parameters are "0", you can change them but the model is not updating. The model is still a "dumb" block (non editable).

Maybe you have another clue?

Thanks!

[EvanGu]

Hi! Only feature parameters (Extrude distance, Revolve angle) can be edited to drive the model update in Revit, parameters added by sketch dimensions in Inventor do not associate to the sketch in Revit. You need to add "Label" to build the connection.

Parameters d31, d35... are exported from Inventor, select a sketch dimension and add label to a parameter. Then edit the parameter, the model can update accordingly.