Binding Shared Parameters Failing on some Categories

[greg7KTAR]

In the Revit API, I have created the Shared Parameters file and in the routine applied it to the project and in doing create a group definition fine. I am getting the definition file within the api, and am successful at getting the category cat returned. (Jeremy has a previous routine I basically used, but modified it further to solve some holes - can post more), next I loop through the public array called:

public static BuiltInCategory[] AnalyticsDataTargets = new BuiltInCategory[] {
BuiltInCategory.OST_DuctCurves, BuiltInCategory.OST_DuctFitting, BuiltInCategory.OST_DuctAccessory, BuiltInCategory.OST_FlexDuctCurves, BuiltInCategory.OST_DuctTerminal,
BuiltInCategory.OST_MechanicalEquipment,
BuiltInCategory.OST_PipeCurves, BuiltInCategory.OST_PipeFitting, BuiltInCategory.OST_PipeAccessory, BuiltInCategory.OST_PlumbingFixtures,
BuiltInCategory.OST_Conduit, BuiltInCategory.OST_ConduitFitting,
BuiltInCategory.OST_CableTray, BuiltInCategory.OST_CableTrayFitting,
BuiltInCategory.OST_ElectricalEquipment, BuiltInCategory.OST_ElectricalFixtures, BuiltInCategory.OST_LightingDevices, BuiltInCategory.OST_LightingFixtures };

public static void AssignSharedInstanceParameterToCategories(Document doc, string defname, string AnalyticsMEPSharedParameterGroupName)
{
Application app = doc.Application;
bool BindingCreatedSucceeded = false;
bool typeParameter = false;

/// This needs to be a repeatable function passing DefinitionName and DefinitionType
using (Transaction t = new Transaction(doc))
{
t.Start("Create Shared Parameter");
Category cat;

// create instance parameters:
foreach (BuiltInCategory target in AnalyticsDataTargets)
{
cat = GetCategory(doc, target);
if (null != cat)
{
CreateSharedParameterBindingToCategorySet(doc, cat, defname, typeParameter, AnalyticsMEPSharedParameterGroupName);
}
}

t.Commit();
}

}

And within that CreateSharedParameterBindingToCategorySet used Jeremy's example (I can post my efforts at the SDK example approach as well). It isnt working for all categories - not sure why and could use help:

static bool CreateSharedParameterBindingToCategorySet(Document doc, Category cat, string defname, bool typeParameter, string AnalyticsMEPSharedParameterGroupName)
{

Application app = doc.Application;
Autodesk.Revit.Creation.Application ca = app.Create;
string filename = app.SharedParametersFilename;
DefinitionFile file = app.OpenSharedParameterFile();

DefinitionGroup group = file.Groups.get_Item(AnalyticsMEPSharedParameterGroupName);
bool visible = cat.AllowsBoundParameters;
Definition definition = group.Definitions.get_Item(defname);

// create the category set containing our category for binding:
CategorySet catSet = ca.NewCategorySet();
catSet.Insert(cat);
try
{
Binding binding;

if (typeParameter == true)
{
// Binding binding = typeParameter
// ? ca.NewTypeBinding(catSet) as Binding
// : ca.NewInstanceBinding(catSet) as Binding;
binding = ca.NewTypeBinding(catSet) as Binding;
}
else
{
binding = ca.NewInstanceBinding(catSet) as Binding;

}

// we could check if it is already bound, but it looks like insert will just ignore it in that case:
// NEED THE CODE FOR THIS CHECK - THAT IS THE POINT FOR DEBUG

// Option to not Specify the Parameter Group
doc.ParameterBindings.Insert(definition, binding);

// Option to specify the parameter group here:
// doc.ParameterBindings.Insert(definition, binding, BuiltInParameterGroup.PG_GENERAL);

string strTypeParam = "";
if (typeParameter)
{
strTypeParam = "type";
}
else
{
strTypeParam = "instance";
}
string DebugTest = "Created a shared {0} parameter '{1}' for the {2} category. " + strTypeParam + "defname = " + defname + "catName = " + cat.Name;

}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//Util.ErrorMsg(string.Format( "Error binding shared parameter to category {0}: {1}", cat.Name, ex.Message));
return false;
}
return true;

}

[jeremy_tammik]

For some categories, this is a known issue. Maybe you are running into the same.

I cannot view your attached image. It says:

> Document preview of Support Shared Parameters Binding to Element Categories.png
> Error displaying attachment content

Can you share a complete minimal reproducible case that I can pass on to the development team in case there is a problem that needs reporting?

https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/about-the-author.html#1b

Thank you!

[greg7KTAR]

Jeremy:

Thanks for your reply. I would like to produce a cast, however, this morning I found a solution that looks like it works (with some caveats), and with that in mind I can no longer reproduce exactly the same thing. However, I may be able to pinpoint the problem with a screen cast after I clean up this set of code. Here's an update as to my experience. It appears if you set the categories once, you can't re-set them to a project or set them to more categories later(at least with the code I am using)  - and therein could be the root of the issue.  So starting fresh, if I set them all at once (in a small test it worked). I may need help to set the variables themselves later - or deal with partially set models needing the remaining categories or Shared Parameters added, but am getting the fields on all items when i do it this way. I switched to the method from the SDK, which does all the CatSet.Insert on all categories at once, such as:

Category DuctClassification = doc.Settings.Categories.get_Item(BuiltInCategory.OST_DuctCurves);
Category DuctFittingsClassification = doc.Settings.Categories.get_Item(BuiltInCategory.OST_DuctFitting);
Category DuctAccessoryClassification = doc.Settings.Categories.get_Item(BuiltInCategory.OST_DuctAccessory);
Category FlexDuctClassification = doc.Settings.Categories.get_Item(BuiltInCategory.OST_FlexDuctCurves);

catSet.Insert(DuctClassification);
catSet.Insert(DuctFittingsClassification);
catSet.Insert(DuctAccessoryClassification);
catSet.Insert(FlexDuctClassification);

[Sean_Page]

Have you tried to bind one of those parameters manually to the families to see what if anything it says? In the past, i have ran into what Jeremy is describing with certain parameter types not being supported by some categories.

[bixilix]

I have the very same problem. I cannot add some parameters to some categories by script. When I do it manually it works fine. I´m using Revit 2021. Did anyone solve this problem?

I tried to get the categories with:

Category cat = doc.Settings.Categories.get_Item(builtInCategory);

and 
Category cat = Category.GetCategory(doc, builtInCategory);

It does not work when adding these to my CategorySet.

Binding the parameter to the category Ebenen is not allowed