Fabric sheet's weird rectangles And Flip fabric sheet direction

[atir5UTNF]

What are those?

What are they used for?

Why Revit don't create same things for singels Rebars?

Is it possible to hide them?

I want to flip the fabric major and minor position relative to floor's cover.

I don't want to create new type for this, since those fabrics are the same and they should be same for bar schedual etc..

I found that it can be done if I flip the normal in the transform I give the "PlaceInHost(...)", but now those rectangles are out of the floor.

[caroline.gitonga]

@atir5UTNF,

Kindly, provide a minimum reproducible case we can use to reproduce this behavior on our end , and maybe likely consult if need be.

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

[atir5UTNF]

Hello,

Run this mehod on the model attached.

public void AddFabricSheetBug2(Floor floor, Document rvtDoc)
        {
            ElementId fabricTypeId = FabricSheetType.CreateDefaultFabricSheetType(rvtDoc);
            fabricType.Name = "test";
            fabricType.SetMajorLayoutAsActualSpacing(2.5 / 0.3048, 0.05 / 0.3048, 0.1 / 0.3048);
            fabricType.SetMinorLayoutAsActualSpacing(6.0 / 0.3048, 0.05 / 0.3048, 0.1 / 0.3048);

            FabricSheet fabricSheet = FabricSheet.Create(rvtDoc, floor, fabricTypeId);
            if (fabricSheet != null)
            {
                rvtDoc.Regenerate();
                fabricSheet.FabricLocation = FabricLocation.BottomOrInternal;

                Transform loc = fabricSheet.GetSheetLocation();
                XYZ curOrg = loc.Origin;
                XYZ newOrg = new XYZ(0.05 / 0.3048, 0.05 / 0.3048, curOrg.Z);

                Transform moveTo = Transform.Identity;
                moveTo.Origin = newOrg;
                moveTo.BasisX = XYZ.BasisX;
                moveTo.BasisY = XYZ.BasisY;
                moveTo.BasisZ = XYZ.BasisZ;
                fabricSheet.PlaceInHost(floor, moveTo);
            }
        }

[atir5UTNF]

@caroline.gitonga 

Any new on this?

[caroline.gitonga]

Hi @atir5UTNF ,

Apologies for the delayed response. Unfortunately, I have not been able to successfully reproduce this behaviour on my end. I have logged this issue with my peers and engineering team for extensive and closer observation. Kindly, keep patience and I will update on any news/communication on this.

Can you tell us on which Revit version you are encountering this behaviour?

[atir5UTNF]

@caroline.gitonga 

I'm currently using Revit 2022.

Now I see that I missed a line when wrote this method...

Add this between lines 3 and 4:

FabricSheetType fabricType = rvtDoc.GetElement(fabricTypeId) as FabricSheetType;

I attached the model after I add the fabirc, in case it halps.

[caroline.gitonga]

Hi @atir5UTNF,

I would suggest you use RevitLookUp on the UI to snoop on these lines upon selection. I would think these are highlights of the bounding box representing the position and geometry of an element. Kindly, try use RevitLookup and lets if it gives any information

[atir5UTNF]

Hello,

Did you open the model I atteched in the previous replay "FlipFabricModelWithFabric"?

Dose it look ok in your revit? or same as I see it?

Every fabric sheet has these rectangular boxes, added by API or from UI.

Someone in autodesk invest time and effort to have these rectangles on screen.

I wonder why, and what is their use.

Some bug draw those rectangles out of the host.

It happens when the normal(X and Y are fabric plane) of the transformation is pointing to floor's inside

(up for bottom fabrics and down for top fabrics).

When user added bottom fabric from UI, Revit adds the fabric with normal out, but I need rhe fabric flipped.

Is there another way to do it?

[caroline.gitonga · Accepted solution]

Hi @atir5UTNF, 

We looked further into this and engaged the dev team on this scenario and below is the response they gave:

This is actually a limitation of the FabricSheet.
The wires on X axis ALWAYS adhere and should adhere to cover.
The Z axis in FabricSheet tells the fabric where to expect the face to use when FabricSheet Location is changed to “Top/Bottom”, location which will be previewed by those rectangles. When you flip that axis to point inside the element, you tell FabricSheet to look for a cover in the opposite direction; in case of our user, outside the Floor, in which case the element searches for the opposite cover/face, finds none, stops at a predefinite location and draws the rectangles as the “Location” placeholder.

The only option I see is to create a new type that is rotated by 90 degrees if the spacing between major and minor wires are not equal.

[atir5UTNF]

@caroline.gitonga 

Thanks!

For those who read this post in the future:

Beside those rectangle, I didn't find any problem with flipping the normal, except that you have to add "CoverOffset" to the fabric by fabric thickness, since the fabric major is still closer to cover.

[caroline.gitonga]

Thank you for your patience and pursuit of this issue. Am glad we could get some information on it. Kindy, if you found the information valuable or helpful you may "accept solution" for future references for forum community users.

[atir5UTNF]

I think it's worth adding an option/parameter to flip the fabric in future Revit versions...