Family Instance References w/ 2018 API

[Anonymous]

I am trying to make a command that makes copies of a family instance at every curtain grid line of a curtain wall and locks them. 

I have no trouble making the new family instances, locking them is where I have trouble. I am trying to use the NewAlignment method using...

1. CurtainGridLine reference

2. Family instance reference obtained from the 2018 API method GetReferences. 

When I tried to run the command I got an error that the family instance reference was not valid. The specific enum I used (CenterLeftRight) for FamilyInstanceReferenceType was the only CenterLeftRight reference in the family and also the reference I needed for the command.

Has anyone had similar issues? Maybe some reference types work better than others?

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Opened the family to verifiy that the reference i'm selecting is a valid reference. Tried changing it to strong, weak, center (front/back) and I get the same error message. Also tried with FamilyInstances of different families and got the same error.

[jeremytammik]

Dear Adelira,

Thank you for your query.

I cannot tell what the problem might be from the hints you supply.

Maybe it would help if you add a full reproducible case, so we can see which part of the code works and which part fails:

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

Best regards,

Jeremy

[Anonymous]

public static void CopyComponents(this Document doc, FamilyInstance SelectedFI, Wall SelectedWall)
{
    //first get the vertical grid lines of a selected wall
    List<CurtainGridLine> Verticals = doc.GetElements<CurtainGridLine>
    (SelectedWall.CurtainGrid.GetVGridLineIds().ToList());
    //create a new family instance at the location of vertical gridlines of selected wall
    foreach (var vert in Verticals)
    {
        //get any point on the vertical curtain grid line 
        var VertLine = vert.FullCurve.GetEndPoint(0);
        //create a placement point at the XY coordinates of the gridline at the height of the selected family instance
        XYZ CurtainGridPt = new XYZ(VertLine.X, VertLine.Y, 
           (SelectedFI.Location as LocationPoint).Point.Z);
        //create the new family instance at the location of the curtain grid line
        var NewFI = doc.Create.NewFamilyInstance(SelectedFI.HostFace, CurtainGridPt, 
            SelectedFI.HandOrientation, SelectedFI.Symbol);
        //get the (Center (Left/Right) reference inside of the family instance
        var FIReference = NewFI.GetReferenceByName("Center (Left/Right)");
        //
        var NewAlignment = doc.Create.NewAlignment(doc.ActiveView, FIReference, vert.GetReference());
    }
}

//extension methods 
public static List<T> GetElements<T>(this Document doc, List<ElementId> ids)
    where T : class
{
    //get a list of selected elements as specified generic type from list of elemntids
    List<T> TList = new List<T>();
    foreach (ElementId id in ids)
    {
        T NewElement = doc.GetElement(id) as T;
        if (NewElement != null)
            TList.Add(NewElement);
    }
    return TList;
}
public static Reference GetReference(this CurtainGridLine CurtainGridLine)
{
    //get the curve reference of a curtaingridline
    Autodesk.Revit.DB.Line GridLineWithRef = null;
    foreach(Autodesk.Revit.DB.Line line in CurtainGridLine.get_Geometry(NewOptions()))
    {
        try
        {
            GridLineWithRef = line; //get a line with valid reference from geometry element
        }
        catch (System.Exception)
        {
        }
    }
    return GridLineWithRef.Reference;
}

This is simplified version of what my program does. The error occurs in CopyComponents when it tries to use the family instance reference FIReference. I've attached a test family I used, and I can post the code for the command too if needed. (selects the family instance and wall and starts transaction)

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Okay, so I think I figured out what the problem is.

It seems like family instances created with the doc.Create.NewFamilyInstance() method do not have valid references available.

Family instances I create this way return null when using the FamilyInstance.GetReference() method. However family instances I create through the UI return valid references.

Hopefully I am just missing something and this is not a bug?

Thank you.

[Revitalizer]

Hi,

perhaps the document needs to be regenerated after FamilyInstance creation, before getting valid references from the newly created FamilyInstances.

Or you could use a TransactionGroup, containing two separate transactions, one for creating the FamilyInstances, another one for getting and using their references.

Revitalizer

[jeremytammik]

Dear Adelira and Revitalizer,

Thank you for your update and suggestions.

Yes indeed, this sound like another example of the Need to Regenerate:

http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/about-the-author.html#5.33

Please confirm that it works, and how.

Thank you!

Cheers,

Jeremy

[Anonymous]

Tried the doc.Regenerate() method. Still get null for references that are normally returned as valid references from UI created family instances.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

It ended up being an issue with the family I was trying to get the reference from. I had named two almost identical families very similar and one of them did not have the reference I was looking for.

Things are working great now.

Thank you for your suggestions guys.

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone.
I'm trying to do something similar, namely to get a reference from a CurtainGridLine. As shown above. But from CurtainGridLine a related geometry I get only lines, and I can not extract the reference from them, because Line Class does not have a reference parameter, unlike Curve Class.

Where am I wrong, it seems that something is quite simple?

p.s. Yes its python:

rp = UnwrapElement(IN[1]) #Some Reference Plane
cgl = UnwrapElement(IN[2]) #CurtineGridLine
rpref = rp.GetReference()
r222 = 0
rptype = rpref.ElementReferenceType
cglref = Reference(cgl)
cgltype = cglref.ElementReferenceType

TransactionManager.Instance.EnsureInTransaction(doc)

#r22 = uidoc.Selection.PickObject(Selection.ObjectType.Edge, 'Pick first face for reference')

options = Options()
options.ComputeReferences = True
options.IncludeNonVisibleObjects = True
options.DetailLevel = ViewDetailLevel.Fine
 
geomElem = cgl.get_Geometry(options)
gridRef = Reference.ParseFromStableRepresentation(doc, cgl.UniqueId).ElementReferenceType

#lockedAlign = doc.Create.NewAlignment(view, r11, geomElem)
r222 = 0
for gr in geomElem:
	try:
		r222 = Reference(gr)
	except:	
		pass
TransactionManager.Instance.TransactionTaskDone()

#OUT = view , lockedAlign

OUT = ["Need reference here", r222], ["StableReference", gridRef], ["Geometry from CGL", geomElem], ["RP ref type", rptype], ["CGL ref type", cgltype]

 

[Anonymous]

Try using this method to get the reference from a curtaingridline. I believe I used this because sometimes curtaingridlines have segments with lines and segments without lines and I was getting an exception. This ensures you get a segment with a reference.

public static Reference GetReference(this CurtainGridLine CurtainGridLine)

{

Autodesk.Revit.DB.Line GridLineWithRef = null;

foreach(Autodesk.Revit.DB.Line line in CurtainGridLine.get_Geometry(NewOptions()))

{

try

{

GridLineWithRef = line; //get a line with valid reference from geometry element

}

catch (System.Exception)

{

}

}

return GridLineWithRef.Reference;

}

public static Options NewOptions()

{

Options DefaultOptions = new Options();

DefaultOptions.ComputeReferences = true;

DefaultOptions.IncludeNonVisibleObjects = true;

return DefaultOptions;

}