Get all Tags

[david_rock]

Hello,

The following code does not include the tags in a model.

Dim objCollectorAllFamilyInstance As FilteredElementCollector = New FilteredElementCollector(activeDBdoc).OfClass(GetType(FamilyInstance))

I need a similar line to give me all the tags (or IndependantTag) elements. However OfClass(GetType(IndependentTag)) does not work.

Kind Regards

David

[jeremytammik]

Dear David,

I very strongly suggest you install RevitLookup and take a closer look at the tags you wish to select using that tool:

https://github.com/jeremytammik/RevitLookup

It will tell you all you need to know in just a few clicks, such as .NET class, Revit category, etc.

Tags are not family instances.

You can also look at the Revit API help file to see that it defines a separate class for independent tags, very imaginatively named IndependentTag:

http://www.revitapidocs.com/2018.1/e52073e2-9d98-6fb5-eb43-288cf9ed2e28.htm

Try filtering for those and see what you get.

Please install RevitLookup and check it out yourself first!

Cheers,

Jeremy

[david_rock]

Thank you for your suggestions, yes I use RevitLookup regularly. However in this case it didn't provide me with any ideas.

I ended up using CategoryType to find the Annotation categories.

It is not very elegant, so I would welcome alternative solutions. 

Dim ListOfElementId As New List(Of ElementId)
Dim objCategories As Categories = objDocument.Settings.Categories
    For Each objCategory As Category In objCategories
         If objCategory.CategoryType.Equals(CategoryType.Annotation) Then
              Dim objCollector As FilteredElementCollector = New FilteredElementCollector(objDocument).OfCategoryId(objCategory.Id)
              ListOfElementId.AddRange(objCollector.ToElementIds)
         End If
    Next
Return ListOfElementId

Kind Regards

David

[jeremytammik]

Dear David,

Congratulations on finding a solution that suits your needs and thank you for sharing it with us.

I cannot comment on whether the filtering criteria can be improved.

You can optimise it slightly by returning the `ICollection` of element ids generated by the call to `ToElementIds`.

There is probably no need nor any advantage in using that to create yet another own `List` of element ids.

Every new list or other collection creation requires a new memory allocation and copying across of the existing data, cf. FindElement and Collector Optimisation, especially item 3:

http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2012/09/findelement-and-collector-optimisation.html

Cheers,

Jeremy

[perry.swoboda]

Just so that people not despair for easily querying all tags, the original poster's code works in Revit 2020.
Here is my version tweaked to only return Material Tags. (in C#)

var collector = new FilteredElementCollector(doc).OfClass(typeof(IndependentTag)).Cast<IndependentTag>().Where<IndependentTag>(tag => tag.IsMaterialTag == true);

[jeremytammik]

Thank you for sharing this. I added it to The Building Coder samples for future reference:

https://github.com/jeremytammik/the_building_coder_samples/compare/2020.0.147.16...2020.0.147.17

    /// <summary>
    /// Return all tags, optionally 
    /// material tags only
    /// </summary>
    IEnumerable<IndependentTag> GetMaterialTags(
      Document doc,
      bool material_only )
    {
      IEnumerable<IndependentTag> tags
        = new FilteredElementCollector( doc )
          .OfClass( typeof( IndependentTag ) )
          .Cast<IndependentTag>();

      return material_only
        ? tags
        : tags.Where<IndependentTag>( 
          tag => tag.IsMaterialTag );
    }