having trouble programmatically placing doors and windows in walls, via an addin

[Anonymous]

I am attemtping to programmatically place walls, and then place doors and windows in those walls.

I am getting confused about how to generate a FamilySymbol for a door.  I am assuming that window insertion into walls is similar in technique.

code is below:

using Autodesk.Revit.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.Revit.Attributes;
using Autodesk.Revit.DB;
using Autodesk.Revit.DB.Architecture;
using Autodesk.Revit.DB;
using Autodesk.Revit.Creation;
using Autodesk.Revit.UI;
using Autodesk.Revit.UI.Selection;

[TransactionAttribute( TransactionMode.Manual )]
[RegenerationAttribute( RegenerationOption.Manual )]
public class RevitDataPlugin : IExternalCommand {
    public Result Execute( ExternalCommandData commandData, ref string message, ElementSet elements ) {
        //Get application and document objects
        UIApplication uiApp = commandData.Application;
        var doc = uiApp.ActiveUIDocument.Document;

        using ( Transaction trans = new Transaction( doc ) ) {
            trans.Start( "WallDataParser" );

            Level level = Level.Create( doc, 0.0 );
            XYZ start = new XYZ( 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 );
            XYZ end = new XYZ( 10.0, 0.0, 0.0 );
            Line wallLine = Line.CreateBound( start, end );
            Wall wall = Wall.Create( doc, wallLine as Line, level.Id, true );

            XYZ doorPoint = new XYZ( 5.0 , 0.0, 0.0 );

            ElementId doorCategoryId = new ElementId( BuiltInCategory.OST_Doors );
          
            FamilySymbol doorSymbol = null; // TODO: how?

            doc.Create.NewFamilyInstance( doorPoint, doorSymbol, wall, Autodesk.Revit.DB.Structure.StructuralType.NonStru​ctural );

            doc.Regenerate();

            trans.Commit();
        }

        return Result.Succeeded;
    }
}

[BobbyC.Jones]

Are you familiar with the concept of the FilteredElementCollector?  

[Anonymous]

I was not, but I think I understand it's use now. the following code is what I have come up with so far, however it fails with a symbol not active.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
//using System.IO;
//using System.Linq;

using Autodesk.Revit.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.Revit.Attributes;
using Autodesk.Revit.DB;
using Autodesk.Revit.DB.Architecture;
using Autodesk.Revit.Creation;
using Autodesk.Revit.UI;
using Autodesk.Revit.UI.Selection;

[TransactionAttribute( TransactionMode.Manual )]
[RegenerationAttribute( RegenerationOption.Manual )]
public class RevitDataPlugin : IExternalCommand {
    private List<FamilySymbol> doorFamilies = new List<FamilySymbol>();

    public Result Execute( ExternalCommandData commandData, ref string message, ElementSet elements ) {
        //Get application and document objects
        UIApplication uiApp = commandData.Application;
        var doc = uiApp.ActiveUIDocument.Document;

        using ( Transaction trans = new Transaction( doc ) ) {
            trans.Start( "WallDataParser" );

            PrepareDoorFamilies( commandData );

            Level level = Level.Create( doc, 0.0 );
            XYZ start = new XYZ( 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 );
            XYZ end = new XYZ( 10.0, 0.0, 0.0 );
            Line wallLine = Line.CreateBound( start, end );
            Wall wall = Wall.Create( doc, wallLine as Line, level.Id, false );

            XYZ doorPoint = new XYZ( 5.0 , 0.0, 0.0 );

            ElementId doorCategoryId = new ElementId( BuiltInCategory.OST_Doors );
            //Opening opening = wall.Document.Create.NewOpening( wall, pntStart, pntEnd );

            FamilySymbol doorSymbol = doorFamilies[0]; // TODO: how?

            doc.Create.NewFamilyInstance( doorPoint, doorSymbol, wall, Autodesk.Revit.DB.Structure.StructuralType.NonStru​ctural );

            doc.Regenerate();

            trans.Commit();
        }

        return Result.Succeeded;
    }

    private void PrepareDoorFamilies( ExternalCommandData commandData ) {
        UIApplication uiApp = commandData.Application;
        var doc = uiApp.ActiveUIDocument.Document;

        // prepare families
        FilteredElementIterator familyIter = new FilteredElementCollector( doc ).OfClass( typeof( Family ) ).GetElementIterator();

        while ( familyIter.MoveNext() ) {

            Family doorFamily = familyIter.Current as Family;

            if ( null == doorFamily.FamilyCategory ) { // some family.FamilyCategory is null
                continue;
            }

            if ( doorFamily.FamilyCategory.Name != doc.Settings.Categories.get_Item( BuiltInCategory.OST_Doors ).Name ) { // FamilyCategory.Name is not 'Doors'
                continue;
            }

            foreach ( ElementId elementId in doorFamily.GetFamilySymbolIds() ) {
                // store the created family
                doorFamilies.Add( ( FamilySymbol )( doc.GetElement( elementId ) ) );
            }

        }
    }
}

[Anonymous]

mind you a good but of the code in PrepareDoorFamilies was pulled from the demos of the api

[BobbyC.Jones]

Oh, how unfortunate and confusing!  Here's a quick way to get Ids of all door family symbols.

using Autodesk.Revit.Attributes;
using Autodesk.Revit.DB;
using Autodesk.Revit.UI;

namespace Revit.Examples
{
    [Transaction(TransactionMode.Manual)]
    [Regeneration(RegenerationOption.Manual)]
    public class TestCommand : IExternalCommand
    {
        public Result Execute(ExternalCommandData commandData, ref string message, ElementSet elements)
        {
            var collector = new FilteredElementCollector(commandData.Application.ActiveUIDocument.Document);

            var doorFamilySymbolIds = collector.
                OfClass(typeof (FamilySymbol)).
                OfCategory(BuiltInCategory.OST_Doors).
                ToElementIds();

            return Result.Succeeded;
        }
    }
}

[BobbyC.Jones · Accepted solution]

but of course, after reading a little closer, you don't give a crap about family symbol Ids, and you need to keep from crashing with the symbol not active exception.

using System.Linq;
using Autodesk.Revit.Attributes;
using Autodesk.Revit.DB;
using Autodesk.Revit.UI;

namespace DWH.Revit.Schedules.Commands
{
    [Transaction(TransactionMode.Manual)]
    [Regeneration(RegenerationOption.Manual)]
    public class TestCommand : IExternalCommand
    {
        public Result Execute(ExternalCommandData commandData, ref string message, ElementSet elements)
        {
            var collector = new FilteredElementCollector(commandData.Application.ActiveUIDocument.Document);

            var doorFamilySymbols = collector.
                OfClass(typeof (FamilySymbol)).
                OfCategory(BuiltInCategory.OST_Doors).
                OfType<FamilySymbol>();

            var firstDoorSymbol = doorFamilySymbols.FirstOrDefault();

            if (firstDoorSymbol == null)
            {
                message = "No door families loaded.";

                return Result.Failed;
            }

            if (!firstDoorSymbol.IsActive)
            {
                firstDoorSymbol.Activate();
            }

            //Do your thing with the door symbol.

            return Result.Succeeded;
        }
    }
}

[Anonymous]

thanks! this little project is my first real foray into C#, so it's been a bit rough, though I have been learning a lot! much appreciated!

[BobbyC.Jones]

I thought it might be and I despise those examples that obfuscate the use of the Revit API in unnecessary language constructs. I'm glad I could help and I hope things are a little clearer. Scour the SDK docs and the www to learn all you can about Filters and the FilteredElementCollector; you'll use them a lot. Good luck and come back when you get stuck!

[Anonymous]

though I do have one issuse with your solution: all doors are null! instead of

FamilySymbol doorSymbol = doorFamilySymbols.FirstOrDefault();

I replaced it with

FamilySymbol doorSymbol = null, window = null;
foreach ( FamilySymbol door in doorFamilySymbols ) {
    if ( door == null ) {
        continue;
    } else {
        doorSymbol = door ;

        if ( !doorSymbol.IsActive ) {
            doorSymbol.Activate();
        }

        break;
     }
}

 but the null-ness persists!

[BobbyC.Jones]

Does your project have any door families loaded?

[Anonymous]

no I do not, how would I do so?

[Anonymous]

no it doesn't I'm trying to place one 😛 how would I load it? using loadFamily?

[BobbyC.Jones]

Yes, if the family you want isn't loaded, then LoadFamily will load it. Also note that LoadFamily provides you a Family object which has a very convenient GetFamilySymbolIds() method.

[BobbyC.Jones]

And alternatively, if you only want to load a single type instead of them all, you can use LoadFamilySymbol().

[Anonymous]

any ideas on how to load the default families in the arch-template? I cannot find them in the filesystem, so i assume they are in the document itself.

[BobbyC.Jones]

Well, two things come to mind immediately. First, you can right click on the Families node in the Project Browser and save families from inside a project to individual .rfa family files, or right click on any single non-system family to save a single file. Second, if you're **** bent on doing all via code, you could look into the ElementTransformUtils.CopyElements() method to copy families from one project to another.