Is it possible to call a custom Revit addin externally in a c# program?

[devapi]

I have an addin that I created, and it works within REVIT as it is fine. Now I am wondering if there is a way to call created REVIT addins externally via a c# program. 

My specific scenario is I'd like to have a c# program or windows application that users would execute on their machines that would gather some form data that would then be passed to my REVIT addin which creates a model based on the data sent to it.  

Is there any examples that exist for what I am trying to do? 

[jeremy_tammik · Accepted solution]

Yes, this is possible. Please note that the Revit API requires a valid Revit API context, and such is only provided by Revit within a running session of Revit. exe. Therefore, Revit must be running, snd your custom add-in must be loaded and running as well. With that understood, you can communicate from outside with your add-in and cause it to provide the requested data. The standard way to set up such communication would be the use of an external event. There are lots of sources, ideas, and different approaches to achieve more. Here are some places to start looking:

• https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/about-the-author.html#5.28
• https://github.com/jeremytammik/FireRatingCloud

[devapi]

Thank you, Jeremy.