Retrieving Definition DirectShape Library

[RmsMali]

I have been trying to do some tasks which involves the usage of direct shape library and i'm stuck with it. The details are specified below. Any help would be appreciated.

QUICK INFO ON THE TASK: In a project that I'm working on, we need to import ".ifc" files (These are the models developed in Tekla and exported as ".ifc"). Once imported inside Revit, the file size exceeds more than 800 Mb (in some cases 1 GB). So, we are trying to develop some strategy to split the Revit files (after importing the ".ifc") into multiple files. Based on some logical calculations, new files are created. (Since this is just a split up of the main Revit file, it could be easier to duplicate files and delete unwanted elements. However, for some internal reasons, we decided to re create all the elements as direct shape in the new project files). 

ISSUE: In one part of the code, we need to add the geometry instances of the objects to  Shapelibrary and need to retrieve the same again later. However, we are able to add geometry instances to the shape library but unable to retrieve the same.

Please look at the code below:

1. We have retrieved an element from the Revit file.  For each element, we have created a custom element wrapper class which stores the list of geometry objects.

2. We have a function which takes a Geometry instance as the input, as shown below.

	Private Function ObtainInstanceTypeData (CurrentDoc As Document, GeoInstance As GeometryInstance) As Tuple(Of String, ElementId)
		Dim ituple As Tuple(Of String,ElementId) = Nothing
		Dim ishapelib As DirectShapeLibrary = DirectShapeLibrary.GetDirectShapeLibrary(CurrentDoc) ' Obtain the library from the current document
		Dim iDSType As DirectShapeType = TryCast(GeoInstance.Symbol,DirectShapeType) ' To obtain unique id for each element
		Dim inewObjectslist As IList(Of GeometryObject) = GeoInstance.SymbolGeometry.ToList
		Dim DefName As String = iDSType.Id.ToString ' Using the TypeId as the definition string name as well. 

		If ishapelib.Contains(iDSType.Id.ToString) = False Then
		ishapelib.AddDefinition(iDSType.Id.ToString,inewObjectslist)	
		End If
		
		ituple = New Tuple(Of String, ElementId)(DefName,iDSType.Id)
		
		Return ituple
	End Function

3. It works perfectly until above point (at least we believe it works perfectly. Please point out if there is any issue with above code)

4. "ObtainInstanceTypeData" is a function to confirm if the shapelibrary contains a specific instance geometry and add the same if not present. We obtain a string (definition id) and feed it into "DirectShape.CreateGeometryInstance" to create a geometry instance (as shown below) . This is where the issue arises, it results in Null exception.

If ibelement.GeometryInstanceList.Count <> 0 Then 
   For Each iGeoInst As GeometryInstance In ibelement.GeometryInstanceList 'Custom Element Wrapper which provides the List of Geometry instances inside a given element
	Try
		Dim pTuple As Tuple(Of String,ElementId) = ObtainInstanceTypeData(pdoc,iGeoInst)
		Dim newObjList As IList(Of GeometryObject) = DirectShape.CreateGeometryInstance(pdoc,pTuple.Item1,iGeoInst.Transform)
		Dim kds As DirectShape	= DirectShape.CreateElement(pdoc,ibelement.ElementCategory.Id)
		kds.SetShape(newObjList)
		Dim kdsoptions As DirectShapeOptions = kds.GetOptions
		kdsoptions.ReferencingOption = DirectShapeReferencingOption.Referenceable
		kds.SetOptions(kdsoptions)
	Catch ex As Exception
			'TaskDialog.Show ("Error",ex.ToString)
	End Try
							
    Next
End If

 5. Question is: Is there a better way to use shapelibrary and retrieve objects? Why does the "CreateGeometryInstance" returns null error when the defintion was added just a step earlier.? Any help would be appreciated.

[jeremytammik]

Have you tried looking for the direct shape library types in RevitLookup?

I strongly suspect that you can retrieve them easily and efficiently using a filtered element collector.

That might solve all your problems right there.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Jeremy

[RmsMali]

Thanks for the reply.

I can try filteredelement collector. However, the problem is that I add the definition to the DirectShapelibrary and not to the document directly. If i'm not wrong, the filteredelementcollector will not return the objects present inside the directshape library (as the direct shape library itself is a database object).

However, your answer gave me another way to look at the solution. I have created a customized list to add the geometry data and retrieve them at the later stage whenever required. Thanks again for the reply.