Can a family pull a parameter value from the host ?

[Anonymous]

I'm back on our door family, I have to give it a rest every now and then because it is guaranteed to drive me nuts 🙂

Is it possible to pull a family parameter value from the host wall ?

Ideally the thickness of the finish layer in the wall assembly.

I have the family working with a manual entry for the value, but it would be handy if it could deal with this automatically - and make a distinction between the interior and external finish layers ?

Many thanks

Martin

[Alfredo_Medina]

Yes. It is possible to read the thickness of the host wall and the distance from a face of the wall to the core of the wall, converting the dimensions into instance reporting parameters, which can be used in formulas to drive other parameters.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Alfredo, any pointers to how you do this ? presumably it is some sort of formula for the parameter in the hosted family ? How can I pull the value in ?

Many thanks,

Martin

[Alfredo_Medina]

Measure from face to face in the host wall (not to reference planes). Convert the dimension into an instance parameter, reporting. Use the value of this parameter in formulas to drive the value of other length parameters in the family.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Alfredo,

Does the host wall in the family need to be amended to include a finish layer to each side, then add the reporting dimension to measure the thickness ?

I tried the steps you mentioned with the default wall (basic) but of course it only has the main (Core) layer.

Thanks

Martin

[Alfredo_Medina · Accepted solution]

Yes. If the host wall in the project does not have the same layers as the host in the family, those parameters will be zero. For this to work properly, the walls in the project should be similar to the wall host in the family.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again Alfredo,

Seems to work a treat 🙂

Family creation is hurting my head - especially all these nested, shared, linked parameters etc.

Regards

Martin