Project Parameters vs. Shared Parameters

[Anonymous]

So I was always under the impression that Project Parameters would only be useable in the project they were created and the value of those parameters could not carry into other projects (ie: via link).  So how is it possible that when I link a project into another project and create a sheet list that includes the linked files, I can not only add that Project Parameter but I can also see its value from the linked file.  The parameter shows up in both projects as a 
Project Parameter".  When I try to duplicate the situation I can't get it to work.  This is part of a bigger issue I posted about earlier today, the values of some shared parameters aren't carrying through to the composite project.  I hope someone with intimate knowledge of parameters and sheet lists can respond intelligently here.  I am either missing something really obvious or this system is buggy.

[L.Maas]

Try adding the project parameter with the same name and the same type in both linked and host file.

[SteveKStafford]

Project Parameters can be based on a Shared Parameter. I think of shared parameters as definitions stored in a dictionary. The dictionary is the Shared Parameter file...the parameters are the definitions of the word we chosen to use.

We can create parameters in a Family and in Projects. In a family they can be used to manipulate size or to store information. Family parameters we create can be manipulated in the properties of the family in either the family editor or projects. They can't appear in schedules or tags...unless the Family Parameter is created from the definition of a Shared Parameter.

Project Parameters are similar except they are associated with specific categories in the project (Sheets being one). This allows us to apply values to all the families of a specific category without having to edit families and add it to each of them too. This being true of information that doesn't have to change the families directly, change their size.

In the case of linked files, the Project Parameter in each file needs to be based on the same Shared Parameter definition so Revit understands them, their definition is the same thing. When two projects have the same Project Parameter in name only, not based on a Shared Parameter then they aren't the same thing because a parameter is identified internally by a GUID, not the name we read.

If you are dealing with a project that uses a different definition for the same thing you can harvest the Shared Parameter definition from whichever project has the correct one. In the Project Parameter dialog Modify the parameter in question and use the Export option that becomes active when you select Shared Parameter. If the Export button is disabled its because a Shared Parameter is not currently associated with your Revit session. Use Shared Parameters to connect to or create a Shared Parameter file, then Export will be available. Once you've got a copy of the definition in your own Shared Parameter file you can use it on this or other projects too.

[L.Maas]

Steve,

I believe they do not need to be shared parameters. If you create in both, the host and the linked file, the same project parameter, with the same name and the same type it works also. They do not have to be a shared parameter.

[Anonymous]

Ok, I think I follow you.  First, I tried your method below and the "Export" button was greyed out.  I clicked on Shared Parameters on the "Manage" ribbon just to verify that a Shared Parameters file was connected to the project.  It was.  That parameter is not in the SP file though.  It was probably created a while ago as part of an older SP file (this project is in its third restart in the last 3 years); however, a parameter that shows up as "Project Parameter" is not in the SP file but still actively works with a couple of the project files.  What I mean by that is if you select it in the "Project Parameters" dialog (from the manage tab) and hit "Modify" it is tagged as a "Project Parameter" not a "Shared Parameter".  The only way I have been able to figure out how thats even possible is to use the "Copy to clipboard" trick for the sheet list and paste it into the other project file.  Problem is this creates new separate parameters everytime you do it. This explains how we keep getting multiple parameters with the same name in a project but doesn't solve the problem.

I have a project file that I am linking in to another file and want to use the sheets from the linked file in the sheet list residing in the master.  The parameters for "Primary Sort" and "Secondary Sort" are both shared parameters and both show up in the SP file loaded into both projects.  But the values from the subordinate project file for those parameters are not crossing over to the Master file.  Sheet name, number and some other shared/project parameters are crossing over so there just seems to be no logic here.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't work.  I tried that exact scenario.  Instead I had to "copy to clipboard" the sheet list from the subordinate file and "paste" it into the master file for the connection to work.  Problem is it just created new project parameters with the exact same names as what was in the master.  I don't want duplicates, I want it to populate the same column if its going to work.

[SteveKStafford]

Okay, let me rephrase my statement, I took the liberty of blending the notion of rules and opinion in my previous response.

In my opinion, they should be based on a Shared Parameter because it is very easy to type the name of the parameter each project is intending to use differently. For example, sheet sort a vs Sheet Sort A as project parameters won't be regarded as the same thing if we add a Project Parameter of sheet sort a in the host project. Revit won't recognize them as the same...using the Shared Parameter definition eliminates that possibility.

[SteveKStafford]

Revit didn't always map these project parameters automatically. I don't recall which release they started doing it if the names match. Did you mention which version this project is in now? You did mention it has been upgraded, the project?

If you were able to use Export on the parameter then it started out as a shared parameter. If it was just a Project Parameter then when you modify that parameter the Shared Parameter path is disabled. It sounds like you've got two different shared parameters involved.

Do you get the Export option for the same parameter in both files that you are linking into the host? Do you control all the files or is one or more coming from outside your firm?

[Anonymous]

We control all the files. 

I don't get the "Export" option in either the linked file or the master for that parameter.  It is available for some other paramters so not sure what I'm not getting.

We are in Revit 2016 now.  Probably started in Revit 2012.

[SteveKStafford]

Okay...no export means not Shared Parameters. The project files have been upgraded from as old as 2012 to 2016? That might be part of the issue you're encountering.

When you wrote you recreated the parameters, did you start fresh or modify existing ones?

[Anonymous]

Ok, but I just created a brand new shared parameter called "Test" IN the shared parameters file, saved it then loaded it into both the master project file and the subordinate linked file.  Then I went into project parameters and hit modify for that parameter, its not giving me the "Export" option from either file.  How can it NOT be connected to Shared Parameters when thats exactly where I created it from?

[SteveKStafford]

Sorry it is confusing...

Export is disabled when Revit recognizes the parameter is already in the Shared Parameter file your session of Revit is connected to. Export wakes up when that isn't true.

To test everything from scratch:

Create a Shared Parameter (SP) - Primary Sorting

In each project file:

Create a Project Parameter using that SP definition assigned to Sheets category

Edit your schedule > Add Parameter > Select your Shared Parameter from the list

Enter a few values for the existing sheets

In the host project the single column for all the links should report any values you've stored in this column. You can review them but you can't change them from the host model. If you also have sheets in the host model you can change the values store in the parameter here, in the host.

[Anonymous]

I did that exact process just now with entirely different named parameters just to avoind doubling up anytihng.  Went smoothly but the data I am putting in the column of the subordinate file is still not showing up in the master file.  I sync'd to central for both.

[SteveKStafford]

Have you reloaded the links? Using SwC does not reload linked files. If they are using worksets too then the changes must be sync'd with their own central too. I assume the central files are linked to the host project?