Revit Family Disable Grips to Weak or Strong Reference Plane

[paul.t.macknight]

I have created a Detail Item family and that contains two main dimensions: width and depth. The width parameter is defined as a type so that each type is of the same width. The depth, however, needs to be an instance parameter to reduce the number of additional types created for each different width/depth combo.

My issue now is that I can't remember how to disable the grips that control the instance parameter without setting the reference plane to "Not a Reference". I know there used to be a way to do this (I feel like Weak Reference planes weren't the only way), but now I can't remember what it might have been, and Weak Reference planes have (in my opinion, stupidly) been updated to provide those grips just like Strong Reference planes. Don't get me wrong, I actually used to want that functionality, but now that I have an instance where I DON'T want that functionality, I realize how short-sighted it is to either allow the grips and dimension lines when loaded, or to disallow grips and dimension lines, without having some kind of middle ground to allow alignment and dimensioning but disallow grips.

This is an issue for me because I want to be able to align the family on ALL sides to geometry in my project while retaining its shape, and not changing that instance parameter each time I align it. And as stated earlier, I don't want to make that parameter into a type parameter due to a potentially overwhelming number of types to accommodate all combinations of the width and depth.

Any help or insights someone could give me so that I can avoid making convoluted parameter references just to hide the grips would be a huge help. Thanks in advance!

[barthbradley]

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@paul.t.macknight wrote:

My issue now is that I can't remember how to disable the grips that control the instance parameter without setting the reference plane to "Not a Reference".

Don't name the Ref. Planes 

Use a Ref. Line assigned to Subcategory Name and then turn off that Subcategory in Project.  

[paul.t.macknight]

No luck. They were named (forgot they autoname when copied from a named ref plane), but even after I changed them to unnamed they're still giving me the stretch grips.

[barthbradley]

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@paul.t.macknight wrote:

No luck. They were named (forgot they autoname when copied from a named ref plane), but even after I changed them to unnamed they're still giving me the stretch grips.

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Yep. Sorry about that chief.  Ref. Line Subcategory approach should work though.  No?   

...what about just PINNING families in the Project to disable their grips?  

[paul.t.macknight]

Run that one by me, I'm not sure I'm familiar with that approach.

As for pinning, that won't work because that doesn't help me align the families to elements in the first place.

[loboarch]

I think setting to "not a reference" is the choice here or, change the parameter controlling the reference plane to a type property. It is the instance parameter that triggers the grip behavior. i don't think their has been any chang eto that as far as the reference plane status.

[barthbradley · Accepted solution]

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@paul.t.macknight wrote:

Run that one by me, I'm not sure I'm familiar with that approach.

As for pinning, that won't work because that doesn't help me align the families to elements in the first place.

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Oh, I see!  You can group the family temporarily to align it.  As for Ref Lines subcategories, you need to be on Version 2018 I believe.

RefLine.png

...then in the Project, you can untick the Ref. Line Subcategory under VGOs.  

[paul.t.macknight]

As I outlined in my post, I don't want to make it a type to avoid having, say, 20 types for all possible options of depth for the very few options of width. If I have to I can just make it Not a Reference and deal with having to zoom in to ensure I'm selecting the correct line geometry of the family for alignment, but honestly, that's a crappy (self-censor) way to have to deal with this type of situation. I KNOW there used to be a way to disallow the grips while allowing the align and dimension tools to work with that plane AND have the parameter controlling that plane be an instance parameter.

Honestly, I'd rather make some dummy parameters that are controlled by the depth instance parameter, then put them into a formula for the parameter controlling the actual dimension to disable the grips, and just pray that no one tampers with it. But I was hoping there was a way to avoid a convoluted workaround like that.

[paul.t.macknight · Accepted solution]

I hadn't thought about grouping, that might be the best option.

As for the reference plane/line subcategory, that hides it such that I can't use an align command on the line. But if I couple that approach with an invisible line that's aligned and locked to the reference line, that allows me to align the way I want.

I'd still prefer something that would, as soon as the family is loaded into the project, hide the grips, but both of those workarounds are probably my best bet for my desired behavior. Thanks!

[barthbradley]

Interesting thread.  I've been using Revit a long, long time and I don't remember any such feature that disabled grips.  But trying to help you here is making me wonder why this has not been more of an issue to me as well over the years.  Aligning is something I do by rote probably a hundred times a day.   I certainly don't use the Group workaround often.  Maybe something has changed under the hood.  

@loboarch: what do you say?  

[paul.t.macknight · Accepted solution]

Maybe the way I used to use them always ended up having some component, dimension, or the like such that the plane's grips would be disabled, but I could have sworn that, a long time ago, a Weak Reference plane wouldn't display grips, but would allow other commands, and a Strong Reference plane would do both.

Also, I looked into my other option I mentioned (admittedly in a more peeved way) in my response to @loboarch about the other parameter. If I have my user-controlled instance parameter "a," and an "under the hood" parameter "b" that controls the reference plane, I can set b = a + if(1>0, 0, 0). This way, no matter WHAT might happen, I'll only ever add 0 to "a," but since there is a theoretical potential for the value to change based on multiple variables (even though it resolves to the formula a + 0 either way), it disallows the grips for parameter "b" and locks it from user input, while allowing free control over parameter "a." Still not my preferred method, but would be a more automated workaround for other users of my family.

[loboarch]

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@paul.t.macknight wrote:

 but I could have sworn that, a long time ago, a Weak Reference plane wouldn't display grips, but would allow other commands, and a Strong Reference plane would do both.

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I don't think it has ever worked this way, but as I get older my memory is not what it used to be, and of course this would not be the first time I was wrong.   

[FAIR59 · Accepted solution]

make your dimensioned Reference Plane [ Not a Reference ],  place a new WeakReference plane, align and lock.

[paul.t.macknight]

This might be the most seamless solution, at least from an end-user point of view. Probably a little less clunky on the memory/performance side than the formula workaround I posted, too, considering there may be several dozen of this family in different details throughout the project. Thanks!