Select All Instances not available

[kgatzke]

I'm in the family editor and I want to select all model lines of a certain type.  Select All Instances is in the context menu but the sub-menu options are grayed out.  I can't wait for the Autodesk explanation on this one.

[Anonymous]

" Select all instances " can not be used with any line type (model , symbolic , detailing lines)  nor at project file or family file.

Please mark this response as "Accept as Solution" if it answers your question.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Select all category using your mouse then use filter and check the specific category you want select

[kgatzke]

I know all about the filter and @Anonymous is right, you can't select lines anywhere.  That's the core of my argument though, that's it's petty and meaningless of them to restrict the select-all-in-x tool to some things and not others.  A lot of tools is Revit are like that.  They seem deliberately limited for no apparent reason, other than perhaps it's somehow beyond them to apply them to a wider object set.

[kgatzke]

Here's why you need to be able to select-all-project for lines:

Somebody on the team creates a bunch of unnecessary or incorrectly categorized line types and used them all over the project.  Now the BIM manager has to clean it up and the only tool available is to delete the line types causing them to revert back to some other line type (on random, it seems).  Were they dashed, centerline, phantom, who knows?  There's no way to select all the detail lines of type X and change them to the correct type project wide.  In fact, the BIM manager can't even find where the other user used them!

[Anonymous]

Hi ,

I was just stating fact that "select all instances" can not be used with lines , and I am totally agree that we are in need to it 🙂

and so you can submit this as an idea , but here you can just submit problems and issues and anyone can help you or draw your attention that this is Revit not a bug or so,,, 

[SSStudio]

Another possible work around is to select one of the lines, then use the "Temporary Hide/Isolate" tool (sunglasses icon) and select "Isolate Category" from the tool menu which will leave only the targeted linestyle displayed in the view. Then window select all visible. You can now use the Properties panel to change all selected (count is also displayed) to the desired linestyle.

[GlynnisVP]

Not an Autodesk answer, sorry, but you can use Ideate Explorer to do this:

https://ideatesoftware.com/support/help/ideate-explorer/bim-managers/family-auditing

Best Regards,

Glynnis Patterson

www.ideatesoftware.com

[Anonymous]

so unhelpful, actually

[HENRYHUIJBERS3172]

Bit late, but this works like a charm.

Thanx

[justin.e.kyle]

"A lot of tools is Revit are like that.  They seem deliberately limited for no apparent reason, other than perhaps it's somehow beyond them to apply them to a wider object set."

I think there is probably a very good reason as to why these tools work so inconsistently. I am going to take a wild guess that it is because the code was built badly to begin with. The program is in desperate need for a complete overhaul from the ground up. The UI is fine, some parts of the program work well, keep that and remake the rest. All I ask for is consistency, and instead the program forces me to memorize all of the little exceptions and bugs and the requisite work arounds for these failures. Architecture is hard enough without having to dedicate to memory how to use a complicated computer program that does not flow. 

[justin.e.kyle]

First off, it is always fun to run into a problem with Revit only to find in a forum post from 5 years ago that the issue has never been resolved.

In the hope that moderators actually read and report on public feedback, here is my response. It seems to be that the reason there are arbitrary restrictions on tools is that Autodesk has not done the work to make the program function more smoothly. Everything is held together by a patchwork of work-arounds, exceptions and restrictions. Instead of looking at the program from the user's perspective in order to make the process as smooth as possible, we are left with a series of hidden rules that you need to memorize. Something as simple as renaming various items in the program. Sometimes you can click a label and BAM you can edit the label, other times you need to pull up a separate menu to rename something like when you are editing parameters in a family, and sometimes you can just be SOL when renaming items. 

This is ridiculous. Autodesk needs to decide the rules of the game and just be consistent with them. If you can select all instances of almost everything else in a view, why oh why does this rule not apply to detail or model lines? If the answer is "That is just the way it is" then that answer is a failure.

[matt.hand52]

Line Management as a whole is a serious fault of Revit, with this topic being something that doesn't help the cause.

If I'm cleaning up a project with a massive amount of Import Categories, I am very limited in what I can do to re-assign a massive amount of lines to the correct Line Style. I can delete a line style, which will revert the lines to a default style, but not tell me where any of those lines are nor how many instances it converted; Revit won't even tell me if there is indeed any lines assigned to that style, it treats used Line Styles the same as unused Line Styles in terms of deleting. I can't Select all Instances of a Line style and manually change all of them to the desired line style to then remove that redundant Line Style either. 

Additional functionality of Lines is much needed.

[mhiserZFHXS]

---

@matt.hand52 wrote:

Line Management as a whole is a serious fault of Revit, with this topic being something that doesn't help the cause.

If I'm cleaning up a project with a massive amount of Import Categories, I am very limited in what I can do to re-assign a massive amount of lines to the correct Line Style. I can delete a line style, which will revert the lines to a default style, but not tell me where any of those lines are nor how many instances it converted; Revit won't even tell me if there is indeed any lines assigned to that style, it treats used Line Styles the same as unused Line Styles in terms of deleting. I can't Select all Instances of a Line style and manually change all of them to the desired line style to then remove that redundant Line Style either. 

Additional functionality of Lines is much needed.

---

Hate to break this to you but you can select all instances of a line type now... So you can do do everything you're talking about here.

Sorry break up your complaining in a 6 year old thread.

[matt.hand52]

Forgive me, as I've been in diagram purgatory for months 😂

We need to maintain all of our content in Revit 2020 so that it is available in all versions of Revit we work in (our version is dictated by our clients). Unfortunately support for 2020 has dropped off and I can't use this functionality. Very glad that it's better now, wish I could use the enhancements.

[mhiserZFHXS]

I'd have a chat with your clients to tell them that sitting in a 5 year old version is losing them a lot of functionality. There is NO reason to do that anymore with a subscription based service. Its literally the one benefit of it. Take advantage.

I would also increase any future fixed fees for clients doing this. They are forcing you to work less efficiently. They should pick up the cost.

[matt.hand52]

We've been trying to be more aggressive on AS's on that and similar subjects, namely upgrading projects that are nearing completion when there's the most amount of content to get corrupted in the upgrade...

It's a double edged sword. We do a lot of remodels/reno's of existing spaces where old models (or god forbid CAD drawings) are available, and they do not want to recreate them. So in the client's mind, they are saving money by reusing content they already have, which ends up being a detriment in the end in terms of functionality. 

I would love for us to always start on the newest version available. Given the project lifecycle of larger projects, we want to stay on relevant software versions when deliver the model to the client and not have to upgrade at the end like we have been. That said, we have lots of legacy work in 2020 and 2021 still that we need to maintain content for. Being a BIM Management team of 1, I do not have the time to do work twice in various versions, let alone all of what we have available.

[bim52WXPH]

I have been using the "Select all instances visible in view" on various projects for selecting all rooms visible in a view (plan or section). In this last one it is not allowing me to execute this operation and it works for all other elements. Only thing changed is that I am using the same version of Revit on a different computer this time. I have also tried removing the view template.

[Alfredo_Medina]

In that screen capture, nothing is selected yet. Look at the lower right corner, the funnel symbol, shows 0. Also, the properties window still shows the view, not a room.