Shape Handles on a Nested Family Element

[str23028]

I have been trying to get a wall hosted baseboard family to rotate for a while now, and I finally settled on nesting a work plane-based family (the baseboard) into a wall-based family (the rotation). It's working pretty much how I want it to, except for two things: I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get shape handles to show up in the project, and I would like for the align tool to stretch the family rather than just move it.

I'm a little new to all of this, so I'm not sure how this works exactly, but I have attached both the full nested family and the baseboard model here. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Simon_Weel]

Angle parameters don't show shape handles.

[str23028]

Thank you for the response! I should have been more clear, I want the shape handles to adjust the length of the baseboard. I already have the baseboard length as an instance parameter attached to reference lines, but the shape handles don't show up once it is nested.

[Simon_Weel]

Ah, ok, in that case - you have to create the same Instance Parameters in the host Family and tie those to the Instance Parameters in the nested family.

[lauri_barnhart]

@str23028 - Welcome! Thanks for your question.

Did the information provided by @Simon_Weel help?

If yes, please mark the reply as the accepted solution.

This helps other community user find a solution to similar problems.

If not, please provide an update so other members can jump in with further suggestions.

Thanks!

Lauri | Community Manager

[dfoth]

Adding on to what @Simon_Weel said. Make sure your reference planes are set to "Weak Reference" or "Strong Reference" too.

[str23028]

Shoot, sorry! I’ve been swamped and forgot to interact with this. I restarted the family and did that from the ground up, but there still aren’t any grab handles. To respond to @dfoth below, my handles are set to strong because I wanted the edges to stretch with alignment rather than just snap the whole thing. After some long and very tedious research, I think I have come to the conclusion that what I am asking for isn’t possible. Because the baseboard family is nested into the rotation family, the shape handles simply will not show up in the rotation family. I would have to find a way to use reference lines or planes on the original baseboard family and have it rotate natively, but that wasn’t working which is why I nested it in the first place.

[dfoth]

Okay so I admit I didn't fully read your first post, sorry. I downloaded your files and now I understand. Are you trying to create a baseboard family that you can host to the bottom of a sloping wall, like on a sloping floor or ramp? 

[dfoth · Accepted solution]

@str23028 Have you tried adaptive families yet? Load this into your project. Adaptive families can be placed through a series of clicks. This one has two clicks. I made it really fast. Click where you want it to start and where it should end along the face of the wall. Boom, sloping baseboard! You will need to figure out how to miter all the baseboards at corners using voids. Honestly, I have never showed baseboard or trim in any models because we don't draw to that detail level. Too much extra stuff in the model makes it slow. We handle baseboard and trim with schedules and details. But if you need to be extra detailed, adaptive families may be your answer. 

[str23028]

It’s okay! That’s exactly what I’m trying to do! Our current baseboard family (a different one) works really well, all we have to do is align the edges with walls or other baseboards and it stretches to fit. I was hoping to get a family that could do that, but could also rotate for ramps and stairs.

I’ve managed to get that done with a face based family, but we were trying to get a wall based family to do it and it just wasn’t working right. Would we be better off just sticking with the face based family and clicking “place on vertical face” and setting the right offset every single time?

[str23028]

Sorry, I didn't see this reply! I don't know anything about adaptive families really, so I haven't tried that yet. I greatly appreciate it, but I'm not sure this particular family will work for me. I'll readily admit it could be user error, but it behaves a little unpredictably for me in section view. The project I needed the family for is actually done anyway, but we'll need it again for other models we're working on. We're going into a little more detail with these than you might expect. I'll look into adaptive families more though, because it seems like it could be the answer if I can get a better understanding of them. I don't want to burden you with that though, I'll research it on my own time. I'll mark this thread as answered. Thanks for all the help!