Shared parameter: naming convention and grouping

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

Hi all,

I would lke to know, by your experience, how do you manage shared parameter.

- I usually name giving a prefix of my firm e.g. XX_ParameterName, to distinguish them from native revit parameter/different company parameters.
But this naming convetion may cause overwork in schedules (e.g. Headers must be renamed). 
-Plus how do you group them ? By category, by project?

Any idea or tip is well accepted!

[barthbradley]

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@XXalessio.amodioXX wrote:

-Plus how do you group them ? By category, by project?

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What do you mean by "Group [Shared Parameters] by Project"?  

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

many times some shared parameter are used just in certain project so I sort them by project ID number.
e.g. external company model with their own shared parameter

[barthbradley]

Are you talking about the Text File from which the Shared Parameter is pulled?  Or, are you talking about Project Parameter?  

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

Text file

[barthbradley]

Read this and see if it changes your thinking.  I'm betting it does.  

https://revitoped.blogspot.com/2008/03/shared-parameter-file-little.html

[HVAC-Novice]

I'm the sole REVIT designer in my firm, so this may not apply to users required to collaborate. but what I did is to make a spreadsheet with all the rules i use for revit. Among others I list all shared parameters inc. what type they are. that way I always use the correct parameter and don't have 2 of them that are the same thing. All the families I use get the parameters they need and don't use the manufacturer's parameters. I also have a list of what type of family is supposed to get what parameters. so for a hydronic unit heater i know i need to add water flow, output Btu etc. and I also know if the parameter is type or instance. 

To easily find the parameter when building schedules I have them all capitalized and the name starts with "SHARED...". At one glance I know what "my" parameters are. 

Unrelated, the above mentioned rule spreadsheet also includes what object styles look like, what filters, what view templates etc. I use. that way I "think" about what I need for a new filter or view before randomly creating them. 

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

How do you cope with schedules. e.g. SHARED Height. 

In schedule you manually rename the headers properly?

[HVAC-Novice]

For each schedule I manually name the header. One shared parameter can have a slightly different meaning for a boiler, or a pump, or a booster coil. For example, a pressure could be a nominal pressure, actual pressure, design pressure, pressuredrop, or gain etc. No need to create multiple parameters as long as you only use it once in one type of equipment. 

When I started, I started from scratch. So I had to think a lot of what I want to show in a schedule, what would be a type/instance parameter and so on. In Revit you put a lot of work in up-front, and then it is easy to apply to 1000 projects. 

No matter what system you use, write it down and be consistent. 

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

Hi.

I got your point. I did the same for for one precast concrete project years ago beacuse I was the only one in charge.

But the stuffs are slightly little bit more complicated when you workshare with other 3 people and coordinate five different external discipline.

Plus lot of schedule - for checking/documentation. I believe heading renaming is not the proper solution for me.

[HVAC-Novice]

If you work on the same model, that would typically be people from the same company. then it will be even more important to have a master list of shared parameters and to coordinate up-front. 

Note that 2 people can create a shared parameter called "height", and they will look the same. But they are different (look in the SP text file for the differing ID). So without an actual plan, this can look very busy and name-calling. 

i assume that is what a BIM manager is for when you have a larger firm with multiple designers and disciplines. Working all alone can have drawbacks, but this is a place where it really is good 🙂

For designers from other companies, you typically link the models, so parameters don't matter. It would be impossible to coordinate those anyway. 

[XXalessio.amodioXX]

Mostly coordination with external companies concern Opening - Interferences . So sometimes it is important to prepare Opening families that would be understood my other firms (e.g. Structural openings). Or it happen that you model up to Building Permit stage and assign to a sub-company the implementation of model for detail design stage.

Btw Thanks to have shared your point of view.
Appreciate it