Change Project Units between Imperial and Metric With One Button

[KasperMiller]

Easy change for developers to implement which will save a lot of time.

Currently the process of converting an Imperial family/project/template to metric or vice versa is very cumbersome. Particularly if you have do so with several items, which is a task all of us are met with very frequently. 

One has to toggle through all the Unit options, that would be 7 categories and within each of these usually change at least two options. That is 14 clicks and changes for each instance. What happens then, is that users just change the "Length" category, leaving the family part imperial, part metric. 

Please add this feature. 

[jeremytammik]

Dear Kaspar,

the development team pointed out an existing internal solution to achieve this and asked me to publish it to make it accessible to you.

Here it is, on GitHub:

https://github.com/jeremytammik/UnitMigration

Please try it out and let us know whether it suits your needs.

Thank you!

[KasperMiller]

Now that was impressively fast. 

Jeremy, I am a big admirer of your add-ins. Thank you for taking your time to solve this issue. I will make sure to share it with my network. 

[tmccar]

How can I implement this?

[Mark_Engwirda]

@jeremytammikand @Tarek_K  I'm just checking if I have this correct, this is a workaround to convert any imperial family to a metric family by loading it into a metric template and then saving it?

[jeremy_tammik]

No. This is a wish for an improvement. The old process is described above, and a new, simpler process is requested.

[Mark_Engwirda]

Thanks for the clarification @jeremy_tammik.
The workaround only works for the loaded family, while all of its nested families still remain in imperial measurements.

@KasperMiller having a one-touch conversion button is a fantastic idea and would make life a lot simpler.
What I don't understand @jeremy_tammik is why Revit doesn't have a setting for metric or imperial units under options rather than relying on individual project units?

Sorry for being cheeky, but there are 3 countries in the world that are still measuring in feet and inches, which works out to be 3% of the world's population.  So why is almost all downloaded content from the web in imperial units, its a pain the you know what!

[mailD9WDP]

Hi all,

I'm only a simple Revit user, not familiar with macros, API's etc, but have been looking for something like this for years. I agree it is very cumbersome, frustrating and long winded, when you do it 10 or more time a day.

Has anyone made this into an executable, simple to use add-in, that anyone without any knowledge of coding or programming could use? And made available for us simpleton mortals - Please?

[Rude_H]

Hi @jeremy_tammik ,

I do agree with @mailD9WDP. I'm also not an expert in Revit Add-In's.
Is there a "manual" how to get this UnitMigration tool in Revit?

 

[jeremy_tammik]

Yes. I added binaries for Revit 2021 and Revit 2023 to the GitHub repository:

https://github.com/jeremytammik/UnitMigration

They are in the bin/Debug subdirectory:

https://github.com/jeremytammik/UnitMigration/tree/master/UnitMigration/bin/Debug

Copy the binary and the add-in manifest to your local Revit add-ins folder and all will be well.

Please note that this is a personal favour from me to you. No official anything, no support, no updates, no guarantees, no nothing.

[bujarekQMZ65]

I am gratefull to your effort for comunity and thank You

[jkettler_CC]

@jeremy_tammik 

Apologies for bothering you about this again.

I spent the last couple hours trying to get the add-in into my Revit 2023, but I don't seem to understand how to install it correctly.

Based on your comment above, I placed the following two files in my Revit 2023 Add-in folder:
UnitMigration.addin
UnitMigration.dll (renamed from UnitMigration2023.dll to match the manifest) 

It loads and I see the button in Revit now, but nothing happens after I hit it.
Am I missing something?

Thanks a bunch for your help!!!

[jeremy_tammik]

If you see the button to launch the external command, that is a good start. In that case, you can run the add-in (and Revit) in the debugger and set a break point at the beginning of your Execute method. Then you can step through the code line by line and see what is happening.

[RO_CAS_ARQUITECTO]

Where is the add-in button, supossed to show?