Family works in Family Editor but not in Project Space

[mhillis]

Hello everyone, 

I've got a family that represents a tap with a volume damper. I have a value called "HandFlag" that will shift the Damper Handle from side to side.  I realize there are other methods to achieve this effect, but I need it to operate in this fashion for the time being.

Anyway, this model works just fine in the Family Editor.  When the value is 0, it's on one side, when the value is 1, it's on the other.  It works 100% as intended in the Family Editor.  In Project Space, however; it works just fine when the HandFlag value is 1, but it just fails when the value is set to 0.  I was hoping someone could explain to me why exactly this is happening?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure why it's doing that, but it's not just when the value is 0, it's anytime you change it from the original value when the family was loaded. My best guess is that something about your HandlePosCalc parameter disagrees with Revit. I'd recommend simply duplicating the extrusions that define the handle, then assigning a y/n visibility parameter to each one to toggle the appearance.

[fabiosato]

Hello,

A simpler solution would be create a second extrusion and control the visibility parameter of both extrusions through yes/no parameters, one is marked when the value is one, other when the value is 0, my suggestion is that instead of using the parameter HandFlag as a numeric value, delete it and recreate with the same name as a Yes/No parameter, so you will need to create another one using the following formula:

HandFlagOpposite = not(HandFlag)

I just use an illustrative name, this way only checking/unchecking HandFlag you will get it done!

[Anonymous]

Isn't that what I said?

[fabiosato]

Sorry, when I was typing your reply was not available

[stever66]

Or just create two different family types.  One for a left hand handle, and one for a right hand handle.

My guess is there is something Revit doesn't like about mirroring the handle once the family is loaded.

[EKey · Accepted solution]

Here is the fixed Family.

[mhillis]

Ekey,

Thanks for uploading a fixed model! Out of curoisty, what did you do to resolve it?

[EKey]

It strongly recommended to use Reference Planes and Reference Lines for creating Families, instead of attaching dimensions directly to element geometry.

So, I created a Reference Plan, gave the "Handle" name to it, and set it as Working plan for the extrusion. Extrusion height is driven by parameter. The dimension which defines the Handle location was attached to the "Handle" Reference Plan.

I would recommend using a Yes/No parameter instead of the numerical one with 0 and 1 values.

Happy journey with the Families!