Revit. Parameters. Splitting
We present to your attention the plugin Parameters version 2.0!
There are over 40 (!) changes in today's major update! And to get you curious, here's a screenshot of one of the new features:
Read more about all the new features and changes below.
Splitting
Previously, the plugin consisted of one command and contained 5 sections: 4 batch sections (batch create/edit) and 1 section - family editor. However, this layout broke the logic, as the family editor had a "Cancel" button to undo the changes made. But how should the plugin behave if I first make changes through the batch section and then switch to the family editor and click the "Cancel" button? And basically the family editor just gets knocked out of the list of sections. That's why we have moved the family editor to a separate command.
And let's take a quick look at the family editor
Family Editor
The first thing that immediately catches your eye is the change in the appearance of the parameter list. We removed the "Group" column and made a drop-down grouping inside the table like in the usual editor. However, we had to sacrifice a little bit of performance – because of the high visual load and due to the specifics of WPF (the technology used to create windows) when opening the editor in a family with a large number of parameters will be a little hang. Let's hope that this is not critical.
We have added a GUID column that displays the GUID of the common parameters respectively. There is a visual identification in the form of a colored circle. If the circle is green, it means that the parameter with this GUID is present in the current shared parameters file (hereinafter - SPF). Otherwise, the circle is red:
GUID color indication and the ability to copy GUID to clipboard have been added to all tables where GUID is displayed. We will not write about it again below.
By the way, an element displaying the current SPF has also been added to the family editor window. Although the plugin cannot create parameters (at least at the moment), it will not be superfluous to see the current SPF.
When you move the mouse cursor over a row with a parameter (depending on the type of parameter), many new buttons in different cells may catch your eye. Indeed, we have added many new features:
- for shared parameters added the button of replacement by family parameters. Yes, this function is not new - we just duplicated it for each parameter;
- for shared parameters and family parameters added the function of replacing the parameter with the shared parameter selected from the current SPF;
- for family parameters added the possibility to set a tooltip. Unfortunately, due to Revit API limitations, it is not possible to see the current tooltip for a parameter;
- for family parameters added the possibility to duplicate the parameter;
- for sharded parameters and family parameters added the long-awaited possibility to change the parameter group;
- for parameters to which formula writing is available, added the possibility to import a formula from another family.
Speaking of the formula editor, we have added buttons for inserting parameters and functions (the context menu remains) in response to requests from users:
And we have also improved a little bit the insertion of parameters into the formula – now, if the inserted parameter has spaces or control characters in its name, it is inserted immediately in square brackets.
But back to the family editor. In the upper right corner, opposite the search bar, you will find three new buttons with cool new features. Let's go through them in order.
Change order of parameters – the function opens a separate dialog with a simplified list of parameters. In this list you can drag and drop parameters (except for builtin parameters) to the desired positions. You can select and drag several parameters at once (by pressing Shift or Ctrl). And, of course, you can drag and drop parameters between groups!
Import parameters from selected family – the function allows importing parameters from the selected family. All basic principles and limitations are described in the window of this function:
Remove unused parameters – the function analyzes the use of parameters in the family and displays the result in a separate dialog. Parameters that are not used can be deleted immediately. For other parameters, a list of dependencies is displayed, because of which they cannot be deleted. The result of the analysis can be opened in Notepad:
Family selection context
Before we move on to batch editors, let's look at the novelties of the family selection context. This is the part of the plugin window in batch creation and editing of family parameters, where you select families.
We've added another option for selecting families that was severely lacking before – selecting from the Project Browser. When you select this option, a dialog box appears that repeats the family tree as in the standard Project Browser, in which you mark which families you want to open:
In the option to load families from files, an option has been added to delete the backups that will be created when families are saved.
And while we're talking about saving, we'll tell you about one more added feature – when saving families, the plugin now uses the "Save As" command instead of "Save". If you don't understand why, you'll be surprised – when using the "Save As" command, the size of family files decreases! Just in case, the plugin still makes one more save when opening a family, so that a backup copy is created (which will be deleted if the corresponding option described above is enabled).
Presets
Before we move on to batch editors, let's talk about a new feature added to all batch editors - preset storage.
All batch editors now have the option to save a preset in addition to exporting and importing to Excel:
and load a previously saved preset:
And you can also use corporate presets set by Organization Settings!
Now let's move on to batch editors.
Batch creation of parameters in a project
The most important fix – we have fixed the error occurring when trying to create a shared parameter that is already present in one of the families loaded into the project! Also, shared parameters that were previously deleted from the project are now created correctly.
The created parameters can now have a tooltip added, which is set in the cell of the corresponding new column in the table.
The "Copy" and "Paste" buttons have been added to the list of categories, using which you can respectively copy the categories of one parameter and paste them into another parameter. And while we are talking about categories – searching for parameters in the table now works not only by name and GUID, but also by category.
If a parameter cannot be created because not all required properties are set, a red square with the number of problems is now displayed instead of a triangle with an exclamation mark. If you move the cursor over this square, a list of these problems is displayed, which must be eliminated before the parameter can be created:
Batch creation of parameters in families
As in the batch creation of parameters in the project, the possibility to set a tooltip for created parameters has been added, as well as an indication of the number of problems in which a parameter cannot be created has been added.
Also fixed an unobvious bug – a shared parameter in a family cannot be created if the SPF is not currently connected to Revit. This issue has been addressed.
Batch editing of parameters in a project
As in the batch creation of parameters in the project, the possibility to search for parameters by bound categories has been added. Accordingly, a new column with the list of categories to which the parameter is bound has been added.
The most basic changes will immediately catch your eye – a complete redesign of adding actions, as well as the ability to export and import. And if everything is clear with export/import, and we have already written about presets earlier, the redesign is worth telling more about it.
The actions to be added to parameters are now presented as a drop-down list. There are two obvious and important advantages of this solution: firstly, we can add more actions to the drop-down list and secondly, we can now add explanatory descriptions to the actions as well:
The list of actions itself has been updated with one new action – Change Category Binding. With this action you can both add binding to new categories and remove binding to some categories.
Also, the value in the Type column is now colored depending on the type of parameter. This will help you navigate through the parameter list faster when you need to find a shared parameter or a project parameter.
Batch editing of parameters in families
Added "Copy" and "Paste" capability for formulas, which will allow you to copy a formula from one parameter and paste it into another parameter.
Otherwise, all other basic changes are the same as in the batch editing of parameters in the project. The only difference is that other new actions peculiar to this section have been added here:
- change the parameter group;
- replace the shared parameter by a family parameter;
- replace a shared parameter or family parameter with another shared parameter;
- change the value of the "Lock" property (the corresponding column has been added to the table).
Parameter substitution actions can also be quickly added directly from the table by clicking the appropriate button next to the parameter type:
Also, we have removed grouping of parameters in one line if parameters have one property that differs. So don't be surprised if you see one parameter several times in the table.
Conclusion
In the article we described the most basic new features and changes. But today's update contains a number of other minor changes and fixes that we simply did not write about.
In this major update, strangely enough, we have not yet implemented all the new features we wanted to implement. We have postponed some of them for the future, because it's not a luxury to work on one plugin for a long time and we need to switch to other plugins. But you can still write us your ideas and wishes about what to add to the plugin in our support chat!
Enjoy your work with ModPlus!