By Aaron Lu
Question:
I was asked about how to get xxx property from material several times, since there are too many properties, it is hard to find the exact one we want. and developers may stops here:
private void CustomerApproach(Material material)
{
ElementId appearanceId = material.AppearanceAssetId;
AppearanceAssetElement appearanceElem =
RevitDoc.GetElement(appearanceId) as AppearanceAssetElement;
Asset theAsset = appearanceElem.GetRenderingAsset();
for (int idx = 0; idx < theAsset.Size; idx++)
{
////Too many properties, how to know which one is I want?
AssetProperty ap = theAsset[idx];
}
}
Well, I don't know the answer either, but we can do a simple test, like this:
private void DumpAppearanceAssetProperties(Material material)
{
ElementId appearanceId = material.AppearanceAssetId;
AppearanceAssetElement appearanceElem = material.Document.
GetElement(appearanceId) as AppearanceAssetElement;
Asset theAsset = appearanceElem.GetRenderingAsset();
List<AssetProperty> assets = new List<AssetProperty>();
for (int idx = 0; idx < theAsset.Size; idx++)
{
AssetProperty ap = theAsset[idx];
assets.Add(ap);
}
// order the properties!
assets = assets.OrderBy(ap => ap.Name).ToList();
for (int idx = 0; idx < assets.Count; idx++)
{
AssetProperty ap = assets[idx];
Type type = ap.GetType();
object apVal = null;
try
{
// using .net reflection to get the value
var prop = type.GetProperty("Value");
if (prop != null &&
prop.GetIndexParameters().Length == 0)
{
apVal = prop.GetValue(ap);
}
else
{
apVal = "<No Value Property>";
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
apVal = ex.GetType().Name + "-" + ex.Message;
}
if (apVal is DoubleArray)
{
var doubles = apVal as DoubleArray;
apVal = doubles.Cast<double>().Aggregate("", (s, d) => s + Math.Round(d,5) + ",");
}
Log(idx + " : [" + ap.Type + "] " + ap.Name + " = " + apVal);
}
}
You might still ask even if we dump all the properties, we still can't find the one, because the output looks like this:
result1:
0 : [APT_String] AdvancedUIDefinition = Mats/Generic/GenericAdvancedUI.xml 1 : [APT_String] AssetLibID = AD121259-C03E-4A1D-92D8-59A22B4807AD 2 : [APT_String] assettype = materialappearance 3 : [APT_String] BaseSchema = GenericSchema 4 : [APT_String] category = :Concrete:Default:Miscellaneous 5 : [APT_Boolean] color_by_object = False 6 : [APT_Integer] common_Shared_Asset = 1 7 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] common_Tint_color = 0.315,0.315,0.315,1, 8 : [APT_Boolean] common_Tint_toggle = False 9 : [APT_String] description = Generic material. 10 : [APT_String] ExchangeGUID = 11 : [APT_Boolean] generic_ao_details = True 12 : [APT_Double] generic_ao_distance = 4 13 : [APT_Boolean] generic_ao_on = False 14 : [APT_Integer] generic_ao_samples = 16 15 : [APT_Boolean] generic_backface_cull = False 16 : [APT_Double] generic_bump_amount = 9.39325797868605E-275 17 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] generic_bump_map = 0,0,0,1, 18 : [APT_Double] generic_cutout_opacity = 1 19 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] generic_diffuse = 0.51353,0.52278,0.47005,1, 20 : [APT_Double] generic_diffuse_image_fade = 1 21 : [APT_Double] generic_glossiness = 0 22 : [APT_Boolean] generic_is_metal = False 23 : [APT_Integer] generic_refl_depth = 0 24 : [APT_Integer] generic_reflection_glossy_samples = 12 25 : [APT_Double] generic_reflectivity_at_0deg = 0.5 26 : [APT_Double] generic_reflectivity_at_90deg = 0.5 27 : [APT_Integer] generic_refr_depth = -1 28 : [APT_Integer] generic_refraction_glossy_samples = 12 29 : [APT_Double] generic_refraction_index = 1 30 : [APT_Double] generic_refraction_translucency_weight = 0 31 : [APT_Boolean] generic_roundcorners_allow_different_materials = False 32 : [APT_Double] generic_roundcorners_radius = 0 33 : [APT_Double] generic_self_illum_color_temperature = 6500 34 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] generic_self_illum_filter_map = 1,1,1,1, 35 : [APT_Double] generic_self_illum_luminance = 0 36 : [APT_Double] generic_transparency = 0 37 : [APT_Double] generic_transparency_image_fade = 1 38 : [APT_Boolean] Hidden = False 39 : [APT_String] ImplementationGeneric = 40 : [APT_String] ImplementationMentalRay = Mats/Generic/MentalImage.xml 41 : [APT_String] ImplementationOGS = Mats/Generic/OGS.xml 42 : [APT_String] ImplementationPreview = Mats/Generic/PreviewColor.xml 43 : [APT_String] keyword = 44 : [APT_String] localname = Generic 45 : [APT_String] localtype = Appearance 46 : [APT_Integer] mode = 4 47 : [APT_DoubleArray2d] PatternOffset = 0,0, 48 : [APT_Integer] revision = 1 49 : [APT_Integer] SchemaVersion = 4 50 : [APT_String] swatch = Swatch-Cube 51 : [APT_String] thumbnail = C:/Users/lua.ADS/AppData/Local/Temp/MaterialThumbnails_PID_1434/73c06a00Smooth Precast Structural.png 52 : [APT_String] UIDefinition = Mats/Generic/GenericUI.xml 53 : [APT_String] UIName = Smooth Precast Structural 54 : [APT_Integer] version = 2 55 : [APT_String] VersionGUID = B1E74BC9-150D-4CB2-BFF1-376BEAD5FEAE
Well, let's update some property and dump again, e.g. I changed properties under "Reflectivity" group, the result is:
0 : [APT_String] AdvancedUIDefinition = Mats/Generic/GenericAdvancedUI.xml 1 : [APT_String] AssetLibID = AD121259-C03E-4A1D-92D8-59A22B4807AD 2 : [APT_String] assettype = materialappearance 3 : [APT_String] BaseSchema = GenericSchema 4 : [APT_String] category = :Concrete:Default:Miscellaneous 5 : [APT_Boolean] color_by_object = False 6 : [APT_Integer] common_Shared_Asset = 1 7 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] common_Tint_color = 0.315,0.315,0.315,1, 8 : [APT_Boolean] common_Tint_toggle = False 9 : [APT_String] description = Generic material. 10 : [APT_String] ExchangeGUID = 11 : [APT_Boolean] generic_ao_details = True 12 : [APT_Double] generic_ao_distance = 4 13 : [APT_Boolean] generic_ao_on = False 14 : [APT_Integer] generic_ao_samples = 16 15 : [APT_Boolean] generic_backface_cull = False 16 : [APT_Double] generic_bump_amount = 9.39325797868605E-275 17 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] generic_bump_map = 0,0,0,1, 18 : [APT_Double] generic_cutout_opacity = 1 19 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] generic_diffuse = 0.51353,0.52278,0.47005,1, 20 : [APT_Double] generic_diffuse_image_fade = 1 21 : [APT_Double] generic_glossiness = 0 22 : [APT_Boolean] generic_is_metal = False 23 : [APT_Integer] generic_refl_depth = 0 24 : [APT_Integer] generic_reflection_glossy_samples = 12 25 : [APT_Double] generic_reflectivity_at_0deg = 0.2 26 : [APT_Double] generic_reflectivity_at_90deg = 0.96 27 : [APT_Integer] generic_refr_depth = -1 28 : [APT_Integer] generic_refraction_glossy_samples = 12 29 : [APT_Double] generic_refraction_index = 1 30 : [APT_Double] generic_refraction_translucency_weight = 0 31 : [APT_Boolean] generic_roundcorners_allow_different_materials = False 32 : [APT_Double] generic_roundcorners_radius = 0 33 : [APT_Double] generic_self_illum_color_temperature = 6500 34 : [APT_DoubleArray4d] generic_self_illum_filter_map = 1,1,1,1, 35 : [APT_Double] generic_self_illum_luminance = 0 36 : [APT_Double] generic_transparency = 0 37 : [APT_Double] generic_transparency_image_fade = 1 38 : [APT_Boolean] Hidden = False 39 : [APT_String] ImplementationGeneric = 40 : [APT_String] ImplementationMentalRay = Mats/Generic/MentalImage.xml 41 : [APT_String] ImplementationOGS = Mats/Generic/OGS.xml 42 : [APT_String] ImplementationPreview = Mats/Generic/PreviewColor.xml 43 : [APT_String] keyword = 44 : [APT_String] localname = Generic 45 : [APT_String] localtype = Appearance 46 : [APT_Integer] mode = 4 47 : [APT_DoubleArray2d] PatternOffset = 0,0, 48 : [APT_Integer] revision = 1 49 : [APT_Integer] SchemaVersion = 4 50 : [APT_String] swatch = Swatch-Cube 51 : [APT_String] thumbnail = C:/Users/lua.ADS/AppData/Local/Temp/MaterialThumbnails_PID_1434/70db4100Smooth Precast Structural(7).png 52 : [APT_String] UIDefinition = Mats/Generic/GenericUI.xml 53 : [APT_String] UIName = Smooth Precast Structural 54 : [APT_Integer] version = 2 55 : [APT_String] VersionGUID = E5E10B97-7ED0-4EE5-B64B-314565517119
You got the idea?
Yes, compare the results!
It is now that obvious, those are the properties we changed:
generic_reflectivity_at_0deg
generic_reflectivity_at_90deg
Note：
- I put all AssetProperty in a list and order them by name, otherwise, it might be a mess and not situable to compare.
- If AssetProperty is a AssetPropertyReference, we can call GetAllConnectedProperties() to iterate the sub-properties of it.