AEC DevBlog

Get the sketch and sketch plane

By Joe Ye

A sketch and a sketch plane are created when creating a floor, roof, and filled region et.al. I want to retrieve the sketch and sketch plane. However there is no API to do that . Would you please tell me how to find the two objects?

Solution

When creating a floor, slab and filled region et.al, users need to draw a profile to define the element's shape.  Revit automatically creates a sketch and sketch plane for the profile. If the floor, slab or filled region is deleted, the corresponding sketch and sketch plane will be deleted accordingly.

Document.Delete() method returns all deleted elements' Id. Using this mechanism, we can figure out this solution.

Start a transaction, and delete the target element. The sketch and sketch plane Id should be in the returned element id list. Filter out the target elements by class name. Then rollback the transaction to keep the target element unchanged.

Here is the code showing the usage.

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Windows.Forms;

 

using  Autodesk.Revit .DB;

using Autodesk.Revit.UI;

using Autodesk.Revit .ApplicationServices;

using Autodesk.Revit.Attributes ;

using Autodesk.Revit.UI.Selection;

 

 

  [TransactionAttribute(TransactionMode.Manual)]

  [RegenerationAttribute(RegenerationOption.Manual)]

public class RevitCommand : IExternalCommand

{

    public Result Execute(ExternalCommandData commandData,

      ref string messages,

      ElementSet elements)

    {

      UIApplication app = commandData.Application;

      UIDocument uiDoc = app.ActiveUIDocument;

      Document doc = uiDoc.Document;

 

      Selection sel = uiDoc.Selection;

      Reference ref1 = sel.PickObject(

        ObjectType.Element, "Please pick an element");

      Element elem = ref1.Element;

      Transaction trans = new Transaction(doc);

      trans.Start("test");

      ICollection<ElementId> ids = doc.Delete(elem);

 

      trans.RollBack();

      string strName = "Host Id = " +

        elem.Id.IntegerValue.ToString() + "\r\n";

      foreach (ElementId id in ids)

      {

        Element elemIter = doc.get_Element(id);

        if (elemIter is Sketch || elemIter is SketchPlane)

        {

          strName += "Id = " + id.IntegerValue.ToString()

            + ";" + elemIter.Name

            + " ;" + elemIter.GetType().ToString() + "\r\n";

        }

      }

 

      TaskDialog.Show("test", strName);

 

        return Result.Succeeded ;

    }

}

Using this approach, elements that are closing related with a specified element can be retrieved too. For example, the detailed lines that forms the profile can also be found.

Show customized Ribbon buttons in specific Revit product flavor

By Joe Ye

Some customized Ribbon buttons are designed only for specific Revit product flavor. For example, button A is designed only for Revit Structure. It should be hidden in Revit MEP or Revit Architecture. One way is through the setting in the plugin loading config file, *.addin.  VisibilityMode tag controls the visibility in the three Revit product flavors.

To show a button only in Revit Structure, you can use the following setting. Please note the bold and italics line.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<RevitAddIns>

<AddIn Type="Command">

  <Assembly>C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Structure 2013\Program\SomeAddin2013.dll</Assembly>

  <ClientId>d796aae2-ab10-4e7b-bba9-e8ed56276ad6</ClientId>

  <FullClassName>Revit.A</FullClassName>

  <VendorId>Vendor</VendorId>

  <Text>Some Text</Text>

  <TooltipImage>C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Structure 2013\Program\\SomePictureLarge.png</TooltipImage>

  <LargeImage>C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Structure 2013\Program\\SomePictureLarge.png</LargeImage> 

  <SmallImage>C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Structure 2013\Program\\SomePicture.png</SmallImage>

  <Description>Some addin for Revit 2013</Description>

<VisibilityMode>NotVisibleInFamily|NotvisibleInArchitecture|

NotVisibleInMEP</VisibilityMode>

  <VisibilityMode>NotVisibleWhenNoActiveDocument</VisibilityMode>

  <Discipline>Structure</Discipline> 

  </AddIn>

</RevitAddIns>

 

Here is the description of VisibilityMode tag, which is excerpted from the Revit API Developer Guide.pdf document.

The modes in which the external command will be visible.Multiple values may be set for this option. Optional; use this tag for ExternalCommands only.
The default is to display the command in all modes and disciplines, including when there is no active document. Previously written external commands which need to run against the active document should either be modified to ensure that the code deals with invocation of the command when there is no active document, or apply the NotVisibleWhenNoActiveDocument mode. See table below for more information.

All the optional values for tag VisibilityMode is as follow. These values can be united by “|” operator.

AlwaysVisible
The command is available in all possible modes supported by the Revit API.
NotVisibleInProject
The command is invisible when there is a project document active.
NotVisibleInFamily
The command is invisible when there is a family document active.
NotVisibleWhenNoActiveDocument
The command is invisible when there is no active document.
NotVisibleInArchitecture
The command is invisible in Autodesk Revit Architecture.
NotVisibleInStructure
The command is invisible in Autodesk Revit Structure.
NotVisibleInMechanical
The command is invisible when the Mechanical discipline editing tools are available, e.g. in Autodesk Revit MEP.
NotVisibleInElectrical
The command is invisible when the Electrical discipline editing tools are available, e.g. in Autodesk Revit MEP.
NotVisibleInPlumbing
The command is invisible when the Plumbing discipline editing tools are available, e.g. in Autodesk Revit MEP.
NotVisibleInMEP
The command is invisible in Autodesk Revit MEP.

Several Revit plug-ins refer to an utility assembly

By Joe Ye

Developers like to create a universal assembly that contains some helper functions. For instance, retrieve all the elements with the same category. So other Revit Plug-ins can refer to this assembly and take advantage of functions in it.

This is a good way to organize modules. Not only external commands can use the helper functions, but also external applications can use it without any problem. There are samples  in Revit SDK show this. RevitViewer project can be referred by RoomViewer, ElementViewer samples.
  One developer ran into an error that he cannot run the commands in one plug-in. We found the issue is that Revit plug-ins refer to two utility assemblies with the same name. While the content of the utility assemblies are not the same. The later utility assembly cannot be loaded because there is already an assembly with the same name was loaded.
   For example, plug-in A and plug-in B both refer to GetCompomentList.dll.  While the element returned by GetComponentList.dll for plug-in A  is different to GetCompomentList.dll for plug-in B.  When loading plug-in A, A's GetComponentList.dll is loaded. When loading plug-in B, it tries to load GetComponentList.dll, and find it was already loaded, so the utility for B was not loaded. Apparently, commands in plug-in B don't run successfully.

Maximum size of string can be stored in parameter with ParameterType.Text type

By Joe Ye

Got a question about the parameter value size. I would like to store some data into a parameter with type of ParameterType.Text. What's the maximum size that it can contain?

The maximum length of string that can be store in ParameterType.Text parameter is the maximum value of type System.int. In practice, the length is still limited by specific computer's available memory.

Create new types programmatically

By Joe Ye

In many cases, we would like to create new types, for instance dimension type, and use different font, color... Type duplicate methods are not under the Autodesk.Revit.Creation.Document class. Then how to create new type then?

Normally Revit document resident elements are created via the methods in Autodes.Revit.Creation.Document class. However there is no method in this class can be used to create new types, for example, DimensionType, WallType, FloorType...
The way to create new Revit types is different from other elements. Each type class provides Duplicate(string name) method . It is this method that we can use to duplicate a new type, which has the same parameter values and property values but different name. Then changing the duplicated type's parameters and properties to what you want.
Here is the code to show the steps to create a new DimensionType.

 

[TransactionAttribute(TransactionMode.Manual)]

  [RegenerationAttribute(RegenerationOption.Manual)]

  public class RevitCommand : IExternalCommand

  {

    public Result Execute(ExternalCommandData commandData,

       ref string messages, ElementSet elements)

    {

      UIApplication app = commandData.Application;

      Document doc = app.ActiveUIDocument.Document;

 

      //get a exising dimension type.

      FilteredElementCollector collector =

        new FilteredElementCollector(doc);

      collector.OfClass(typeof(DimensionType));

      DimensionType dimType = null;

      foreach (Element elem in collector)

      {

 

        if (elem.Name == "Linear Dimension Style")

        {

          dimType = elem as DimensionType;

          break;

        }

      }

      DimensionType newType = dimType.Duplicate("NewType");

      if (newType != null)

      {

        Transaction trans = new Transaction(doc, "ExComm");

        trans.Start();

        newType.get_Parameter(BuiltInParameter.LINE_PEN).Set(2);

        //you can change more here.

        doc.Regenerate();

        trans.Commit();

      }

      return Result.Succeeded;

    }

  }

Close the active document via API

By Joe Ye

Document.Close() method cannot close active document. This is documented in RevitAPI.chm file. Is there any workaround to close the active document alternatively?

Yes, you can use the way of send

Closing active document via Close() method is not possible. API wish was logged  for this request.

Alternatively we can send message to mimic the user operation in third-party plug-in. Close active document's shortcut is Ctrl+F4. We can use SendKey.SendWait() method to send this shortcut string to Revit to close active document. SendWait method needs to be called in another thread.

The simplest code below shows the solution.

    public Result Execute(

      ExternalCommandData commandData,

      ref string message,

      ElementSet elements)

    {

      Document pDoc = commandData.Application

        .ActiveUIDocument.Document;

      ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(

        new WaitCallback(CloseDocProc));

      return Result.Succeeded;

    }

    static void CloseDocProc(object stateInfo)

    {

      try

      {

         //Ctrl+F4 is the shortcut to close activate document.

        SendKeys.SendWait("^{F4}");

      }

      catch (Exception ex)

      {

        System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);

      }

    }

Launching this command closes the current document. Though this works well to close active document by sending Ctrl+F4, it doesn't mean this idea can work for all commands' shortcuts.  Note this workaround is not officially supported.

Change the VolumeComputationEnable value

By Joe Ye

I tried to change VolumeComputationEnable  value by below codes:

Settings setting = activedoc.Settings.VolumeCalculationSetting;

setting.VolumeCalculationOptions.VolumeComputationEnable = true;

Unfortunity, the property value was not changed successfully. It still keeps unchanged. Transaction commit was considered. The help documentation says it is read-write property. Then how to change its value?

VolumeCalculationOptions object obtained by activedoc.Settings.VolumeCalculationSetting.VolumeCalculationOptions is a new VolumeCalculationOptions object. It doesn't refer to the VolumeCalculationOptions object stored in document. If assign the property value directly, in fact, only the temp VolumeCalculationOptions object's property value is changed. The object stored in document isn't changed.

We need to write the changed VolumeCalculationOptions object back to activedoc.Settings.VolumeCalculationSetting.VolumeCalculationOptions to change the property value.

Settings setting = activedoc.Settings.VolumeCalculationSetting;

VolumeCalculationOptions options = setting.VolumeCalculationOptions;

options.VolumeComputationEnable = true;

setting.VolumeCalculationOptions = options;

 

My colleague Jeremy Tammik reminded that  this post in his blog also talked about this topic.

http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2009/06/volume-computation-enable.html

And  in this post, another sample shows the usage of  this in VB:

http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/room-boundary-location.html

Document.Regenerate() can be called when necessary

By Joe Ye

Question:

Can I call Document.Regenerate() method in the middle of a external command that has manual regeneration option?

Answer:

From Revit 2011, external command needs to have a specific regeneration option mode attribute. It can be Regeneration.Manual or Regeneration.Automatic.  

If the command’s regeneration option is manual,  the Document.Regenerate method at least be called once explicitly in the code or implicitly by Revit when submitting the transaction.

When the followed immediate API calls need to take place on the latest model, we need to call Regenerate() method to make all changes to the model effect.
For example, a manual regeneration external command does two tasks in its Execute() method. Move up a beam, then add an opening to the center of the beam.  The opening center coordinates is relative to the beam’s new position. If Regenerate is not called, then add opening  immediately, the opening cannot be inserted to the target position. It might be in the beam’s upper part or cannot cut the beam at all depending on the moving distance. The correct order is after moving up the beam, call Regenerate method to regenerate the model, then adding the opening. 

Regenerate() method can only be called in manual mode external command. If the external command is in automatic regeneration mode, it is prohibited to call this method. When submitting a transaction, Revit automatically calls this method to regenerate the model.

Get a door’s open direction and hinge side

By Joe Ye

I want to know two properties of a door in Revit model.
   Which wall side of a door is opened? 
   Which side of a door is hinged to wall?

Can you explain how to find these information via Revit API?

Two properties of FamilyInstance can be used to find out a door opening direction, and the side of the hinge: FamilyFacingFlipped returns the wall direction, and FamilyInstance.HandFlipped returns the hinge side.  Both properties returns bool value. The following section will explain the meaning of the bool value

First, we need to know which side of a wall is internal/external side. By default, when drawing a wall, in the direction from the start point to the end point, the left side of the direction is the wall's external side. Of cause, the other side is the internal side. When a wall is selected, there is a small blue "Change wall' orientation" flip control close to wall. The side of this control is the external side of the wall. See below image.  There is a blue flip control under the dimension text, so the upper side is the external side.  Users can click this control to swap wall internal/external side.

If FamilyInstance.FacingFlipped == False, the door is opened to external side of the wall.  See door 11 and 15 in the image.  If the value is true, the door is open to internal of the wall. See door 14 and 16.
If FamilyInstance.HandFlipped == False, the hinge of the door is in the right side when people stand in the internal side of the wall and face door.  See door 11 and 14. If the value is true, the hinge is in the left side when people stand in the internal side of the wall and face door. See door 15 and 16.
The two properties' value of the doors are listed in the image. Facing flipped represents FamilyInstance.FacingFlipped, and Hand flipped represents FamilyInstance.HandFlipped.

PrintManager.PrintRange cannot be changed to PrintRange.Select

By Joe Ye

I cannot change the print range settings through below command. Would you please tell me how to change the print range?

        public Result Execute(ExternalCommandData commandData,

          ref string messages, ElementSet elements)

        {

          try

          {

            Application app = commandData.Application.Application;

            Document doc = app.ActiveUIDocument.Document;

            doc.PrintManager.PrintRange = PrintRange.Select;

            doc.PrintManager.Apply();

          }

          catch (Exception ex)

          {

            System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(

              ex.Message);

          }

          return Result.Succeeded;

        }

 

Solution

Document.PrintManager returns a new PrintManager instance with the current status. Each time we call Document.PrintManager, it returns a new PrinterManger. For example, in your command you call doc.PrintManager twice. The two PrintManager instances returned are different. So the below two lines work on two different PrintManager instances. However we might easily think that we keep working on the same PrintManager.

_doc.PrintManager.PrintRange = PrintRange.Select;
_doc.PrintManager.Apply();

The former calling of changing PrintRange doesn’t take effect, because the Apply() calling is not taken place on previous PrintManager instance.

Instead, we need to assign current PrintManager to an variable. Later changes to PrintManager are all taken place  on this variable. Changes to PringRange property can be saved by Apply() method.

      public Result Execute(ExternalCommandData commandData,

        ref string messages, ElementSet elements)

      {

        try

        {

          Application app = commandData.Application.Application;

          Document doc = app.ActiveUIDocument.Document;

          PrintManager pt = doc.PrintManager;

          pt.PrintRange = Autodesk.Revit.DB.PrintRange.Select;

          pt.Apply();

        }

        catch (Exception ex)

        {

          System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show(

            ex.Message);

        }

        return Result.Succeeded;

      }