Revit: Residential Door Tag 2 - Reporting Parameter Example

There was a follow up question in the Autodesk AutoCAD Architecture General Discussion Group regarding the use of an imperial "Residential" format Door Tag, which I had previously written about in this blog article. The question concerned using an imperial residential-style tag on a door in a Curtain Wall, as the Width and Height parameters that the technique I outlined for a "regular" door are not present in the Curtain Wall Door family.

It is still possible to follow the technique from the previous post in a Curtain Wall Door, with a few minor tweaks. I am going to assume that you have already set up the Shared Paramters used by the residential door tag for your "regular" doors (per the previous blog article), you want to use the same tag for both regular and curtain wall Doors and that you have access to the Shared Parameter file used on your regular Door families and the Door Tag.

1. Edit your Curtain Wall Door Family.
2. Using the Project Browser, open the Views > Floor Plans > Base Line view. There should be reference planes defining the width of the door.
3. If there is no dimension between these two reference planes, add one. (In the out-of-the-box Curtain Wall Sgl Glass.rfa family, there was not an overall dimension between these, your family may have one.)
4. Select the dimension between the width-defining reference planes, and on the Options bar, choose the label drop-down and select the Add Parameter option.
5. In the Parameter Properties dialog, give the new parameter a name. I chose to call this DoorWidthReporting, you may prefer a shorter name.
6. For the new parameter choose a group (I accepted the default Dimensions group), choose the Instance radio button and check the Reporting Parameter toggle. This will make the parameter available for scheduling and formulas. Add a tooltip, if desired, and then select OK to add the new parameter.
   
7. In the Project Browser, open the Views > Elevations > Interior view (Exterior will also work). There should be a Base Line level and a reference plane defining the height of the door.
8. If there is no dimension between the level and the top reference plane, add one. (In the out-of-the-box Curtain Wall Sgl Glass.rfa family, there was an overall dimension between these.)
9. Select the dimension between the level and the top reference plane, and follow the procedure used for the DoorWidthReporting parameter above to create a reporting parameter for the height dimension. I called mine DoorHeightReporting.
   
10. The family now has two instance parameters that will have the height and width of the Curtain Wall Door when placed in a Curtain Wall in a project. Now the parameters from the previous blog article can be added to generate the parameters for the residential-style tag. For Curtain Wall Doors, make all of these parameters instance-based, so that they will be able to reference the instance-based reporting parameters for width and height. Use the same Shared Parameters from the same Shared Parameter file as you use for your other Doors if you intend to use the same tag.
    

The image below shows an instance of a Curtain Wall Door in a project; in the Properties palette, you can see the reporting parameter values under the Dimensions category as well as the parameters under the Data category that are used to generate the parts of the residential Door Tag. Keep in mind the way the Data parameters are set up, the tag will only show feet and whole inch values; any fractional inches will be dropped. Since Curtain Wall Doors will "expand" to fit the opening in which they are placed, you will have to set up the Curtain Grid and Mullions around the Door to result in an even-inch width and height (which you would probably do, anyway). If you need fractional inches, then you would either need to abandon the "residential" approach or add parameters to capture the fractional inch amounts and devise a way to show them in the tag that will be readable.