Revit: Multi-Line Viewport Titles on Sheets

I was asked about this today, and decided to record the solution in a blog post, for future reference. Viewport Titles in Revit^® will wrap onto a second line when the length exceeds what will fit, based on the length of the label in the Title Family, but often the user wants control over where the wrapping occurs. If your office protocols allow for using the Title on Sheet property of a Viewport for the title that is shown on the Sheet (rather than using the View Name), then you can set a line break at the cursor location in the Title on Sheet property edit box in the Project Browser by pressing CTRL+ENTER.

And, no, there is no significance to the contents of the Drafting View that I used as my test case, shown in the image above. They are just some semi-random Detail Lines drawn so that there would be something to see when the Drafting View was placed on a Sheet.

Dynamo: Export Views and Sheets from Revit - Part 1

I had a request the other day to streamline the process of updating CAD Exports for an Autodesk Revit^® project. Unfortunately, some team members are not working in Revit, so certain Views have to be exported to CAD on a regular basis for use as backgrounds for the non-Revit-using team members. After a bit of trial (and a little tribulation) along with an enormous amount of help from the generous souls who have posted sample code to the Community Forums at dynamobim.org, I came up with the following Dynamo graph. All of the nodes used are "out-of-the-box" nodes available in the 1.3.2 version of Dynamo, but there are two Python Script nodes, the code for which is based on example code posted in the Community Forums. (As always, click on a image to see a full-size version of the image.)

The end user has to do three things prior to using the graph:

• Create a View/Sheet Set into which all of the Views and/or Sheets to be exported are placed.
• Get the name of the DWG Export Setup to be used for the export. (Create a new one if required by the project.)
• Identify the folder (with full path) where the exports are to be sent.

With that information in hand, the user can make a project-specific copy of the Dynamo file, enter those three items in the appropriate nodes, save the file, and then run it whenever updated exports are needed. Dynamo will overwrite any files of the same name in the target folder, so previous versions need to be archived elsewhere if a record of all exports is required. In the next few posts, I will go through the various sections of the graph, and, to the best of my ability, explain how each works, including the two Python Script nodes that do the heavy lifting. Before doing so, I would like to thank the following Community Forum contributors whose helpful responses to others' questions also helped me to complete this project.

• Konrad K Sobon, for the code in the Python Script 2 node that does the exporting, as well as for the advice given to Andrea_Ghensi in the same thread regarding code to have a specific DWG Export Setup used for the export. See the full thread here.
• Andrea_Ghensi, for the code in the Python Script 2 node that allows the user to specify an existing DWG Export Setup for the export (as amended by Konran K Sobon). See the same thread as the previous link.
• 4bimfercesp, for the line in the code in the Python Script 2 node that allows the user to specify whether Views on a Sheet should be merged into the exported sheet or exported as a separate file that is externally referenced into the exported Sheet file. See the full thread here.
• Kukul, for the code in the Python Script 1 node that extracts a list of the Views/Sheets in a View/Sheet Set. See the full thread here.

The nodes at the left side of the graph that are in green-colored groups are the nodes that require user input. I will conclude this first post with one of the simpler parts of the graph, the Folder for Exported DWGs - Directory Path node.

This is an instance of the out-of-the-box Directory Path node, with a modified node title. The Browse button allows the user to navigate to the folder where the exported drawings are to be placed. The output of this node is fed to the IN[0] input of the Python Script 2 node. One thing to note about this node, and the other user input nodes, is that if you right click on the node, you will see that the Is Input item on the context menu is checked. That means that this node will be available for user input in Dyanmo Player.

I am not certain how many clicks using this graph will save over manually doing the same export (probably a few on subsequent exports if Dynamo Player is used, without making any changes to the inputs), but it certainly will help make the process more consistent.

Next post in this series [Part 2]

Autodesk Product Update Site Maintenance

If you were planning to do some software updates this coming weekend (Memorial Day weekend in the United States), get your download early, as the product update section of the Autodesk Account site will be down from 8:00 pm on Friday, May 25, 2018 through 2:59 am on Monday, May 28, 2018. (Those times are US Eastern Daylight Savings time, to the best of my knowledge.) Check out the banner notification at the top of the Autodesk Account Management page for the times in your zone.

Return of the Educational Watermark in AutoCAD 2019 and 2019 Vertical Products

The educational watermark has returned in the 2019 versions of AutoCAD^® and AutoCAD-based vertical products, like AutoCAD^® Architecture and AutoCAD^®MEP. More details on the 2019 implementation of the educational watermark can be found in this Autodesk Knowledge Network article.

Say Goodbye...

...to AutoCAD^® Architecture and AutoCAD^® MEP, and say hello to Only One. AutoCAD. with toolsets in the 2019 release. The familiar tools in AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD MEP will still be available, as toolsets that can be installed for use in AutoCAD. Most of the other vertical products built on AutoCAD^® will also become toolsets.

Current subscribers to a vertical product have the option to stay with the vertical product or migrate to the new offering. Current permanent licenses with active maintenance will only have access to the vertical product, when it is released, but will have the option to move to subscription (and the Only One. AutoCAD. offering) when the maintenance contract is up for renewal. More details on this and other related issues can be found in the Only One AutoCAD FAQ.

Civil 3D 2018 to ACA 2013

We have started to get drawings from Civil consultants in the 2018 file format. Thanks to our recent move to the AEC Collection, we now have access to AutoCAD^® Civil 3D^®. I have no idea how to use that program, beyond the AutoCAD basics, but I installed the 2018 version of it in the hope that I would be able to export the received drawing to "vanilla" AutoCAD^®. Similar to AutoCAD^® Architecture and AutoCAD^® MEP, you can go to the Application Menu > Export > Export Civil 3D Drawing to export a drawing. There is a dialog, where you can choose between AutoCAD DWG and Microstation^® DGN, and, for DWG export, the Export Settings allow you to select a file format, such as 2013.

I did all of that, and Civil 3D did its thing, and drawings were generated. (I got more than one because I left the Include sheets toggle checked, so a drawing for each layout was also generated.) I fired up AutoCAD Architecture 2016 and opened the exported "Model" file, only to be greeted by this dialog:

What?! I just exported this file to a previous file format - there should not be ANY AEC objects, let alone future ones. I closed the dialog and tried run the WALLADD command. No dice - "Command not allowed because drawing contains objects from a newer version of this application." appeared at the command line. So this drawing, supposedly exported to the previous file format, can be opened, but is otherwise mostly useless. You can externally reference the file and use AEC commands in the host file, saving it from being totally useless.

Still, I expected to have a "clean" 2013-format file that only has non-AEC AutoCAD objects. I tried a Window selection in Model Space to get all the visible objects and then tried to copy them to the clipboard, hoping that if I pasted them in a new file, the future AEC Objects would not come along for the ride. That did not work, as the copy to clipboard failed.

Then I tried to select the Model Space objects and use the WBLOCK command, again hoping that the future AEC Objects would be left behind. That also failed.

Finally, I opened the file in AutoCAD Architecture 2018 and tried to use the AECEXPORTTOAUTOCAD2013 command, in the somewhat desperate hope that might work. I got the following dialog indicating that an error had occurred during the save.

And then this dialog showed up, to rub salt into the wound. I tried "saving" as AutoCAD-only objects!

This was followed by a second showing of the warning dialog recommending the use of the RECOVER command. Opening this file in AutoCAD Architecture 2016 resulted in the same Open Drawing - New Versions of Objects in Drawing dialog as shown in the first image above.

Finally, I tried starting a new drawing and using the INSERT command to insert the originally exported "Model" drawing file. I received the following dialog:

The small-print statement "Newer AEC objects will be disallowed from participating in this operation" gave me hope, as it was not flat-out refusing to do the insertion, and I did not want the newer objects in the file. That hope was confirmed, as it did insert what appeared to be all of the objects that were visible in the exported file, and I was able to add AEC objects to the file. Upon saving and reopening, there were no dialogs chastising me for having a file with future AEC Objects in it. Success! I still think that the original export should have been AEC-object-free, and object to having to go to the extra step of inserting the exported file into an empty file to get rid of the future objects, but at least I have a workaround for providing a "clean" file in the 2013 format that does not require proxy objects or object enablers.

Revit: "Mystery" Names on the Room Name Drop-Down List

Like other text parameters in Revit, as you add Rooms to your project and provide values to the Name parameter, a list of used values is generated and made available for selecting the Name of a newly added Room. This can speed the naming of Rooms, when you have multiple Rooms with the same Name, and also makes it easier to be consistent in how you name them.

So today, I was the only design technology helpdesk staffer, and a question came in regarding the fact that in the project on which this person was working, there was a long list of room names from which to choose, that were NOT Rooms in that project. The problem was there were so many of these "mystery" names that it was slowing down the process of finding the desired name on the list, and the person wanted to be able to delete the ones that did not apply. I opened the project file and set up Room Schedules for each phase in the project, hoping to find that there were unplaced Rooms in one or more of the Phases that were generating these names. This turned out to not be the case.

Perplexed, I created a new project from our template, and found that those same names were on the list there, as well. I searched the help and the internet, trying to figure out what the source of these names was, to no avail. Then it occurred to me that there could be a Color Scheme in the project that was defining these names. I opened the Edit Color Scheme dialog (on the ribbon: Architecture > Room & Area panel flyout > Color Schemes), set the Category to Rooms and found a number of Color Schemes in our template file. Most were based on the Department parameter, but one was based on the Name parameter, and it was the source of the "mystery" names on the Room Name list.

Revit: Linked AutoCAD File with MText and Columns

One of the users at my firm was trying to link an AutoCAD file into Revit 2016, to get some formatted text notes into his project. The formatting of the text changed from what shows in AutoCAD when linked into Revit. It turned out he was using the Columns feature of MText to get his notes to wrap into a second column, as the total "height" of the notes was greater than the height of the sheet. Revit ignored the columns formatting and displayed the text as one continuous column, with the width set to match the total width of both columns in AutoCAD.

The solution was to reformat the MText in AutoCAD, removing the columns formatting, setting the overall width to that of one column, and breaking the MText into two separate pieces, one for each of the former columns. Any future edits to the AutoCAD file will have to deal with the separation of the MText into two pieces, but the text does appear as desired when linked into Revit.

One more issue that we will not encounter as often as we start using Revit 2018 on new projects, given the somewhat improved ability to format text in 2018.

ExportToAutoCAD and Civil 3D Object Enabler

I have not tested this exhaustively, but I had an issue today where I was trying to export what appeared to be a "vanilla" AutoCAD 2018 format file back to the 2013 file format, using AutoCAD Architecture 2018. On my initial attempts, I got a message saying there was an error and that I should try to RECOVER the exported file. I did so, and no errors were reported, but I got the dreaded future objects warning, and I could not add a Wall in the file. I had previously installed the Civil 3D object enabler on AutoCAD Architecture 2018, and suspected that was the reason why there were still future objects in the exported file. I uninstalled the object enabler, and was able to export to the 2013 file format without any errors, warnings or issues.

I am not certain if having the object enabler installed was adding Civil 3D objects, which the AutoCAD Architecture EXPORTOTAUTOCAD2013 command could not export/explode or if the enabler was causing an error that left future AutoCAD Architecture AEC objects in the file, but removing the enabler appears to have fixed things, for now.

ACA: Curved Mass Elements - Part 2: Shape Impact

First article in the series: ACA: Curved Mass Elements - Part 1: FacetDev and FacetMax

The Shape property of a curved Mass Element will affect how it reacts to the FacetDev and FacetMax settings. Any of the standard shapes that involve a curve, Arch, Barrel Vault, Cone, Cylinder, Dome, Doric and Sphere, will be initially placed based on the settings of FacetDev and FacetMax, and will update when changes to the FacetDev value would result in a different number of segments. A change to the value of FacetMax will not result in a change to the faceting of existing Mass Elements, even if it would cause a lesser or greater number of segments. The effect of a change to FacetMax on existing objects will be seen only if the value of FacetDev is subsequently changed by an amount sufficient to result in a different number of facets.

Mass Element Extrusions and Revolutions that have curves in the defining Profile will also retain the ability to change the number of facets when FacetDev is changed. Freeform Mass Elements, however, will have the number of facets present at the time of creation, regardless of later changes to the value of FacetDev. How can you end up with a Freeform Mass Element? The following will produce one:

• Use of the Boolean tools to create Unions, Subtractions or Intersections of two or more Mass Elements that results in a shape that cannot be created by extruding a Profile placed in the X-Y plane in which the first object was created.
• Use of the AecMassElementConvert command to convert an AEC object or an AutoCAD 3D Solid to a Mass Element. The Convert to Mass Element tool on the out-of-the-box Massing palette (in the Design tool palette group, in the US Imperial content, and, likely other content as well) runs this command. You can also access this command by selecting an AutoCAD 3D Solid, right clicking and chosing Convert to > Mass Element from the context menu.
• Use of the ConvertMEToFFME command to convert an AutoCAD 3D Solid or a standard-shape Mass Element to a Freeform Mass Element. For standard-shape Mass Elements, this command can be invoked by selecting the Mass Element, right clicking and choosing Convert to > Freeform Mass Element on the context menu. NOTE: If you right click on one of the standard-shape tools on the Massing tool palette, and choose Apply Tool Properties to > Mass Element, the ConvertMEToFFME command will be run, but the 3D Solid or Mass Element will be converted into a Mass Element with the standard shape of the tool which was right-clicked.

In the images below, all three things started from the same source. At the lower left, there are the original objects: a Cylinder base and a Cone on top. In the middle, with FacetDev set to 20, with the Cylinder selected, Boolean > Union was selected from the right-click context menu, and then the Cone was chosen. The same operation was performed on the source objects in the upper right, but with FacetDev set to 0.5. In the top image, FaceDev is set to 0.5, and you can see that the facets on the Freeform Mass Element in the upper right match those of the Cylinder and Cone in the lower left, while the Freeform Mass Element in the middle retains the faceting that was current when it was created. For comparison, FacetDev is set to 20 in the lower image, and you can see that the faceting of the middle Freeform Mass Element matches that of the Cylinder and Cone in the lower left, while the faceting of the Freeform Mass Element in the upper right remains as it was at the time it was created.