Door Parameters

[RsqPrincess]

Up until this point, this company has been using a combination of OOTB doors, downloaded content, and created families.

The door schedule was infilled with text "instance properties" for each individual door. After spending a day dealing with over 400 doors on a project, I decided we're re-doing all of our doors to actually auto-fill some of that schedule and utilize more Type Properties.

So I'm rebuilding the families based on our most commonly used doors. I started with the Door family template. (in revit 2016)

I'm on the first one.

Things were going fairly well until I loaded it into a test project. The parameters I've created seem to be working out alright while testing/flexing the family. But I have some instance parameters that I can see only in the project, and can't find within the family itself.

So I'm now having duplicate parameters (one type and one instance) both reading "D. Type", but I can't figure out where these instance parameters are coming from. I don't see them in the list of parameters in the "Family Types" window. I don't want the text instance parameters to exist anymore (or at least be able to modify them). I believe the instance parameters in question are built right into the family template, but I thought there would at least be some way to access them?

Any advice? Am I overlooking something that should be obvious? :banghead:

[jmk]

My guess would be that those parameters you don't see in the family editor are shared or project parameters, added in in the project to all doors.

[billiam]

My guess would be there are some Project Parameters applied to Doors in the project file. Under Manage > Project Parameters.

If a project parameter is created it will attach itself to any door loaded into the project even if that parameter was never created in the family. I've been debating if this is the better way to use any 'infill' information in the door schedules. Instead of having to be on top of remembering to add a text parameter to every single door family, and it seems like you have hundreds, you could just make that same parameter once in the project.

[RsqPrincess]

Great! Looks like that's what it is! Thanks to you both!

[kingjosiah]

I realize that your question is in regards to finding a certain parameter in a project or a family. You mentioned earlier that you planning to overhaul many of your door family parameters from instance to type based. Before you go down that road, you might want to give instance parameters another 'fresh' look.

Years ago, I switched all our door params from type to instance based on recommendations from Aaron (twiceroadsfool) and haven't looked back. It gives much more freedom with inputting data and keeps the number of family types in the project to a minimum. Not sure which parameters you are looking to switch to type, but the thought of making and managing new types every time a head, jamb or sill detail changes make me cringe.

A better way to go is to look into using key schedules for managing data en masse. We use separate key schedules for details, panel matl/finish, frame matl/finish, hardware, etc.... You will no longer need to update 400 doors. You only need to update the data for a few of the indexes in the key schedule.

Jon

[anthonyB]

Check out this excellent tutorial by Steve Stafford: Revit OpEd: A Doors Life. It is long. It'll take you a couple of days to go through it fully, but the effort will be worth it.

I first used it a few years ago but now I am rebuilding my main door family and in revisiting this procedure again I have picked up on a few things I did not quite understand the first time round. Thoroughly recommended.

[RsqPrincess]

okay, thanks! I'll look into that.

[DavidLarson]

Might I suggest you simply use Aaron's doors?

[RsqPrincess]

I did consider if that was a more practical solution, and I do have a collection of Aaron's doors, but used more for reference to build our own.

Being strictly industrial, our company has different (and fewer) needs for our doors' parameters and LOD, and different styles of doors as well. We also have a company standard Shared Parameters collection, which will not match the parameters in his doors, and our schedules would have to be rebuilt as well.

So Aaron's doors are incredibly useful, but not immediately compatible with this particular company's template. So I figured that in the end, it may be less work to start from scratch.

[Twiceroadsfool]

Im not advocating you try to use my old doors (if they dont work for you), but i THINK there are Door Schedules in there with the downloads.

Other than that, Steve's PDF is BOSS at going through the process of making Doors.