Understanding Custom Parameters in Revit

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Understanding Custom Parameters in Revit.

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Custom parameters can be created in a project using global and project parameters.

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In families, you can create parametric labels and other family parameters.

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But the most powerful type of custom parameters is the shared parameter.

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And this can be used both in projects and families and with schedules and tags.

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So let's jump into Revit to look at these custom parameters.

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First, we're going to look at global parameters.

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Global parameters are created in projects and are typically used for dimension and formulas.

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Notice I'm in the ground floor plan, and down in the View Control bar, there's an icon for revealing constraints.

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When I click on that, I zoom into the exam rooms, and you'll notice these dimensions in a red tone.

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And these are the global dimension constraints.

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Notice that we've assigned the exam room width to each exam room.

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So I can click on one, and I have my edit button. So, I can edit that global constraint.

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And in the global parameters, I can change the value simply by clicking on it,

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and typing "10 space 6" which Revit interprets as 10 foot 6.

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I click "Apply," and "OK".

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And now you notice that all the exam rooms that have that global parameter assigned to it are now 10 foot 6.

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Now that's quite a drastic change. So I'm simply going to undo that to revert back to the original dimension.

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Also notice over here that the length of the exam rooms is in red.

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So this 12 feet is also a constraint.

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Another way of getting to the global parameters is by going to the Manage tab

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and clicking on Global Parameters.

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And the same dialog box opens, I no longer need to see these constraints.

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So back on the View Control Bar, I disable my Reveal Constraints.

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When I go to the Manage tab, I can select Project Parameters.

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And if I go to the New Parameter, notice that I have Parameter Types, which are for Project Parameters.

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And these can appear in schedules but not in tags.

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And Project Parameters are used only for this particular project.

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Whereas shared parameters can be used in multiple projects and families,

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they can be exported to an ODBC file, and they can appear in schedules and in tags,

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these are much more useful. Project parameters are used seldom.

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In later exercises, we'll look at how to set up project parameters and shared parameters.

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So for now, we'll just cancel out of that, or family parameters.

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Let's double-click on one of these casework elements that launches our Family Editor.

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I'm going to go to my floor plan view, the reference level.

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And here you will note that there are some dimensions that have labels next to them.

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For example, width, and depth.

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And these control the parametric nature of these families.

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If I click on one of these dimensions, notice that it is a label,

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these are the different labels that I have in my family.

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Label is yet another term for parameter.

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There are additional parameters in this family, and I can access them by going to my Family Types.

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If I click on the Edit button, notice that the width is a built-in parameter, and I can't modify anything within it.

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Although I can change the value if I scroll down to other information.

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Notice I have my manufacturer phone. If I added this, this is a family parameter.

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So it cannot appear in schedules or tags.

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So it's really only accessible in the family.

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It is also a type parameter.

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So all the casework for this particular type will have the same manufacturer's phone number, which makes sense.

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If I scroll up to material, and I edit this, this material is part of a shared parameter.

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And as I mentioned earlier, this is really one of the most useful types of parameters.

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However, it does take some effort to coordinate this.

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This is also a type material.

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So therefore, all the panel materials for this family will be the same. So I click OK.

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Another thing that we can do in this Family Types is to create new types.

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So therefore, I would have different types of casework belonging to this one family. I'm going to cancel out of this.

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Let's close out this Family Editor.

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We haven't made any changes.

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To summarize, to create custom parameters is really the best way to make your building information model more useful.

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We can add custom parameters for dimensions, model elements, and families, and these can be referenced in schedules, tags, et cetera.