Create parameters

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When creating projects and shared parameters,

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you can either create a parameter that can vary for each instance or

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create type parameters that will control all instances of that family type.

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In the example of a beam instance

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parameters will control dimensions such as length,

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reference level and cross sectional rotation.

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Whereas tight parameters control the physical dimensions of the I section

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along with the weights per foot and other structural properties.

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The project contains a base plate

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and our first task is to edit the family.

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Let's go ahead and select this base plate here

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and on the context, ribbon select edit family.

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The family now opens up in a family editor.

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Let's begin by reviewing the parameters that

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were already configured within this family.

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On the creates ribbon,

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go ahead and select family types

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in the family types dialogue.

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You can see that we have a number of parameters already configured,

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controlled in things like the dimensional properties.

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So here you can see that our grout thickness is one inch.

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We have a whole offset of five inches

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and a plate thickness of one inch.

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But we also have other parameters which are controlled in things like materials.

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So you can see here we have a grout material and

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we also have an actual steel grate for our plates.

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Let's begin by creating a type parameter that's

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gonna control the dimension of our plate.

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So of course, as you can see here, we can set the thickness of the plate and the grout,

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but we have no provision at the minute to set the actual size of the plate.

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The intention is that this plate will always remain square.

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So we just need to create one dimension that will

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control the length and the width and make those equal

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in the family types. Dialog box. Let's go ahead and select a new parameter

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in the parameter properties. Dialogue.

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You'll see here that we have two options that we've discussed earlier.

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We have family parameter which could not appear in schedules or tags.

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And of course,

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we could also use a shared parameter which could appear in schedules and tanks and

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could be exported to OD BC and used in a multitude of different projects.

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In our example here, this is going to be a family parameter

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for the parameter nine. Let's type in plate size.

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The parameter names are case sensitive.

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So a lower case P for plates would be a different parameter to an upper case P.

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So it's worth actually forming a convention that you want to use

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going forwards with your content that you create in rev it.

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Notice here, the discipline is going to be common.

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I could actually set this to a specific structural discipline,

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but common is going to be what we need for a minute.

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You can see then that we can configure the type of parameter.

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Now this is going to control the length.

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So of course, the default length value is exactly what I wanted.

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But here you notice that I could set text integer angle and so on.

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But length is what I want.

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And also it would make sense to be able to group this under dimensions.

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Now, if you take a look at the family types dialogue in the background,

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you can see that the dimensions are all grouped under this blue heading.

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And you can see I've got other groups here for materials and finishes constraints,

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identity data and so on.

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But of course here, this makes sense for this to be groups under dimensions.

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Let's go ahead and select, OK?

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And you can now see that we have our plate size,

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let's set this to 18 inches

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and we'll go ahead and click. OK.

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Next, we're going to assign that parameter to our dimensions

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in the project browser and the floor plans open up reference level.

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Let's zoom into our base plates.

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And we can see here that we have two dimensions

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that are currently configuring and controlling the plate size.

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We have 16 inches here

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and 16 inches here.

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Let's select the top dimension

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and then hold the control key down and select this dimension as well.

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We'll now see on the label dimension panel, we have a pull down menu

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and here we can simply pick the parameter that we want to assign to these dimensions.

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So in this case, of course, it's our plate size that we just configured for 18 inches.

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Let's go ahead and select that

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soon as I select that though,

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you'll probably notice that the grout has disappeared.

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What we need to do is create some additional parameters to be

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able to control the plane size of our grout as well.

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We'll need to go ahead and modify the plate size back to 16 inches.

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So to do that on the modify ribbon, we can select family types

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and on the plate size, I'm going to go ahead and type in 16 inches

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and you can now see the plate has readjusted notice. Now we can see our grout.

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So let's now take a look at how we're going to control the grout.

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We're going to add four dimensions in across these reference planes here

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and we're going to assign that to grout thickness.

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Of course, that would give us a 45 degree angle on our grout,

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which is what we're trying to achieve.

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So to do this, let's go ahead and select the annotate ribbon

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and on the annotate ribbon, we'll select aligned dimension

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to keep this neat and tidy.

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I'm going to add a dimension between these two

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reference planes here and then place that down.

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Another one over here.

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Notice that we can align these.

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We'll place another one here

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and another one over here.

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I'll click modify on the ribbon or of course you

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can press escape to leave the aligned dimension command.

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I now want to select all of these dimensions.

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So once again, I'll select one of the dimensions, hold the control key down

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and then select the remaining dimensions

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on the context ribbon on the label dimension. I'll go to the

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down here

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and here, I'm going to select grout thickness.

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So that parameter has now been assigned to those dimensions.

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So now if we change the plate size, the grout will react accordingly.

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Let's test this in the 3D view.

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We'll open up view one

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again on the modify ribbon, we'll select family types

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and for the plate size, let's now set this to 20 inches

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and click apply.

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You can now see that the plate adjusts as wet as the grout.

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One last control that we're going to add in is the ability

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to switch on and off this grout hole that we have here.

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So let's go ahead and select OK to the family types dialogue.

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We'll switch the view back to our reference level which

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will give us a plan view on top here.

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Notice here that this is set with a void extrusion.

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We'll go ahead and select the void extrusion.

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And if we look in the properties paddock, we can see here under graphics.

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We have cut geometry

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currently, cut geometry is checked,

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which means that this void will cut a hole through the plate.

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I want to be able to control this with a parameter.

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Notice here, I can select this icon which will associate this family parameter.

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I'm going to create a new parameter here

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and this one will be grout

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hole.

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And I want to control this by an instance parameter.

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Notice that the discipline and the type of parameter is grayed out.

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So this is hard coded because obviously this can only be on or off.

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And then we'll group this parameter under construction.

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I'll go ahead and select OK at the parameter properties, dialogue.

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And OK again to associate family parameter

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on the modify ribbon. If we go ahead and select family types,

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we can now see that we have under construction

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a grout hole that can either be on or off.

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Now, while we're in the family types dialogue,

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you'll notice under dimensions here that we have grout thickness,

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hold offset plate size and so on.

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These aren't necessarily in the best order.

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So we have options down the bottom to be able to

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sort these parameters in a send in or descending order.

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So that will sort them alphabetically or numerically

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or we can take manual control on that and move these parameters up and down the list.

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So in my case here,

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I'm going to select plate size and then select the move parameter up to

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and you can see I can move plate size to the top.

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I'll then move plate thickness to the second position here.

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Then I'll use grout thickness and then the whole offset.

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So that's a very effective way of organizing

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those parameters within the family types dialogue.

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Let's go ahead and select our codes at the family types dialog box

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and we'll now save our family and use this in a project

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on the ribbon. Let's select file,

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select save

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and choose family

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for the file name. Let's type in base plates

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and go ahead and select save.