Nested Families (Connectors)

[koolair]

Hi everyone!

I am trying to create a nested family in order to represent an assembly consisting of a solenoid valve, check valve, and flow switch. It would be great if I could create a new hosted family, import the components, hook them all up together and "wrap them all inside a "box". Once I load that assembly into the project, I would like to be able to tap into the connectors of the components.

For example, the assembly above will have electrical connectors in the solenoid and flow switch component families. These connectors need to be accessed by the electrical consultant. But every time I create a nested family, none of the connectors in the component families can be accessed. This is the same with adding P-traps to sink families or floor drains.

Hope someone can point out what I'm missing. Any link, reference, document would be great also!

Thanks in advance

Joe

[Jade6]

I am trying to answer your question, hopefully it helps...

Let's call the assembly the parent family, and call the solenoid valve, check valve, and flow switch child family.

When the child family load into parent family as nest family, the connector won't be together with the geometry. You will have to add the desired connector again in the parent family to make it work.

[BigBadBIM]

Hi everyone!

I am trying to create a nested family in order to represent an assembly consisting of a solenoid valve, check valve, and flow switch. It would be great if I could create a new hosted family, import the components, hook them all up together and "wrap them all inside a "box". Once I load that assembly into the project, I would like to be able to tap into the connectors of the components.

For example, the assembly above will have electrical connectors in the solenoid and flow switch component families. These connectors need to be accessed by the electrical consultant. But every time I create a nested family, none of the connectors in the component families can be accessed. This is the same with adding P-traps to sink families or floor drains.

Hope someone can point out what I'm missing. Any link, reference, document would be great also!

Thanks in advance

Joe

Connectors in Nested families don't come through into the host. Neither are they available in a project. However, you can strip the connectors out of the nested families and create new ones in the host at the same locations.

Another important concept to understand is that there is no way to drive parameter values in the host by parameters in the nested family (i.e. you can't have the nested family's Model No. drive some parameter in the host.) You can do the opposite. You can have parameter A in the host mapped (search for mapping parameters in the Revit Help file) to parameter X on the nested component (as long as they are the same type of parameter.) This really seems to only be useful to drive geometry or other graphic changes in the nested item. I mean why drive engineering data in the nested family when you can't access it in the project.

Wait I take that back, I was thinking of a particular scenario I was involved in. You MIGHT want to drive parameters in the nested family if you are creating a "Shared" family (look that one up also in the help file, as well.)Then you can place two (or more) components at the same time (as in your example) and you can schedule that nested piece, yet you can change the parameters of that component in the project (through the parameters of the host.) OK, that is as clear as mud.

The main point is, you might want to nest in the three families for geometry and house all of the engineering/sizing/ etc data in the host. (But they would then schedule as ONE peice of equipment (or whatever.) So maybe haveing duplicate parameters in the host is the answer. Whew...

Another option would be to try groups. Which I'm itching to try in a project. Soon.

I'll try to post an example of nested, shared, families on my blog in the next month or so. That time table might not help you, but I have a little one on the way and probably won't have much time to get online for awhile.