How is this symbolic line linked to a parameter?

[Dave F.]

Hi

If you view this family from the Front you'll see two Hidden Face symbolic lines.

They're move in relation to the t parameter. They're locked to something but I can't work out what.
In Wireframe style there is a face of the sweep, but if I unlock & try to relock to it it fails.

I've seen it done before in other families, but with ref planes & dims with parameter labels.
I can see any of those here.
There are some in the profile but can't work out how they're linked to the symbolic lines.

What am I failing to understand?

[AdamCP]

The symbolic lines are in fact locked to the face of the sweep you refer to. The reason you can't lock (or align) to them when you've unlocked them is because of the curved fillet at each end of those faces. Revit just says 'nuh'. If you cut a section parallel to the view, but across the middle of the profile where the origin plane is, you can once again align to those two faces, as revit can now 'see' a hard edge.

If you are doing a beam/column with a second, lower detail profile for use at medium detail levels, the curved fillets don't pose a problem as they are usually removed from the lower detail profile, and so there's a hard edge there to align to.

[Dave F.]

The symbolic lines are in fact locked to the face of the sweep you refer to. The reason you can't lock (or align) to them when you've unlocked them is because of the curved fillet at each end of those faces. Revit just says 'nuh'. If you cut a section parallel to the view, but across the middle of the profile where the origin plane is, you can once again align to those two faces, as revit can now 'see' a hard edge.

If you are doing a beam/column with a second, lower detail profile for use at medium detail levels, the curved fillets don't pose a problem as they are usually removed from the lower detail profile, and so there's a hard edge there to align to.

Perfect! Thanks for your clear, precise answer.

I've now run into a related problem. In a similar family I need to add symbolic lines so they appear when viewed 45 degrees from orthogonal. I created a named ref plane, put in a temporary section but in that view Symbolic Lines is grayed out.
Is this meant to happen, and is there a way around it?

Thanks again

[AdamCP]

Not sure on this one. Symbolic lines seem restricted to front/back, left/right, plan/rcp. This might be a case for a separate detail component or linework. What are you creating that would consistently be shown at 45 degrees to it's origin planes?

This whole thing of using symbolic linework to represent the hidden faces of members seems bizarre. Revit can work out hidden edges perfectly well. The symbolic hidden lines don't get cropped back when you use coping or add openings to a member, so you have to use the linework tool to tidy it up every time. I can appreciate that symbolic linework has some advantages in certain cases, but not to even have the option for self-hidden edges/faces.. *waits for perfectly reasonable explanation to why we can't have this*

[Dave F.]

Ha!. Your rant is almost word for word what I was about to post.

The family I want to view a 45 degrees is actually a tube that I could possibly need to view at any angle. I was just experimenting to see what could (or in this case, couldn't) be done.

Why Revit can work out when one element is behind another but can't do it within a single enitity is just plain ridiclous. :-(

[aaronrumple]

Not sure on this one. Symbolic lines seem restricted to front/back, left/right, plan/rcp. This might be a case for a separate detail component or linework. What are you creating that would consistently be shown at 45 degrees to it's origin planes?


They are restricted.
Fo lines which should be show at other viewing angles - use model lines on a surface. For example - I use model lines on the face of a door panel so the swing shows when viewed at 45 degrees....

Symbolic lines are really there for performance reasons. It takes longer to do hidden line removal than show symbolic lines.

[Dave F.]

How do you prevent that from displayng in other views?

[aaronrumple]

How do you prevent that from displayng in other views?

Using subcategories or level of detail.