Detail Component Library

[dnilsson]

Does anyone have a method for setting up an index of detail components?

By index I mean a reference, either printed or digital where someone could go to find an image of each component along with the filename. It was daunting but manageable to dig through a single directory full of component files, but combine the new CSI organization with these 500 new detail components and I have no idea what all is in there anymore.

I single out detail components because they seem to be the easiest to deal with since they're 2D and only have a single view, but the problem exists to some extent with all the families. Every time there is an upgrade I wonder if I'm missing some great new family that I don't know about.

[patricks]

I have wondered the same thing about upgrading, since we always keep a centrally-located Revit library on our server, and everyone's copy of Revit points to the same location.

So what is this, R9 has a bunch of new components? And it's organized differently than before? ohhhh great, that's going to be a pain to integrate, because we generally save new components in the same folders as all the other components so that it's easier to find when needed (instead of digging through both factory and custom/downloaded families just to find one single thing).

[dnilsson]

So what is this, R9 has a bunch of new components? And it's organized differently than before?

Yes and kinda yes. Only the detail components are organized differently.

Like you, we tend to put new stuff in with the stock because for most of our users, it's far simpler that way. We prefix all custom content so it's obvious what's stock and what's not. At least it was. Now there are 138 folders to dig through. I understand the reasoning behind breaking it down, I just need a way to catalog what's in there.

[mibzim]

There was mention of revit implementing a proper catalogue system for the library as opposed to the current folder selection method, but obviously not for this version =(.

The concept was/ is to add parametric data to each family describing what it is. So every family item would have several categories which you could search, sort or filter when searching through the revit library.

For example a 2D plan view of a tree would contain paramters describing it as:

1. Detail component
2. Landscaping
3. Plan

Wouldnt it be great to load a family from revit and enter into a REAL catalogue / database taht is easy to use! I long for the day... for the moment i will continue to put all my energy into agonising over categorising each item and placing it in its most relevant folder so everyone with half a brain can can find it... and then lose it myself.

[patricks]

There was mention of revit implementing a proper catalogue system for the library as opposed to the current folder selection method, but obviously not for this version =(.

The concept was/ is to add parametric data to each family describing what it is. So every family item would have several categories which you could search, sort or filter when searching through the revit library.

For example a 2D plan view of a tree would contain paramters describing it as:

1. Detail component
2. Landscaping
3. Plan

Wouldnt it be great to load a family from revit and enter into a REAL catalogue / database taht is easy to use! I long for the day... for the moment i will continue to put all my energy into agonising over categorising each item and placing it in its most relevant folder so everyone with half a brain can can find it... and then lose it myself.

Sounds like you're thinking more of a database of components?

[mibzim]

exactly

(it says that that reply wasnt long enough so i decided to type this)