distinguishing between shared parameters

[MikeJarosz]

Can I have shared parameters with the same name but different groups? E.G. parameter named Width, but one in door group and another in window group. The alternative is to be explicit. "Door Width" and "Window Width". Dealing with this may mean a lot of existing families may have to be edited.

Do the families in the OOTB Revit libraries use parameters consistently, especially system parameters which I can't edit? (- or fix, depending on how you look at it.)

My concern is overly generic terms like height, width, depth, description. Like I've said elsewhere "one man's height is another woman's width" I have a pile of custom families that use length width and height interchangeably and inconsistently.

[CADastrophe]

No, you cannot. I created a specific Group* called "Multi-Category" that contains the Parameters that are generic enough to be applied to multiple categories. Also, if need be, you can add, say your Shared Parameter "height", and then create a more descriptive Family Parameter in the Family (say, "frame height") and then link the value of the Shared Parameter to that one. i.e. formula for "height" would be = frame height

*This is referring to the Parameter Group within the Shared Parameter File, and not to the Grouping of Parameters within a Family.

[jsteinhauer]

Can I have shared parameters with the same name but different groups? E.G. parameter named Width, but one in door group and another in window group. The alternative is to be explicit. "Door Width" and "Window Width". Dealing with this may mean a lot of existing families may have to be edited.

Yes, you can have multiple shared parameters with the same name. The GUID's will be different for each, and it will get very confusing in a project when someone has multiple parameters named the same to choose from when building schedules. I strongly suggest not having multiple parameters named the same. Even if you have one family setup as Instance and another setup as Type, Revit will see them as different parameters in your schedules. Add in Groups and this gets really tricky. Consistency is key!!! I have tried to get our family templates updated with the proper parameters, so when someone needs to create a new family, they don't need to load in a bunch of shared parameters. There are tools out there for helping manage families & parameters.


Do the families in the OOTB Revit libraries use parameters consistently, especially system parameters which I can't edit? (- or fix, depending on how you look at it.)

The ones shipped with Revit are usually good when it comes to the base parameters. To be honest, most of the content I deal with on a project is the stuff I have create/modified & manage. I try not to use content that hasn't been proofed on at least one project.


My concern is overly generic terms like height, width, depth, description. Like I've said elsewhere "one man's height is another woman's width" I have a pile of custom families that use length width and height interchangeably and inconsistently.

This is where a Standards Document will come in handy. You can tell people exactly how you expect their content to built.

Cheers,
Jeff S.

[CADastrophe]

In light of Jeff's post, I've added a note of clarification to my previous post...