linking excel into revit

[chardt676993]

I'm relatively new to revit and am trying to figure out how I can import an excel spreadsheet into a revit sheet. I'm sure its simple but the process is eluding me.

much appreciated.

[Maciej Wypych]

I'm relatively new to revit and am trying to figure out how I can import an excel spreadsheet into a revit sheet. I'm sure its simple but the process is eluding me.

much appreciated.

Hi,

There is no way to do it directly. You can use an addin like Excel2R (http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/RVT/en/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3aexcel2revit_windows32and64%3aen) to create a table in a drafting view that will be populated with the excel data.

If you want to use Excel to drive your model/families I'd recommend using Dynamo (it gives you almost unlimited possibilities with manipulating the data) or there is a number of other addins to do that.

Personally I think that if the information in a schedule that is placed on a Revit sheet is not extracted from the model, it should stay in Excel.

Thanks,

Maciej

[Craig_L]

As mentioned above there are several add-in pieces of software on the market (not by autodesk) that can handle linking between revit and excel.
It is possible otherwise, but you need to double handle the excel file by routing it through autocad.
Link the excel file into autocad as usual, and then you link the autocad file with the excel embed into revit and this works just fine also. Depending on how you need to place the excel file will depend on what kind of view to place it in, if it is only going on one sheet then link your autocad file into a drafting view, but if you want it over multiple views then you will need to link into a legend

[MikeJarosz]

If you are attempting to link a live Excel file into a construction document in order to update the CD from Excel, my advice is don't do it. Once CDs have been issued and construction begun, your CDs become a legally binding contract. Changes, revisions or other updates must follow strict notification procedures if you want to stay out of court. Making changes to a drawing from an external source is risky business. Even if you are aware of this risk, are you sure that every time you make a revision in Excel you are going to go to the Revit drawing and cloud the change and enter it into the revision schedule?

Are you sure that the task you are doing in Excel can't be done more effectively directly in Revit? I have seen people do door schedules in Excel then paste a jpeg into Revit! Creating the Excel file is twice the amount of work as doing it in native Revit. Then, any changes to the doors in Revit will not reflect in the Excel file, creating a conflict between the model and schedules.

The drawing list is another place people think an Excel file is the way to go, except the Excel list manager doesn't know that Joe in the Chicago office just changed the title of sheet A-372 from "Elevations" to "INTERIOR ELEVATIONS BUILDING A", then created A-373 for Building B elevations. I have worked on huge airport projects with dozens of consultants. The Excel drawing list becomes a work of fiction sometime after the first thousand sheets are issued. C'mon......this problem is just what Revit was created to solve!

In Acad, I wrote a program to read every sheet in a project and dump the title block info into Excel. For an airport, that can be thousands of sheets. We could run it daily if needed. You would be amazed at the number of changes that happen to title blocks on a project of that size that the list manager is unaware of.

When you have so many sheets, how will you know that sheet M-692 changed scale from 1/8"=1'-0" to "as noted"? Your Excel file will probably still read eighth scale. Contractor estimators look for such mistakes.

[clintonc]

I am not sure about what Mike said seeing that we have been using linked files in autoCAD for 20 years. but, Ideate has an really good tool called "Sticky" that allows you to bring excel files into Revit with formatting and everything. It treats them like schedules.

[Craig_L]

OK - my advice has some caveats attached to it.
We link only some excel files in as needed. Mike is correct in that strict update protocols should be followed but this can be overcome by adding a "revision number" column into your excel file or a revision title. This will clearly show the table has changed from the last issue or earlier issues. The importance of this will depend on the content of your table, and your contractual obligations. Definitely something to consider if the tables are likely to change often.

I link the excel table into AutoCAD and then from there link the CAD file into Revit. It's double handling, but works well as it will update in much the same way as an XREF.

Another option, if these are tables that do NOT change once the project is begun, but change from project to project (such as design limitations, wind regions, concrete strenghts, slump values etc)
Then consider making tables in Revit under generic annotation families. Here you can add parameters in simple text labels to input your design information on a per project basis. I have included a sample of some info I have put into a generic annotation family which serves as one of our standard notes on every project, and will be the same on every sheet, and will not change once the project starts but is project specific information.

99025

All of these values are manually input (once) by the draftsperson, at the time of importing the notes block the first time.
Once it's in place you can drop this on as many sheets as you like.

[david_peterson]

CTC also has a nice tool. As long as the parameter exist in revit you can add it to excel file. Push and pull data all you want. Works slick. I use it all the time to change the mark value on things like plumbing fixtures and outlets to get rid of the duplicate mark warnings.

[blair.isbister]

CTC also has a nice tool. As long as the parameter exist in revit you can add it to excel file. Push and pull data all you want. Works slick. I use it all the time to change the mark value on things like plumbing fixtures and outlets to get rid of the duplicate mark warnings.

Linking Revit to Excel through AutoCad works but it is painful and overly complex, Excel is a database the work flow you guys are looking for is as follows

Revit DB Link Workflows

Autodesk Revit DB Link provides a way to store Revit model information in a database where it can be modified and then returned to the Revit model. With Revit DB Link, you can:

Create a database from data in a Revit project.
Update an existing database with Revit data that has been changed.
Update a Revit project with changes made in a database.

Using ODBC, Revit creates tables for the following elements:

Model Objects: Types and Instances
Levels and Rooms: Instances only
Key Schedules
Assembly Codes: A single table containing assembly code data for the entire project

ODBC export creates specific relationships between tables in the database using primary keys and reference values. See Table Relationships Within the Database.

Revit can export to the same database multiple times. When exporting to an empty database, Revit creates new tables. When you export a project to a populated database, Revit updates table information to match the project. This allows you to customize the database and re-export data as the project changes.

This is a link to a Site in reference to GIS howver the same workflow can be used with Architectural elements aswell. https://bimaec.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/connecting-revit-to-a-database-for-gis/

You will need MS Access or Excel to link to:

[aaronrumple]

Creating "dumb" tables is something that Revit has been lagging behind. As mentioned, there are several good 3rd party solutions for Excel to Revit. These are all quite easy to use.

Another solution I've used and seen is to create a "dumb" table by attaching information to elemets you are not using in the model and then creating a schedule of those. For instance, the last firm I worked with used "Analytic Nodes" as an object to host all knids of schedule information. The architects didn't even know what "Analytic Nodes" were ;-). This allowed us to create Excel like tables that could be directly edited inside Revit.

ODBC export and import is generally a big hammer for a small task. Its problem is that it exports the entire Revit database in a not too user friendly format. The Revit API is probably a better option for limited data-in data-out tasks. It is pretty simple to connect Revit to MySQL/SQL Server/Excel or any other data source (even a simple text file) and read data in and out. But it does take someone that can do some programming. Revit does allow for custom dictionary objects and data can be stored in those dictionary element.

[MikeJarosz]

The Revit DB does dump the entire Revit relational database into MS Access which, as Aaron says, is quite a lot of info. You get some things you can not otherwise get out of the Revit application, but still not everything you might want. The big hurdle here is learning Access. This is no small task. Revit is a relational database, as is Access and for many this is a huge learning exercise. Just open the relational view of a Revit DB in Access and you will see how 3000+ Revit objects relate to every other object. It is overwhelming.

Oh, by the way, Access is not Excel. Knowing Excel will only help a little bit.

[DaveP]

Isn't there some restriction about needing the 64-bit version of Access/Office, too?
Which almost no one recommends.

[MikeJarosz]

Yes. You need 64 bit Access, which means Access API apps, most of which are written for 32 bit, won't work. However, there are probably very few architect's offices that have customized apps running in Access anyway. In fact, most firms don't even buy the Professional version of Office that includes Access.

Office 2013 has a surprisingly inexpensive package of Office apps that includes Access. I have it at home for my own use.