URGENT: How to import Excel Worksheet

[Gadget Man]

URGENT, URGENT, URGENT, URGE......

Hello there,

I tried to find some answer in the Help file and this Forum on how to import an Excel Worksheet into Revit drawing, but I haven't found anything!

For now, I simply re-typed all engineer's data (emailed to me in form of the Excel file), but this is plain ridiculous! Not even to mention the waste of time in this day and time of the evolution of the communications technology, but most importantly, the possibility of making a simple typing error in such a crucial data...

This becomes an urgent matter now, since I am expecting much more of such data to arrive in the matter of hours to me! I don't even want to think, that I will have to re-write everything manually again...

I simply refuse to believe, that REVIT wouldn't have this ability of importing straight from the Microsoft Excel (or at least inserting the worksheet as an embedded object), so could anybody, please, point me in the right direction!

Thanking you in advance,

[GuyR]

I simply refuse to believe, that REVIT wouldn't have this ability of importing straight from the Microsoft Excel

API...

Given your timeframe... Format and do a screen capture on the data. Then import the JPEG.

Guy

[beegee]

In Excel, select the spreadsheet data and copy to the clipboard.

In Revit, open a drafting view, start text with the appropriate font / size, then "Paste from Clipboard".

[Gadget Man]

In Excel, select the spreadsheet data and copy to the clipboard.

In Revit, open a drafting view, start text with the appropriate font / size, then "Paste from Clipboard".
Thanks GuyR and BeeGee,



As usual it was quick!



Yes, I tried to copy the data from Excel and paste it as a text into REVIT (my first thought as I couldn't insert or import an Excel Worksheet...)

But it pastes all un-formatted! All the columns are made into one - without even the breaks! With text it is hard, but not impossible, but with the numbers (and plenty of them) - it's just plain nightmare... Then, when I finally ploughed through it using tabs, as soon as I exited text editing mode, all my text lost its formatting again! When I entered text edit mode - it was all back to good, but as soon as I exited the text edit mode again - it came back to bad again... I am lost…


As to your option Guy,
Format and do a screen capture on the data. Then import the JPEG. while it sounds a little… primitive (no offence to you – I understand that you just try to help!), at least for this level of evolution of various available software, sadly it might prove the best solution after all!



Only it is a huge embarrassment for REVIT, that we have to resource to such methods… It is simply unbelievable! If somebody asked me this question yesterday (if REVIT was capable of importing an Excel worksheet) I would be offended! I would say: “Of course! What do you think? After all this is a database driven, Microsoft Windows based program, that even uses Excel-like display formatting of its own data!”



Well, well, well…



Thanks anyway,

[Joef]

You could always import it into Autocad as AutoCAD entities then bring it into a legend view in Revit. Then place it on a sheet. You will have to play around with the scale.

Joe

[Steve_Stafford]

...Only it is a huge embarrassment for REVIT, that we have to resort to such methods… It is simply unbelievable!...
Not so unbelievable to me...consider that AutoCAD only in the last two releases has begun to truly support importing such information, prior to that OLE was a bad time at best. Why do you suppose Spanner and the other similar routines got so popular?

All in good time...sorry it doesn't happen all at once.

[GuyR]

Only it is a huge embarrassment for REVIT, that we have to resource to such methods… It is simply unbelievable!

Yeah, it'd be much better if we still had layers and 2D design....

One thing you can be sure of from the Revit Team. When it's implemented it'll be simple and well designed. You just have to be patient and add it to the wish list.

[Gadget Man]

...AutoCAD only in the last two releases has begun to truly support importing such information...
I was using embeded Microsoft Excel worksheets in AutoCAD R14... They were working absolutely fine for me then (and ever since in ACAD!)

Sorry, but I don't agree with the view, that it is all right for a program costing so much to have such basic limitations! I understand, that not everything can be done at once, but an integration with the basic tools of today's office is a must! How we are suppose to co-operate with various consultants without this basic funcionality?! It is plainly embarrassing for me to admitt, that I can't use (quickly) just normal Excel worksheet...

So, if this program would do everything, that so many users (of this Forum too) are complaining about, it should cost what, two, three, ten times as much? Rubbish!!!!

This program is one of the most expensive software - yet it's performance is faaaaaaar from good.
Drawing pretty pictures of the buildings is not everything, you know...
Look at all those threads and posts (mine including), listing the faults of REVIT!

Ahrrrrrr! It infuriates me, when people try to find excuses for under-performance... :banghead:

[Joef]

AutoCAD for years has been able to import an excel spreadsheet as basic entities (not OLE). Just paste special. AutoCAD entities. This I think was available in Acad 14. Revit tries to do this but its text handling abilities are not up to the task. You do not get a grid, nor do the text entities maintain their column and row relationships.

[Steve_Stafford]

Ahrrrrrr! It infuriates me, when people try to find excuses for under-performance... :banghead:Sorry to infuriate you....

[Joef]

You have to admit that as feeble as AutoCAD's handling of Excel may have been in 1997, it still beats Revit in 2005. The big question is why has this never been addressed? It's not as if it hasn't been raised as a topic before. It just gives fuel to the naysayers. We would all like to see a greater adoption of Revit in the marketplace ( One other Reviter in Victoria would be a nice start :-) ) and this kind of stuff doesn't help at all.

[Steve_Stafford]

You have to admit that as feeble as AutoCAD's handling of Excel may have been in 1997, it still beats Revit in 2005.I'll admit that...

[Gadget Man]

Sorry to infuriate you....
It's OK... Sorry, I have cooled down now... I apologise, if I offended anybody. :Oops:

My point is, that if it was a cheap program - fine, you should expect what you have paid for.

Well, I guess I am doing just that...

[sbrown]

My guess is that Revit in most cases removes the need for excel. what are you using excel for. If it is some sort of schedule, then my guess is the revit team would want to work at making revits scheduling sufficient. Or they are working on a way to make excel and revit actually play well together, ie an excel schedule extract data from the revit model and you be able to input revit data thru excel. You'll notice that the Revit team doesn't usually take the easy way. Could they implement a quick fix, probably. But it wouldn't be innovative and revit like. What I have found recently is the use of excel on a project has led us down a bad path, we have finish tags in revit that can be scheduled and contain all the same data as you could put in excel. However since the old way of working was to do the finishes in excel, we continued with that. so instead of being able to take advantage of revits error proof scheduling, the use of excel lead to potential errors in the documents and increase in redline time. I'm not saying there isn't a valid use for excel and revit together, but using it just because you(or I) always have, isn't the best thing in the long run.

[Joef]

There is very often data needed for a project that is not a part of the model. The project data I need for building permits is not available from Revit. I don't expect Revit to know the plan number or zoning for a property. When I have to type this stuff into Revit, the deficiencies of the text handling become apparent. Tabs don't stay in place; text looks right one minute and not the next. This leads to a waste of time and then to frustration. This is very basic stuff and should be handled with ease.

[Tom Dorner]

We use Excel all the time on projects for building code related info. We simply print out of Excel into a PDF which then opens in Acrobat then simply "save as" out of Acrobat as JPEG and place into a Revit view. The whole process takes less than 30 seconds. Is it a perfect long term solution? Probably not. Would I rather have the Revit team work on the bigger issues? Yes.

HTH

Tom

[Joef]

Then when you spot a typo you have to go through the same routine all over again. Open excel, print to PDF, save as JPG, import, position. Yoiks! I admit it works, but not my idea of fun. :-)

[Steve_Stafford]

...There is very often data needed for a project that is not a part of the model...Again...not dismissing how nice this would be... for the example above I created a Revit "block w/ attributes" like the image below. Just an annotation symbol with parameters and works very nicely. If I have to type it somewhere and it needs to be on a sheet I try to find a way to do it in Revit.

[sbrown]

Generic annotation families(as Steve has shown) work great for this kind of thing because you can use filled regions and linework to make your data graphically any way you want and since this kind of thing is on every job you can just copy that family, edit it and reload into your template(project) per job.

[PeterJ]

I don't expect Revit to know the plan number or zoning for a property. When I have to type this stuff into Revit, the deficiencies of the text handling become apparent.
A year or so back I was working ona project where I needed to run through a dozen or more iterations of plot use to show how a mixed use scheme could work and within that how different uses across floors could work.

I ended up using lots of tables and adding attributes to property lines. For the developer it enabled me to just draft floor plans using the area plan tools and quickly work up net:gross ratios and plot utilisations.

I'm not an advocate of working this stuff up in Revit for the fun of it, but if you are likely to do the same thing more than a couple of times over then it is worthwhile finding a way to do it using the native tools. If it's a schedule you can save it into your template file and it'll be there each time you start a new project, if its a drafted layout like Steve's example it can also go in your template, perhaps even with a series of drafting views for each area you work in, of they have different views on how they like to see information.

[Joef]

Thanks Steve for your suggestion! A generic annotation is clearly the way to go for project data and similar tables. The time spent setting things up in templates and families saves not only effort but frustration. I tend to be a wheel inventor. :-)

[Scott D Davis]

It's OK... Sorry, I have cooled down now... I apologise, if I offended anybody. :Oops:

My point is, that if it was a cheap program - fine, you should expect what you have paid for.

Well, I guess I am doing just that...
The same could be said about almost any program. Take AutoCAD for example. How come after 20 years plus of development, do I still need to make a special dimension style for every scale that mght be used? How come I still must create special annotation symbols for various scales. Shouldn't AutoCAD be able to do something as simple as read what scale I am using, and adust dims and annotations accordingly? I got tired of waiting for "expecting what I was paying for" in AutoCAD an moved on to a program that does those things we said AutoCAD should have been doing for at least the last 10 years or more.

[Steve_Stafford]

...Thanks Steve for your suggestion!...Here's the family...I'm pretty sure I posted it before but hey...twice is nice! Take a look if you like...

[Gadget Man]

Generic annotation families(as Steve has shown) work great for this kind of thing because you can use filled regions and linework to make your data graphically any way you want and since this kind of thing is on every job you can just copy that family, edit it and reload into your template(project) per job.
And for me it would be just a waste of time!

You see, I don't calculate anything! I don't model any structural stuff whatsoever! I don't produce almost any schedules from the drawings! All is done by the consulting engineers, compiled in the form of Excel tables and returned to me for insertion into the drawings (as is - without changes). Sometimes we are talking eight, ten different tables - each differently formatted, with specific symbols, lots of crucial data, etc. This job has been done (and paid for) by somebody already. Nobody wants me to re-do it. What they expect me to do, is just include it inside the drawings - on various, specified pages. In fact, if they knew, that I re-typed it, they would insist (and rightly so) to re-examine it for errors! After all it is their butts on the line, if something goes wrong... Normally it should take me only seconds, and I am not paid any extra for it. To me it is just a natural form of professional co-operation... I don't even dare to admit to them, that I simply can't copy-and-paste (at least!) if not do it in some more sophisticated way... They would simply laugh at me and use somebody else! I don't think it would do any good to maintain my professional image...

I am absolutely certain, that there are more guys out there with similar arrangements.

To me, this in-ability of REVIT to co-operate with a simple Excel file is just (another) shocker... Sorry, but I like to call things what they are and no amount of arguments, how wanderful REVIT is, will change it. Yes, of course it is a wanderful program for what it does, but my love for it doesn't blind me from seeing things, which it doesn't do as it should...

I think, I will stop now - with each next word I will only make more enemies... ;-)

[Scott D Davis]

This is not intended to sound the way it is going to come out, but.... :smile:

Could you just ask them to send JPG's rather than Excel files? Why should you have to do any cutting and pasting at all? If it is all preformatted information, they send you a JPG, you stick it on a sheet, and you're done. You aren't getting paid to monkey around with even cutting and pasting their information...your consultants need to send the info in a specific format. You just need to make sure that format is JPG, not XLS. Put it back on them to send the info in a form you can use. In fact, if they are worried about the data changing, JPG is better anyway! I can imagine in the cut-n-paste excersize you do from Excel, you accidently leave out a "cell" of info....

[Batman]

Thanks, Thats a great example Steve.

[BWG]

Revit is still a baby compared to what it will become. Very few programs out there interact with one another to the level you would like and keep everything just as it was and completely not changed. The work around is good for now until the revit team has time to get to it. We are paying a high price for this software and Autodesk knows this and that is why we are getting ACAD series at a deep discount. Someone has to pay for R&D and development. Those costs can't wait to be recaptured when you have 200k seats sold. Give them time. Personally, I would rather have them work on roofs than excel. Actually, I would rather see them allow xport and/or mport to Comcheck and Rescheck before Excel. As for your consultants, just pay them their normal fee and they will provide the complete set of drawings where you can stop doing a lot of their work. I've been down that road before.

[Gadget Man]

...Could you just ask them to send JPG's rather than Excel files? ...Thanks Scott,

Yeah, I know what you're saying... But, they are only engineer's, you know... (some of them don't even use AutoCAD... yet)! It is an absolute success, that they forced themselves onto the Excel..! Some of them probably would have a hard time to understand what JPEG is, let alone how to convert an XLS to it... :roll:

It is not easy to work with some of them, but than again: nobody promised me an easy life, did they? :smile:

Well, as I said before: while a JPG option sounds a little... primitive, looks like it is the most feasible so far... :screwy:

[Steve_Stafford]

...And for me it would be just a waste of time!...Inconceivable!! :!: (think Wes!)


...You see, I don't calculate anything! I don't model any structural stuff whatsoever! I don't produce almost any schedules from the drawings! All is done by the consulting engineers, compiled in the form of Excel tables...In this case we (meaning my past employers over the years) would include a drawing provided by said engineers with their stamp and tables in our set. No pasting etc. Now I see why you are frustrated...:sad: Could you get them to submit their data formatted on sheets that match your set and eliminate your need to touch the info at all? Are you presenting their design information as your own, the client is none the wiser? If so, I guess not?

I only ask, wishing to not be an enemy...to help you through the wait...;-)

[Gadget Man]

... Personally, I would rather have them work on roofs than excel. Actually, I would rather see them allow xport and/or mport to Comcheck and Rescheck before Excel...
I see your point.

All this my frustration started, because I assumed (obviously wrongly so!!!), that REVIT being a data driven, Microsoft Windows based program, one that even presents most of its data in an Excel-like fashion and is also capable of exporting reports in the XLS format, would for sure be able to import them too!

Silly me... I am appalled by my lack of logical thinking! There is no excuse for me, so I do apologise to everybody offended, for un-necessary stirring the pot...

[Scott D Davis]

Silly me... I am appalled by my lack of logical thinking! There is no excuse for me, so I do apologise to everybody offended, for un-necessary stirring the pot...
Jerry, c'mon now...it's not like that! We appreciate what you are going through, and as we've learned more through this topic about what you are going through, we understand your plight. You started off with "I MUST be able to import Excel!" As we have learned more about your process with your engineers, well now we can understand why this would make your job easier!

This is EXACTLY what the Factory needs...real life stories about the work process that we go through. And NOT just the problem, but why its a problem, and how a change in Revit may change the way you can work. As we have all learned in this topic, not everyone has the need to import excel into Revit as Jerry has. Why? Because some have found other alternative better methods. But until we understood WHY Jerry needs Excel into Revit (because his engineers give him Excel files, and really don't know how to do much else) we were trying to come up with solutions. Until this point, I bet the factory would never have anticipated the need to take excel in Revit in the case that the engineers are formatting documents, handing them 'as-is' to the architect to place on his sheets.

Just remember to be clear about what it is you need, and most importantly WHY you need it! In this case, it seems we didn't get the whole picture until the topic was responded to many times.

[GuyR]

in the XLS format,

No it can't. It can export csv. A simple text format.

The API gives you reasonable access to the data via excel so it is possible.

You can sort of import a csv file via a type catalog. So perhaps an annotation family and a type catalog might work.Depends how many types(rows) there are.

Guy

[Gadget Man]

No it can't. It can export csv. A simple text format...
Yes, it can!

Through File->Export->ODBC Database->Microsoft Excel driver.

It results in a pure XLS file, so what do you call it?

[GuyR]

exporting reports in the XLS format,


Through File->Export->ODBC Database->Microsoft Excel driver.

Sorry, by reports I thought you were referring to schedules. ODBC dumps the whole database.

Guy