Project Parameters

[dmb.100468]

It appears that project parameters that are type specific cannot be applied to a family until that family is loaded into the project. This means that the user must then input the information into the parameter instead of it being inherent in the family. The way I have worked around this is to create Shared Parameters in the family, but this is sometimes a duplication of what would already be there if the project parameters could be applied to the family. Am I missing something?

[jason.bishop]

Unless I am misunderstanding your problem, you should be able to do what you are trying to accomplish. If you add a "Type" parameter to a family, then you must be sure to switch to each type in the family and enter the desired value of that parameter for each type that you have defined in the family.

In "Family Types" dialog box:

1. Click "Add..."
2. Select "Type" (as opposed to "Instance") and enter all other desired information, click OK
3. In the "Name:" drop-down list, select each type one at a time and enter the desired parameter value for each type.

If this family already exists in a project and you are re-loading it, you must select the option to "Override parameter values of existing types" if the you have modified/deleted a parameter that has previously been created in the family (assuming that you want the updates to be reflecetd in the project).

[dmb.100468]

I apologize. I don't think I worded my problem correctly. Plus, after further investigation, I have found a way to achieve my goal. I set up some shared parameters that are defined in the family (they are type parameters) so that when I load the family into the project, the parameters are already set. I had to use shared parameters because I cannot schedule family parameters.

The remaining question is: Why can't you schedule family parameters? I had to make a shared parameter for No. of Lamps (lighting fixture) so that I could apply that to my lighting fixture schedule. Even though I should have been able to make it a type parameter of that family.