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View Full Version : Redefining / swapping complex families



Wes Macaulay
2004-06-14, 04:12 PM
Gentlemen: a tip from the trenches.

When you have a complex door or window family that has a lot of parameters and you find that you need to make a change and redefine the door or window, here's some tips.

Sometimes -- it is not often, but has happened a few times -- when you redefine and reload a door or window family, the redefinition doesn't occur properly. This can be because Revit isn't starting with a fresh definition of the family, or a parametric dimension has changed locations because it was deleted and redrawn.

This makes for an ambiguous redefinition of the family. Here's what you do: in the Project Browser, scroll down to Families, and right click on the door / window you're redefining. Pick Select all instances.

What you're going to do is globally change all the doors/windows of that type to a placeholder. Make sure it's a type not being used in the project -- you need to keep them isolated so you can change them all back. From the so-called Type Selector drop box in the top left of the Revit interface pick the placeholder door / window type -- all the doors/windows will be swapped out.

Right click on the door / window type to be redefined and Delete it. Now reload it. Because Revit has purged the old definition out, you'll be getting the new definition with certainty.

Scroll down in the families list to the placeholder door / window type and Select all Instances. Swap to the newly defined door / window type you just reloaded.

This may also happen when you're trying to swap out one complex window or door for another -- for example: you'll get more expected results if you step from the complex window A to a simple window type and then on to simple window B. Sometimes the window will jump from its location, or sometimes Revit won't even allow the switch from A to B directly.