What's a Frame?

[DaveP]

OK, silly question, I know. But we're revising our Door Families & I'm wondering how far others have gone with this concept. I'm planning on making the Frame a Nested family so that it can be scheduled as well as appear correctly in elevation. I took a shot at this a year or so ago & gave up when I realized how many Frame families I'd need.
Start with gyp board partitions. Then multiply by two for masonry. Then double again for a sidelight. Then again for a half-height sidelight. Then again for a transom. Then again for sidelights on both sides. Then again.......
Anyway, I quickly got up to 75 different Frame types, even with making them as parametric as I could.

Discuss: When do you stop making new Frames and just stick a Window next to your door?

[dhurtubise]

Do you plan on using different display representation for each type of frame ?
How do you plan on scheduling ?

[greg.mcdowell]

I think that creating a strategy of how they should be created is the first step... that and a naming scheme. Then, instead of building them all at once, build them as needed.

[robin.135004]

I would make the most complicated or most parts one and then control the visibility of the parts you might want to turn off. I'm not sure how you are getting 75 options. Could you elaborate.

[twiceroadsfool]

I think the intent is there, and thats great... But i think you need to rethink the method of creation for each. For instance... Why a different frame for each condition when you can parameterize the nested frame?

IE... The sidelight versus half-sidelight. One family is all thats needed to nest in there, with a height and head height parameter inside it that is variable and controlled from the actual door family. No need to double the family files for each condition.

Whats changing from the gyp partition frame to the masonry frame? Just the 2" difference? Materials? Hardware? IMHO, all of this can be contained with a few clever family types and type parameters. I think youll go insane trying to nest in all those different families as individually based files.

Not to mention, then when you decide firm-wide that a standard needs to be adjused in the doors and the frames somewhere, youll have 70+ to modify..... Yikes....

[DaveP]

That was my original intention, to have a "super frame" with a boat-load parameters & infinitely flexible, but I soon found the limitations of that approach.

A few examples of why the numbers went up exponentially:
The gyp-partition wraps around the gyp-board, while the masonry frame sits inside it. I can either lock the frame to the edge of the wall, or give it a width dimension, but not both.

The half-height sidelight has an L-shaped Opening Cut, while the full-height is a rectangle. I can't make a Sketch with a zero-length segment, so I need two different families.

I've got a DWG showing all of the different types at the office. I'll upload examples Monday.