Shared Parameters file location? General usage info requested.

[scowsert]

So I'm rolling out Revit. We are consultants, as such we use our clients titleblocks. They are mostly in AutoCAD so I'll be creating quite a few Revit versions for our usage. I have to create shared parameters to I can match what they want in their titleblocks. I plan on placing their titleblocks into the Imperial\Titleblocks folder.

Right now I have the shared parameter file on my desktop. It seems to me that it should be in a shared network location so everyone has access to it? Is that right? Should this file be a project specific folder or a global do everything folder? For the titleblocks I can see having a global file. There is only so much info one would want in a title block.

I'd like some direction from someone that understands how this whole system works. Right now I'm just forcing it to work for me.

Thanks for the help I appreciate it as always.

Sage

[abarrette]

My recommendation is to have one centrally located Shared Parameters file that everyone is pointed at. Within the Shared Parameters file you can segregate the Parameters into Several Parameter groups to organize things. This gives you a Single Point of Update and ensures that everyone has the three point connection for the parameters to work correctly (Project Parameters, Family Parameters, and Shared Parameters File). If any of the three are missing the Shared Parameters cease to function.

Currently only one Shared Parameters file can be pointed to at a time and I don't know of a clean way to merge files (should you ever want to).

[aaronrumple]

This gives you a Single Point of Update and ensures that everyone has the three point connection for the parameters to work correctly (Project Parameters, Family Parameters, and Shared Parameters File). If any of the three are missing the Shared Parameters cease to function.

Currently only one Shared Parameters file can be pointed to at a time and I don't know of a clean way to merge files (should you ever want to).

Not quite.

Not quite.

The shared parameter file is only used at content creation time. It is not used when loading objects into the project. Basically it is a file to make sure tags and family objects match up. Once they are matched up the GUID is embedded in the object and will find other objects with the same GUID in the project. Even if the shared parameter file were to get blown away, existing content would still function properly.

You can edit the shared parameter file manually. You can take several files and merge them together. You can reorder the groupings. What you can't do is rename a shared parameter or change the GUDI of a shared parameter.

However, a shared parameter file should be carefully planned as it is the key to the database your whole office will be using. It is a good idea to have this on the network for everyone creating content, but make sure that it isn't easily changed by the novice user. Having a shared parameter deleted and then recreated can cause a lot of confusion and disruption.

It would be nice if Revit would re-visit this "feature". They should have many more built-in parameters for standardizing objects in our industry. They should also have a more flexible way of managing shared parameters in an enterprise.

[cphubb]

I agree,

Your shared parameter file should be on the network for all to access. However as Aaron noted people can delete and recreate shared paramters which will cause some family objects to lose their ability to tag. You should keep a hidden copy ready to replace the original should that happen. You could also look at restricting write access to a few trusted people. Mostly yourself.