Can a Family flex inside another family ? (Nested Families)

Hi, I have a family (1st family) that is pulled into another family (2nd family). Is it possible to get the first family to flex after the second family is pulled into the project ? or am I asking too much ?

Thanks in advance for the direction.

You need to link the parameters of the 1st family into the second family... Parameters in the 1st family need to be instance (unless its a profile it needs to be Type)...then you can select the 1st family while its in the second one and you can see the parameters in the Properties window. There is a little gray box to the right of those parameters. Select that and you can choose or add parameters that are part of the 2nd family.

The parameters in the nested family need to be linked to the parent, in order for them to be controlled by the parent. These parameters do not need to be Instance unless the Nested family is set to Shared. This is worth repeating. Type & Instance Parameters can be linked to the parent family, in Unshared nested families. Parameters in Shared Families need to be Instance to be controlled by the parent.

Cheers,
Jeff S.

There actually a few method of establishing control of the nested family. Attached is the example I will be referring to in Revit 2012 format.

The nested Family is essentially a simple block with Depth, Width, and Length parameters that control its dimensions. There is a little "nub" on the left side that is controlled by a formulaic parameter. (This parameter will be hidden from the user in the Project; I'm including this because you had inquired to this in another thread.)

Method #1: Constraints (this is how I control the nested Family's "Length" parameter)
Since the nested parameter is an Instance Parameter, I see "grips" to control it when I select the nested Family. I simply dragged this grip to the rightmost Reference Plane and click the "constrain" icon (the lock).

Method #2: Linked Value (this is how I control the nested Family's "Width" parameter)
If I click on the Nested Family, I can see its "Width" parameter under Properties (if the nested parameter were a Type Parameter, it would be under Type Properties). To the right of that parameter, click on the little gray button. This will bring up a list to link this value to.

The "Depth" of the element is also controlled using Method #2, but in this case it will remain a constant value that the user cannot change in the Project. This was done by placing the desired value in the formula of the host parameter.

Just ask if you have any questions!

Attachment 92188

Just opened the new AUGI World....Page 6 is Nested Families and Parameter Controls...

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Originally Posted by CADastrophe

...controlled by a formulaic parameter. (This parameter will be hidden from the user in the Project; I'm including this because you had inquired to this in another thread.)

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That, I did... thank you... For clarity, the parameter is 'hidden' (or greyed out) by means of adding a formula into the appropriate parameter ([Width / 2] in your example), correct ? .... (as I see you actually stated lower in your reply).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CADastrophe

...I see "grips" to control it when I select the nested Family. I simply dragged this grip to the rightmost Reference Plane and click the "constrain" icon (the lock).

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So, in my case I am trying to control the height of the Post family in the Footprint family. While hammering out the details and creation of the Post family, I lost the 'pull' arrows (or grips) to be able to pull the Post family height to the ref plane in the Footprint family as you are describing....Can you help with that issue ? See this post if you like:
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.ph...56#post1229656

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Originally Posted by CADastrophe

...Method #2: Linked Value .... To the right of that parameter, click on the little gray button. This will bring up a list to link this value to.

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So, what I am confused about with this method is that when I click the little gray button, the Associate Family Parameter window comes up and it lists the Length and Width parameters that are in the current 'Footprint' family and not the Height which is what I need linked.

Thanks for your help

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Originally Posted by CADastrophe

Method #2: Linked Value [I].....To the right of that parameter, click on the little gray button. This will bring up a list to link this value to.

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What I am trying to do is be able to pull the top of the post up, the post being the nested family has a height parameter I am trying to be able to modify. See attached family file. When I click on the grey button to the right of the Height instance parameter to pull up the Associate Family Parameter dialog box, there is the Length and Width parameters that are current in the Footprint file.

Guess I am missing what I am suppose to do to get that Height parameter to be visible. Please help !

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Originally Posted by cdatechguy

Just opened the new AUGI World....Page 6 is Nested Families and Parameter Controls...

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I did also just read the AUGIworld article and was not able to extract the right information to help me out on this.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by derek.96018

What I am trying to do is be able to pull the top of the post up, the post being the nested family has a height parameter I am trying to be able to modify. See attached family file. When I click on the grey button to the right of the Height instance parameter to pull up the Associate Family Parameter dialog box, there is the Length and Width parameters that are current in the Footprint file.

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You have to create a Height parameter in the host file and link them to that parameter. This way, when the family is loaded into a Project, the user will be able to input a value for Height, which is subsequently passed down unto the nested Families.

I've messed with the family to make it work, you can reverse engineer it.

Fwiw, The first thing I did was to assign the Height parameter to the nested post so it could flex properly. Then in the host I assigned a dimension to a parameter called Height. Then I mapped Height to Height via the Associate Family Parameter button. In the elevation view you'll see I added a dimension between the "top" reference plane and the reference plane hiding under the level. That part is important if you want grips to show up on the family in the project environment to drag the posts higher.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CADastrophe

You have to create a Height parameter in the host file and link them to that parameter. This way, when the family is loaded into a Project, the user will be able to input a value for Height, which is subsequently passed down unto the nested Families.

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Thanks....

So I went to the Family Types window (in the Footprint family file) and added a height parameter (instance). Then I selected the post, and clicked the grey box to the right of Height in the Properties palette to open up the Associate Family Parameter window. When I clicked on Height and OK, I got errors.... 'Constraints are not satisfied' ; 'One or more dimension references are or have become invalid.'; and 'Can't make type "Post"'.

I was only to add the association parameter, not add a dim as well, yes ?