Hi all,

I'm researching what the issues are when Shared Parameter names include spaces, as in "Rough Width" vs "Rough_Width" when exporting to ODBC.

My own experience is that an ODBC export will strip spaces from parameter names such that "Rough Width" becomes "RoughWidth" in the resulting database. This is similarly true for system parameters. For example, "Type Name" is exported as "TypeName". These are results obtained using the MS Access and MS Excel ODBC drivers. I think this is good behaviour.

The Autodesk Revit Style Guide (http://seek.autodesk.com/revit.htm) incudes a shared parameter file that is being compiled with an eye to providing manufacturers and users with a much-needed common set of parameters. These parameters are, and I quote, "Autodesk-approved master shared parameters". All of them are written in Natural Language format with spaces between words. For example: "Hood Intake Velocity"

So, why all the clamour over avoiding spaces in parameter names in favour of names_that_are_littered_with_underscores? Is Autodesk on the wrong path with its parameters or are we all just wringing our hands over this unnecessarily?