Select All instances doesn't Paste Align to Select Views??

[Dave F.]

Hi

<whinge on>

OK I'm trying to copy some dimensions to all levels in a multi-storey building.
I right-click on one., select all instances, then goto Edit>Paste Aligned.

Only Current View is ungreyed.

Why??

If I select the dims individually the Select Views is available, but this is quite fiddly as I have many dimensions.

Am I missing something or is this another Revit 'quirk'?

Bl**dy annoying.

<whinge off>

[ejc]

Select all instances is a powerful and dangerous tool.

"Select ALL" means "ALL" in the entire project, not just the view you are in!

So, if you select a text note, and "Select all instances", and hit delete! You would delete all text notes from the entire project all views. (this sucks btw)

Using the select all instances in unision with the sunglasses tool willl allow you to isolate and select all of an item on 1 level for: pasting to other levels, hiding in a view, etc.

ejc

[jeffh]

When you use the "select all instances" option you are selecting ALL instances of that family. Not just the instances in that view. So it is possible you are selecting dimensions done in plan views, section/elevation views, detail views, callouts, etc... There is not logical place to "paste" these back in. I have seen a person loose EVERY text note in the ENTIRE project by using "select all instances" in a detail view to delete the notes. They never realized they selected notes in EVERY view of the project and deleted them in 1 keystroke.

As an alternative to "select all instances" you might try doing a window select of everything in your view and then use the filter to filter the selection down to only the dimensions. Then try the cut and paste action.

[Dave F.]

Ah, of course, you're both right & I should have remembered this.

Filter is the best way to go.

Was I dreaming or did I read somewhere they were changing this (or adding a separate option) to select only on from the current view!

Also 'Current view' is very confusing. It appears it means the actual view the entity is on, & not necessarily the current view you looking at!

Thanks for your clarification.

[mmates]

Also 'Current view' is very confusing. It appears it means the actual view the entity is on, & not necessarily the current view you looking at!

Current view "is" the view that has focus with the mouse... meaning the one that has the dark title bar at the top if more than one view is displayed. If only one view is displayed, then the Revit title bar will list the "current" view. This would be more obvious if you were attempting to paste align model objects instead of annotative objects.

[Dave F.]

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.

I tried it with model objects & the results were the same.

If all instances are selected (on multiple views) & Edit>Paste Aligned> Current View it also duplicates the entities on the views that doesn't have the focus!

[iandidesign]

There was wish submitted durring one of the recent voting cycles to add the command “Select All Instances in Current View”. I don’t think it made the top 10, but to my thinking was an excellent idea and got my vote.

[mmates]

Dave, I was just trying to elaborate on what “current view” is supposed to mean and what I’m experiencing.

• In the attached image, I’ve tiled 4 plan views.
• I selected all 3 desk objects with the select all instances command on one of the desks in the Level 1 view.
• I copied them to the clipboard.
• Then I clicked in the view for Level 3.
• Then I chose Edit > Paste Aligned > Current View.
• The result was 3 copies in level 3 only and no duplicates back in level 1…

Are you experiencing different results with model objects?

[mmates]

Guess I forgot the attachment.