Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Table of Contents
Overview.......................................................................................................................................................................................2
What Can I Do With the Autodesk Revit API?.............................................................................................................................2
What You Will Need to Get Started..............................................................................................................................................2
Understanding Autodesk Revit......................................................................................................................................................2
Installation of the Autodesk Revit API..........................................................................................................................................3
Development Requirements..........................................................................................................................................................3
Using the Autodesk Revit API......................................................................................................................................................3
Autodesk Revit SDK and Online Help.....................................................................................................................................3
Documentation Conventions.................................................................................................................................................4
What can you do with the Autodesk Revit API?.......................................................................................................................4
Deployment Options.............................................................................................................................................................4
1. External commands.....................................................................................................................................................4
2. External applications...................................................................................................................................................4
3. REX addins..................................................................................................................................................................5
Registration of add-ins..............................................................................................................................................................5
External Commands......................................................................................................................................................................7
The IExternalCommand Interface.............................................................................................................................................7
Parameters.............................................................................................................................................................................7
Return Value..........................................................................................................................................................................7
Remarks.................................................................................................................................................................................8
Using an Autodesk Revit API External Command...................................................................................................................8
External Command Object Lifetime.........................................................................................................................................8
External Applications....................................................................................................................................................................8
The IExternalApplication Interface...........................................................................................................................................9
Parameters.............................................................................................................................................................................9
Return Value..........................................................................................................................................................................9
External Application Object Lifetime.......................................................................................................................................9
Compatibility of API applications with 64-bit Revit....................................................................................................................9
Debugging Your Application in MS Visual Studio 2010..............................................................................................................9
The Revit Unit System................................................................................................................................................................10
Storing and accessing Custom Data for Applications.................................................................................................................11
Appendix 1 Glossary of Autodesk Revit terms....................................................................................................................12
Appendix 2 - FAQ...................................................................................................................................................................12
General:...............................................................................................................................................................................12
Autodesk Revit Structure:...................................................................................................................................................14
 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Overview
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012, Autodesk Revit Structure 2012 and Autodesk Revit MEP 2012
offer an API designed to allow power users and external application developers to integrate their
applications with Autodesk Revit. The APIs for each of these three products are very similar and
will be jointly referred to as the Autodesk Revit 2012 API or Autodesk Revit API. It is strongly
recommended that you become familiar with Autodesk Revit Architecture, Structure or MEP and its
features before attempting to use the Autodesk Revit API. Training can be found through the
Autodesk Developer Network (ADN).

What Can I Do With the Autodesk Revit API?

The following are general areas where the API is suitable:
Creating add-ins to automate repetitive tasks in the Autodesk Revit user interface
Enforcing project design standards by checking for errors automatically
Extracting project data for analysis and to generate reports
Importing external data to create new elements or parameter values
Integrating other applications, including analysis applications, into Autodesk Revit products
Creating Autodesk Revit project documentation automatically

What You Will Need to Get Started

A working understanding of Autodesk Revit Architecture, Autodesk Revit Structure or Autodesk
Revit MEP 2012
An installation of an Autodesk Revit-based product, including the Software Development Kit
MS Visual Studio 2010 or MS Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition, or a full installation of
Microsoft Visual Studio. If you plan to start with VSTA, you do not need to install any of these.
Some experience in a .NET based development language (Autodesk Revit API examples are
provided in C# and Visual Basic.NET.)
2 days of free time

Understanding Autodesk Revit

All Autodesk Revit-based products are Parametric Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools. Such
a tool can be looked at as a CAD program that is used to build a 3D model rather than a set of
individual drawing files. Autodesk Revit modeling is accomplished with real-world elements like
columns, walls, doors and windows. The user can create views of the model, including plans,
sections and callouts. All these views are directly generated from the 3D physical model so changes
made in one view will automatically propagate through all other views. This process virtually
eliminates the need to update multiple drawings and details when a change is made in the model.

The Autodesk Revit API is designed to reflect the same user interaction paradigms as the programs
Graphical User Interface. Therefore, the first step to understanding the API is to learn how to use
the program. If you are an Autodesk Revit novice, we suggest you first start by going through the
Tutorials which you can access through the programs Help menu. You may also find it helpful to
take a Training class from your local Autodesk reseller. This will help you quickly get up to speed
with the program
Autodesk Resources:
http://www.autodesk.com/revitbuilding/

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

http://www.autodesk.com/revitstructure/
http://www.autodesk.com/revitsystems/
http://www.autodesk.com/bim/
http://discussion.autodesk.com/
Select = Autodesk Revit Building
Then Select = Autodesk Revit API

External Resources:
http://www.revitcity.com/
http://www.augi.com/revit/
http://www.revitinside.com/

Installation of the Autodesk Revit API

The Autodesk Revit API is automatically installed with the default installation of the Autodesk Revit
based product.
The Autodesk Revit API Software Development Kit is installed from the Tools and Utilities section of
the Autodesk Revit installation DVD.

Development Requirements

The Autodesk Revit API requires the Microsoft .NET Framework v3.5. To edit and debug your API
applications, you need an interactive development environment such as Microsoft Visual Studio
2008 or one of the MS Visual Studio Express Editions for C# or Visual Basic.NET. When developing
with the Autodesk Revit API, ensure that your project references two DLLs: RevitAPI.dll and
RevitAPIUI.dll contained in the Autodesk Revit Program directory.
Some programming skills are required to effectively use the API. If you are a beginner in
programming, we strongly advise you to learn Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and one of the
compatible languages like C# or Visual Basic.NET. There are many good books and classes to get
you started.
Resources:
Online resources
Free Visual Studio http://msdn.microsoft.com/VStudio/Express/
http://www.codeguru.com/
http://devx.com/
http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/

Books:
Code Complete, Second Edition, by Steve McConnell
Software Project Survival Guide, by Steve McConnell

Using the Autodesk Revit API

Autodesk Revit SDK and Online Help
Get the Autodesk Revit SDK from ADN or the installation DVD. The Autodesk Revit 2012 SDK can
be unpacked and installed from the Tools and Utilities option in the installation DVD. In the SDK,
there are example files that will help you get a better understanding of the API and its use. Each
example file has a sample revit.ini file with the information that you will need to edit and place into
the revit.ini file located in your Autodesk Revit Program folder, which Autodesk Revit will access on
launch.

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Unzip the SDK onto a local drive

Read the Read Me First.doc in the SDK
RevitAPI.chm is the Autodesk Revit API reference documentation help file, included with the SDK
package in the \Revit 2012 SDK\ folder.
Resources:
www.autodesk.com/adn - Autodesk Developer Network home (ADN)
www.autodesk.com/developrevit - Autodesk Revit development resources
http://discussion.autodesk.com Autodesk product discussion groups
Select = Autodesk Revit Architecture
Then Select = Autodesk Revit API
http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/ - The Building Coder, an AND blog dedicated to Revit
coding

Documentation Conventions
This document will contain names in namespace format, such as Autodesk.Revit.DB.Element
What can you do with the Autodesk Revit API?
Deployment Options
The Autodesk Revit API supports in-process DLLs only. This means that your API application will
be compiled as a DLL loaded into the Autodesk Revit process.
The Autodesk Revit API supports single threaded access only. This means that your API application
must perform all Autodesk Revit API calls in the main thread (which is called by the Autodesk Revit
process at various API entry points), and your API application cannot maintain operations in other
threads and expect them to be able to make calls to Autodesk Revit at any time.
There are two types of DLLs that you can create with the Autodesk Revit API:
1. External commands
The Autodesk Revit API enables you to add new commands to the user interface of Autodesk Revit.
These commands will appear in the Add-ins tab under the External Tools pulldown, as seen in
Figure 1. Through the API, external tool commands have access to the Autodesk Revit database, as
well as the currently selected elements.

Figure 1 - External Tool added to Revit

2. External applications
The Autodesk Revit API enables you to also add external applications. These applications are
invoked during Autodesk Revit startup and shutdown. They can create new panels in the Add-ins
tab, as seen in Figure 2. They can also register handlers that can react to events occurring in the
Autodesk Revit user interface.

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Figure 2 - New panels and controls added to Revit

3. REX addins

REX is an API framework that lets you build applications for Revit in .NET similar to classes that
implement IExternalCommand. REX is meant to give you a more high-level development
environment through built-in resources such as:

Automatic dialog box creation and display

Libraries to work with units and geometry
Built-in command-based architecture to make menu and toolbar development easier.
A standard mechanism for accessing a reference to the Revit application object.
Automatic deployment and installation of addins for easy debugging.

Please see the \Revit 2012 SDK\REX SDK\ folder for more details.

Registration of add-ins
The Revit API offers the ability to register API applications via a .addin manifest file.
Manifest files will be read automatically by Revit when they are places in one of two locations on a
user's system:
In a non-user specific location in "application data"
o For Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2012\
o For Vista/Windows 7 - C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2012\
In a user specific location in "application data"
o For Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application
Data\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2012\
o For Vista/Windows 7 -
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2012\
All files named .addin in these locations will be read and processed by Revit during startup.
A basic file adding one ExternalCommand looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16" standalone="no"?>
<RevitAddIns>
<AddIn Type="Command">
<Assembly>c:\MyProgram\MyProgram.dll</Assembly>
<AddInId>76eb700a-2c85-4888-a78d-31429ecae9ed</AddInId>
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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

<FullClassName>Revit.Samples.SampleCommand</FullClassName>
<Text>Sample command</Text>
<VisibilityMode>NotVisibleInFamily</VisibilityMode>
<VisibilityMode>NotVisibleInMEP</VisibilityMode>
<AvailabilityClassName>Revit.Samples.SampleAccessibilityCheck
</AvailabilityClassName>
</AddIn>
</RevitAddIns>

A basic file adding one ExternalApplication looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16" standalone="no"?>
<RevitAddIns>
<AddIn Type="Application">
<Name>My sample application</Name>
<Assembly>c:\MyProgram\MyProgram.dll</Assembly>
<AddInId>604B1052-F742-4951-8576-C261D1993107</AddInId>
<FullClassName>Revit.Samples.SampleApplication</FullClassName>
</AddIn>
</RevitAddIns>
Multiple AddIn elements may be provided in a single manifest file.
The new mechanism currently offers the following XML tags:
Tag Description
Assembly The full path to the add-in assembly file. Required for all
ExternalCommands and ExternalApplications.
FullClassName The full name of the class in the assembly file which implements
IExternalCommand or IExternalApplication. Required for all
ExternalCommands and ExternalApplications.
AddInId A GUID which represents the id of this particular application. AddInIds
must be unique for a given session of Revit. Autodesk recommends you
generate a unique GUID for each registered application or command.
Required for all ExternalCommands and ExternalApplications. The
property UIApplication.ActiveAddInId provides programmatic access
to this value, if required.
Name The name of application. Required; for ExternalApplications only.
Text The name of the button. Optional; use this tag for ExternalCommands
only. The default is "External Tool".
Description Short description of the command, will be used as the button tooltip.
Optional; use this tag for ExternalCommands only. The default is a
tooltip with just the command text.
VisibilityMode Provides the ability to specify if the command is visible in project
documents, family documents, or no document at all. Also provides the
ability to specify the discipline(s) where the command should be
visible. Multiple values may be set for this option. Optional; use this tag
for ExternalCommands only. The default is to display the command in
all modes and disciplines, including when there is no active document.
Previously written external commands which need to run against the
active document should either be modified to ensure that the code
deals with invocation of the command when there is no active

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

document, or apply the NotVisibleWhenNoActiveDocument mode.

AvailabilityClassN The full name of the class in the assembly file which implemented
ame IExternalCommandAvailability. This class allows the command button
to be selectively grayed out depending on context. Optional; use this
tag for ExternalCommands only. The default is a command that is
available whenever it is visible.
LargeImage The path to the icon to use for the button in the External Tools pulldown
menu. The icon should be 32 x 32 pixels for best results. Optional; use
this tag for ExternalCommands only. The default is to show a button
without an icon.
LongDescription Long description of the command, will be used as part of the button's
extended tooltip. This tooltip is shown when the mouse hovers over the
command for a long amount of time. You can split the text of this option
into multiple paragraphs by placing <p> tags around each paragraph.
Optional; use this tag for ExternalCommands only. If neither of this
property and TooltipImage are supplied, the button will not have an
extended tooltip.
TooltipImage The path to an image file to show as a part of the button extended
tooltip, shown when the mouse hovers over the command for a longer
amount of time. Optional; use this tag for ExternalCommands only. If
neither of this property and TooltipImage are supplied, the button will
not have an extended tooltip.
LanguageType Localization setting for Text, Description, LargeImage, LongDescription,
and TooltipImage of external tools buttons. Revit will load the resource
values from the specified language resource dll. The value can be one
of the eleven languages supported by Revit. If no LanguageType is
specified, the language resource which the current session of Revit is
using will be automatically loaded.

External Commands
Implement support for a specific interface, in this case Autodesk.Revit.UI.IExternalCommand.
Adds one or more entries to the Revit.ini file describing the external command.

Technically, an external command is an exposed .NET object that supports the

Autodesk.Revit.UI.IExternalCommand interface. Furthermore, in the Revit.ini file there must be one
entry for each such object in order for Revit to be able to see and to use the commands.
The IExternalCommand Interface
The declaration (VB.NET) of the interface is as follows:
Function Execute(ByVal commandData As Autodesk.Revit.UI.ExternalCommandData,
ByRef message As String,
ByVal elements As Autodesk.Revit.DB.ElementSet)
As Result

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Parameters
commandData : The object passed in this parameter contains information important to the
command that is being executed. This data includes the Autodesk Revit Application object
as well as the currently active view.

message : The message string can be set to supply a specific message to the user when the
command terminates. How this message is displayed is dependent upon the return value of
the function. See the remarks section for more details.

elements : Initially this is an empty set that can contain Autodesk Revit elements. When
the command terminates, the elements within this set may be displayed, based on the
return value. See the remarks section for more details.
Return Value
result : The return value can be one of the following:

Success : Is returned if the command succeeded as expected without any unhandled error
conditions. The external command will appear as an undoable operation in the Autodesk
Revit user interface.

Cancelled : This value specifies that the user requested that the command be cancelled.
Any changes that were made to Autodesk Revit objects during the external commands
execution will be undone. A message may be posted, see the Remarks section.

Failure : Failure signifies that the external command failed in some manner from which it
cannot recover. Any changes made to Autodesk Revit objects during the execution of the
external command will be undone. A message will be posted, see the Remarks section.
Remarks
The message and elements parameters are used if the command was cancelled or failed.
Cancelled : If the external command was cancelled and the message parameter was set by
the external command then the message is displayed when execution is returned back to
Autodesk Revit. If the message parameter was not set then no message is displayed and
the command will exit silently.

Failed : If the external command failed then the contents of the message parameter will be
displayed. If the element set contains Autodesk Revit elements then these elements will be
highlighted when the error message is displayed thus giving the developer the ability to
show the user the problem elements.

Using an Autodesk Revit API External Command

1. User opens/creates a project in Autodesk Revit
2. User selects the external command from the External Tools pulldown on the Add-ins tab.

3. The user had the option to select a number of Autodesk Revit elements before invoking the
External Tools program. If they did, the program can decide to only perform its function on
the selected members.
4. The API program takes focus from Autodesk Revit and performs the required task. Often a
dialog box may be required to obtain user input before the application can complete its
work.

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

5. Once the add-on tool has completed its function or has been dismissed by the user the
program will update the Autodesk Revit model as required and return from the external
command, giving focus back to Autodesk Revit.

External Command Object Lifetime

When no other command or edit modes are active within Autodesk Revit, the registered external
command will become enabled. When picked, the command object will be created and the Execute
method called. Once this method returns back to Autodesk Revit the command object will be
destroyed. Due to this destruction, data cannot persist within the object between command
executions. If you wish the data to persist you may use an external file or database to do so. If
you wish the data to persist within the Autodesk Revit project you may use the shared parameters
mechanism to store this data.

External Applications
Implement support for a specific interface, in this case
Autodesk.Revit.UI.IExternalApplication.
Adds one or more entries to the Revit.ini file describing the external application.
Technically, an external application is an exposed .NET object that supports the
Autodesk.Revit.IExternalApplication interface. Furthermore, in the Revit.ini file there must be one
entry for each such object in order for Autodesk Revit to be able to load these applications when
Autodesk Revit starts.
The IExternalApplication Interface
The declaration (C#) of the interface is as follows:
Autodesk.Revit.UI.IExternalApplication.Result
OnStartup(Autodesk.Revit.ControlledApplication application)
Autodesk.Revit.UI.IExternalApplication.Result
OnShutdown(Autodesk.Revit.ControlledApplication application)
Parameters
application : The object passed in this parameter contains information important to the
commands OnStartup and OnShutdown that are being called. This object provides limited
access methods of Autodesk Revit Application, such as VersionName, VersionNumber; and
delegates for some events, such as OnDocumentOpened, OnDocumentSaved.
Return Value
result : The return value can be one of the following:
Success : Is returned if the external application succeeded as expected without any
unhandled error conditions.

Failure : Failure signifies that the external application failed in some manner from which it
cannot recover.

Cancelled : This value specifies that the external application be cancelled.

External Application Object Lifetime

When Autodesk Revit starts, the external application object will be created and the OnStartup
method called. Once this method returns back successfully to Autodesk Revit the external

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

application object will be held during the entire Autodesk Revit session. The OnShutdown method
will be called when Autodesk Revit shuts down.

Compatibility of API applications with 64-bit Revit

Most API applications can be built with settings that allow them to be used either with 32-bit Revit
or 64-bit Revit. Use the following settings to build your project in this manner:
For C# project, go to project property->Build tag, select platform target as Any CPU.
For VB.Net project, go to project property->Compile tag, select platform as Any CPU.
For C++/CLI project, open property page and go to Configuration properties->General-
>Common Language Runtime support, select /clr:safe.
Note that there are some Microsoft components (such as OleDB provider for Microsoft Jet) that
are not supported for 64-bit. All SDK samples are set up to work with either 32-bit or 64-bit
Revit, except those samples that have dependencies to unsupported Microsoft components.
For more information see this Microsoft resource:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms241064(VS.80).aspx

Debugging Your Application in MS Visual Studio 2010

There are a few differences between debugging a standalone application (EXE) and an external
application (DLL) that needs another program to launch it. To debug an application that is using
the Autodesk Revit API it needs to be activated by Autodesk Revit. To do this in the developer
environment for debugging you will need to:
1. Open up the Visual Studio project for the
API application. (For example
AnalyticalSupportData_Info.csproj from
the Samples folder)
2. From the Project menu select
AnalyticalSupportData_Info Properties

3. Select the Debug tab on the left

4. Select the Start external program: radio button
5. Press the browse button and find the Revit.exe file and press Open

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

6. Set some break points in your source code.

7. From Visual Studio, select Start Debugging. Autodesk Revit will launch.
8. To hit a break point select the option for your program from the External Tools menu. Once
the compiler reaches one of your break points it will stop to let you debug your program.

The Revit Unit System

The Revit Unit System uses the following base units:
Base Unit Unit In Revit Unit System
Length Feet (ft) Imperial
Angle Radian Metric
Mass Kilogram (kg) Metric
Time Seconds (s) Metric
Electric Current Ampere (A) Metric
Temperature Kelvin (K) Metric
Luminous Intensity Candela (cd) Metric
Note: Because Revit stores lengths in feet and other quantities in metric, a derived unit involving
length uses a non-standard unit using the Imperial and the Metric systems. For example, force is
measured in mass-length per time squared and is stored in kg-ft/s2.

Storing and accessing Custom Data for Applications

Often programs linked to Autodesk Revit require information that is not available in the Autodesk
Revit model database. There are a number of ways for the user to enter such additional
information. How and where the information is entered depends on its use:
When the information is of a general type and the user will want to see and edit it inside
Autodesk Revit, then it should be stored as a visible Project or Shared Parameter.
If the information needs to be kept with the Autodesk Revit model as it evolves but does not
need to be visible then it can be stored in the Autodesk Revit model as a non-visible Project or
Shared Parameter.
If the information is specific to a single add-on program, and is too large to practically store
within the Autodesk Revit model such as specifications for a multitude of building products
subject to change, then the best solution may be to create a concurrent model database that
stores the program specific information. In this case it may be useful to use the element
UniqueId property for each element as a key for the database, because the elements UniqueId
is stable within a model.

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Appendix 1 Glossary of Autodesk Revit terms

Family
A Family is a collection of objects called types. A family groups elements with a common set of
parameters, identical use, and similar graphical representation. Different types within a family may
have different values of some or all parameters, but the set of parameters - their names and their
meaning - are the same.

Parameter
There are a number of Autodesk Revit parameter types. Shared Parameters can be thought of as
user defined variables. System Parameters are variables that are hard coded in Autodesk Revit.
Family parameters are variables that are defined when a family is created or modified.

Type
A Type is a member of a Family. Each Type has specific parameters that are constant for all
instance of the Type that exist in your model. These are called Type Properties. Types have other
parameters called Instance parameters, which may vary over the various instances of this type in
your model.

Appendix 2 - FAQ
General:
Q: How do I reference an element in Autodesk Revit?
A: Each element has Id and UniqueId properties that can be used to reference the element.

Q: Are element IDs universally unique and can they ever change?
A: At any given time, element IDs in a Revit model are unique. However, multi-user interactions in
Revit can result in an elements ID changing. Also, another element in a different model may have
an element with the same ID. If you need to store an ID (especially an ID of an element that was
newly created) in order to find the element later, store UniqueId.

Q: Can a model only use one shared parameter file?

A: Shared parameter files are used to store a parameter specification. The most important portion
of these parameter descriptions is the GUID that is used to insure the uniqueness of a parameter
both in a single model file and across multiple models.

Autodesk Revit can work with multiple shared parameter files but can only read parameters from
one file at a time. It is then up to you to choose the same shared parameter file for all models or a
different one for each.

An API application should avoid interfering with the users own parameter file. Your application
should ship with a parameter file containing the parameters it requires. To load the parameter(s)
into an Autodesk Revit file, an application should:
Store the name of the users parameter file,
Make the applications parameter file current,
Load the required parameter(s) and,

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Make the users parameter file current.

Q: Do I need to distribute the shared parameters file with the model so other programs can use the
shared parameters?
A: No, you do not need to distribute shared parameter files. The shared parameters file is only
used to load shared parameters. After they are loaded the file is no longer needed for that model.

Q: Do shared parameter values get copied when the corresponding element is copied?
A: Yes they do. Therefore if you have a shared parameter that holds a unique ID for an item in
your database it is recommended that you make this ID include the Autodesk Revit elements
UniqueId property. This will allow you to identify elements that were copied from existing
elements in your application.

Q: Autodesk Revit takes a long time to update when my application sends data back to the model.
What do I need to do to speed it up?
A: You should use the Manual regeneration mode to prevent the API framework from regenerating
after every model level change. Then, you will use the regeneration APIs to force update of the
document after a group of changes. Performance of multiple modifications of the Revit document
should be faster than RegenerationOption.Automatic. Because this mode suspends all updates to
the document, your application should not read data from the document after it has been modified
until the document has been regenerated, or it runs the risk of accessing stale data.

Q: What do I do if I want to add shared parameters to elements that do not have the ability to
have shared parameters bound to them? For example: Grids or Materials.
A: If an element type does not have the ability to contain shared parameters, you will need to add
a project parameter. This does make it a bit more complicated as you will need different code to
access the value of the parameter on these elements.
Q: When exporting a model containing groups to an external program, the user receives an error
at the end of the export:
"Changes to group "Group 1" are allowed only in group edit mode. Use the Edit Group command
to make the change to all instances of the group. You may use the "Ungroup" option to proceed
with this change by ungrouping the changed group instances."
A: Currently the API does not permit changes to members of groups. You can programmatically
ungroup, make the change, regroup and then swap the other instances of the old group to the new
group to get the same effect.

Q: Why do two different FamilySymbols have the same name in my Autodesk Revit document?
A: In the Autodesk Revit API, Symbols represent geometry.
Consider that two window instances of the same type are inserted into walls of different types.
Now, these two window instances refer to the same FamilySymbol and count as being of the same
type, but it is clear that they cannot possibly use the same symbols geometry, since inserting
them into walls of different thickness changes each windows geometry to match. To track
individual instances of FamilySymbols, Autodesk Revit employs a master and slave functionality
with slave FamilySymbols localizing their geometry to surrounding conditions according to the
master FamilySymbol template.

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

If there is no door instance in a model, there is only one master FamilySymbol for a 36x84
door, but if a door is inserted, Autodesk Revit will create a slave FamilySymbol for the new
36x84 Door.
Subsequent doors placed in the model will cause Autodesk Revit to generate additional slave
FamilySymbols.

Q: Is the order of vertices or the triangles in an Autodesk Revit geometry mesh object reliably
sorted in counter-clockwise direction?
A: Yes.
Q: Why after flipping a wall or door (both external and internal) do its properties FromRoom and
ToRoom do not change?
A: External Doors & External Windows have only either a FromRoom or a ToRoom. Users can
decide which property exists when locating doors or windows. If external doors or windows are
flipped their FromRoom or ToRoom properties do not change automatically, but can be manually
changed.

Autodesk Revit Structure:

Q: Sometimes the default end releases of structural elements render the model unstable.
A: In some cases the user may not have paid attention to the element end release when modeling
the elements. The Analytical Model Check feature will find some of these issues. When exporting
the analytical model, ask the user whether they want to retain the release conditions from RST or
they want to set all beams and columns to be fixed. When re-importing the model to RST, always
update the end releases and do not overwrite the end releases on subsequent exports to analysis
programs.

Q: I'm rotating the orientation of the beam so it is rotated in the weak direction, i.e. the I of a
W14X30 is rotated to look like an H by a 90 degree rotation. How is that rotation angle accessed in
the API?
Because the location is a LocationCurve not a LocationPoint I do not have access to the Rotation
value so what is it I need to check? I've got a FamilyInstance element to check so what do I do
with it?
A: Take a look at the RotateFramingObject example in the SDK. It has examples of how to get and
change the rotation angle of beams, braces and columns.

Q: How do I add new concrete beam and column sizes to a model?

A: Take a look at the FrameBuilder sample code in the SDK.

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 Autodesk Revit 2012 API Getting Started

Q: How to view true deck layer?

A: There is an example called DeckProperties
that provides the information on how to get the
layer information for the deck. The deck
information is reported in exactly the same way
as the UI. The deck dimension parameters are
shown in the following figure.

Q: How do I tell when I have a beam with a cantilever?

A: There is no direct way in the Autodesk Revit database to tell if a beam has a cantilever.
However one or more of the options below can give you a good guess at whether a beam is a
cantilever:
Options
1. There are two parameters called Moment Connection Start and Moment Connection End. If
the value that is set for these two is not None then you should look and see if there is a
beam that is co-linear and also has the value set to something other than None. You could
also ask the user to make sure to select the Cantilever Moment option rather than Moment
Frame option.
2. Trace the connectivity back beyond the element say one or two elements.
3. Look at element release conditions.

Q: How do I model a foundation with end overhangs under a wall?

A: The wall foundation capability in Autodesk Revit Structure does not support an overhang at its
ends. The best solution is to use the foundation slab feature in the GUI or API. You can create them
using the Autodesk.Revit.Creation.Document.NewFloor() methods. For the
STRUCTURAL_FLOOR_ANALYZES_AS. You will want to use AA_Mat or AA_SlabOnGrade for
foundation or AA_Slab if it is a floor.

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