Tag: copy

Copying RVT Links between Revit files

Luke Johnson

Let’s say you have 15 RVT links in FileA, and you want to copy them into FileB. Revit doesn’t usually want you to have two instances of the same linked file loaded into two different open files in a single instance of Revit (that was a mouthful!) 

However, we need to work in the same instance of Revit to be able to copy/paste. So, here is how you can do it (relatively reliably):

  1. Open FileA.rvt
  2. Open FileB.rvt
  3. In FileA.rvt, Select all of the Revit links that you want to copy (easiest in a 3D view)
  4. Switch to a Plan view and Ctrl+C
  5. Still in FileA.rvt, open Manage Links dialog and unload all of these links that you are copying
  6. Switch to FileB.rvt, and go to a Plan view that matches the one in step 4
  7. Modify – Paste – Aligned to Current View
  8. Even though they are unloaded in FileA, the important stuff is in the Clipboard in memory, so Revit can still paste properly into FileB, and you don’t have a “conflict” of the file being loaded in two files at once
  9. Save FileB, close FileA without saving (or reload the links etc)

There you go, you have learned how to copy unloaded RVT links. Enjoy!

(Note: this was tested on Revit 2013 Update Release 3)

Copy a Directory Tree to a single Folder (copy flat) with this script

Luke Johnson

Have you ever wanted to copy a directory tree of family files to a single directory? Once you do this, you can load them all into a Revit instance in a single “Load Family” operation – just go to the directory and then Ctrl+A to select all, then click Open.

The following script will copy a directory tree to a single directory – essentially discarding the directory structure. It also filters by file type and only includes RFA files. Copy the code to Notepad, save as CMD or BAT.

dir “sourcedirectory” /A:D /B /S > tempListOfDirs.txt
For /F “tokens=*” %%A IN (tempListOfDirs.txt) Do (
If Exist %%A* (
XCOPY “%%A*.rfa” “targetdirectory” /Y /R
)
)
del tempListOfDirs.txt

Once you have a single directory of RFA files and have loaded them all into Revit, you could then use the categorizer to sort them all into directories by Category… its really an automated and free way to upgrade and sort your family library.

Note: I had previously posted a similar script using Robocopy at

What Revit Wants: Copy a Directory Tree “Flat” – all files into one folder, no subfolders

This code modified from:

Commerce Server Guy: Tree-To-Flat Copy Using XCopy

Copy a Directory Tree "Flat" – all files into one folder, no subfolders

Luke Johnson

Let’s say you have exported all families in a Revit project to a bunch of folders by Category, but you want to get them all into one folder so you can drag-drop and load them all into a new project all at once…

Copy the following into a batch file:

@echo off
set source=”E:tempEexport”
set destination=”E:tempEexport2″

::Not sure if this is needed
::It guarantees you have a canonical path (standard form)
for %%F in (%destination%) do set destination=”%%~fF”

for /r %source% %%F in (.) do if “%%~fF” neq %destination% ROBOCOPY “%%F” %destination% *.rfa /COPYALL /R:0

Now, change the text in red to suit your source and destination (my destination folder was empty).  Run the batch file and you should have a stack of RFAs all sitting in that folder.  Note: results may be a bit unpredictable if you have duplicates of particular files in the source directory tree.

Read more:
file – ROBOCOPY – Copy folders content to a single folder – Stack Overflow

Copy from Annotation to Model Families

Luke Johnson

Revit doesn’t want you to copy lines between Annotation and Model Families (see below)

However, it can be done. This is the workflow to copy lines from Annotation to Model families:
  1. Copy lines from the Annotation Family to a plan view in a Project File.
  2. Copy the lines from the Project File to a Profile Family.
  3. Copy the lines from a Profile Family to the Model Family.


Pretty tricky workaround huh?

Copy Spreadsheet tool updated

Luke Johnson

If you are having problems with the ‘Copy Spreadsheet’ utility, it is likely because you are running 64 bit Revit or you have recently updated Revit. If you haven’t heard of this tool, it is a simple program made in Autohotkey, and it automates the ‘copying’ of data from a spreadsheet into a Revit schedule. The Revit schedule will need to be a key schedule, and you will need to add the columns and rows before starting the utility.

Head over to http://forums.augi.com/showpost.php?p=950435&postcount=1 for the updated version.

Direct link http://www.nichitecture.com/downloads/Copy%20Spreadsheet%20for%20Revit%202010.zip

You may need to login to AUGI to access the above.

Copy between Project and Family

Luke Johnson

Sometimes you really want to copy some model lines from a project RVT to a family RFA, but Revit says NO!

This is the workaround:

  1. In the Project, create detail lines that describe the elements you want to copy
  2. Make New Family – Generic Profile
  3. Copy the detail lines in the Project (Ctrl + C)
  4. Paste them into the Profile family (Ctrl + V)
  5. Open / create the other family you want to put those lines into
  6. Copy them from the Profile family into the other family (lets say it is a Planting family). They will appear as model lines in the Planting family. Yay!

Sure, this method has some limitations, but it is a valid workaround in a lot of situations.