Tag: WhiteFeet

WhiteFeet Tools updated for Revit 2018 (very cool)

Luke Johnson

I have posted about WhiteFeet Tools a few times over the years, it is an impressive toolkit.

You can register and download the 2018 version here, and you can try it for free for 60 days.

  1. Fill out the form
  2. Follow the link in the email
  3. Scroll down to Download / Agree terms link
  4. Download from next page

 

Here is basic list of what’s included:

A. Sheet Manager: Links to an Excel file. Creates or updates sheets in Revit as a bulk editing process.

B. Revit-Database Link: Connect to either an Access or a SQL Server database and synchronize data in both directions.

C. Model Builder: Import and export Revit elements in a way that allows geometry exchange with other programs.

D. Area & Mass Tools: Placing unplaced areas; creating solid forms from areas; and counting the floors in a mass object.

E. Room Tools: Placing unplaced rooms; creating rooms from areas; and, creating solid forms from rooms.

F. View Tools: Creating views from rooms; tagging views; exporting images from views; and, creating sheets from views.

G. Parameter Tools: String and number manipulation; relating data between object types; and, importing and exporting of model data.

H. Family Tools: Exporting detailed information about families, symbols and tags; importing parameters; and, batch processing families.

I. Schedule Tools: Working with schedules and key schedules with Excel; editing instance values; creating a table and type schedule.

J. Management Tools: Displaying the various forms of classification use with families; and, managing attachment links.

 

Updates for Whitefeet Tools and Project Hummingbird

Luke Johnson

Did you miss the recent update to Whitefeet Tools?  These are probably the oldest and most robust database editing tools for Revit.

The highly experienced developer, Mario Guttman, is also actively working on Project Hummingbird (a set of Grasshopper components that facilitate the creation of Revit native geometry).  Check it out at:
http://ghhummingbird.wordpress.com/ 
and download at
http://www.food4rhino.com/project/hummingbird

The latest version of Whitefeet can be downloaded by following the instructions at:
http://www.whitefeet.com/Tools/

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Using Whitefeet Parameter Math tool to copy a untaggable System parameter into a Shared Parameter

Luke Johnson

In the image below, I show the basic process used to drive a Floor Area parameter into a manually added shared parameter.  Obviously, this scenario is not ideal – the data link isn’t dynamic, so we have essentially created a mini-silo (that’s what I’m going to call “in-software unlinked BIM”) right inside Revit.

In any case, here is how you can quickly do it with Whitefeet tools (start at 1 and follow the arrows):


I previously posted another workaround for this – using a filtered schedule:
Tag Floor Area in Revit workaround

Deleting Import Definitions from a Revit project

Luke Johnson

Sometimes you will have some junk imported DWG definitions residing in your project.  These may be present due to the long history of the project, perhaps using Transfer Project Standards – View Templates, or just poor RVT model management.

How can you get rid of them?

There are various paid tools that will let you do it, but if you already have access to the Whitefeet Tools, you can use them to easily delete any import definitions (they don’t have to be DWGs) that you no longer want in the model.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Install the WhiteFeet Tools, if you haven’t already.
  2. Open Revit
  3. Go to Add-Ins, Utility Tools (the W logo) and click on Management Tools
  4. Click on Manage Attachment Links
  5. Select the definition you want to remove.  Make sure to select a line with the Type ‘definition’. (See image below).
  6. OK and close out of the dialogs
  7. Once back in Revit, use the Manage – Select by ID tool and press Ctrl+V.  This will paste the element ID for that import definition.  The Properties Palette will show the proper import name, but everything will be grayed out.
  8. Press the Delete key on your keyboard
  9. Done!

Now, when you go to your VG – Imported Categories list, that particular Import will no longer be present.

Congratulations, your model just got cleaner!

Get a list of the names of all Reference Planes in a Revit Model

Luke Johnson

WhiteFeet Tools for Revit is a powerful set of add-ins that can make the impossible, possible.  I have posted about them before.  In this brief post, we look at how you can effectively Schedule the Reference Planes you have in a model.

On the Add-ins Ribbon, choose Utility Tools – Schedule Tools:

Pick Write Category to Excel, then select the Reference Plane category, All Elements in Model:

After you press Write Data, you will get something like this:

You can then sort the Data to find the unnamed versions, and then use the Element ID to select and name those Reference Planes, if you so desire.  In our office, an unnamed Reference Plane is fair game for deletion…

Also, some of you may have picked up that you can use this same process to export data from ANY CATEGORY in Revit – including those that you cannot schedule!

Find out how to obtain the Whitefeet software here:
Tools

Revit gaining popularity as FM tool?

Luke Johnson

FM, or Facility Management, is sometimes thought of as the sixth dimension of BIM, or 6D BIM.

Mario Guttman, creator of Whitefeet tools, reposted an interesting video / case study by David Mettler showing a potential workflow from Revit into an FM scenario using MySQL:


The process:  “I exported the Revit tables out to Access using the DBlink. From Access I had to setup a ODBC export using SSH Tunneling to get the remote host to show up as a  localhost. It took a lot of time to figure out the connection issues get the data across to MySQL. Once I got the bugs work out on the ODBC connection it’s a piece of cake post the information into MySQL. I used phprunner with the SSH Tunnel to create the pages.”
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Revit FM Tool | WhiteFeetTools

Do you find that sometimes it is "hopelessly tedious to manage this data" in Revit?

Luke Johnson

Mario Guttman does – he is a Senior Associate and the Firmwide Design Applications Research Leader for Perkins+Will.  He is also the author of the Whitefeet Revit Menu Utilities.

He has changed the way that he provides access to his public downloads – go here.

In the video below, he speaks about the development of the Whitefeet suite.  Here are a few quotes:

“I want to own the automation of my own profession.”

“I’m now part of a large community that has a very short attention span.”

“Let’s not become ‘knowledge Machine Operators’ “

“Own your own value proposition.”

Read more:
Why Mario Guttman is “Still Coding After All These Years”

WhiteFeet menu set updated

Luke Johnson

These are the latest Revit 2012 Files available for download. They are ready for use but the documentation is very out-of-date:
Note: These are compiled with 64-bit Revit and Windows 7, and .NET 4.0. I’m not sure of the effect if you don’t have these.
2012-03-21 WhiteFeetMenuSetR2012.zip
2011-06-31 WhiteFeetMenuDocumentation R2012.zip
You’ll need an addin file. Note that you need to edit the path in it to the location where you put the other files.
(See installation instructions below.)
WfRevitRibbonPanel2012AddIn.zip

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http://www.whitefeet.com/PublicDownload/