Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display-Part 1 of 2

In working through implementation topics during a custom Revit MEP training last week the issue of how to control Revit MEP linetypes for plumbing vent piping came up.

Out-of-the-box, Revit MEP provides two project templates that include several filters that can be used to control the display of objects based upon their system type. Since the system that Revit MEP pipes belong to is determined by the fixture/equipment connections they are attached to, both waste pipe and vent piping are automatically assigned a sanitary system type. My students could change the color and linetype of all the sanitary pipe, but needed more control to meet their company standard which displays waste pipe as continuous lines and vent pipes as dashed.

I suggested a new Revit filter as the solution to automatically control the display of their vent pipes in both single-line and double-line displays. Revit filters are an extremely powerful, customizable method for controlling the display of objects that can be related by one or more parameters.

Following are the steps we took to modify the display of existing vent pipes in a 3D view to display in a dashed linetype and a unique color. To follow along, first plunk in a toilet, connect some sanitary pipe and a vertical pipe to serve as a vent.

Creating a Vent Pipe Filter Type

1. Click one of your existing Pipes.
2. Go to the Element tab > Element Properties flyout > Type Properties.
3. Use the Type pulldown at the top of the dialog to set the current pipe type to that which most closely resembles the settings that will be required for the new pipe type (PVC in this case).
4. Click the Duplicate button to create a new Pipe Type – we named ours Vent Pipe and click OK.
5. Change your new pipe type settings as you feel necessary and click OK.
6. In the view window select your existing vertical vent pipe and go to the Modify Pipes tab > Element panel > Pipe Types > Change Element Type pulldown to change the pipe's type to Vent Pipe.
7. Go to the Visibility/Graphics dialog by typing in VV or VG, or by going to the View tab > Graphics panel > Visibility/Graphics Override.
8. Click the Filter tab.
9. Click the Edit/New button at the bottom of the dialog.
10. Click the New Filter button in the top-left of the resulting Filter dialog.
11. Give your filter a new name like Vent Pipe. Your new filter will be added to the list on the left side of the dialog.
12. In the center of the Filter dialog, click the category of Pipe (ONLY Pipe nothing else) to specify what type of objects are to be affected by this filter.

13. On the right side of the dialog create a Filter Rule as shown below: Filter by Type Name equals Vent Pipe (or whatever else you named your new pipe type.
14. Click the OK button.
15. Back on the Filters tab of the Visibility/Graphics dialog; click the Add button at the bottom of the dialog to add your new filter to the existing list.
16. Click to select your new filter name (Vent Pipe in this example) from the Add Filter dialog and click OK.
17. You should now see your Vent Pipe filter name displayed on the filter list on the left side of the dialog, as shown below.
18. Click on the Override button in the Lines column for your Vent Pipe filter (enclosed in the red rectangle below).
19. In the resulting Line Graphics dialog, specify a Weight, Color, and Pattern for your vent pipe. In this example, a magenta color and Dashed 3/32" pattern were used.

20. Click OK twice to exit out of both dialogs and view the result.

Our Vent Pipe type is now dashed as we specified. However, the color of the vent pipes connected to sanitary pipes is not yet magenta. Note however, that any stand-alone pipe created with the Vent Pipe type, but not connected to a sanitary system does display as magenta.

Filter List Order Makes a Difference
The order that filters are listed on the Visibility/Graphics Override, Filters tab provides an additional display control. Filters are ranked by the order they appear on the list. Filters higher on the list have display priority over all filters listed below them. 

To display our magenta color on our sanitary system vent pipes we need to move the Vent Pipe filter above the Sanitary filter on the list as described below to have the Vent Pipe filter take precendence over the Sanitary system.

1. Type in VV or VG to go back to the Visibility/Graphics Overrides dialog and Click the Filter tab.
2. Click the Vent Pipe filter.
3. Click the Up button near the bottom of the dialog to move the Vent Pipe filter listing above the Sanitary filter listing.
4. Click OK to exit the Visibility/Graphics dialog.

Your pipes assigned to the Vent Pipe, pipe type should now have dashed lines of the pattern and color you specified in step #19, as shown in the example below.

What Next?

Keep in mind that the steps above created a graphic override for the current view only.

There are several options for adding the Vent Pipe filter to other views that will be discussed in my next post:  Using Filters to Control Revit ME 2010 Pipe Display-Part 2.