It's a Drag! Simple Fix for Annoying Dialog Drag in Revit

I was reminded once again today during an onsite consulting session how frequently I bump into people who find that repositioning a dialog box in Revit leaves behind an annoying trail such as that shown in the following screen capture. Since they are happy to learn the fix is quick and simple I thought it might be worth sharing even though it has been around for a long time

The display of the dialog trail is controlled by your operating system not by Revit. Modifying the following setting will turn off the dialog trail in all softwares using this setting on your system. I made this change several years ago and have had no issues in any typical BIM, CAD, or Microsoft products.


Follow these steps to eliminate the dialog's dragging trail.

1. Right-click in a blank area on your desktop.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click on the Appearance tab of the Display Properties dialog.
4. Click on the Effects button.
5. Clear the check-box in front of "Show window contents while dragging."
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK again to exit the Display Properties dialog.

Test it out in Revit. You should be drag-free.

Pushing the Revit MEP Space Naming Utility into Revit MEP 2010

The Revit MEP Space Naming Utility first available for use in Revit MEP 2009 also works in Revit MEP 2010. It is a much-needed tool that allows you to automatically assign the names and numbers from the Room objects found in linked architectural models to Revit MEP Spaces in your current Revit MEP project. Using the Space Naming Utility in Revit MEP you can greatly reduce the time required to coordinate MEP spaces and architectural rooms and reduce the potential for errors.

If you have been using the utility in Revit MEP 2009 and you have not changed from a 32-bit to a 64-bit operating system, you can quickly install the same utility into Revit MEP 2010 on the same machine. Here are the steps:

1. Close any open sessions of Revit MEP.
2. Double-click on your original subscription download file (for example: autodesk_rme_snu_32_installer-20090209-1808.msi for 32-bit machines).
3. Click Next.
4. Click the Remove the Autodesk Revit MEP Space Naming Utility option in the Space Naming Utility Setup Wizard.
5. Click Finish.
6. Click Close.

You must temporarily uninstall the utility and reinstall so that the installation software can find all your system's existing Revit MEP installations. When reinstalled as described below, the utility will be automatically be installed into both Revit MEP 2009 and 2010 if they are found on the same system.

1. Once successfully uninstalled, again double-click on your original subscription download file (same file as in step #1).
2. Click Next.
3. Read the License Agreement and Click Accept.
4. Click Next.
5. Specify the location where you wish to reinstall the Space Naming Utility.
6. Click Next.
7. Click Next again to continue.
8. Click Close.

After installation, the Space Naming Utility in Revit MEP 2009 will be found on the Tools pulldown > External Tools > Space Naming Utility.

After installation in Revit MEP 2010 the Space Naming Utility will be found on the ribbon's Add-ins tab > External Tools panel > the External Tools panel pulldown menu > Space Naming Utility.

IMPORTANT TIP! Rerun the Space Naming Utility after replacing a linked architectural model with a newer version to ensure that your MEP project space naming and numbering is updated to match any changes made to the room names and numbers by the architect. Revit MEP is not capable of automatically coordinating these changes.

Autodesk Official Training Guide for Revit MEP 2010 Now Shipping

I started going through the brand-new Autodesk Revit MEP training guide entitled, "Learning Autodesk Revit MEP 2010" this weekend. This year's version comes in a two-volume set which, I expect will make the new guide more durable than the previous version. My large, single-volume Revit MEP 2009 training guide lost its cover months ago and its Table of Contents is stapled to the Introduction page.

The new training guide has been updated to assist you in navigating the new ribbon-based, 2010 User Interface. I also noticed the awkward plumbing exercise which used residential bathrooms has been replaced with a commercial design of sanitary and grey-water systems, and a chapter on the Family Editor has been added amongst other improvements.

Control your Revit Project Browser Display with Keyboard Shortcuts

Use standard Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts to control the tree display of views in the Revit Project Browser.

Windows XP Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

• END - Display the bottom of the active window
• HOME - Display the top of the active window
• NUM LOCK+Asterisk (*) - Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder
• NUM LOCK+Plus (+) - Display the contents of the selected folder
• NUM LOCK+Minus (-) - Collapse the selected folder
• LEFT ARROW - Collapse the current select if it is expanded or select the parent folder
• RIGHT ARROW - Display the current selection if it is collapsed or select the first subfolder

Or, simply use the *, +, and - keys on your Numeric Keypad if you have one

• Asterisk (*) Expands everything under the current selection
• Plus (+) Expands the current selection
• Minus (-) Collapses the current selection

Windows Vista Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
Theoretically, the following should work as well, but I don't have Vista to verify their functions. Perhaps someone could comment?

• RIGHT ARROW - Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first subfolder
• LEFT ARROW - Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent folder

Numeric keypad functions for *, +, and - should be the same in Vista as Windows XP.