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

Applying Filters to Multiple Views
The Visibility/Graphics Override Filter that we created in the previous post; Using Filters to Control Pipe Display Part 1 to control the display of vent pipe will only provide a graphic override for the view it was created in.  However, there are several options for adding the Vent Pipe filter to other views as listed below.

Add the Filter to another View in the Current Project
To add the Vent Pipe filter to another view in the current project, make the different view current then navigate to the Visibility/Graphics dialog and repeat the steps #15 through #20 listed in Using Filters to Control Pipe Display - Part 1. Unfortunately, you can only add the filter one view at a time using this method.

Better Practice: Add the New Filter to One or More Views in the Current Project with View Templates

Use view templates to standardize the vent pipe appearance across multiple similar views within the current project. Applying changes to a view template will automatically update the appearance of all existing and new views to which that template is assigned.

Adding the Vent Pipe filter to view templates:

1. Right-click one or more views (CTRL+Click to select multiple views) that have similar view display requirements such as all the plumbing 3D views in the Project Browser and click “Apply View Template.”
2. In the Apply View Template dialog > Names section, select an existing view template to modify or use Duplicate to create a new view template to display dashed vent pipes automatically.
3. On the right-side of the dialog, click the Edit button to the right of V/G Overrides Filters, and perform steps #15 through 20 in Using Filters to Control Revit MEP 2010 Pipe Display-Part 1 to add the new Vent Pipe filter to each view template as you require.
4. Click Apply at the bottom of the dialog after modifying each of the view template you change.
5. Click OK to exit the dialog once all your view templates have been modified to your satisfaction.

Verify your view template display settings:

• Existing views that were using view templates that you modified should now automatically display your view template changes.

• To apply a view template to a view, select the view (or CTRL+Click) multiple views in the Project Browser, right-click, and click Apply View Template. Click the name of a view template you wish to assign from the Names section of the Apply View Template dialog and click OK.

Warning!
Keep in mind that when you apply a view template to an existing view you are applying ALL of the settings defined on the right side of the Apply View Template dialog.  Not just the Vent Pipe display filter setting that has been discussed..   

Best Practice: Transfer View Templates Settings to a Project Template
To implement dashed vent pipes as a company standard open at least one new or existing project template file (.rte extension) and use Manage tab > Project Settings panel > Transfer Project Standards to copy the newly updated view template(s) to one or more project templates that will be used to create new Revit MEP projects at your firm.

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.

CAD Digest Pick-Up of BIM Bulletin Post on Revit Word-Wrapping

Thanks to CAD Digest Weekly for picking up and publishing a link in their Autodesk Revit Tutorials section to this week's BIM Bulletin post on Revit word-wrapping in notes and view titles:  http://tinyurl.com/yakpgz6!

Autodesk Webcast: BIM Implementation Strategies for Revit MEP

Sign-up for an Autodesk webcast entitled: BIM Implementation Strategies for Revit MEP at: http://tinyurl.com/nu3est.  The presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30th 10:00 to 11:00 AM, Pacific Daylight Time.

Get Control of Revit Word-Wrapping in Notes and View Titles

This topic came up during the Revit MEP consulting I did last week in Madison, Wisconsin. Revit users usually control the width of text notes by clicking, dragging and releasing to specify the boundaries they need to constrain their new text within. Most of the time this works fine as we can modify the width of the text boundaries after our text entry is complete as shown in the first two examples below. Sometimes, however, editing the text box boundary does not suffice. What you need, is the ability to specify a line-break between the individual words that make up your note.

To insert a line break while creating or editing a Revit Text Note simply hold your CTRL key down and click the ENTER button (CTRL+ENTER) at the desired break location as shown in the third example above.

Tip & Trick:  Create View Title Line-Breaks

Using CTRL+ENTER is also a great way to get two lines of text displayed in View Titles on your Sheets. There is a trick to making this work, however!

You cannot use the Rename function on your existing View Name to add CTRL+ENTER where you wish to force a line-break. You will receive the error message shown below. Such non-printable characters are not allowed in a View Name.

Follow these steps to add a line-break to a View Title on a Sheet:

1.  Right-click the View that needs the View Title line-break in the Project Browser and select Properties, or, right-click in the Drawing Area and select View Properties. Either way you will end up in the Instance Properties dialog for the View.

2.  In the Identity Data Group of the dialog, highlight the text in the View Name slot and Copy (CTRL+C).Move down to the Title on Sheet slot as shown below and Paste (CTRL+V) the copied name.

3.  Now, insert CTRL+Enter in your new Title on Sheet name wherever the line-break needs to take place.  The Title on Sheet parameter does accept non-printable characters.

4.  Click OK.

5.  Go to your sheet view and verify that the View Title displays to your satisfaction, similar to the example shown.

Layer Properties Settings - Palette or Dialog? AutoCAD-Based 2009-2010 Products

I answered this question in the LinkedIn Autodesk User Group International (AUGI), Group's Discussions and thought perhaps someone else might appreciate the same information. A user was frustrated because most of his AutoCAD-based 2010 installations displayed the Layer Properties Manager as a Tool Palette, however one of his systems could only display it as a dialog. Those who frequently adjust their layer properties settings often prefer to use a docked palette for convenience and speed as opposed to navigating to the Layer Properties tool and loading the dialog.

The display of a palette vs. the layer dialog is controlled by a system variable called layerdlgmode. Changes made to this variable will hold from drawing session to drawing session.

To Display the Layer Properties Manager as a Palette:

• At the command line, type layerdlgmode and press Enter. When prompted to enter a value for layerdlgmode, type in a value of one (1) and press Enter.

To Display the Layer Properties Manager as a Dialog:

• At the command line, type layerdlgmode and press Enter. When prompted to enter a value for layerdlgmode, type in a value of zero (0) and press Enter.

By default, the 2009 and 2010 versions of AutoCAD MEP and AutoCAD Architecture display the layer properties settings in a dialog. However, by default, AutoCAD 2009 and 2010 display the layer properties settings on a palette.

Obtaining Previous Versions through the Autodesk Subscription Program

After years of using Autodesk Reseller’s software, I am now the proud owner of my own license of the AutoCAD® Revit MEP® 2010 Suite. The Suite may only be purchased with Autodesk Subscription, which was perfect for me because one of the benefits of being a Subscription customer for most Autodesk products is that you can legally use previous versions of the products as well. I am able to work and save in the 2010, 2009, and 2008 versions of all the products included in the AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite.

Once I received my new, 2010 product serial number I incorrectly assumed I could immediately download the 2010, 2009 and 2008 products from the public Autodesk website and use that one, serial number to activate all the product versions. That is not the case. Follow these quick steps for obtaining previous version licensing through Autodesk Subscription.

1.  Navigate to the Autodesk Subscription website at: https://subscription.autodesk.com/ and log in.

If you are a new subscriber I’d strongly recommend downloading the Program Information docs found on the login page. They provide detailed Subscription program information and including more detailed information on Previous Version licensing.

2.  Click Contact Administration on the left-side menu.

3.  Click Previous Versions at the bottom of the page.

4.  On the Previous Version: Getting Started page click your appropriate license deployment (stand-alone or network) and click the Continue button.

You might also take advantage of the links found on this page to obtain more detailed information, particularly the Previous Version FAQ.

5.  Depending upon your license deployment type, you will receive one of the pages at the right. Click the option you need and click the Continue button.

6.  Complete the Previous Version Request Form.

• Verify that the contact information listed is correct so that you can obtain the serial number information you require.
• Provide your contract number, current, 2010 serial number, previous product name and release of the license(s) for which you are requesting previous versions.
• Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.  

You will receive an email from Autodesk Business Services with the serial number(s) you require. I was surprised to find that the same serial number was provided for both the 2009 and 2008 versions of the AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite. That makes bookkeeping simpler for everyone.

Keep in mind that the Previous Version must be installed on the same computer as the current version and may not be transferred to another computer unless all licenses of both the Previous Version and the current version are transferred to the new computer.

Autodesk Assistance Program Rocks!

I have just a quick shout-out and thanks to the Autodesk Assistance program which made the purchase of my new AutoCAD^® Revit MEP^® Suite economically possible. The program provides software discounts to program members who qualify, as well as, to employers who hire them. See http://tinyurl.com/lvfjhx for information about this and the many other benefits of this program designed to support Autodesk product users during these tough economic times. Also, special thanks to Tammy Sullivan at IMAGINiT, my Autodesk Reseller Account Manager who processed my order through the Autodesk Assistance program.

Troubleshooting Revit Network License Issue

Autodesk has published a new Autodesk tech doc and linked references for resolving Revit network licensing issues on that one pesky workstation that cannot successfully pull a license.

The docs would be helpful references for the occasional networking troubleshooter. The doc can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/nmtwsl.