Family Map Wizard
- jcunningham
The Family Map Wizard walks the user through the process of creating a family map for an unmapped family. It will appear by default anytime the user tries to use a family that doesn’t have a family map. The quickest way of opening it and creating a family map for an element like a concrete wall is to select it in the Revit model then click Edit Family Map. There will be no family map to edit so Sync will ask if the user wants to add it by using the Family Map Wizard.
In the example on this page Edit Family Map has been attempted on the unmapped family WALL_PANEL_HORIZONTAL.
Clicking Yes will bring up the Family Map Wizard. Clicking No will cancel the initial operation.
The Family Map Wizard starts up with the family name and type name of the selected element at the top of the dialog. In this example the element’s family name is WALL_PANEL_HORIZONTAL and the type name is 08”.
The Family Map Wizard has three tabs of information that must be filled out in order. In the first tab the Family Type and Category must be selected.
The Family Types include Precast, Reinforcement, Lifter and Brick. The family in this example is a precast wall so Precast is selected. After the Family Type is selected the Category drop down box will be filled with all available categories of the chosen Family Type.
For the Family Type of Precast, the Category drop down will be filled with available Precast categories for columns, walls and beams. For this example, the selected family is a Solid Panel.
Once the Category is selected the Next button will be enabled as well as the tabs on the left.
The next tab is the Element Orientation.
Each Family Type and some Categories have their own Element Orientation properties. The Family Map Wizard will set default values that can be changed. For a wall there are two Orientation values that are needed: Family Length Axis and Family Width Axis, which have the default values of Bottom-Top and Left-Right respectively. Those default values work for the selected family so clicking Next will proceed to the final page in the wizard: Family Properties.
The Family Properties tab is used to map Sync Design Properties to Family Properties and set the Property Type. For example, for solid panel families the value of the thickness of the panel needs to be mapped to a property of the family. Clicking the drop-down box next to Thickness in the Family Property column will bring up a list of all property parameters, both instance and type.
The list of property parameters is scrollable to find the property to map to the Sync Design Property. Text can also be typed into the Family Property drop down box to search for a property in the list or to enter a constant value. If a constant value is to be entered then the Property Type must be changed from Parameter to Constant.
For this example, the Design Property of Thickness is mapped to the Family Property of DIM_THICKNESS.
The Property Type must then be selected. There are two choices for Property Type: Parameter or Constant. A Parameter is a property parameter of the family in Revit. A Constant is a value that is typed into the Family Property box. Here since the property parameter DIM_THICKNESS of the family is mapped to Thickness then the Property Type is set to Parameter.
All family map entries are created in the same manner. If the property is mapped to a parameter in the family then set the Property Type to Parameter and select the property in the drop down box under Family Property. If the property is a constant value then select Constant in the Property Type drop down and enter the value in the Family Property box.
A family property can be left blank but then Sync just won’t use that value when mapping properties for that family.
Once all properties are mapped, clicking the Finish button will create the family map entry and update the family map. The initial operation that caused the Family Map Wizard to appear will then continue with the newly created family map entry.