Revit-Plugin FAQ

The attribution in Revit has a few special features. Learn more about the Revit plugin in this article.

Written By Antonia Langner

Last updated 7 months ago

To get to know the basics about configuring the plugin and attributing, check out the articles Configure your Plugin and Attribute with our Plugins before.

How can I use existing parameters in Revit?

You can use built-in parameters as well as existing custom parameters with the plugin by mapping the properties on the platform. Check out Property Revit Mappings for more information.

The plugin will read out and write the values into the existing parameters.

LastBIM cannot edit the values of built-in parameters that are read-only in Revit.

How can I export the parameters correctly to IFC?

On the platform you can export the .txt-file with the property set mappings. This file respects the Revit and IFC property mappings to read the correct information and write the properties as they are required.

Download the file on the platform or within the plugin:

a) Plattform: Navigate to the catalog and click on “Export” on the side bar to choose the Revit IFC Property Mappings as the export format

b) Plugin: Go to the start view, open the Revit tools and click on “Download Revit-IFC Mappings“:
Select the file in the IFC export configuration:
In the IFC export dialog, click on “In-Session Setup” (German: “Einrichtung ändern" ) and go to “Property Sets” (German: “Eigenschaftensätze” ). Activate “Export user defined property sets” (German: “Benutzerdefinierte Eigenschaftssätze exportieren“ ) and select the downloaded file.

Why do I not see the parameters after synchronization?

There are two reasons why you won’t see the parameters directly after synchronization in the properties panel:

Bindings:
The parameters still need to be bound to the Revit categories. Read more about it.
Hide when no value:
By default, the plugin creates and synchronizes the parameters with the setting “Hide when no value”.
The properties are only displayed in the properties panel as soon as they have values. This avoids that the properties panel gets overcrowded with properties that are not required at every element of the category, e.g. concrete properties that have values for concrete walls but are not required for masonry walls.

Change the setting for Hide when no Value:

If you prefer seeing the properties that have no value in the panel, you can change this in the catalog settings on the platform.

Open the catalog settings
Go to the Revit settings and change the Parameter Visibility in Revit (German: Parameter-Sichtbarkeit in Revit ) to Show Empty (German: Leere anzeigen )

How does the binding to Revit categories work?

The LastBIM plugin for Revit creates the bindings of the parameters to the Revit categories automatically. The bindings are created during attribution as required. As soon as an element is classified, the plugin knows which parameters are needed and binds them to the category of the element.

If your specifications are mapped on Revit categories, you can create all required bindings at once, by clicking on Assign Parameters to Revit Categories (DE: Parameter zu Revit-Kategorien zuweisen) in the Revit tools on the plugin start view.

This will assign the parameters to the Revit categories of the specifications where the parameters are required.

Read more about the mappings of specifications on Revit categories here.

Note that you will only see the parameters in the panel after creating the bindings when you set the parameter visibility to “Show Empty”.

How can I remove the suffix in the parameter names?

By default, the plugin adds the property group as a suffix to the parameter name to avoid collisions with existing parameters.

You can change this in the catalog settings on the platform:

Open the catalog settings.
Go to the Revit settings and change the Parameter Names in Revit (German: Parameternamen in Revit ) to Property (German: Merkmal ).

How can I write parameters into the type instead of the instance?

You can define whether the property is supposed to be a type or instance parameter in the Revit property mappings.

To overwrite existing values in type parameters you have to confirm that you want to edit the information in the type to avoid unintentional changes.

How can I change the parameter group?

If you want to have the parameters listed in a specific group in the properties palette, you can change the group in the Revit property mappings on the platform.

Otherwise the plugin will list the parameters in the group “Other”.

How can I change the data type in Revit?

You can define which data type should be used in Revit, in the Revit property mappings on the platform.