Model

PARAMETERS
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Types of Parameters
1 – Built-in Parameters
2 – Project Parameters
3 – Family Parameters
4 – Shared Parameters
5 – Global Parameters
Description
Parameters are properties of the elements that form the model, including not
only model and annotation objects but also views and sheets.
Every element in Revit has parameters, the name for its properties, or
attributes.
Parameters can be classified depending on who creates them and in which
file they are saved. It is important to understand the difference between the
types of parameters that exist or can be created because it is the key to using
them properly and managing the information contained in the model in the
best way
1. BUILT-IN PARAMETERS
The Built-in parameters, are those that already exist in a file for elements when you
start modeling, both in a project file or in a family file.
They are always available because they are the basic properties that objects have so
that Revit can work with them. They cannot be changed or deleted.
We will find these parameters both in project or family files and as native parameters,
they can be tagged and scheduled.
In families, some of them will appear directly in the family template. As said, they
cannot be changed, nor deleted. But can be scheduled and tagged.
Some other family built-in parameters will be only available when the family is placed
in the project.

Who creates it? Where is it saved? Can be tagged? Can be scheduled?

Built-in Project file and

Built-In Yes Yes
Parameters Family file
2. PROJECT PARAMETERS
They are custom parameters that are added or created in a project file, and they are saved in it. When creating a
project parameter, it will be added to every object of the selected categories.
Project parameters are specific to a single project file, and can be added to objects of the following categories:
Model categories
Analytical categories
Views
Sheets
Project Information
(Please notice that project parameters cannot be created for annotation categories).
These kinds of parameters will be used in the project to include missing information both in schedules and for
filtering, but they cannot be tagged. They add information but notice that actually cannot drive any properties of
model elements.

Who creates it? Where is it saved? Can be tagged? Can be scheduled?

Project
Custom Project file No Yes
Parameters
CREATE A PROJECT PARAMETERS
Project File > Manage Tab > Project parameters > Add

1. Select the Project parameter

option
2. Define parameter data
3. Select categories
FAMILY PARAMETERS
They are custom parameters that are created in a family file, and they are added to
control variable geometry relationships or other attributes in the family.
Unlike project parameters, they are available only for the family in which they are
created, and not in similar families of the same category.
These kinds of parameters cannot be scheduled nor tagged and can only access via
project file to change family types/instances properties.

Who creates it? Where is it saved? Can be tagged? Can be scheduled?

Family
Custom Family file No No
Parameters
CREATE A FAMILY PARAMETERS
Family File > Create Tab > Family Types menu> Add

1. Select the Family parameter option

2. Define parameter data
SHARED PARAMETERS
They are custom parameters that are a bit special because they are not saved in the project
or in the family. These types of parameters are stored in an external file that is called the
Shared Parameter file (.txt)
When adding a project parameter or a family parameter you can choose to create it as a
shared parameter, and this helps to avoid the limitation that those types of parameters
have. This means that:
They can be tagged
They can be scheduled
The same parameter can be used in multiple families.
Their definition is protected from change (definition, not values)

Who creates it? Where is it saved? Can be tagged? Can be scheduled?

Shared
Shared
Custom Parameters File Yes Yes
Parameters
(*.txt)
CREATE THE SHARED PARAMETERS FILE (*.TXT)

Project/Family File > Manage tab > Shared Parameters

In the menu that will appear we will find two sections.
1. Shared parameter file:
You can create a new file by clicking “Create” and saving it with a name in a selected location
You can map the path to an existing shared parameters file
2. The lower section is like accessing the text file from our Revit file.
CREATE A SHARED PARAMETERS
1. In the lower section of the menu, first, create a Group if there is not any, and give it a name. Or choose
a group in the drop-down menu. Groups are just a way to organize parameters and put some order in
the Shared Parameter file.
2. Click Parameters > New and define the parameters data as usual.
To this point would be the procedure just to create the shared parameter in the shared parameter file.
After having created the shared parameter in the external file it will be available to be added as Project
or Family parameter, following the same procedure as described before, but choosing the “Shared
Parameter” option.
GLOBAL PARAMETERS (SINCE REVIT 2017)
This new type of parameter was introduced in the Revit 2016 Release 2, but they have full functionality only
from Revit 2017.
They are custom parameters that are created in the project environment. They are different from the project
parameters because:
While project parameters only add information to objects, Global parameters are added to control variable
geometry relationships or other attributes between model elements, to drive the value of a dimension or
constraint, be associated with an element property to drive its value, or to report the value of a dimension, so
the value can be used in the equations of other global parameters.
Summarizing it is the functionality of family parameters but in the project model environment.
When adding a project parameter or a family parameter you can choose to create it as a global parameter,
and this helps to avoid the limitation that those types of parameters have. This means that:
They cannot be tagged
They cannot be scheduled
The same parameter can be used in multiple elements.
They can be used in formulas for other Global parameters

Who creates it? Where is it saved? Can be tagged? Can be scheduled?

Global Parameters Custom Project file No No

 CREATE A GLOBAL PARAMETERS
In project file >Manage Tab > Global Parameters

1. 1. Select the Family parameter option

2. Define parameter data. This is all similar to any parameter creation.
PARAMETER KEY TERMS
TYPE/INSTANCE/REPORTING

TYPE: If we define a parameter as a type parameter, changing its value

will affect all the elements that are defined by the same family type.
When selecting an object, it can be found in the Type Properties Menu.

INSTANCE: Changing an instance parameter value will affect only the

selected object. Instance parameters can vary for every family
instance. When selecting an object, they can be found in the
Properties Palette.

REPORTING: A reporting parameter is a parameter type that has its

value driven by a particular dimension in the family model. This means
that the value is not user-decided but reporting parameters extract a
value from a geometric condition and use it to report the data to a
formula or as a schedulable parameter.
Tips & Tricks
If there is any chance that a custom parameter will have to be tagged or scheduled, create it as a shared parameter
(no matter if the project or family parameter).
If the same parameter will be used across multiple families, create it as a shared parameter.
When having made changes to a family, it has to be loaded again into the project to update the changes. At that point,
a window will prompt asking a question:
Overwrite the existing version will mean updating the family, its new parameters, and new configuration only. No
changes in parameter values inside the project.
Overwrite the existing version and its parameter values will mean updating the family and overriding the values of the
parameters that were already stored in the project with that coming from the family, thus causing sometimes
unexpected changes in the model.
If in a family widely used in a project a parameter was created as a family parameter and later we want to be able to
schedule or tag it, we will have to transform it to a shared parameter.
If we replace the family parameter with a shared parameter by editing it, no matter if the name is exactly the same,
values in parameters will be reset as well.
So, we can create a shared parameter and link it to the value of the existing family parameter so that we don´t lose
the information in the model. Linking the value will consist in using the formula option in the family, and making the
shared parameter equal to the existing family parameter.
If we delete it and recreate it as a shared parameter, we will have to assume that the existing values of that parameter
in the model will be lost.
1. The only way to not lose that information is to:
2. extract it (maybe via dynamo or other add-ins?)
3. Only then delete the parameter and recreate it as a shared parameter
4. Reintroduce the values we had previously stored.
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