I started out writing this blog post about the behaviour of subcategories in nested families. On closer investigation, the weird behaviour I intended documenting was not as I had thought - still a bit strange but not quite worthy of a post all to itself. So I have changed tack and turned it into a discussion about how to get a glazed door family to appear in both door and window schedules. Many experienced Revit users should already know this, but for those who do not, read on.
Schedules and Categories
Typically door and window schedules are created separately as single category schedules. Multi-category schedules have too many limitations to make them work efficiently for this task. A door or a window is usually either one of those categories, and therefore it can only appear in one of the schedules. What if you have a window assembly that contains a glazed door? or a sliding glass door, which you want to show in the window schedule (because it is glazing), but also in the door schedule (because it hosts door hardware)? This common requirement seems problematic in Revit, but there is a way around it . . .
Workaround:
Shared Nested Family
When a nested family is 'Shared', it behaves differently to the parent family in terms of subcategories.
For example, you might have a window parent family, that contains just a frame (or a fixed glass side panel). Inside this could be a nested sliding door family. Providing the door family is set to 'Shared', then it can have its subcategories independently controlled (by View Visibility) in the project; it can also be individually selected, tagged and scheduled (as a door); the parent family can be tagged and scheduled as a window.
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| Nested Door Family Category Settings |
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| Nested Door Family Subcategory |
Parent Window Family
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| Parent Family Category |
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| Parent Family Subcategories |
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| Nested Door Family in Parent Family |
Tagging and Schedules
Standard door and window families are normally tagged separately according to category
Once placed in a project, the combined door/window family can be tagged for either category:
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| Tag the whole family for the window category tag |
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| Tab select the nested door family to tag it |
Scheduling
- The combined window/door family will appear in a window schedule.
- The Nested door family will appear in a door schedule
Category Visibility
This example shows a single swing door nested family in a window family (with fixed window panels either side). In the project, both door and window categories/subcategories affect the sub-element display:
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| All Categories On |
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| Door Panel Subcategory Off |
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| Window Category Off - Door Category On |
Non-shared Nested Family Categories
When a normal '
non-shared' family of one category is nested inside another family of a different category, it
behaves as if it is part of the parent family in terms of categories.
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| Unshared Family Settings |
In the parent family (in Family Editor), the nested family still shows its category when selected
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| Non-Shared Nested Door Family in Window Parent Family |
When loaded into a project the whole window can be selected, but not the nested door family.
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| Window family with non-shared nested door - in project |
Changing the visibility of the Door category does not affect the nested door.
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| Door Category Off, Window Category Visible |
Hiding the Window category, (while the door category is visible) hides the whole family, including the nested door
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| Door Category Visible, Window Category Off |
This behaviour is as expected.
Weird Revit Behaviour:
Non-Shared Nested Families
However, if the nested families have elements of a specific
subcategory (of the Nested family category - door) the element's visibility is still controlled by that nested family subcategory. This does not really make sense if the nested family is
not shared.
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| Door Panel Subcategory Off |
This can be very confusing, as you have no way of knowing what category the nested family is, without editing the parent family. As far as the user is concerned, the family is a window - since you cannot select the nested door in the project, the user will not be aware that it even has a nested family, let alone that a subcategory that has nothing to do with windows will still affect it.
