Revit Family Error Automatically Resolved

Some of you may not be aware but Autodesk sneaked in a new "Feature/Enhancement" in about version 2018 (I think?) - I do not remember any discussion or announcement about this in the testing/release process:

Warning:  "Family Error Automatically Resolved"

When you try to place or modify a component using parameter values that break the family (eg. cause impossible geometry), Revit will now try to "Fix" the family.

In reality, what is most likely going to happen is that you (the BIM or Content Manager) will be in a "Fix" or "Fixed Up" . . . . .

So, what is going on here?  

 When Revit tries to "Fix" the family, it seems that :

• Revit makes the requested change to the values
• Gives a warning to the user
• As we know, most users ignore the warning and keep going
• User clicks on OK or presses Enter
  

• Revit omits the elements that it cannot create
• Nested components are particularly prone to this
  
• This results in a component that is missing some (sub)elements

 

• The end user may not know what has happened
• They may not knotice that something is mssing
• They may not care!
  
• If the user makes further changes to the values that still break the family, Revit gives another warning - this one requires no user intervention.
  

• If the user changes the values to something that no longer breaks the family, it appears to reinstate the elements that it could not create.  
• When I first encountered this, I was sure that once it happened, Revit would never reinstate the missing elements - but on re-testing this it appears to work ok.

 

Warning

• It seems that when Revit "Fixes" a family for you, it does NOT retain a warning in the list
• I think that is a serious failing with this feature, as the BIM Manager has no easy way to find or track the problem

Old Revit Versions

Prior to this "enhancement", Revit would just give a message saying that it could not create the family:

This meant that the user had to either choose values that did not break the family, or else get the Content Creator to fix the family so it did not happen.

 

Opinions

What do you think of this "Enhancement"?

• As a BIM, Model or Content Manager I don't think I like it much because it means I often don't get told about the error - so it goes uncorrected.
• It is not easy to find later on
  

• As a Revit User, you might think it is great as you can get on with my work and not be interrupted by having to seek help from the Content Creator
• It may or may not come back to bite you - chances are that it will become someone else's problem.  
• If it goes unnoticed for a while the ramifications of the problem could become more significant.
  

New in Revit 2018.2 - Family Types Memory

Here we are with a third set of enhancements for Revit this year - first version 2018, then 2018.1 and now 2018.2

There is nothing amazing - just small things as Autodesk themselves say.  I have tested a couple of things and have some comments on the first of them:

Remember Column width spacing in Type properties dialog

This one is in the Family Editor - in the Family Types dialog box (the one with four blue squares, which I never remember the name of).

When you open that dialog box, the column widths are never arranged how you want them:  The formula width is too small if you want to add formulas; the 'Lock' column is always too wide etc.
In previous versions, after you had rearranged the widths, then closed the dialog box, the next time you opened it, those darned column widths were back to standard.  In addition to this, when you make the dialog box wider, all the column widths expand; if you make the first column wider it often seems to make the 'Lock' column wider too (ridiculous for a checkbox), and then you get a very irritating horizontal slider on the dialog box - pretty soon the left hand columns disappear off screen when the focus goes into a formula . . . .

In Revit 2018.2, they have addressed just one of those problems - but only partially:  Yes, the column widths are remembered when you reopen the dialog box - sounds great but . . . .

Standard column widths

When you adjust the column widths, you have to be careful to make sure that the vertical divider line to the right of the 'Lock' title does not disappear -

Adjusted column widths to make formulas readable

Once the right hand Lock column divider disappears, you get the scroll bar along the bottom of the dialog box.  Once the whole Lock column disappears, and you put the focus in the Formula column, it shifts the Parameter Name column off screen to the left.

 If you adjust the dialog box width, it is possible to make formulas and values readable - but watch that Lock column width

Adjusted dialog box width

In version 2018.2 they have broken something in the controls for adjusting the widths and sliding the scroll bars - it is pretty flaky.  Within 10 minutes of testing I had managed to entirely lose the Lock column, so you couldn't see it even with the slider fully to the right.   I have reported this as a bug, and Autodesk have replicated the problem, so hopefully they are fixing it already.

The Bad News

• The Dialog box column widths are only remembered per session (Actually that may not be so bad after all . . .). 
• The annoying expanding Lock column is still annoying.
• The nasty horizontal slider is still there, doing its worst to hinder you - I would much prefer it if the Lock column was always narrow, fixed to the right side of the dialog, while the other three columns scaled proportionally with the dialog box (at whatever width you set).

The Good News

• The Dialog box column widths are only remembered per session. 

Yes, this really is good news because if you manage to screw up the widths on the dialog box, it all resets when you next start Revit.   Actually it is good news anyway, because it is most likely that you will want different alignments depending on your task, each time you open Revit.