Assemblies and Views

Assemblies

The static Create() method of the AssemblyInstance class is used to create a new assembly instance in the project. The Create() method must be created inside a transaction and the transaction must be committed before performing any action on the newly created assembly instance. The assembly type is assigned after the transaction is complete.

The following example creates a new assembly instance, changes the name of its AssemblyType and then creates some views for the assembly instance.

Code Region: Create Assembly and Views

void CreateAssemblyAndViews(Autodesk.Revit.DB.Document doc, ICollection<ElementId> elementIds)
{
    Transaction transaction = new Transaction(doc);
    // use category of one of the assembly elements
    ElementId categoryId = doc.GetElement(elementIds.First()).Category.Id; 
    if (AssemblyInstance.IsValidNamingCategory(doc, categoryId, elementIds))
    {
        transaction.Start("Create Assembly Instance");
        AssemblyInstance assemblyInstance = AssemblyInstance.Create(doc, elementIds, categoryId);
        // commit the transaction that creates the assembly instance before modifying the instance's name
        transaction.Commit(); 

        transaction.Start("Set Assembly Name");
        assemblyInstance.AssemblyTypeName = "My Assembly Name";
        transaction.Commit();

        // create assembly views for this assembly instance
        if (assemblyInstance.AllowsAssemblyViewCreation()) 
        {
            transaction.Start("View Creation");
            View3D view3d = AssemblyViewUtils.Create3DOrthographic(doc, assemblyInstance.Id);
            ViewSchedule partList = AssemblyViewUtils.CreatePartList(doc, assemblyInstance.Id);
            transaction.Commit();
        }
    }
}

Another way to create an AssemblyInstance is to use an existing AssemblyType. To create an AssemblyInstance using an AssemblyType, use the static method AssemblyInstance.PlaceInstance() and specify the ElementId of the AssemblyType to use and a location at which to place the assembly.

Assembly Views

Various assembly views can be created for an assembly instance using the AssemblyViewUtils class, including an orthographic 3D assembly view, a detail section assembly view, a material takeoff multicategory schedule assembly view, a part list multicategory schedule assembly view, and a sheet assembly view. The document must be regenerated before using any of these newly created assembly views. You'll note in the example above that a transaction is committed after creating two new assembly views. The Commit() method automatically regenerates the document.