Schedule Formatting

Control how schedule data is presented in your project.

What is Schedule Formatting?

You can control the appearance of schedule views when they are placed on sheets. Formatting tools allow you to change header cells and data rows of a schedule. Merge, add, and change color, font, and borders in the header. You can also hide columns, stripe rows, and add totals in data rows.

Default Schedule View

Formatted Schedule View

Why should you use it?

Use formatting tools to best communicate your schedule information. When you have an office standard you want to use for schedule views, schedule formatting will allow you to customize the default way a schedule is presented in Revit. Setup schedules and modify header formatting in model template files. As you add elements to your model, the schedule is formatted and ready to be placed on your sheets.

Where do you find the tools?

Most of the formatting tools are found on the ribbon when the schedule view is opened.

Additional formatting tools for data rows in the schedule are found in the Schedule Properties dialog. In the Schedule Properties dialog you will find tabs to:

Filter the contents of a schedule on the Filter Tab.
Sort and group data in a schedule on the Sorting/Grouping Tab.
Format headers and conditional data on the Formatting Tab. (Most of the functions of this tab are duplicated in the ribbon tools.)
Set the default appearance of grid lines and text on the Appearance Tab.

In general, formatting tools for the header area of the schedule are found on the ribbon, and formatting tools for data rows are found in the Schedule Properties dialog. Formatting applied in the schedule view may not be visible in the schedule view. The schedule must be placed on a sheet to see all the formatting. Consider working with the schedule view and the sheet view tiled so you can see how formatting changes appear on the sheet. SeeTile Views.

Example

As an example, we will explore formatting a room finish schedule in the rac_advanced_sample_project.rvt sample that is installed with Revit. The schedule data will be formatted to show the information needed and the header format will be adjusted to match an office standard.

Format Data Rows

Filter Schedule Data

First, filter the data shown. The Level parameter has been included in the schedule so it can be specified as a field to filter the schedule. In the schedule properties dialog a filter is created to include only rooms on the 1st level.

For more information, see Filter Data in a schedule

The Level parameter needs to be included in the schedule for the filter to work but does not need to show. Click Hide on the ribbon to hide the Level column.

Calculate Total Area

Set totals to calculate in the schedule in the Schedule Properties dialog. First, set a parameter to calculate. On the formatting tab, select the Area field and use the pull down under Field formatting to calculate totals. Then, on the Sorting/Grouping tab, select Grand totals and use the pull down to control how the grand totals are displayed in the schedule. In this example, the Area field is set to display the Grand total for the floor area. The title for the grand total is altered to read; "Total Floor Area".

Video: Calculate Totals in a Schedule

Adjust Graphics

Row striping makes the schedule easier to read. On the appearance tab of the Schedule Properties dialog select Stripe rows and set the desired colors. For additional information see: Display Contrasting Rows in a Schedule. In the same tab of the dialog, set a wider line style for the outer edge of the schedule.

Other settings on the appearance tab allow you to control the default text styles used for titles, headers, and the body of the schedule. Text defaults for the title and headers are overridden with the schedule formatting tools.

Note: Changes made to grid lines and text styles of the schedule are not visible in the schedule view. Changes are visible once the schedule is placed on a sheet.

Format Schedule Header

Add and Adjust Cells in the Header

Select the title cell and then click Insert Below Selected to add a row below the title. Now select the first two cells in the new row and click Merge Unmerge to merge the cells. Do the same to merge the remaining cells to the right.

Now add a logo and general notes for the schedule in the added cells. Select the merged cells below the schedule title. Click Insert Image to add a logo into the cell. Select the merged cells on the right side and add text for the general notes of the schedule. In this example the Font of the default text style is overridden to be italic and aligned to the right.

Adjust Header Graphics

Select the title cell. On the ribbon click Shading and set a color for the cell. Click Font to override the default font used for the title. Here, the size is increased and set to bold. Then the Alignment is set to Left.

As a final step, a heavy border is added to separate the header of the schedule from the data of the schedule. Click and drag to select the cells in the schedule view. Click Borders on the ribbon. In the Edit Borders dialog, select the line style and click the location button where the line style is applied. In this example, only the bottom border is assigned the wider line style.

Conclusion

The next time you are working on a schedule, use the tools for formatting the data and the headers of the schedule. Formatting a default schedule will make it more readable and make it easier for you to communicate information to your team. Once you find a format that works for your schedules, include the preformatted schedules in your template files to save you time on your next project.