Create Configuration

The Equipment Data Tool will allow you to designate your equipment families with a subcategory and then manage a group of parameters for each.

Create Configuration will generate a collected set of parameters and value built around an identified "subcategory" parameter and value. This configuration is saved and then used in the Setup Families step of the Equipment Data Tool.

Create Configuration 1 has four primary sections:

1. Summary of the currently selected configuration.
2. Option to go through the Room & Area Sync tool Setup with no preconfigured settings.
3. Option to load an already created configuration file. The subsequent steps in the Room & Area Sync tool will have the settings from that configuration prepopulated, but changes can be made before Setup is run.
4. Navigation and Action buttons are context sensitive throughout the tool.

Step 2 identifies a Revit shared parameter file. In the next step, a parameter to hold the subcategory data from this file will be selected. In subsequent steps, additional parameters to add to RFA files can be selected.

Select the Browse button to navigate to and select the shared parameter file.

If Start From Scratch is selected in Step 1, this area will only show the Browse button.

In Step 3, a single parameter from the identified shared parameter file is selected to store the subcategory data. This data will come directly from a Standardized Data Tool database selected in the next step.

1. The list of parameters in the shared parameter file. Select the one for the subcategory.
2. Indicate if the parameter is a Type or Instance parameter.
3. Since the data comes directly from a Standardized Data Tool database, identify if the Number, Description, or a combination of those values will be used from the database. If Both is chosen, the text in Concatenation Text is used between the number and description values.
4. Identify the parameter group this parameter will be created under.

Step 4 identifies a Standardized Data Tool database that has the subcategory values as well as pre-populate data in additional parameters the Equipment Data Tool will create.

1. The currently selected database.
2. If no database is available, Start from scratch will copy an empty database from the Standardized Data Tool files. This database can be saved and modified to use.
3. Browse to and select a locally saved database.
4. The Standardized Data Tool Public Library list of databases.

Step 5 lists the tabs found in the identified Standardized Data Tool database. Select the specific tab that has the subcategory values.

1. List of tabs in the database file.

Step 6 allows individual and different parameters to be tied to each subcategory value found in the identified Standardized Data Tool database. Since these parameters are created in each RFA file, this allows the control of what parameters are in what component, regardless of Revit category.

1. If both the Standardized Data Tool Number and Description are used, this character is used to concatenate the two values.
2. The list of values found for subcategories. The "+" will associate a parameter to that subcategory. The list of parameters is from the previously identified shared parameter file. To remove a parameter from a subcategory, press the "X" at the start of the row.
3. Select if a parameter is to be associated at the Type or Instance level in the RFA.
4. The parameter group for the parameter.
5. The default value to fill in the parameter when created. Manual input in this field is allowed.
6. To use a Standardized Data Tool value, click the ellipsis button, check one of the options identifying if the value should include the Number and/or Description, then click "Choose value from Standardized Data Tool data". This will open the database and allow the desired value to be selected. It will then be copied to Default Value field.

Step 7 provides a summary and will prompt to save the configuration to use in the Setup Families step.

1. A summary of the settings.
2. For a new configuration, Finish and Close will close the Create Configuration tool and open a dialog box to save an XML file with the settings configured in the prior steps. If an already created Configuration was selected in Step 1, Finish and Close will overwrite the selected configuration file. Note that it does not save new copies of the shared parameter file or the Standardized Data Tool database. It is recommended to have copies of these in a defined location that the Equipment Data Tool configuration can access if used again.

For more information, sample files, and downloads, visit the Equipment Data Tool for Revit page on the Autodesk Interoperability Tools website.