Linked Revit Files and Spatial Data with Ideate BIMLink

Linked Revit Files and Spatial Data in Ideate BIMLink

When the Include Linked Revit Elements checkbox is selected from the Properties tab the exported data is modified to include any applicable elements from all linked Revit files. 

Questions related to Linked File Data:

How is (related) Room and Space data handled across linked files?

Ideate BIMLink handles Room- and Space-based data in the same way that Revit does, with a few noteworthy improvements.

'Campus' Scenario

In this scenario we would have three files:  Master.RVT, North_Wing.RVT, and South_Wing.RVT.  The Master file is a container (parent) with links to the North and South Wing files.  The Master file would also contains a schedule that reports on electrical fixtures that exist within both 'Wings'.  In this scenario, Revit and Ideate BIMLink will both report the Room or Space data about the electrical fixtures within the North and South Wing files because the elements exist within the same file as the rooms.  NOTE: Unlike Revit, Ideate BIMLink will be able to report additional properties such as the related Room:Area.

Room and Space Revit data handled across linked files

Furniture, Fixtures, or Equipment (FFE) Scenario
In this scenario, the element exists in a Revit file and the Room data exists in a separate file.  We could have, for example, a parent file called Electrical_Fixtures.RVT which has another file, linked in, which is called Architectural_Floor_Plan.RVT.  In this scenario both Revit and Ideate BIMLink cannot report the name of the room without some extra work.  See next topic for details.

Reporting Spatial Data Across Linked Files
In order to retrieve the Room Name and Room Number fields for an element wherein the element exists in the Parent file and the Room exists in the child (linked) file, follow these steps:

  1. Select the link file that contains the Room elements.
  2. Using the Properties Palette, edit the Link Type.
  3. Select the Room Bounding checkbox.
  4. Use the Space>Create Spaces Automatically method to create new spaces based on the Linked file.
  5. Open Ideate BIMLink and edit the Instance link.  For the FFE Scenario mentioned above, this would be an Electrical Fixture link definition.
  6. From the Properties tab, select the Space option from the drop-down menu as shown.  

NOTE: that this behavior is not available in Revit, which will not report a value for the Room Name or Room Number in this scenario.  

Reporting Spatial Data Across Linked Revit Files

 

 

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