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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Create a type catalog.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
7 min.
Transcript
00:03
A type catalog contains multiple types in a tabular format.
00:08
The user only selects which types are required for the project.
00:11
A type catalog is very useful for families such
00:14
as steel sections where the geometry remains similar.
00:17
But the dimensions may vary.
00:20
The type catalog can contain dimensions and other data
00:23
such as structural properties for each section type.
00:26
A type catalog is simply a text file which shares the same name as your
00:30
family.
00:31
Both files must be placed in the same folder.
00:35
Assuming the text formatting is correct. A type catalog will be displayed when a
00:40
family is loaded into the project.
00:43
The image below shows the format of the text file.
00:46
The text file has been developed in Microsoft Excel which
00:49
makes it easier to view the rows and columns.
00:52
Note the special formatting applied to the column headers.
00:55
It is advisable that a catalog be prepared in Microsoft
00:58
Excel and then saved as a comma separated file.
01:01
Here you can see three examples of column header formatting for the catalog.
01:06
The first string of text is the parameter name followed by a double. Hashtag
01:11
The next section is a type of parameter and the final section describes the units.
01:17
A simple method to start a catalog file is
01:19
to create the parameters and one family type,
01:22
you can then export the family type to a text file.
01:25
Of course,
01:26
the text file can then be imported into Microsoft
01:28
Excel to continue the development of the catalog.
01:33
Let's take a closer look at the catalog.
01:35
So here you can see that I have my catalog opened in Microsoft Excel.
01:40
I've started this file by exporting a family type from the family editor in rev
01:45
that then creates a text file and then I
01:47
can import that text file into Microsoft Excel.
01:51
Once it's in Microsoft Excel,
01:53
you can see here that we can use the fuel handles to copy down data.
01:57
So for example, here you can see that I also have an assembly code.
02:01
So again, if I use the fill handle here,
02:04
you can see here that the numbers are incrementing in this case,
02:07
but I could choose to copy the cells.
02:11
OK? So my catalog is now complete.
02:14
You'll notice of course that we have a blank cell here.
02:17
And then we have these column headers that we've mentioned previously.
02:20
So we have the parameter name, width,
02:23
two hashtag symbols,
02:25
the data type that we're storing.
02:26
So in this case, this is the length and then the units that we'd like to use.
02:30
So here we can see that we've got the parameter type comments,
02:34
two hashtag symbols and the data type is other
02:37
and so on.
02:39
These are the actual type names.
02:42
And then of course,
02:42
here we have the individual values according to each type name and each column.
02:49
So of course,
02:49
it's much easier to develop this
02:51
information inside something like Microsoft Excel.
02:54
However, we do require a comma separated text file for this.
02:59
So how are we going to do that? Well, we can select the file ribbon
03:02
and we can select save. As
03:06
here. We can change the file format from Excel workbook to com
03:11
eliminated file.
03:13
So I'm gonna go ahead and select save here
03:16
and then close down Microsoft Excel
03:19
in the file explorer. You'll now notice that we have our file here.
03:23
M 04 underscore 05 underscore precast beam
03:28
notice here. I'm showing the file extensions,
03:31
the fi extensions aren't on by default.
03:34
So if you require to show those,
03:35
you can go to the view ribbon up here and you
03:38
just need to ensure that you have file name extensions set.
03:42
I can then change to CS V five extension to TXT.
03:48
And we'll now confirm that we want to actually change this.
03:51
And you can see we have a text file.
03:53
If I double click the text file,
03:55
this will open up in notepad and you can now see
03:58
we have the correct formatting for our type catalog in rev it
Video transcript
00:03
A type catalog contains multiple types in a tabular format.
00:08
The user only selects which types are required for the project.
00:11
A type catalog is very useful for families such
00:14
as steel sections where the geometry remains similar.
00:17
But the dimensions may vary.
00:20
The type catalog can contain dimensions and other data
00:23
such as structural properties for each section type.
00:26
A type catalog is simply a text file which shares the same name as your
00:30
family.
00:31
Both files must be placed in the same folder.
00:35
Assuming the text formatting is correct. A type catalog will be displayed when a
00:40
family is loaded into the project.
00:43
The image below shows the format of the text file.
00:46
The text file has been developed in Microsoft Excel which
00:49
makes it easier to view the rows and columns.
00:52
Note the special formatting applied to the column headers.
00:55
It is advisable that a catalog be prepared in Microsoft
00:58
Excel and then saved as a comma separated file.
01:01
Here you can see three examples of column header formatting for the catalog.
01:06
The first string of text is the parameter name followed by a double. Hashtag
01:11
The next section is a type of parameter and the final section describes the units.
01:17
A simple method to start a catalog file is
01:19
to create the parameters and one family type,
01:22
you can then export the family type to a text file.
01:25
Of course,
01:26
the text file can then be imported into Microsoft
01:28
Excel to continue the development of the catalog.
01:33
Let's take a closer look at the catalog.
01:35
So here you can see that I have my catalog opened in Microsoft Excel.
01:40
I've started this file by exporting a family type from the family editor in rev
01:45
that then creates a text file and then I
01:47
can import that text file into Microsoft Excel.
01:51
Once it's in Microsoft Excel,
01:53
you can see here that we can use the fuel handles to copy down data.
01:57
So for example, here you can see that I also have an assembly code.
02:01
So again, if I use the fill handle here,
02:04
you can see here that the numbers are incrementing in this case,
02:07
but I could choose to copy the cells.
02:11
OK? So my catalog is now complete.
02:14
You'll notice of course that we have a blank cell here.
02:17
And then we have these column headers that we've mentioned previously.
02:20
So we have the parameter name, width,
02:23
two hashtag symbols,
02:25
the data type that we're storing.
02:26
So in this case, this is the length and then the units that we'd like to use.
02:30
So here we can see that we've got the parameter type comments,
02:34
two hashtag symbols and the data type is other
02:37
and so on.
02:39
These are the actual type names.
02:42
And then of course,
02:42
here we have the individual values according to each type name and each column.
02:49
So of course,
02:49
it's much easier to develop this
02:51
information inside something like Microsoft Excel.
02:54
However, we do require a comma separated text file for this.
02:59
So how are we going to do that? Well, we can select the file ribbon
03:02
and we can select save. As
03:06
here. We can change the file format from Excel workbook to com
03:11
eliminated file.
03:13
So I'm gonna go ahead and select save here
03:16
and then close down Microsoft Excel
03:19
in the file explorer. You'll now notice that we have our file here.
03:23
M 04 underscore 05 underscore precast beam
03:28
notice here. I'm showing the file extensions,
03:31
the fi extensions aren't on by default.
03:34
So if you require to show those,
03:35
you can go to the view ribbon up here and you
03:38
just need to ensure that you have file name extensions set.
03:42
I can then change to CS V five extension to TXT.
03:48
And we'll now confirm that we want to actually change this.
03:51
And you can see we have a text file.
03:53
If I double click the text file,
03:55
this will open up in notepad and you can now see
03:58
we have the correct formatting for our type catalog in rev it
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