Revit Client Support

How to make Swarm Apps work in the Revit Client

Supported Revit Elements

The Swarm Client for Revit allows BIM data to be read from and written into open Revit project documents. The table directly below describes which Revit element types are supported, which Swarm Input and Output types those elements map to. The sections below the fold detail how to use Attributes to read, write and update native Revit data.

Revit Family Category	Swarm IO Type	Read / Write / Update supported?
Structural Framing	Curve, Mesh	Read, Write, Update
Structural Columns	Curve, Mesh	Read, Write, Update
Floor	Curve, Mesh	Read, Write, Update
Wall	Curve, Mesh	Read, Write, Update
Model Line	Curve	Read, Write, Update
Detail Line	Curve	Read, Write, Update
Generic Model	Mesh	Read, Write, Update
Reference plane	Surface	Read, Update
Grid	Curve	Read, Update
Level	Point	Read, Update

Revit Attributes in Swarm Apps

Create Revit Elements

Swarm Revit Element component

In order to create native Revit elements when baking geometry from Swarm App (for Structural Framing, Structural Columns, Floors, and Walls only), the correct attributes need to be set up. Include the Swarm Revit Element component in your App to set the Category, Family and Type for your elements:

Input	Description
Attributes (optional)	Use to assign Custom attributes other than the three listed below
Category	Revit Category (e.g. - Floors, Structural Framing, etc.)
Family	Revit Family (e.g. - Floor, W-Wide Flange, etc.)
Type	Revit Type (e.g. - 8 Concrete Slab, W8X10, etc.)

Custom Attributes

The Swarm Revit Element component allows you to assign multiple revit attributes to your geometry. Use the Construct Attributes component to add attributes to your geometry as a list of keys and values, that will become an object properties in revit when you bake your elements:

If the key you specify does not exist, it will be ignored

Families

Make sure you have the correct families loaded in Revit. In case the family does not exist, a following warning will pop up and the elements will not be baked:

The table below illustrates how to create native Revit elements for every currently supported type:

Element	Description
Columns	Generate a linear centerline(s), and assign attributes to it:
Framing	Generate a linear centerline(s), and assign attributes to it:
Floors	Generate an outline of the slab and assign attributes to it, use Define Children component to create openings:
Walls	Generate a linear base curve(s), and assign attributes to it, use Construct Attributes component to set the wall height:
Model Line	Doesn't require attributes attached, output a curve and bake it to the 3d view in Revit to get the Model Lines
Detail Line	Doesn't require attributes attached, output a curve and bake it to the 2d view in Revit to get the Detail Lines
Generic Model	Doesn't require attributes attached, output a mesh and bake it to the 3d view in Revit to get the Generic Model

The Swarm App shown below draws a simple building with all currently supported geometry types:

https://swarm.thorntontomasetti.com/app/5ea04931a4572a0004745733/info

Read and Update Revit Elements

When BIM elements are referenced as inputs in an App, they bring a number of Parameters along with them in the form of Attributes. Use Extract Swarm Attributes + Deconstruct Attributes components to extract all attached data from referenced Revit elements. The following properties/Attributes are supported:

Default Built In Swarm Attribute	Revit Property
Id	Revit ID
Name	Revit Type
Layer	---
Keys	List of attribute names + the three attribute names that Swarm Revit Element creates
Values	List of Revit attributes + the three attributes that Swarm Revit Element creates
Color	(0)

• Use Extract Swarm Attributes component if you want to assign the same attributes to the updated geometry:

• Use Deconstruct and Construct Swarm Attributes component if you want to modify existing Revit parameters and assign those to the updated geometry:

The app below demonstrates how to update a parameter - in this case the Unconnected Height of a wall - in a swarm app:

1. Reference a Revit wall into the swarm app

2. Use Extract Swarm Attributes + Deconstruct Attributes components to extract all attached data

3. Find the value you want to update

4. Use Construct Attributes + Inject Attributes components to create an output geometry

5. Run the swarm App and bake the geometry into Revit, the wall height will be updated

Change the "Attribute name to update" and "New Value" inputs to update other Revit parameters for referenced geometry. The list of all exiting attributes can be found in "Existing Attributes" output of the app:

https://swarm.thorntontomasetti.com/app/5eb46f1e3f2d1e0004fac9b3/info