Create Revit Families (Windows) with Design Automation

Description

This sample demostrated how to create a window family using Design Automation for Revit API V3.

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Live Demo

https://familycreationsample.herokuapp.com/

Main Parts of The Work

Migrate the existing Revit WindowWizard Plugin to be used within AppBundle of Design Automation for Revit. Please check PlugIn
Create your App, upload the AppBundle, define your Activity and test the workitem with the Postman collection under Postman Collection, or you can refer (https://youtu.be/1NCeH7acIko) and simply use the Configure button in the Web Application to create the Appbundle & Activity.
Create the Web App to call the workitem.

Web App Setup

Prerequisites

Forge Account: Learn how to create a Forge Account, activate subscription and create an app at this tutorial.
Visual Code: Visual Code (Windows or MacOS)
ngrok: Routing tool, download here
Revit 2019: required to compile changes into the plugin
Window family template: A family template that is required while creating window family, you can use this sample template
JavaScript ES6 syntax for server-side
JavaScript basic knowledge with jQuery

For using this sample, you need an Autodesk developer credentials. Visit the Forge Developer Portal, sign up for an account, then create an app. For this new app, use http://localhost:3000/api/forge/callback/oauth as Callback URL, although is not used on 2-legged flow. Finally take note of the Client ID and Client Secret.

Running locally

Install NodeJS, version 8 or newer.

Clone this project or download it (this nodejs branch only). It's recommended to install GitHub desktop. To clone it via command line, use the following (Terminal on MacOSX/Linux, Git Shell on Windows):

git clone -b nodejs https://github.com/Autodesk-Forge/design.automation-nodejs-revit.window.family.create

To run it, install the required packages, set the enviroment variables with your client ID & secret and finally start it. Via command line, navigate to the folder where this repository was cloned and use the following:

Mac OSX/Linux (Terminal)

npm install
export FORGE_CLIENT_ID=<<YOUR CLIENT ID FROM DEVELOPER PORTAL>>
export FORGE_CLIENT_SECRET=<<YOUR CLIENT SECRET>>
export FORGE_CALLBACK_URL=<<YOUR CALLBACK URL>>
export FORGE_WEBHOOK_URL=<<YOUR DESIGN AUTOMATION FOR REVIT CALLBACK URL>>
export DESIGN_AUTOMATION_NICKNAME=<<YOUR DESIGN AUTOMATION FOR REVIT NICK NAME>>
export DESIGN_AUTOMATION_ACTIVITY_NAME=<<YOUR DESIGN AUTOMATION FOR REVIT ACTIVITY NAME>>
export DESIGN_AUTOMATION_FAMILY_TEMPLATE=<<YOUR REVIT WINDOW FAMILY TEMPLATE FILE URL>>    
npm start

Windows (use Node.js command line from Start menu)

npm install
set FORGE_CLIENT_ID=<<YOUR CLIENT ID FROM DEVELOPER PORTAL>>
set FORGE_CLIENT_SECRET=<<YOUR CLIENT SECRET>>
set FORGE_CALLBACK_URL=<<YOUR CALLBACK URL>>
set FORGE_WEBHOOK_URL=<<YOUR DESIGN AUTOMATION FOR REVIT CALLBACK URL>>
set DESIGN_AUTOMATION_NICKNAME=<<YOUR DESIGN AUTOMATION FOR REVIT NICK NAME>>
set DESIGN_AUTOMATION_ACTIVITY_NAME=<<YOUR DESIGN AUTOMATION FOR REVIT ACTIVITY NAME>>
set DESIGN_AUTOMATION_FAMILY_TEMPLATE=<<YOUR REVIT WINDOW FAMILY TEMPLATE FILE URL>>    
npm start

ngrok

Run ngrok http 3000 to create a tunnel to your local machine, then copy the address into the FORGE_WEBHOOK_URL environment variable. Please check WebHooks for details.

Start the app

Open the browser: http://localhost:3000, the way to create a window family should be straightforwd, just follow the steps:

Select window style, either Double Hung, Fixed, or Sliding Double
Add a couple of family types, and change the parameters accordingly, set the material for Glass Pane and Sash, and change the family file name if necessary
Select a folder in your BIM360 project, the new created family file will be saved there
Click the Create button, and see the result in BIM360

Note: When you deploy the app, you have to open the Configure button to create the AppBundle & Activity before running the Export|Import feature, please check the video for the steps at https://youtu.be/1NCeH7acIko

Deployment

To deploy this application to Heroku, the Callback URL for Forge must use your .herokuapp.com address. After clicking on the button below, at the Heroku Create New App page, set your Client ID, Secret, Callback URL and Revit Design Automation variables for Forge.

Watch this video as reference on how to deploy samples to Heroku.

Packages used

The Autodesk Forge packages is included by default. Some other non-Autodesk packaged are used, including express and multer for upload.

Tips & Tricks

The Window family template which is used to create the family should be uploaded first.
Before using the sample to call the workitem, you need to setup your Appbundle & Activity of Design Automation, you can follow my Postman script to understand the whole process, or you can simply use the Configure button in the Web Application to create the Appbundle & Activity(https://youtu.be/1NCeH7acIko).

Limitation

Not support multiple version of the new created family, change the family name is it's already existed under the folder, or create|select a new folder for the same name of Revit family file.
Only US region is supported, EU region is not supported currently.

Troubleshooting

After installing Github desktop for Windows, on the Git Shell, if you see a error setting certificate verify locations error, use the following:

git config --global http.sslverify "false"

License

This sample is licensed under the terms of the MIT License. Please see the LICENSE file for full details.

Written by

Zhong Wu, Forge Partner Development

Cheap and reliable Node.js hosting starts at $3/month, and $1/month static HTML hosting

Autodesk-Forge / forge-createfamily-revit

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