Revit MEP With the Filters window open select the ‘Abbr. System Type’ parameter from the pull down menu in the ‘Filter by:’ column. Set the second pull down to ‘Equals’ and in the third cell type in your system type abbreviation i.e. “SA” for HVAC - Supply. Repeat that for each filter. Click ‘OK’ when finished.
product focus
2012
Figure 2: Filter type dialog box.
The next step is to set up some rules and parameters so you can determine how the filters will be controlled. These rules establish how each item is displayed. To do this, select the button with the 3 ellipses (...) in the filter rules section shown in the image above. A Project Parameters window will appear. Now is where some of the careful consideration comes into play. Decide what type of parameter will work best for you and insert as the parameter. I use an “Abbr. System Type” parameter because this is the same name denotation that I use in my annotation families for piping and ductwork. The name needs to contain simple and direct wording so other users know what the intent of the parameter and click ‘OK’. Now back to the Project Parameters dialog box, select the “Add…” button and create a parameter. Make sure that “Project Parameter” and “Instance” hot buttons are selected. For this example, use “Abbr. System Type.” I prefer to group the ‘Discipline’ as ‘Common’ because I use this same parameter throughout the project not just for use inside the filters but also my annotation tags. Group the parameter as ‘Text’ in the ‘Type of Parameter:’ and ‘Group Parameter Under:’ pull down menus as well.
Figure 4: Filter Rules example.
All of that created the document filters that are defined in the project. Including all of the types of systems and the items associated with them. The next step is to actually create the filters for each system type. Go back to the original ‘Visibility/Graphic’ and ‘Filters’ screen from the beginning and click the A ‘ dd’ button. Highlight all the filters to insert and click ‘OK’. All the filters are now viewable in the project and can be edited from this window. Go through and edit the‘Lines’ graphics by clicking on the Override button. The window that comes up allows you to edit the weight, color and pattern to each filter. Use consideration when selecting the colors and line types for what works best for your firm. Choose colors that will print well, along with colors that show up the best visually with both the white background and the inverted black screen.
Now that the basic information filled out, select the same categories to be included in the parameter. Be sure to use the same categories that were selected previously. The new parameter should look something like the example below. Click ‘OK’ and ‘OK’ again until you are back to the Filters window. By setting up the parameter, Revit creates an “Abbr. System Type” field in the properties browser. This will be what drives the categories into the filters.
Figure 5: Final Filter setup.
Figure 3: Parameter Properties example. May 2011
This all can be changed on a sheet-by-sheet basis. From this screen you can toggle the on/off check box visibility of each system. Normally I keep all the filters visible by default. Doing this keeps the filter visibility from fighting with the workset settings. I usually only use the visibility toggles to isolate say the supply air ductwork for coordination purposes only. Play around with what works the best for you. Click ‘OK’.
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