Macro Automation
Updated 2 months ago
by
Adam Heon
Overview of Macro Automation
Located in the Utilities panel, the Macro Automation tool speeds up and simplifies the macro creation process. Utilizing Element Filters will drastically reduce the size of the codebase and allow it to be more universal. In-house teams can write simple code blocks to handle the work for users to decide how and when to use it by leveraging custom element filter rules.
Tool Palette buttons
- Refresh Current View - used to re-run the selected rules on the current active view.
- Refresh Full Project - used to re-run the selected rules on the entire project view.
- Export Rules (Removed as of 6.2)- used to transfer the selected rules to another project.
- Import Rules (Deprecated as of v6.2) - used to bring in rules from another project.
- Configuration Exchange - Used to import/export rules; please see the Configuration Exchange article for more information.
Grid Columns
- Run Order - used to define the sequence in which the rules are executed, 1 is 1st, 2 is 2nd, 3 is 3rd, etc.
- Rule Name - used to apply a label to a rule.
- Description - used to provide additional information about the rule.
- Group - used to assign a category/type to a rule.
- Sub Group - used to a subset of a group/category to a rule.
- Element Filter - used to define the categories and optional conditions which elements and their parameters are filtered against.
- Macros Source
- Application - lists all available macros in Revit.
- Document - lists all available macros in the project.
- Available Macros - the menu is populated based on the selected Macro Source and lists all available macros for the selection.
- Enabled - if unchecked, the rule is disabled and will not run.
- Execute On - defined when/how the rule runs.
- Manual Only - the rule will only run when either the Refresh Current View or Refresh Full Project button is manually clicked.
- Any Update - the rule runs when any change to the drawing is made.
- New Element Creation - the rule will only run when an element is placed on the drawing area.
- Existing Element Change - the rule runs when an existing element is modified.
- Run in Second Pass - indicates whether the rule runs after all other processing has been completed; see below for more information.
Record Navigator buttons
- Add - used to add a new row to the grid.
- Delete - used to delete selected row(s).
- Duplicate - used to duplicate selected rows.
- Export Grid - exports the grid as currently displayed to Excel.
- Bulk Update - allows for the values in multiple selected rows to be revised at once.
Creating an Automation Rule
- From the eVolve ribbon, in the Utilities panel, click Macro Automation.
- From the grid, click the top row with Click here to add a new row. displayed and add the following required information:
Required:
- Rule Name - the name does not have to be unique as you may utilize Description, Group, and Sub Group to further distinguish it from other profiles.
- Macro Source - select Application or Document.
- Available Macros - macros for the selection are displayed.
NOTE: If undefined, "Copy from Parameter must be provided." is displayed in the Error Message column.
- Element Filter - defines the elements the Macro Automation rule will run against.
Optional:
- Run Order - automatically assigned if undefined.
- Run in Second Pass - the default state is checked.
- Description - blank if left undefined.
- Group - blank if left undefined.
- Sub Group - blank if left undefined.
- Execute On - the default value is Manual Only if left undefined.
- Enabled - if unchecked, the rule is disabled and will not run. - After the Required and Optional fields are defined, click Apply. The new row is added to the grid.
Using a Macro
To use this tool, there must be an existing macro in the project. This macro will only need to handle the "work" needed as the firing mechanism and element collection will be handled by the Automation rule.
Below is a simple example that writes the Room Name of the room an element is in, to a custom shared parameter. Note that this block along with many others can be found here.
Run in Second Pass
The Run in Second Pass option gives users the option to run rules after Revit and eVolve have completed processing instead of before. Basically, if the Run in Second Pass option is unchecked when a rule runs and the expected elements are not colored, check the Run in Second Pass option.
NOTE: If the same parameter is being changed in both the first pass and second pass the updating of the second pass parameter(s) change will fail, throwing an error. However, parameters may be changed multiple times in the same pass.
Technical Notes
- When a rule is satisfied, the respective Macro is queued for execution after the current Revit modify operation is complete.
- This feature does not honor dynamo scripts, however, their code equivalent can be converted and used.
- The target macro to execute is provided by the Revit ElementIds which are captured as part of the process. This information is transmitted via a file named eV-[RuleName].txt (where "RuleName" is the respective Macro Automation rule name) that is placed within the current user's Windows temp folder.
- The sample code below is for a Revit Macro which demonstrates how a consumer can access this information. The snip between the "Template" lines can be considered a boilerplate.
public void Sample()
{
const string MacroAutomationRuleName = "Test";
//Begin Template
var addedIds = Array.Empty<ElementId>();
var modifiedIds = Array.Empty<ElementId>();
// Extract all the added and modified id's impacted by this rule.
var elementIdFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(System.IO.Path.GetTempPath(), string.Format("eV-{0}.txt", MacroAutomationRuleName));
if (System.IO.File.Exists(elementIdFile))
{
// File contains added ids on the first line and modified on the second.
var elementIds = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(elementIdFile).Split(new string[] { Environment.NewLine }, StringSplitOptions.None)
.Select(ids => ids.Split(new string[] { "," }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries))
.ToArray();
addedIds = elementIds[0].Select(id => new ElementId(int.Parse(id))).ToArray();
modifiedIds = elementIds[1].Select(id => new ElementId(int.Parse(id))).ToArray();
}
if (!addedIds.Any() && !modifiedIds.Any())
{
// Nothing of consequence.
return;
}
//End Template
TaskDialog.Show("eVolve Macro Automation Sample",
"Element Ids:"
+ "\n Added = " + string.Join(", ", addedIds.Select(id => id.IntegerValue.ToString()))
+ "\n Modified = " + string.Join(", ", modifiedIds.Select(id => id.IntegerValue.ToString())),
TaskDialogCommonButtons.Ok);
}
Security Note
Running macros does carry a security risk in that "arbitrary code" may be executed from within Revit. Worst case scenario is something like User 1 creates a rule in the model which on a param update executes a Macro/PowerShell script. User 2 then opens this model on his machine and the rule is triggered which executes the code User 1 put in place (on User 2's machine).
