I’m new to Dynamo and still trying to understand how everything works. I’m not sure why the elements are not showing in the preview — or if they’re even supposed to appear there automatically. The list in the Watch node looks correct to me, and it shows all the elements I expect, but they don’t seem to be selected or highlighted in the Revit interface. I’m not sure if I’m missing a step to make them visible or selected in the model space. If anyone has suggestions on what might be causing this or what I could try to get the preview working properly, I’d really appreciate the help!
My first thought as to why it’s not selecting like you’re wanting is that the node will only perform the selection on elements in the main Revit document and won’t do it from a linked model. Are you looking be able to see those elements in a view? Could applying a color to the element work?
1 Like
Hi,
You got a point
What i want to do is the list on watch to be seen on preview or even just be selected on revit ui, my end goal is for it to be selected so i can check how it look like then copy it on the same place and different levels
What do you mean by adding colors to elements,Sorry I’m new and not familiar on what it does
I was merely thinking out loud and trying to find out your end goal. Since you’re looking to see elements from two categories and on a specific level, would making a couple of view filters with color overrides so you can easily see them in the view satisfy what you’re looking to do? Would be useful when they update the linked file and add more lighting fixtures or ceilings per that level, you’ll see them right away thanks to the filter instead of rerunning the workflow. To keep it Dynamo related, you can make the view filters with Dynamo instead manually creating those filters.
For the copying aspect, you want to copy the ceilings and lighting fixtures, but place them on different levels? or copy over the levels?
Ive already made filters inside revit so i can see the linked elements more clearly.
Might create a script for that in the future
My goal right now is to just make those elements inside the watch node to be selected so i can copy those to same place and even to other levels.
I become interested in dynamo because of repetitive task where every time there are changes in the linked file, i need to adjust and copy everything to the main model. What i plan to do is everytime theres changes, i will just delete everything i copied the last time, and then run the script where it selects the elements and copy it on same place and if posible copy it to other levels
Gotcha, thanks for that information. The workflow you mention sounds like it adds a repetitive task of you having to delete and rerun the workflow each time there’s an update. An option I’d look into that would provide more longevity and less rerunning of workflows is to use the native copy monitor feature and the associated tools that go along with it.
Now, if that’s not your cup of tea, here are two nodes I’ve found and the packages that can help with copying.
I’m trying to think of a way you can be more efficient with your time in tracking changes in the linked model. One thought is a second workflow that performs a simple clash of center points and if they are not equal to one another, it’s an indication that something has been moved or deleted…
Hope this helps!
1 Like
That node might help, I might give it a try and find another workflow. Thanks for the time. I’ll update here if i successfully make it work. Thanks again @patrick_podeyn
1 Like
Sure thing!
Instead of copy monitor, you can look into the document difference class to readily identify any element which has modified from a previous version. The hard part is incorporating the document version into the created elements, likely something that you can write into a parameter of the link type if it’s planned well.
1 Like
I need to look into this now for my own set of workflows…thank you!
1 Like
Here’s some breadcrumbs for friends and valued community members then.
DocumentDifference class: Revit API 2026 Documentation
That class allows access to modified, added, and removed elements. Kind of the cheat code for ‘getting what elements have changed’ but you don’t get the specific change in the element between A and B without access to the previous version as well. However you can skip the need for figuring out what here and just update elements.
An instance of a document difference class is created via this method on the document class: Revit API 2026 Documentation
To use that you need a DocumentVersion object, found here: Revit API 2026 Documentation
And that comes from the basic file info, which can be accessed readily enough. Just be sure to track the versions as you consume the data.
2 Likes