So I have come up with a custom tag combination along with a dynamo script that will show you which beams are existing by the nomenclature of “(E)” added to the end of the tag.
This is the standard method of how we convey existing members on our dwgs, along with the colors and shapes in the model being different of course.
I wanted to share this with the community since it was a big help for us. In all of the companies I have worked for we have had to use separate tags for the existing members, which of course was time consuming and also could easily lead to the obvious errors (beams shown existing but not being existing in the model.
Hopefully this helps some users out there.
I originally used the “Mark” variable to accomplish this, but since I got the “Duplicate mark” error in Revit I had to use the “Comments” variable. I know this isn’t a perfect solution, so any constructive help will be appreciated.
PLEASE! I do not want to hear how we should change the way we show existing or anything like that. It greatly annoys me when users get on to a topic and instead of offering the solution to the problem, or saying that Revit can’t do it, they will tell the poster that it shouldn’t be done that way. Just FYI, the “(E)” at the end of the nomenclator (for ex.: W12x26(E)) has ALWAYS been the way we convey existing members since I’ve been making dwgs. Thanks.
I’m going to try to post the Dynamo and the tag information below. Please bear with me…
Very nice! The only thing I would change is to add the List.Join before the category.byname and to add a list.flatten after the All Elements of Category node, that would make adding or removing categories a lot easier 
Thanks! I’ll take a look.
Does anyone know if I can create a custom attribute for the family and have the tag use that? I’ve searched extensively and couldn’t find a method.
Yes, you can. Create a shared parameter, add it to the framing categories, and then add it to the tag family.
You can also bulk set the value for all existing beams by building a schedule in the existing phase, and setting the value there.
SWEET!
Let me give that a try.
One additional thought. If you are looking into creating a tag using a custom shared parameter, then you could create a parameter called “Piece Mark” and use that in lieu of the OOTB “Mark” parameter. Then when you append the (E) suffix, you won’t get the duplicate mark error message. Basically what you were wanting to do originally. That way you won’t have to use the “Comments” parameter. What you have works, so it’s pretty much up to you.
staylor, that is EXACTLY what I am looking for. Let me try it again. I think I had an issue of either dynamo not being able to find the custom parameter, or the tag not being able to see it. I will attempt it and get back with you. Thanks for the help everyone!
YES!!!
That works perfectly!
I realize now that with jacob.small’s piece of advice what I had been forgetting to do is to go into the tag family and also add the shared parameter. When I started trying to do the a month ago I was new to families and Dynamo, so I didn’t know.
Thanks!!!
I don’t recommend using a separate parameter, as the new elements having a unique mark is a very useful check for QA.
Combining the parameters in a tag would allow the outcome you are after while keeping the value consistent. It also is worth noting that you can use calculated values in tags, so that could also simplify the process.
Thank you Jacob!
Your small piece of advice to add the shared parameter to the tag helped me solve my biggest issue.
I saw that Revit lets me use calculated tags, unfortunately it doesn’t allow for any text maniulation at all, or this issue would be non-existent for me.
I think you could set up an if forumula to return “(e)” or “”.
Yeah the responsibility falls onto the user at that point.
What you and staylor did was great! Works like a charm!
I tried an if statement but revit doesn’t allow any text management. I would need to concatenate text in the tag. This is a great solution.
Structural Framing Tag.rfa (360 KB)
ADD (e).rvt (2.4 MB)
I just wanted to say thanks again for the input from users staylor and jacob.small.
It took a while but I added the “Piece Mark” variable to all my framing and column families and all of my tags. I’m so much happier I don’t have to use up the “comments” or “mark” variable, since I’m always worried someone will change it or need to use it.
