Monthly Archives: August 2014

Random Clicks Windows Explorer / My Computer Sorting Tip

Every once in a while I accidentally click on the screen randomly and get a nice surprise.  This is how I found out about dragging grips in Revit as well as windows scroll bars.  This tip is about Windows Explorer and how to filter what is being displayed.

When you look at the headers in the windows screen there can be two arrows associated to them.  If the column is being used for sorting then it will have an Up arrow allowing for it to be sorted ascending or descending, this one I have known for years.  The other one is used for filtering, even if it isn’t used for grouping.  Depending on what column is selected and what file or folders are in the window different options will come up.  This is huge for me, in the past I would group by file type and then scroll down to the appropriate types, now I just Filter by the file types needed.  Try clicking on other columns and see what options are available.

 

Windows_Explorer_Filtering

Loading Family Quirk

I have a client that swears he is diligent when it comes to not opening a bunch of views when working in Revit.  He kept telling me that Revit was automatically opening views on him.  In this case both of his statements were true.  A little known feature of Revit it the capability to “Replicate” a window.

Replicate_Window

This feature has been there for a long time and I can honestly say I don’t think I have ever seen anyone use this tool.  Yet the help file describes it nicely:     This tool is useful if you want to pan and zoom on certain areas of the design, while also viewing the entire design in another window. (Use the Tile tool to see both views at the same time.) Any changes that you make to the project in the new window also display in other windows of the project

It keeps users from having to duplicate or create multiple views in order to work and see multiple parts of a model.  I personally have used this feature, not frequently but effectively.

In this case the quirk came into play when my client was working in a sheet with the a view activated, this also happened to be the only thing open in the project.  Then while editing a family the “Load into Project” button was used.  Since Revit could see the user was in a view but the sheet was open it Replicated the active view.  While he kept editing the family and hitting reload, each time a replicated view was created, thus causing him to have 15 additional views open.  In a larger project the only way to recognize this easily is by the view name, it will have the view name followed by a : then number i.e. Floor Plan Level 1:15

Hopefully now you will understand while there are View Gremlins in your Revit project opening up excessive views, or at least the ones with the :## in the name.

 

 

Random Click Revit Drag End

I have a term that I have coined the “Claw” while in Revit.  It relates to when a user is trying to move the end of a line based object (i.e. Grid, Wall, Beam) and they zoom in to find the grip and then while holding the mouse button, try to pan or zoom while using the middle mouse.  My tip is to drag that grip outside of the view window, for instance to the ribbon or properties pallet etc., and then release the mouse button.  The objects grip can now be moved without having to hold the mouse button down, hence allowing the user use their index finger to zoom or pan.  Once the objects grip is in the correct location click the mouse button to place it’s location.

 

 

This saves users from having to “Claw” their way through the file.

Random Clicks Windows Scroll Bars

A while back I had accidentally right clicked on a scroll bar, and I noticed a dialog box come up that I had never seen before.  It allows for ANY windows scroll bar to be moved to the top, bottom, current location etc..  This is a small little tip that I use a lot when I have scrolled to the bottom and want to get back to the top, especially in the Project Browser for Revit.

Windows_Scroll_Bar