Personal Section View in Revit

Creating sections in a Revit model is key to creating a quality 3D model, and that includes creating sections that are simply used for design verification.  Construction documents typically include sections, but users also use a lot of temporary sections for coordination and verification.  A problem with temporary sections is that you don’t know who created the section and the purpose for the section.  As a result they tend to stay in the model because no one really knows if they can delete the section.

I previously wrote a blog article about creating Working Sections which helps with this situation.  However, the working section can be further enhanced.  This article will address 2 key features for improving the working section:

1. Who created the working section.
2. Apply a user’s specific settings for the working section.

Note that this article will build upon that previous blog article.  You can find the article here.

To create a personal working section to accomplish the above 2 key features, follow the steps outlined in the previous blog article on working sections.

Who Created the Section

When following the instructions for creating a working section, make the following adjustments to the instructions.

Step 1: Create a Custom Section Head

• Save the section head family with a user specific name, such as “Section Head – Working-DB.rfa”.
• Type the user’s initials (or other identifier), such as “DB”, instead of typing the “W” in the section head per the instructions.

• IMPORTANT NOTE:  The text must be left justified to work properly in Revit 2017.  This is evidently due to the changes to text made in the 2017 version since Center justification will work in prior versions.

Step 2: Create a Section Type

• Create a section type named something like “Working Section-DB.
• Use the newly created personalized section head family (such as “Section Head – Working-DB.rfa“) in the new working section type.

If the default Project Browser organization system is used, the personalized working sections will be listed separately per user in the view list.

Apply a user’s specific settings for the section

After the above changes are made to create a personal working section, a personalized view template can be created and assigned to the personalized working section.

Create a personalized view template

• Go to the View tab, and choose the Manage View Templates option from the View Templates dropdown on the Graphics panel.
• In the View Templates dialog box, select one of the existing “Section” templates listed under the Names area on the left side of the dialog box.
• Pick on the Duplicate button (below the Names area) and type a name for the new template in the New View Template dialog box.
• Adjust settings in the newly created view template to meet the user’s specific desires.

Assign the personalized view template to the user’s personalized working section

• Place and highlight the personal working section.
• Select the Edit Type button in the Properties palette.
• In the Type Properties dialog box, select the button labeled “<None>” to the right of the View Template applied to new views parameter.
• In the Apply View Template dialog box, select the appropriate user’s working section view template.
• Pick the OK buttons to save and exit the dialog boxes.

Advertisement