Working as the Ideate Support Tech the other day, I ran into a question where a user wanted to change a value of a parameter within a family. This was a family created by a manufacturer and the user wanted to change the default description. Problem was the description was grayed out, and the value could not be edited.
After editing the family we went to the Family Types dialog box and expanded the Identity Data Section. Note that in the Identity Data section press the down arrow in the heading. This is often collapsed making it difficult for users to locate and edit. Figure 1.
After editing the family we went to the Family Types dialog box and expanded the Identity Data Section. Note that in the Identity Data section press the down arrow in the heading. This is often collapsed making it difficult for users to locate and edit. Figure 1.
Figure 1
With Identity Data expanded, you may see grayed out parameters. Basically parameters that have formulas become non-editable parameters and are hence grayed out. Note here in Figure 2 that the Description does not have a formula, but the has the Value of the description in quotes. To make the parameter editable, remove the characters in the Formula for the parameter you would like to make editable. This will make the parameter’s value available for editing.
Figure 2
On a similar note, if you are creating families and want to gray out parameter values from being editable, in the Formula column, enter two quotes “” to gray out the parameter value. If you want to have a grayed out value such as the creator/manufacturer name place the parameter value inside of quotes. i.e.: “Created by Ron copyright 2012” The value within the quotes will be grayed out within the parameter value column. Have fun locking/unlocking your parameters!
Ideate AEC Solutions Application Specialist
Ron has 23+ years of experience in the AEC industry as a designer, lead project designer, trainer and CAD manager. His instructional background includes Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland Community College and Clackamas Community College, and a U.S. Army certified instructor. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.
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