13. Model: unpin, move level, export for AI

The Model panel has three buttons that work on the whole model: Unpin all, Move level and Export for AI.

Unpin all#

Unpins in one go the pinned elements of the model, of the active view or of the selection. BIMit counts them category by category and you choose which ones to unpin. Links, levels, grids, scope boxes, base points, curtain wall elements and railing parts stay pinned unless you choose them. Elements inside groups are never unpinned from here. It opens with the Unpin all button in the Model panel. The window is called Unpin elements.

Before you start

• Open a project. With a family open, BIMit does not open the window.
• Want to work only on some elements? Select them in Revit before clicking the button. While the window is open, Revit waits and the selection does not change.
• In a workshared model, synchronize first. Elements in use by others or changed in the central model are not unpinned.

Top: where to look#

When you change the scope, BIMit counts again. The checks you changed stay while the window is open.

The categories#

Here there is one row for each category with pinned elements, sorted by name.

Click Category, Pinned or Notes to sort.

Categories that usually stay pinned

You can check them anyway. Before unpinning, BIMit lists them and asks for confirmation.

Window footer#

When you click Unpin#

1. Did you check categories that usually stay pinned? BIMit lists them and asks Unpin them anyway?. With No nothing changes.
2. BIMit checks each element. It skips elements inside groups. In a workshared model it also skips those in use by another user and those changed in the central model but not yet reloaded.
3. It unpins all the other elements in a single Revit operation, BIMit: unpin elements. If Revit refuses an element, BIMit puts it among the errors and continues with the others. If at the end Revit reports an error, it undoes the whole operation.
4. The table updates. The unpinned categories disappear. Only the elements still pinned remain.

Then the report appears:

When you close the window, BIMit selects in Revit the elements not unpinned (skipped, with errors or rolled back by Revit) and Revit shows them to you. This applies only to the last unpin.

Good to know#

• Each click on Unpin is a single Revit operation. Once the window is closed, one Ctrl+Z pins the elements of that unpin again. In Revit's Undo list the operation is called BIMit: unpin elements. If you clicked Unpin several times, you need one Ctrl+Z for each.
• The Revit operation is all or nothing: if Revit reports an error when committing the unpin, it undoes the whole operation and no element changes. Elements skipped or refused one by one don't stop the others. Revit warnings don't stop the unpin.
• If the unpin stops because of an error, BIMit shows Error while unpinning: no element was modified. The model stays as it was.
• BIMit changes only the pin. It does not touch positions or parameters and does not write files.
• Elements inside groups are never unpinned from here: edit the group in Revit. If the group itself is pinned (and is not inside another group), it has its own row like the other categories and is unpinned normally.
• Workshared model: BIMit skips the elements you cannot edit right now and lists them, so the rest of the unpin does not fail. In the Notes column you see them beforehand, as N not editable now. Synchronize or ask your colleague to relinquish them, then repeat: the window counts only those still pinned. Your colleagues see the unpin when you synchronize.
• With Active view BIMit counts only what the view shows. Elements hidden in the view are not counted.
• The checks are not saved. Next time you open the window you start again from the Defaults choice.

Move level#

Moves a level to a new elevation together with everything that depends on it. BIMit changes only the elevation of the level: the associated elements are moved by Revit, and their offsets stay as they were. Before moving you can see how many elements, category by category, go up or down as a whole and how many stretch or shorten, because their other end is on another level. It opens with the Move level button in the Model panel.

Before you start

• You need a project with at least one level. In a family file the command does not start.
• The window starts from the level you have selected in Revit. If you have selected none, it starts from the level of the active view (for example a plan) or from the lowest level.
• In workshared models synchronize first: if the level was changed in the central model, BIMit does not move it.

Left: level and elevation#

Right: the analysis#

The cards and the table fill up when you click Analyze. Before that you see — and the message Choose the level and the new elevation, then click “Analyze” to see what moves. If you change the level or the elevation, the analysis resets. The analysis shows only numbers: it does not list or select the elements.

If no element depends on the level you read No element is associated with this level: only the level moves (with its views).

The analysis counts only the model elements tied to the level: through a level parameter (base, top, reference level, room level…) or because it is their level. Annotations, other levels and grids are not counted.

Window footer#

While BIMit analyzes or moves, the buttons, the level list and the elevation box are disabled and you cannot close the window.

What happens when you click Move level#

1. The confirmation. The BIMit · Move level window summarizes the operation:
   • the level, the starting elevation, the target elevation and how much it goes up or down;
   • how many elements move with the level;
   • WARNING with the number of elements that will change height, if any;
   • how many elements are in use by other users and whether the level is pinned, if applicable;
   • One Ctrl+Z in Revit undoes the move.
2. The move. If you answer Yes, BIMit changes the level elevation in a single operation. In Revit's Undo list you find it as BIMit: move level.
3. The result. A message tells you:
   • Level “…” moved to …;
   • if there are associated elements: Elements associated with the level: N. Actually moved (bounding box check): M of K verifiable. To know this, BIMit compares the vertical extent of each element's bounding box before and after the move. Elements without a bounding box cannot be verified and are not counted in K;
   • if there are any: Of these, N changed height (the other end is on another level). This is the number from the analysis (the Stretch or shorten card), not a check made after the move;
   • Revit resolved: …: the errors resolved with the “apply its fixes” option (at most 8). For each one you read the error text followed by joined geometry unjoined or fixed as Revit proposes (for example groups fixed), with the number of elements affected;
   • Revit warnings: …: after one of these fixes Revit would show its warnings in a window that you would have to close by hand; BIMit lists them here instead (at most 8, each with how many times it occurs) and Revit's window does not open;
   • if the level was pinned: it has been pinned again or it is now unpinned;
   • at the end: One Ctrl+Z in Revit undoes the move.
4. Then. The window stays open on the same level, with the elevations updated and the analysis reset, and you can move another level. To go back to working in Revit, close it.

When the model does not change, BIMit tells you with one of these messages:

Good to know#

• BIMit changes only the level elevation. Revit moves the rest according to each element's constraints, and offsets don't change. The other levels stay where they are: this is why elements also tied to another level stretch or shorten.
• One Ctrl+Z in Revit undoes the whole move, including unpinning and re-pinning the level.
• If an error is not resolved, nothing changes. A single unresolved Revit error is enough to undo the whole operation and leave the model as it was. With the option “apply its fixes that delete nothing” checked, BIMit first tries to resolve the error without deleting anything (see the next point). Warnings, instead, are shown by Revit as always, and the move stays.
• The option “apply its fixes that delete nothing” never deletes elements. Revit resolves an error only if it can do so by unjoining geometry or fixing elements (for example fixing groups). If even one error cannot be resolved this way, everything is undone.
• A pinned level stays pinned: BIMit unpins it and pins it again in the same operation.
• Spot elevations and fixed annotations are not checked: review them yourself after the move.
• The elevation already in the box moves nothing. Sometimes the proposed elevation stays rounded, because no precision shows it exactly. Even so, if you leave or retype the proposed elevation, the level does not move, not even by the remainder. A different elevation, instead, is applied exactly as you type it.
• The elevation is always measured from the level's reference point (project base point or survey point, as the row under the Level list says).
• An element that cannot be read is skipped and the analysis continues.
• Workshared models. BIMit checks the level before touching it: if another user is using it, or if it has changed in the central model, it does not move it. You find the elements in use by others on the In use by others card. If Revit refuses to modify them, everything is undone.
• No files. The tool does not create files and does not save settings. Only in case of an unexpected error does it write an entry with the technical details of the error to BIMit's technical log. The option “apply its fixes that delete nothing” is turned off every time you reopen the window.

Export for AI#

Saves the model as CSV tables, with an index (00_INDEX.md) that explains them, to give to an AI assistant. The assistant reads the files instead of querying Revit element by element and answers your questions about categories, families, types, elements, parameters, levels, rooms, worksets, links, materials, views and warnings. It opens with the Export for AI button in the Model panel of the BIMit tab. BIMit only reads: the model is not modified.

Before you start#

• Open a project (.rvt). If a family is open, BIMit tells you (Open a project (.rvt)…) and does not open the window.
• In a workshared model open the worksets you need. Revit does not load the elements of closed worksets, so those elements do not end up in the tables. While the window is open Revit is blocked: open the worksets before opening it (or close it, open the worksets and reopen it).

Left: the tables#

The 15 tables of the model, one per row. The first time all of them are checked. After that BIMit remembers your choice.

Right: the folder#

Bottom#

When you click Export#

1. BIMit creates a new subfolder in the Folder. If it already exists (two exports in the same minute) it adds _2, _3… It never overwrites a previous export.
2. It reads the model once and writes the chosen tables, one after the other. While it works, the table list and the Folder field are locked and you cannot close the window. All, None, Without large tables and Browse... stay active, but apply only to the next export. Browse... also pauses the export until you close the folder dialog.
3. At the end it writes 00_INDEX.md. It writes it even if you stop or if some table had errors. It does not write it if the export fails (Export failed).
4. The message at the bottom and the Last export box say Done: N rows in N tables (duration). and the Rows column fills up. If Open the folder when done is checked, the folder opens.

If you stop, or if a type, an element or a table fails, at the end the BIMit · Export for AI window shows the summary, the folder and the first errors. The last three messages in the table appear in a BIMit alert instead:

What you find in the folder#

The file format:

• Comma-separated CSV, in UTF-8. The first row contains the column names, in English and the same in every language. Category and parameter names are in Revit's language.
• Numbers use a decimal point and no thousands separator. Yes/No values are true and false. An empty cell means not set, not zero. In parameters, however, a number or a Yes/No that was never filled in is written 0 or false.
• Units are SI: meters, m², m³, degrees (columns _m, _m2, _m3). In parameters the unit column gives the unit. If unit is empty on a row with storage = Double (flows, forces, slopes…), the value is in Revit's internal units: in that case use value_text, i.e. the value as Revit shows it. Integers (storage = Integer) are written as they are; if Revit shows them as text (for example a list of options), value_text gives that text. Yes/No parameters also have storage = Integer, but they are written true or false.
• A parameter that points to another element (material, level, phase…) is written Name [id].

Good to know#

• The model is not touched. BIMit only reads and opens no transaction. There is nothing to undo with Ctrl+Z and nothing to save. It also works on a model opened read-only.
• Workshared models. BIMit does not borrow elements and does not synchronize. The workset column of Elements and the Worksets table are filled only if the model is workshared. Elements on closed worksets are not included.
• Linked models. You find only their list in Links, not their content. To analyze a linked model, open it and export it.
• Coordinates. x, y, z and bbox_* are in the project's internal coordinates, not in shared coordinates.
• Elements contains all elements that have a category, not only model elements: also annotations (dimensions, tags, text…), views, sheets, levels, grids, materials… The view_specific column identifies view-specific elements and owner_view says which view they belong to. The number of instances in Project information and Categories includes them too.
• Of text parameters and of those pointing to an element, only those that have a value are exported. Numeric and Yes/No parameters are always exported: if nobody filled them in they are 0 or false, and in the files they cannot be told apart from a zero or a No entered on purpose.
• On a large model the export takes a few minutes and the files are very large. If the assistant does not need all the parameters, use Without large tables.
• The files stay on your PC. BIMit does not send them to any assistant: you choose what to give and to whom. The files contain project names, paths and data: before sharing them, check that you are allowed to.
• With Windows set to a language that uses the decimal comma (Italian, for example), if you double-click these CSV files Excel puts everything in a single column. Open them with Data → From Text/CSV.
• BIMit remembers the folder, the chosen tables and Open the folder when done for your user.