Family Class |
An element that represents a custom family (not a system family) in Autodesk Revit.
Inheritance Hierarchy Namespace: Autodesk.Revit.DB
Assembly: RevitAPI (in RevitAPI.dll) Version: 25.3.0.0 (25.3.0.0)
Syntax The Family type exposes the following members.
Properties | Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | AssemblyInstanceId | The id of the assembly instance to which the element belongs. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | BoundingBox | Retrieves a box that circumscribes all geometry of the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Category | Retrieves a Category object that represents the category or sub category in which the element resides. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | CreatedPhaseId | Id of a Phase at which the Element was created. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | CurtainPanelHorizontalSpacing | For Curtain Panel families, the horizontal spacing of the driving mesh. |
| | CurtainPanelTilePattern | For Curtain Panel families, the choice of tile pattern. |
| | CurtainPanelVerticalSpacing | For Curtain Panel families, the vertical spacing of the driving mesh. |
| | DemolishedPhaseId | Id of a Phase at which the Element was demolished. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | DesignOption | Returns the design option to which the element belongs. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Document | Returns the Document in which the Element resides. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | FamilyCategory | Retrieves or sets a Category object that represents the category or sub category in which the elements ( this family could generate ) reside. |
| | FamilyCategoryId | The id of the category or sub category in which the elements that this family could generate reside. |
| | FamilyPlacementType | Identifies the type of placement required by a given family. |
| | Geometry | Retrieves the geometric representation of the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GroupId | The id of the group to which an element belongs. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Id | A unique identifier for an Element in an Autodesk Revit project. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsConceptualMassFamily | Whether the Family is a Conceptual Mass family. |
| | IsCurtainPanelFamily | Whether the Family is a Curtain Panel family. Curtain Panel family symbols are used as the ObjectTypes of DividedSurface elements. |
| | IsEditable | True if the family supports editing, false otherwise. |
| | IsInPlace | True if the family is an in-place family, false if the family is a loadable family. |
| | IsModifiable | Identifies if the element is modifiable. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsOwnerFamily | True if the family is the owner family for its own editable document, false otherwise. |
| | IsParametric | Identifies whether the family contains parametric relations between some of its elements. |
| | IsTransient | Indicates whether an element is transient or permanent. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsUserCreated | Determine whether the family has been defined by the user. |
| | IsValidObject | Specifies whether the .NET object represents a valid Revit entity. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | LevelId | The id of the level associated with the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Location | This property is used to find the physical location of an element within a project. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Name | A human readable name for the Element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | OwnerViewId | The id of the view that owns the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Parameter BuiltInParameter | Retrieves a parameter from the element given a parameter id. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Parameter Definition | Retrieves a parameter from the element based on its definition. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Parameter Guid | Retrieves a parameter from the element given a GUID for a shared parameter. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Parameters | Retrieves a set containing all of the parameters that are contained within the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | ParametersMap | Retrieves a map containing all of the parameters that are contained within the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Pinned | Identifies if the element has been pinned to prevent changes. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | ShowSpatialElementCalculationPoint | For families that can have a calculation point for spatial elements, hide or show the calculation point. SpatialElementCalculationPoint elements. |
| | StructuralCodeName | The family's structural code name. |
| | StructuralFamilyNameKey | The family's structural section shape name key. |
| | StructuralMaterialType | The family's structural material type. |
| | StructuralSectionShape | The family's structural section shape. |
| | UniqueId | A stable unique identifier for an element within the document. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | VersionGuid | Get the element version Guid. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | ViewSpecific | Identifies if the element is owned by a view. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | WorksetId | Get Id of the Workset which owns the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
Methods | Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | ArePhasesModifiable | Returns true if the properties CreatedPhaseId and DemolishedPhaseId can be modified for this Element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | CanBeHidden | Indicates if the element can be hidden in the view. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | CanBeLocked | Identifies if the element can be locked. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | CanDeleteSubelement | Checks if given subelement can be removed from the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | CanHaveStructuralSection | Identifies if this Family can have a structural section. |
| | CanHaveTypeAssigned | Identifies if the element can have a type assigned. (Inherited from Element ) |
 | CanLoadFamilies | Checks whether the document is in a state that allows the loading of families. |
| | ChangeTypeId(ElementId) | Changes the type of the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | DeleteEntity | Deletes the existing entity created by %schema% in the element (Inherited from Element ) |
| | DeleteSubelement | Removes a subelement from the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | DeleteSubelements | (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Dispose | (Inherited from Element ) |
| | Equals | Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object. (Inherited from Object ) |
| | EvaluateAllParameterValues | Evaluates all the parameters' values of the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | EvaluateParameterValues | (Inherited from Element ) |
| | ExtractPartAtom | Writes a PartAtom XML from the contents of a family object. |
| | GetDependentElements | Get all elements that, from a logical point of view, are the children of this Element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetEntity | Returns the existing entity corresponding to the Schema if it has been saved in the Element, or an invalid entity otherwise. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetEntitySchemaGuids | Returns the Schema guids of any Entities stored in this element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetExternalFileReference | Gets information pertaining to the external file referenced by the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetExternalResourceReference | Gets the ExternalResourceReference associated with a specified external resource type. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetExternalResourceReferenceExpanded | Gets the collection of ExternalResourceReference associated with a specified external resource type. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetExternalResourceReferences | Gets the map of the external resource references referenced by the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetExternalResourceReferencesExpanded | Gets the expanded map of the external resource references referenced by the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetFamilySymbolIds | Gets the ids of the FamilySymbols owned by this Family. |
| | GetFamilyTypeParameterValues | Returns all applicable values for a FamilyType parameter of this family. |
| | GetGeneratingElementIds | Returns the ids of the element(s) that generated the input geometry object. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetGeometryObjectFromReference | Retrieve one geometric primitive contained in the element given a reference. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetHashCode | Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object ) |
| | GetMaterialArea | Gets the area of the material with the given id. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetMaterialIds | Gets the element ids of all materials present in the element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetMaterialVolume | Gets the volume of the material with the given id. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetMonitoredLinkElementIds | Provides the link instance IDs when the element is monitoring. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetMonitoredLocalElementIds | Provides the local element IDs when the element is monitoring. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetOrderedParameters | Gets the parameters associated to the element in order. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetParameter | Retrieves a parameter from the element given identifier. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetParameterFormatOptions | Returns a FormatOptions override for the element Parameter, or a default FormatOptions if no override exists. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetParameters | Retrieves the parameters from the element via the given name. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetPhaseStatus | Gets the status of a given element in the input phase (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetSubelements | Returns the collection of element subelements. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object ) |
| | GetTypeId | Returns the identifier of this element's type. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | GetValidTypes | Obtains a set of types that are valid for this element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | HasLargeSketches | Checks whether the family contains sketches with a large number of elements. |
| | HasPhases | Returns true if this Element has the properties CreatedPhaseId and DemolishedPhaseId. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsAppropriateCategoryId | Identifies if the input category id can be assigned as the new category for this family. |
| | IsCreatedPhaseOrderValid | Returns true if createdPhaseId and demolishedPhaseId are in order. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsDemolishedPhaseOrderValid | Returns true if createdPhaseId and demolishedPhaseId are in order. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsExternalFileReference | Determines whether this Element represents an external file. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsHidden | Identifies if the element has been permanently hidden in the view. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsMonitoringLinkElement | Indicate whether an element is monitoring any elements in any linked models. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsMonitoringLocalElement | Indicate whether an element is monitoring other local elements. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsPhaseCreatedValid | Returns true if createdPhaseId is an allowed value for the property CreatedPhaseId in this Element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsPhaseDemolishedValid | Returns true if demolishedPhaseId is an allowed value for the property DemolishedPhaseId in this Element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | IsValidType(ElementId) | Checks if given type is valid for this element. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | LookupParameter | Attempts to find a parameter on the element which has the given name. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | RefersToExternalResourceReference | Determines whether this Element uses external resources associated with a specified external resource type. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | RefersToExternalResourceReferences | Determines whether this Element uses external resources. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | SetEntity | Stores the entity in the element. If an Entity described by the same Schema already exists, it is overwritten. (Inherited from Element ) |
| | ToString | Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object ) |
Remarks Custom families within the Revit API represented by three objects - Family, FamilySymbol and FamilyInstance . Each object plays a significant part in the structure of families. The Family element represents the entire family that consists of a collection of types, such as an 'I Beam'. You can think of that object as representing the entire family file. The Family object contains a number of FamilySymbol elements. The FamilySymbol object represents a specific set of family settings within that Family and represents what is known in the Revit user interface as a Type, such as 'W14x32'. The FamilyInstance object represents an actual instance of that type placed the Autodesk Revit project. For example the FamilyInstance would be a single instance of a W14x32 column within the project.
See Also