Friday, March 16, 2012

Can't Change a Parameter from Type to Instance

A re-post of something I wrote back in 2005, sometimes the oldies just don't get old.

Family editor tip: When you have a Type parameter that you can’t change to Instance in the Family Types dialog box because the modify button is inactive...(meaning it is a stock "factory" parameter)



Don’t fret! Close the dialog box, select a dimension that is assigned to the parameter and take a look at the Options Bar.



Notice the check box next to Instance Parameter? There you go! Thanks to Steven Campbell for the wake up call! Sometimes the answer is as plain as the nose on your face!

2 comments:

RevitCat said...

It sure is a useful tip. Just to take it a step further, if you have one of the "Stock Factory parameters" in use as part of a formula, but not actually applied as a label to a dimension, you can't do it. So what I do is select a dimension of a similar length, change its label to the stock one; change it to an instance parameter; then change the dimension label back to its original parameter label. Done.

DaveP said...

I was about to respond to your post and tell you that this trick doesn't work in 2017 anymore. But then I looked closer and realized that the Instance Parameter has moved from the Options Bar to a Panel on the Ribbon.
But the "Label Dimension" drop-down has moved there too, so I guess that's a good thing.