FamilyInstance

Public Class

This object represents a single instance of a family type, such as a single I beam.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
Autodesk.Revit.DB.Element
Autodesk.Revit.DB.Instance
Autodesk.Revit.DB.FamilyInstance
Autodesk.Revit.DB.AnnotationSymbol
Autodesk.Revit.DB.Mullion
Autodesk.Revit.DB.Panel

Namespace: Autodesk.Revit.DB

Assembly: RevitAPI (in RevitAPI.dll) Version: 25.0.0.0 (25.0.0.0)

Syntax

public class FamilyInstance : Instance

The FamilyInstance type exposes the following members.

Properties

Name

Description

Public Property

AssemblyInstanceId

The id of the assembly instance to which the element belongs.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Code Example
BoundingBox

Retrieves a box that circumscribes all geometry of the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property

CanFlipFacing

Property to test whether the orientation of family instance facing can be flipped.

Public Property

CanFlipHand

Property to test whether the orientation of family instance hand can be flipped.

Public Property

CanFlipWorkPlane

Identifies if the instance can flip its work plane.

Public Property

CanRotate

Property to test whether the family instance can be rotated by 180 degrees.

Public Property

CanSplit

Identifies whether a particular family instance can be split at a point on it’s defining curve (by Split(Double)).

Public Property
Category

Retrieves a Category object that represents the category or sub category in which the element resides.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Code Example
CreatedPhaseId

Id of a Phase at which the Element was created.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Code Example
DemolishedPhaseId

Id of a Phase at which the Element was demolished.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Code Example
DesignOption

Returns the design option to which the element belongs.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Document

Returns the Document in which the Element resides.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
ExtensionUtility

Property to check whether the instance can be extended and return the interface for extension operation.

Public Property

FacingFlipped

Property to test whether the orientation of family instance facing is flipped.

Public Property

FacingOrientation

Property to get the orientation of family instance facing.

Public Property
FromRoom

The “From Room” set for the door or window in the last phase of the project.

Public Property

FromRoom.Phase.

Public Property
Code Example
Geometry

Retrieves the geometric representation of the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property

GroupId

The id of the group to which an element belongs.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property

HandFlipped

Property to test whether the orientation of family instance hand is flipped.

Public Property

HandOrientation

Property to get the orientation of family instance hand.

Public Property

HasSpatialElementCalculationPoint

Identifies if this instance has a single SpatialElementCalculationPoint used as the search point for Revit to identify if the instance is inside a room or space.

Public Property
HasSpatialElementFromToCalculationPoints

Identifies if this instance has a pair of SpatialElementCalculationPoints used as the search points for Revit to identify if the instance lies between up to two rooms or spaces.

Public Property
Host

If the instance is contained within another element, this property returns the containing element. An instance that is face hosted will return the element containing the face.

Public Property

HostFace

Property to get the reference to the host face of family instance.

Public Property
HostParameter

If the instance is hosted by a wall, this property returns the parameter value of the insertion point of the instance along the wall’s location curve, as long as the family of the instance isn’t work plane based.

Public Property
Code Example
Id

A unique identifier for an Element in an Autodesk Revit project.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property

Invisible

Property to test whether the family instance is invisible.

Public Property
IsModifiable

Identifies if the element is modifiable.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
IsSlantedColumn

Indicates if the family instance is a slanted column.

Public Property
IsTransient

Indicates whether an element is transient or permanent.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
IsValidObject

Specifies whether the .NET object represents a valid Revit entity.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property

IsWorkPlaneFlipped

Identifies if the instance’s work plane is flipped.

Public Property

LevelId

The id of the level associated with the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Location

This property is used to find the physical location of an instance within project.
(Overrides Element.Location)

Public Property
MEPModel

Retrieves the MEP model for the family instance.

Public Property

Mirrored

Property to test whether the family instance is mirrored. (only one axis is flipped)

Public Property
Name

A human readable name for the Element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property

OwnerViewId

The id of the view that owns the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Code Example
Parameter.BuiltInParameter.

Retrieves a parameter from the element given a parameter id.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Parameter.Definition.

Retrieves a parameter from the element based on its definition.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Parameter.Guid.

Retrieves a parameter from the element given a GUID for a shared parameter.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Code Example
Parameters

Retrieves a set containing all of the parameters that are contained within the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
ParametersMap

Retrieves a map containing all of the parameters that are contained within the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Pinned

Identifies if the element has been pinned to prevent changes.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
Room

The room in which the instance is located (during the last phase of the project).

Public Property

Room.Phase.

Public Property
Space

The space in which the instance is located (during the last phase of the project).

Public Property

Space.Phase.

Public Property

StructuralMaterialId

Identifies the material that defines the instance’s structural analysis properties.

Public Property
StructuralMaterialType

This property returns the physical material from which the instance is made.

Public Property
Code Example

StructuralType

Provides the primary structural type of the instance, such as beam or column etc.

Public Property

StructuralUsage

Provides the primary structural usage of the instance, such as brace, girder etc.

Public Property
SuperComponent

Property to get the super component of current family instance.

Public Property
Code Example
Symbol

Returns or changes the FamilySymbol object that represents the type of the instance.

Public Property
ToRoom

The “To Room” set for the door or window in the last phase of the project.

Public Property

ToRoom.Phase.

Public Property
Code Example
UniqueId

A stable unique identifier for an element within the document.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
VersionGuid

Get the element version Guid.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property

ViewSpecific

Identifies if the element is owned by a view.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Property
WorksetId

Get Id of the Workset which owns the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Methods

Name

Description

Public Method
AddCoping

Adds a coping (cut) to a steel beam.

Public Method
ArePhasesModifiable

Returns true if the properties CreatedPhaseId and DemolishedPhaseId can be modified for this Element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
CanBeHidden

Indicates if the element can be hidden in the view.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

CanBeLocked

Identifies if the element can be locked.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

CanDeleteSubelement

Checks if given subelement can be removed from the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
CanHaveTypeAssigned.

Identifies if the element can have a type assigned.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
ChangeTypeId(ElementId)

Changes the type of the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

DeleteEntity

Deletes the existing entity created by %schema% in the element
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
DeleteSubelement

Removes a subelement from the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
DeleteSubelements

Removes the subelements from the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

Dispose

(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

Equals

Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.
(Inherited from Object)

Public Method

EvaluateAllParameterValues

Evaluates all the parameters’ values of the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

EvaluateParameterValues

Evaluate the parameters’ values of the element on the given parameter ID set.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

flipFacing

The orientation of family instance facing will be flipped. If it can not be flipped, return false, otherwise return true.

Public Method

FlipFromToRoom

Flips the settings of “From Room” and “To Room” for the door or window instance.

Public Method

flipHand

The orientation of family instance hand will be flipped. If it can not be flipped, return false, otherwise return true.

Public Method

GetCopingIds

Lists the elements currently used as coping cutters for this element.

Public Method
GetDependentElements

Get all elements that, from a logical point of view, are the children of this Element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
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)

Public Method

GetEntitySchemaGuids

Returns the Schema guids of any Entities stored in this element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetExternalFileReference

Gets information pertaining to the external file referenced by the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetExternalResourceReference

Gets the ExternalResourceReference associated with a specified external resource type.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetExternalResourceReferenceExpanded

Gets the collection of ExternalResourceReference associated with a specified external resource type.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetExternalResourceReferences

Gets the map of the external resource references referenced by the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetExternalResourceReferencesExpanded

Gets the expanded map of the external resource references referenced by the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetFamilyPointPlacementReferences

Returns the Point Placement References for the Family Instance.

Public Method
Code Example
GetGeneratingElementIds

Returns the ids of the element(s) that generated the input geometry object.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetGeometryObjectFromReference

Retrieve one geometric primitive contained in the element given a reference.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetHashCode

Serves as the default hash function.
(Inherited from Object)

Public Method

GetMaterialArea

Gets the area of the material with the given id.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetMaterialIds

Gets the element ids of all materials present in the element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetMaterialVolume

Gets the volume of the material with the given id.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetMonitoredLinkElementIds

Provides the link instance IDs when the element is monitoring.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetMonitoredLocalElementIds

Provides the local element IDs when the element is monitoring.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetOrderedParameters

Gets the parameters associated to the element in order.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetOriginalGeometry

Returns the original geometry of the instance, before the instance is modified by joins, cuts, coping, extensions, or other post-processing.

Public Method
GetParameter

Retrieves a parameter from the element given identifier.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetParameterFormatOptions

Returns a FormatOptions override for the element Parameter, or a default FormatOptions if no override exists.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetParameters

Retrieves the parameters from the element via the given name.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetPhaseStatus

Gets the status of a given element in the input phase
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
GetReferenceByName

Gets the family instance reference corresponding to the named reference plane in the instance’s family.

Public Method
GetReferenceName

Gets the name of the reference plane in the family corresponding to the given family instance reference.

Public Method
GetReferences

Gets family instance references corresponding to the reference planes or reference lines of the given reference type in the instance’s family.

Public Method

GetReferenceType

Gets the type of the reference plane or reference line in the instance’s family corresponding to the given family instance reference.

Public Method
GetSpatialElementCalculationPoint

Gets the location of the calculation point for this instance.

Public Method
GetSpatialElementFromToCalculationPoints

Gets the locations for the calculation points for this instance.

Public Method
Code Example

GetSubComponentIds

Gets the sub component ElementIds of the current family instance.

Public Method
GetSubelements

Returns the collection of element subelements.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetSweptProfile

Gets the object that describes the profile that is swept along the driving curve for this instance.

Public Method
GetTotalTransform

Gets the total transform, which includes the true north transform for instances like import instances.
(Inherited from Instance)

Public Method

GetTransform

Gets the transform of the instance.
(Inherited from Instance)

Public Method

GetType

Gets the Type of the current instance.
(Inherited from Object)

Public Method
Code Example
GetTypeId

Returns the identifier of this element’s type.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

GetValidTypes.

Obtains a set of types that are valid for this element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
HasModifiedGeometry

Identifies if the geometry of this FamilyInstance has been modified from the automatically generated default.

Public Method
HasPhases

Returns true if this Element has the properties CreatedPhaseId and DemolishedPhaseId.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

HasSweptProfile

Indicates if this instance can be represented as a swept profile.

Public Method

IsCreatedPhaseOrderValid

Returns true if createdPhaseId and demolishedPhaseId are in order.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

IsDemolishedPhaseOrderValid

Returns true if createdPhaseId and demolishedPhaseId are in order.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
IsExternalFileReference

Determines whether this Element represents an external file.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
IsHidden

Identifies if the element has been permanently hidden in the view.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

IsMonitoringLinkElement

Indicate whether an element is monitoring any elements in any linked models.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

IsMonitoringLocalElement

Indicate whether an element is monitoring other local elements.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
IsPhaseCreatedValid

Returns true if createdPhaseId is an allowed value for the property CreatedPhaseId in this Element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
IsPhaseDemolishedValid

Returns true if demolishedPhaseId is an allowed value for the property DemolishedPhaseId in this Element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
IsValidType(ElementId)

Checks if given type is valid for this element.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
LookupParameter

Attempts to find a parameter on the element which has the given name.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method

RefersToExternalResourceReference

Determines whether this Element uses external resources associated with a specified external resource type.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
RefersToExternalResourceReferences

Determines whether this Element uses external resources.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
RemoveCoping

Removes a coping (cut) from a steel beam.

Public Method

rotate

The family instance will be flipped by 180 degrees. If it can not be rotated, return false, otherwise return true.

Public Method
SetCopingIds

Specifies the set of coping cutters on this element.

Public Method

SetEntity

Stores the entity in the element. If an Entity described by the same Schema already exists, it is overwritten.
(Inherited from Element)

Public Method
Split

Splits the family instance element at a point on its defining curve.

Public Method

ToString

Returns a string that represents the current object.
(Inherited from Object)

Remarks

Examples of FamilyInstance objects within Autodesk Revit are Beams, Columns, Braces and Desks. The FamilyInstance object provides more detailed properties that enable the type of the family instance to be changed, thus changing their appearance within the project.

Example

public void GetInfo_FamilyInstance(FamilyInstance familyInstance)
{
    string message = "FamilyInstance : ";
    // Get FamilyInstance host name
    if (familyInstance.Host != null)
    {
        message += "\nFamilyInstance host name is : " + familyInstance.Host.Name;
    }

    foreach (ElementId materialId in familyInstance.GetMaterialIds(false))
    {
        Material material = familyInstance.Document.GetElement(materialId) as Material;
        message += "\nFamilyInstance e material : " + material.Name;
    }
    // Get FamilyInstance room name
    if (familyInstance.Room != null)
    {
        message += "\nFamilyInstance room name is : " + familyInstance.Room.Name;
    }

    // Get FamilyInstance structural type
    message += "\nFamilyInstance structural type is : " + familyInstance.StructuralType;

    // Get FamilyInstance structural usage
    message += "\nFamilyInstance structural usage is : " + familyInstance.StructuralUsage;

    TaskDialog.Show("Revit",message);
}