Getting Started Guide for Ideate BIMLink

Ideate BIMLink for Revit is a multi-purpose tool that can be easily customized to take on a variety of tasks.  The best way to get started is to follow the instructions on the home page as outlined below.

Ideate BIMLink Quick Start Guide

A new project where Ideate BIMLink has not yet been used will not have any links defined, as shown above. In the example below we will load the pre-defined sample link called “Views” from the library so that we can export and edit the view name properties within the current Revit project via Excel.

Create a Link

  1. Select the New… button on the home page, then select the By Category method.
  2. Select the Views category.
  3. Pick within the Link Source area, choose “Views” from the library.
  4. Select Next, then Done to return to the main dialog. This completes the creation of a new link definition called Views.
  5. Next up: Export to Excel.

Getting Started with Ideate BIMLink

Export to Excel

To export the data specified within the Views link definition, select the Export button on the main dialog. When prompted, name the file “My Project.xlsx”. After completing the Export select the "Open File" button to launch Excel.

Edit in Excel

Any Excel cell that is white can be edited.  In this example the following properties can be edited:  View Name, Title of Sheet, Detail Number and View template.  If your project contains Elevation Views then the 'Hide at scales coarser than' property will also be editable.  Make changes to any of these fields, as appropriate.  To spell check the view names:

  1. In Excel, select column G, which should be the “View Name” property.
  2. From the Review tab in Excel, select the Spelling tool.
  3. Save any changes before closing the file.

Note: changing the name of a floor plan view will also prompt Revit to alter the Level name.  You can decide, during the import process if you want to accept that change.

Import the Data back to Revit

To import the changes you made within Excel back into the Revit project:

  1. Select the "Import" button from within Ideate BIMLink.
  2. After reading all of the data into BIMLink, the Import Dialog will display information about any errors as well as any changes.  Detailed information about these messages can be found within the Troubleshooting topic

Congratulations, you've completed your first bi-directional data transfer.  Now you're a pro!  Try to create your own links.

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