We’re going to look up the volume as an integer which will in turn drive the tank diameter, height and inlet height dimensions. This is our basic lookup table to get started with. We’re going to use an integer parameter for our tank volume, as volume parameters can not be used in lookup tables. We use the volume value because this will drive all other dimensions of the tank. Rainwater tanks are a perfect use of lookup tables, you could have a family file that contains data for one manufacturer, then the lookup table drives the dimensions based on the volume. In this example, we’re going to work with a basic rainwater tank. Working this way locks down the sizes so that the end user is unable to manipulate them.
To achieve this, we need to take the manufacturer sizes and populate them into a lookup table. Using integers can be valuable within lookup tables to control the dimensions of specified manufacturer equipment.
You can use dimensions, angles and integers to both look up and be looked up, the trick to working with integers is that your column header format should follow Valves would be suited quite well to utilising lookup tables, whereas a VAV box would be more suited to using formulas and other parameters. We can build fully flexible families that a controlled with lookup tables, we just need to use a bit of common sense when deciding if a lookup table is best suited or not. Originally lookup tables were only available to pipe and conduit fittings, but we can use them in any family category. It’s clear how lookup tables are beneficial to the pipe and conduit modelling process, so how can we use them in other Revit family categories? Now you understand how lookup tables are formatted and referenced from Revit families, let’s have a look at how we can improve our workflow.