Revit Name Automation for Consistent Naming Conventions
The Name Previews panel shows a preview of how Family Types will be renamed based on the current rules.
The Name Previews panel displays a preview of all Family Types that match the currently checked categories. It allows you to review the proposed changes before executing the rename operation.
The panel lists all Family Types with their existing names and shows the newly generated names side-by-side for easy comparison.
The Preview Header displays a count of how many Family Types will be renamed. The count is updated in real-time as you add or remove checked Categories.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Row Indicator | ▶ for the currently selected row |
| Checkbox | Check/uncheck a Family Type to include or exclude it from renaming. If you uncheck a Family Type, its ID will be stored in the settings, and this Family Type will not be renamed until it is checked again. An exception to this is if the Family Type ID changes or if you load the settings in a different Revit document; in these cases, the Family Type will be re-checked automatically because the stored ID no longer exists. |
| Category | The Revit category of the Family Type |
| Family Name | The Family Name of the Family Type |
| Existing Name | The Family Type's current name in the Revit project |
| New Name | The generated name based on current rules (shown in green) |
| Name Error | Shows error messages if the name generation fails |
| Error Type | Description |
|---|---|
| New name is not valid! | The generated name contains invalid characters that cannot be used in Revit Family Type names. Invalid characters are: \ : { } [ ] | ; < > ? ` ~ |
| New name will be the same as some other New Family Type name! | The generated name conflicts with another new Family Type name within the same Category. This error occurs when multiple Family Types would resolve to the same name based on your naming convention and parameters. |
| New name already exists! | The generated name already exists in the Revit project (e.g., the old name is the same as the new name). |
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Valid Names | Show only Family Types with valid generated names |
| New Names | Show only Family Types whose name would change |
| Errors | Show only Family Types with name generation errors |
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Scroll to Selected Category | When checked, the preview automatically scrolls to show Family Types of the category currently selected in the Categories panel |
| Automatically Refresh New Name List | When checked, the preview updates in real-time as parameters are added or removed from the Name Rules panel |
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Refresh | Manually regenerate all name previews |
| Rename | Execute the rename operation on all checked Family Types |
Once the Name Previews panel is populated with the new names, you can scroll through the list to review them and compare them with the existing Family Type names. Double-clicking on a row allows you to jump directly to that category to edit its naming rules.
If there are errors, the checkbox will be automatically unchecked for that Family Type, and you will not be able to check it until the issue is resolved. To resolve these errors, scroll down to the specific Family Type row, read the error message, and then go to the Name Rules panel to adjust the rules causing the conflict.
In many cases, multiple Family Types might serve the same purpose, resulting in identical generated names based on your rules. To handle this, you can rename one of them, then go back to the Revit document and select all instances of the un-renamed Family Type. Swap those instances to the newly renamed Family Type, and then delete the old, duplicate Family Type.
If there are specific Family Types that you want to exclude from the rename operation, you can uncheck their checkboxes. They will be skipped during renaming, unless you load these settings into a different document or the specific Family Type ID changes.