We are going to take a deep dive into the Industry Shared Parameter "Item Number"
The Item Number shared parameter originally comes from the FCSI shared parameters and although it is not required for KitchDesigner, it is frequently mentioned in our manuals.
The other choices would be Mark and Type Mark, both of which are Revit system parameters as opposed to shared parameters.
Here is a short video showing the difference between the Mark and Type Mark parameters and the difference between Instance parameters and Type parameters in general.
Revit system parameters are included in every Revit family and cannot be deleted; shared parameters are created by from a shared parameter file but they can be named whatever the designer chooses. A shared parameter file is a list of parameter definitions that can be used to create project parameters or family parameters. By creating parameters from the same definition, Revit is able to link the parameters between projects and families and designers are then able to tag and schedule their Revit families. But for this to be successful, all of the Revit families in a project must be created from the same shared parameters and the tags and schedules must also be created from the same shared parameters. No easy feat for an industry of over 200 manufacturers all creating their own Revit families.
But in 2011, a group of foodservice designers got together and created the FCSI shared parameters, a set of shared parameters specific to the foodservice industry and open to all foodservice designers regardless of FCSI affiliation. This allowed the creators of the equipment symbols to build from the same shared parameter list. By using these identical parameters, foodservice designers were then able to begin designing and using foodservice equipment Revit families from any manufacturer as long as those families were built with the FCSI shared parameter list.
The effect of the FCSI shared parameters and the standards that go with them has been extraordinary. The foodservice industry is a rare standards success story. Not only are the standards widely adopted, they serve as a guiding light for all foodservice designers moving into Revit. They began in the USA but in recent years they have been translated into 6 other languages and distributed across the world by a special global foodservice BIM task force.
Kitchautomation uses a similar set of shared parameters that we expanded to meet the needs of the global BIM community and we added a couple Energy Star parameters for our users doing LEED projects. We call our shared parameters the Industry Shared Parameters since they are compatible with the entire industry including the FCSI shared parameters. We also have a free tool called Parameter Mapper than can help users that are not using the industry standard parameters get back on track by converting their entire family database.
Now that brings us to the Item Number parameter which is a very common shared parameter.
Here is a brief video on the Item Number parameter and how to filter an equipment schedule by whether the Item Number parameter exists in a family or not.
Item Number is the Industry Shared Parameters version of the Mark parameter. It is also an instance parameter just like the Mark parameter.
Why would somebody want to use the Item Number parameter over the Mark parameter?
Pros: You can filter schedules by whether or not a family contains the Item Number parameter
Cons: You must add the Item Number parameter to every family
If you want the extra ability to filter your schedule based on whether the Item Number parameter exists or not, then you must add the Item Number parameter to every family you want to have in your equipment schedules.
We expected there were going to be more Pros than just the ability to filter your schedules. There are plenty of other ways to filter your schedules too.
For example, you could create a yes/no Revit project parameter called "Show in Equipment Schedule" and then add a filter to your Equipment Schedule that only includes families with a Yes for "Show in Equipment Schedule".
In our opinion the Cons outweigh the Pros, adding the Item Number parameter to every family is a time-consuming. To make things worse, sometimes Revit families from manufacturers already have the Item Number parameter added as a Type family. It can be hard to detect when this happens because a Instance Item Number and a Type Item Number look the same. For these reasons we have decided to instruct users against using the Item Number shared parameter. All current users of Item Number could just switch to Mark if this change was adopted without any major repercussions. Actually quite the opposite, they would save time by not having to add it when it is missing.
But in the meantime we also put together a collection of videos that show you how to add the Item Number shared parameter to schedules, families, and tags. The methods used to add the Item Number shared parameter are the same method required to add any shared parameter.
First thing you must have is the Industry Shared Parameters Definition file.
Adding the Item Number shared parameter as a project parameter
One quick and easy way to add a parameter to every family of a given category is to use a Project Parameter. But there's a problem, project parameters cannot be removed from one or two families.
Remember our reason for using project parameters in the first place, we wanted to be able to filter our schedules by whether a family contains the Item Number parameter. Well that is impossible using project parameters so this just furthers the case for using Mark instead.
Adding the Item Number shared parameter to your schedules
Open any schedule and on the Fields tab, click New Parameter.
This is the Create Parameter window, this is where you choose Shared Parameter.
Next you must click Edit and then click Browse then navigate to the Industry_Shared_Parameters_List.txt file. This will load the entire shared parameters definition file into your project and all future projects until it is switched out. This makes it easy to add additional shared parameters as needed.
The Item Number shared parameter is under the Identity Data group, navigate there and select Item Number and then press OK.
Click OK again and then you can change the Group if you would like, Identity Data is a popular choice.
Click OK one more time and you have just added the Item Number shared parameter to your schedule.
Here is a trick to add all of the Industry Shared Parameters to your schedule at the same time, just insert this family that contains every Industry Shared Parameter and they will automatically be available to add to your schedules: Foodservice Schedule Maker
Then create your schedules and delete this family. Much better than adding them one by one. 😊
Adding the Item Number shared parameter to your families
Open any family and on the Create tab, in the Properties panel, click the Family Types button.
In the bottom left corner of the Family Types window click New Parameter.
This is the Create Parameter window, this is where you choose Shared Parameter.
Next you must click Edit and then click Browse then navigate to the Industry_Shared_Parameters_List.txt file. This will load the entire shared parameters definition file into your project and all future projects until it is switched out. This makes it easy to add additional shared parameters as needed.
The Item Number shared parameter is under the Identity Data group, navigate there and select Item Number and then press OK.
Click OK again and then you can change the Group if you would like, Identity Data is a popular choice.
Click OK one more time and you have just added the Item Number shared parameter to your schedule.
Adding the Item Number shared parameter to your tags
Open any annotation tag family and on the Create tab, in the Properties panel, click the Family Types button.
In the bottom left corner of the Family Types window click New Parameter.
This is the Create Parameter window, this is where you choose Shared Parameter.
Next you must click Edit and then click Browse then navigate to the Industry_Shared_Parameters_List.txt file. This will load the entire shared parameters definition file into your project and all future projects until it is switched out. This makes it easy to add additional shared parameters as needed.
The Item Number shared parameter is under the Identity Data group, navigate there and select Item Number and then press OK.
Click OK again and then you can change the Group if you would like, Identity Data is a popular choice.
Click OK one more time and you have just added the Item Number shared parameter to your schedule.