Is Excel part of your BIM toolbox?

While visiting some customer sites recently it dawned on me: besides the ubiquitous email app and web browser, the most common application on most of these Revit users' desktops was Microsoft Excel. This seems to be true for architects and engineers alike. One Revit Structure user even went as far as to say Excel is their "number one BIM tool."  Obviously, the core of a BIM is the "I" - so it makes sense that having a Swiss Army knife like Excel at your disposal would be beneficial for many tasks. Are you using Excel (or other spreadsheet or database apps) in conjunction with Revit? If so, what tasks are you using it for?

_tom

Comments

[Andrew Dobson]

Revit really needs the ability to import and manipulate Excel data.

A quick example, lets say you have an Excel Spreadsheet from a client with room areas and specifications. It would be great to import this into Revit and use it to drive the rooms that you create.

Another example: you may have a drawing sheet list created in Excel - Revit could import this and create the sheets for you based upon definable parameters.

[Chris Hubbard]

We use Excel often for programming of spaces. We typically go Excel-OPS-Revit for our workflow. However it would also be great to store and import wall door or other settings from Excel or even MS Access. The fill down command saves a lot of time.

[Ian Kidston]

Hi Tom,

I typically use Excel to describe detailed specification of particular elements in the construction.

Commonly, they would be a detailed timber framing list:
Bearers = 100x75 "red Alert" @ 1650 c/c
Joists = 100x50 "Red Alert @ 450 c/c etc

or for things like light fittings where I want to nominate the make and model of fittings for any given room etc etc.

Augi member IJNicholas has written a very nice little API for this purpose. If you are interested you can download it from http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=97224

Some similar sort of built in functionality would be very welcome.

Ian

[Enzo]

Hi Tom.
I use excel for post process of some schedules that require some macros, or in any case when I need to fill several cells with a certain value. By the way, Excel I so necessary for me, that I`m developing (a month ago) an app to connect both software... let`s se if I can afford that.

[Patrick]

We'll often export raw schedule data out of Revit and import it into excel for formatting, etc. I'd say this is most often done with room schedules, but is also done with occupancy counts and fixture counts. If there were a good way to live link XLS and DOC files into Revit sheets, my life would be much easier.

[PaulB]

I also create schedules and export them out to excel so that someone in the field can add additional information. I can then import that information back into the Revit schedules. It makes it easier and gives me more time to spend modeling if someone else, not trained on Revit, can in effect edit Revit.

Presently I am modeling the as-built of a 572,122 sq.ft. theatre and am locating all the switchboards. I have created a switchboard family with the parameters required and placed this wherever the switchboards are located. I then schedule all the boards, with the information that I have and export to Excel and give this spreadsheet to someone to go around and filling in the remainder of the details. Once this has been completed I can then import the completed schedule into Revit.

This is a simple example of what we do and would be so much easier if there was some form of ole.

[RobiNZ]

We use Excel for area analysis and exporting object schedules, for sharing with the business who don't have access to the model (other than DWF).

Currently running both ACA & Revit and the comparison is interesting. Compared with ACA Revit's scheduling is mostly better (things like "% of" etc is great but it's formula parameter UX is crude) and has reduced the need to "resort" to Excel. However Revit's schedule export is so crude I'm glad there is there is less need for it.

Compare with the export to Excel from ACA which has the option of text or real xls output that honours data & layout formatting (Date cells as dates, fonts etc). It even migrates sensible formulas that will work outside the ACA data model. (e.g. Schedule column sums are sum formulas in the export not dead numbers).

I'd be writing any Spreadsheet related modules to support he XML based spreadsheet standards, and making it bidirectional.

[Arno de Lange]

We are writing a programm to export our room data to excel and back...so that the projectcoordinator can keep track of the rooms and their finishes...

[DoTheBIM]

I don't use excel so much "with" Revit per se. But I have used it to slice and dice data downstream of Revit. If I were ever able to figure out a way to bypass some of the steps in between revit and excel, it would be handy to have some excel features built into Revit.

[Tom Vollaro]

Thanks for the feedback. I will contact some of you individually for more details on your workflows and software development projects. BTW, has anyone experimented with RDB Link we released on the Labs site?
http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/revit_rdb/
It is a little clunky (you still have to manually run the import/export each time), but it effectively creates a bi-directional link (but with Access only.)

[Graham Briggs]

As simple as it sounds, Excel can be very useful in creating Family Type Catalogs -- the more parameters, the more useful.

Revit users would benefit from an intelligent bi-directional link with Excel (and Word), especially if the formatting and formulas survived the transaction. If course, Revit would need to beef up its Text and parameter formula tools.

[Robert]

I know more architects who are far more comfortable with excel for a variety of tasks that may or may not directly related to stuff going in a Revit model. It gets used all the time.

I know very few architects who are as comfortable with something like Access or mySQL. Even if something might be done better in a DB program it gets done in Excel for ease of use and familiarity.

Full support for interaction with *.xls files (not Excel) would be greatly appreciated. Direct integration with Excel would be handy, but some of use Open Office in our private lives.

We are currently experimenting (we being a programmer) with the Access linking capabilities for a 40 building master plan/evaluation effort for a college campus.

[Sean Doughtie]

Importing and Manipulation spreadsheet data is VERY important. If Autodesk plans to integrate this feature into Revit. Please, PLEASE do not lock us into anymore Microsoft products, provide integration with other spreadsheet software as well.

[DoTheBIM]

Graham Briggs said: Excel can be very useful in creating Family Type Catalogs.

Ahh yes... I use Excel extensively of for creating and editing type catalogs... a bit clunky with the opening and saving, but much better than manual text edits...totally forgot about that one... as I've been pulled off maintaining and creating families due to work load or rather lack there of.

[Joel Osburn]

We use Excel for building programs, room data sheets, data collection, schedule formatting, drawing sheet lists, and editing the keynotes file. Why the last? Because notepad is too stupid to lock a text file when it opens it, so others can open the file at the same time. Why keynotes need to be defined externally is a mystery to me; it seems like just another table of data. Excel will lock the file, and display the tab delimited text in an easier to edit fashion.

I also want to echo the plea against Microsoft lock-in comment. Some of our users detest the direction MS has taken Office and we are testing other solutions for them. Other than formatting issues, delimited text could be a common baseline.

[ixxx69]

For "typical" architects (can't speak for engineers), Excel is rarely used for actual building documentation except for creating schedules that Revit isn't very good at. All this data import/export is mostly only the domain of CAD managers/programmers/etc.

I hope a future discussion takes place on improving Revit SCHEDULES to include more spreadsheet functionality. Actually, it's already been discussed on AUGI to the tune of hundreds of threads, so hopefully the Factory is already actually doing something about it.

[Scott D Davis]

Everything that Revit uses a TXT file for should be done in Excel...keyboard shortcuts, type catalogs, shared parameters, keynote files. It would be great if Revit read XLS files for these. This is coming from Scott the Revit user, not Scott the Autodesk Technical Specialist! :-)

[Margaret Wiggins]

Electrical Panel Schedules!!!!!!!!!

[Tim Waldock]

We use Excel for lots of different purposes:
Room data sheets; area calculations; apartment mix calculations etc. We would like to move some of this work into Revit. At present Revit schedules are very limiting, so it would be great to improve that side of it - formatting on sheets, better formulas (as per Excel/Access), calculations on totals etc (happy to give specific suggestions any time).

BUT there will always come a point when we cannot expect Revit to do it all, so we also need to resort to a spreadsheet or database (Not necessarily a Micro$oft one). Yes I have tested the RDB link, and it is a good start but needs much further development - have sent initial feedback to Scott at Labs (will send to you by email). MsAccess (database) is a much more powerful and robust tool than Excel (spreadsheet) but is hard to use/understand - most architects find it too challenging and resort to Excel. You need to consider this for the RDB link which currently only works with a database.

In summary, we need 3 things to happen:
1. Improve schedules in Revit, to reduce reliance on external tools.
2. Improve links to external spreadsheets (for typical architectural users).
3. Improve links to external databases (for specialist users & architects with full IT support).

[Scott E. Johnson, Ph.D.]

Our Electrical Engineers use Excel for electrical load calcs. Apparently, some NEC requirements are based not on actual light fixtures and devices, but on "simplified" calculations, based on building area, linear feet of display windows, etc. That eliminates the option of using a Revit schedule for the task -- even though it would probably be more accurate and easier.

Architects and Engineers both use Excel for various code review tables that get placed on sheets. It's awkward -- usually they wind up having to print the table, then scan it and place it as an image.

I use Excel whenever I need to create a type catalog.