If you have updated to our latest version of Family Browser for Revit 2014 and have chosen to display it in the new docked mode and you receive the below error when you drag and drop a family onto the Revit drawing there is a good reason for this.
There was a bug in the RTM version of the Revit 2014 API that disallowed drag and drop from a docked panel, but thankfully this was resolved in Revit Update 1. You need to be running at least the below version of Revit to run Family Browser in the docked state.
For those using our Project Browser you don't have long to wait now before a new build that is Dockable to the Revit UI like Family Browser now is. Keep an eye out here for news in the next few days.
Have you noticed before in Family Browser 2014, that when you insert a family from Family Browser that is Hosted ie, workplane/facebased that the icons to change host on insertion are disabled as shown below?
It turns out that because of the changes required in the Revit 2014 API with the way we interact with the Revit database from modal dialogues, the buttons become disabled. After going back and forth with Autodesk support it was found that there is actually a limitation in the API to support this.
This is a major issue for a majority of our customers so after some testing I have found an unsupported way around this issue, until Autodesk includes this functionality in the API. So now when you insert a hosted family from FB 2014 you will get the icons available as per below. This is available in the current download of FB 2014 from our webpage - Downloads
Please let me know if you stumble across any issues with this.
We are very proud to announce that from today Family Browser is now fully integrated into Autodesk Revit 2014 software.
Users now have the ability to run Family Browser in "Classic Mode", as per the existing Family Browser floating mode, or have it docked within the Autodesk Revit user interface.
Running Family Browser in the docked state integrates Family Browser seamlessly into the UI, which can then be docked left,right, top, bottom and as a tabbed item along with the Project Browser etc.
Family Browser will start-up automatically on Revit start and remember the previous position and state it was in.
Our studies have shown that users are far more likely to use an application if it is always open and even more so if they don't even realise they are using an external application.
We have had some reports from testers that their users are so happy that finally Revit has a built in Family Browser. :)
PLEASE NOTE: Web Update 1 must be installed first for this feature to work.
Yesterday we uploaded to our web site new builds of Family Browser 2013 & 2014. These new builds addressed mainly feedback that we received during the RTC Conference in Auckland last month.
Floating Network Licenses:
We now offer Floating Network licenses for both Family Browser 2013 & 2014 for orders over 10 users. This can be ordered from our webpage by selecting the "Network Floating User" license type.
Current Project Family Group (FB 2014 Pro Version):
When Family Browser is now opened, automatically there will be a group created that shows the current families that are loaded in the project. The user has some choices of what categories to show and whether that should show as a tree view in one single tab are split up with tabs per each category. To see this in action watch this video.
Family Already Loaded Icon (FB 2013 & 14):
When the user moves their mouse over a Family Browser icon a blue "P" will appear in the bottom left hand side of the icon if that family is already loaded into the current project.
Other Tweaks:
Fixed an issue with trying to load a family with a numeric name ie. 100.rfa
Added a default icon to the favorites tab if no favorites
had been added.
Optimized and speed up the advanced search database for very large family libraries.
Advanced search now allows duplicate family names to show up.
The new builds have been uploaded to our website as trial versions and full versions from the members area. http://www.kiwicodes.com
Keep the comments/suggestions and future ideas coming. We have some seller ideas that we are currently working on at the moment for future releases.
Kiwi Codes
has had a very successful time exhibiting at RTC AUS at the “Langman Hotel” in Auckland
New Zealand , 16th to the 18th May.
It was
great to catch up with allot of our existing Australasian clients and get their
feedback on how they are using our time saving Revit tools and also hearing
their fantastic suggestions for future enhancements to our existing tools and
also new ideas for other tools. It was
also great to showcase our tools to others who as yet are not our clients.
Common questions
that were asked by people were:
Do you
offer Network/Floating licensing model for your tools?
It would be
great if Family Browser showed the currently loaded families in the current
project as a separate group like what KC Project Browser does.
How can we
buy all of your products at once as a suite package?
Are you
attending RTC NA this year?
The good
news is that items 1 & 2 are going to be addressed in a new build of
Family/Project Browser by the 31st of May 2013.
Keep an eye on our web site for the new build/features this Friday.
A suite
license is something will address a little further down the track. We need to change around our licensing a
little to allow a single key to unlock selected features, but it is all
possible.
The real
exciting news is that, Yes we are attending RTC NA in Vancouver Canada on the
11th – 14th July 2013. North America is
our biggest customer base and we are really excited to meet face to face our
existing customers. If you are there
make sure you find some time to visit us at Booth #21 for a catch up.
We are very
pleased to announce the strategic partnership between Kiwi Codes Solutions and
the leading design, architecture, engineering and planning firm, HOK. HOK have this week announced a global roll-out of Project Browser and Family Browser throughout their firm.
“HOK has been looking
for a family and project browser management solution for a long time with very
limited success. Kiwicodes’ simple and elegant approach proved to be the
most flexible and powerful compared to other tools. ” - Greg Schleusner
– Firm wide buildingSMART Leader – HOK
“I have implemented
Family Browser successfully at another practice and KiwiCodes have always been
very responsive to our feedback. This factor alone was very important to HOK
because we like to fine-tune everything to suit our needs. Couple this with the
tool’s beautiful simplicity, and the decision was quite clear.” – David
Baldacchino, buildingSMART Manager - Texas Region
With this
alliance, Kiwi Codes will gain valuable insight into the complexities of
Project and Family management across a global firm, while HOK gain instant
productivity gains through Project and Family Management, like no other Revit
Addin on the market does.
These
developments mark the beginning of an exciting era for Kiwi Codes Project and Family
Browsers.
We now offer Floating Network licenses for both Family Browser 2013 & 2014 for orders over 10 users. This can be ordered from our webpage by selecting the "Network Floating User" license type.
It was
great to catch up with allot of our existing Australasian clients and get their
feedback on how they are using our time saving Revit tools and also hearing
their fantastic suggestions for future enhancements to our existing tools and
also new ideas for other tools. It was
also great to showcase our tools to others who as yet are not our clients. 
