# Catalogue Files **Panel:** Families | **Menu:** Catalogue Files button icon Tools for creating, cleaning, and configuring type catalogue files (`.txt`) for Revit families. **All three tools run on the family currently open in the Family Editor**, not on a project. --- ## Export File icon Export File Exports the type data of the open family to a type catalogue file. - Asks you to select an output directory. - Writes `.txt` into that directory, using the open family's file name. - **Any existing file of that name in the target directory is overwritten without warning.** **Use when:** A family has its types defined internally and you need to produce a catalogue file so users can choose which types to load. --- ## Clean Catalogue File icon Clean Catalogue File Cleans an existing catalogue file by removing parameters that should not appear there. - Removes **instance parameters** (catalogue files only support type parameters). - Removes **formula-driven type parameters** (their values are calculated, not user-defined). - Sorts the remaining parameters: explicitly defined parameters first, then the rest in alphabetical order. - Lists the parameters (columns) being removed, then shows the revised file as a table in the pyRevit output window. - Saves the result alongside the original with a `__` suffix appended to the file name, so the original is preserved. **Workflow:** 1. Export the catalogue file from Revit using **Export Family Types**, or use **Export File** above. 2. With the family open, run this tool and select the catalogue file. 3. Review the listed removals and the resulting table. 4. Rename the `__` file over the original once you are satisfied. **Use when:** A catalogue file contains redundant or invalid parameters that cause problems when loading the family. --- ## Default Catalogue File Type icon Default Catalogue File Type > **Warning — this tool deletes family types.** It does not configure a pre-selected type in > a catalogue file. Read the steps below before running it, and work on a copy of the family > if you are unsure. Replaces every type in the open family with a single placeholder type, so that the family relies entirely on its catalogue file for type definitions. **What it does:** 1. Shows a confirmation prompt — *"Do you really want to delete all types in this family?"* — with a red **Yes** and a green **Oh No, Get me out of here!**. Anything other than Yes aborts. 2. Creates a new family type named **`Refer To Catalog File`**. 3. **Deletes every other type in the family.** 4. Resets the parameters listed in `PARAMETERS_TO_RESET` to the value `Refer To Catalog File`. **Use when:** A family's types are supplied by a catalogue file and the internal types are redundant, so that a user loading the family is presented with the catalogue file's types rather than a stale internal list. **Before running:** - Export the catalogue file first — once the types are deleted they cannot be recovered from the family. - The family is **not** saved by this tool. If the result is not what you expected, close the family without saving. **Configuration:** `PARAMETERS_TO_RESET` in `Extensions/duHast-2025.extension/duHast.tab/lib/families/defaultCatalogueFileType.py` is currently an **empty list**, so step 4 does nothing as shipped. Add the parameter names your families use to have them stamped with the placeholder value. --- ## Notes - Catalogue files must have the same name as their associated `.rfa` file and must be in the same directory for Revit to offer them on load. - Use **At The Library** (Families panel) to edit catalogue file contents interactively in a table editor.