AtTheLibrary — Main UI User Guide

Overview

AtTheLibrary is a Revit add-in for browsing and managing a family library. It lets you load family data from an external Schedule of Accommodation (SoA) file, see how those families align with what is already loaded in your open Revit document, and load, edit, or open individual families directly from the interface.

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Window Layout

The main window is divided into the following sections from top to bottom:

Section	Purpose
Header banner	Shows the application title and subtitle
Message banner	Displays status messages and validation errors
Families data grid	Lists all families from your SoA data source
Action buttons	Quick operations on the Revit model or selected family
Data Admin panel	Data source configuration, load, and parameter filtering

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Header Banner

The blue banner at the top shows:

• “At The Library” — application title.

• Find your family — subtitle.

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Message Banner

A status bar directly below the header displays informational and error messages. Messages auto-dismiss after a short interval. Error messages remain until dismissed. If a validation problem prevents an action, the relevant error is shown here.

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Families Data Grid

The central grid lists every family entry loaded from your SoA data source.

Columns

Column	Type	Description
Id	Text	Unique identifier for each family entry
Count	Number	Number of matching family types already loaded in the open Revit document
Family Name	Text	Name of the family
Family Category	Text	Revit category the family belongs to
Family Type Name	Text	Type name within the family
Has Type Catalogue File	Boolean	Whether the family has an associated type catalogue file
(custom)	Various	Additional columns added dynamically from pre-selected parameters (see 02_parameters_selection_ui.md)

Row Colour Coding

Row colour	Meaning
Red background	More than one matching family type exists in the Revit document (ambiguous match)
Light grey background	Exactly one matching family type exists in the document (expected state)
White background	No matching family type exists in the document

Grid Filter Indicator

Column filters can be applied via column headers. When a filter is active, not all families are visible — scroll or clear the filter to see all rows.

Grid Disabled State

While AtTheLibrary is waiting for a Revit command to complete, the grid is disabled and cannot be interacted with. It re-enables automatically when the command finishes.

Selecting a Family

Click any row to select it. Only one family can be selected at a time. The selected family is the target for the Load, Edit Type Catalogue, and Edit Family actions.

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Action Buttons

Four buttons appear below the grid for direct model interaction.

Button	Action
Refresh families from model	Re-reads all loaded family types from the open Revit document and updates the Count column
Load family into model	Loads the selected family’s .rfa file into the open Revit document
Edit Type Catalogue	Opens the type catalogue editor for the selected family (enabled only when the family has a type catalogue file — see 03_type_catalogue_editor_ui.md)
Edit family	Opens the selected family’s .rfa file in the Revit family editor

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Data Admin Panel

The Data Admin section is an expandable panel. Click the header to expand or collapse it. It contains two sub-sections.

Data Source Configuration

This sub-section lets you specify the SoA file to load family data from.

Control	Description
Path to SoA	Text box showing the currently selected file path. You can type or paste a path directly, or use the Browse button
Browse	Opens a file picker dialog to select your SoA data file
Load	Loads (or reloads) family data from the selected file into the grid. Disabled until a valid file path is entered

Entering a File Path

Option A — Browse:

1. Click Browse.

2. Navigate to your SoA file in the file picker dialog.

3. Select the file and click Open.

4. The file path populates automatically in the text box.

Option B — Type directly:

1. Click in the file path text box.

2. Type or paste the full path to your SoA file (e.g., C:\Projects\Hospital\Families.csv).

The path is validated in real time. Validation errors appear as red text below the text box.

Validation Rules

Rule	Behaviour
Field must not be empty	Error shown if the field is blank
File must exist at the specified path	Error shown if the path points to a non-existent file

While any validation error is present, the Load button remains disabled.

Parameter Filtering

A separate bordered section below the file path contains a single button.

Button	Action
Filter Available Parameters	Opens the Parameters Selection view, where you can choose which family parameters appear as additional columns in the families grid (see 02_parameters_selection_ui.md)

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Typical Workflow

1. Launch AtTheLibrary from the Revit ribbon with a document open.

2. Expand the Data Admin panel.

3. Click Browse and select your SoA data file, or type the path directly.

4. Click Load to populate the families grid.

5. Optionally, click Filter Available Parameters to choose which parameter columns appear in the grid.

6. Review the grid. Red rows indicate families already loaded more than once; light grey rows are already loaded once; white rows are not yet in the document.

7. Select a family row and use the action buttons:

   • Load family into model — loads the .rfa into the current document.

   • Edit Type Catalogue — opens the type catalogue editor if the family has one.

   • Edit family — opens the .rfa in the Revit family editor.

8. Click Refresh families from model at any time to resync the Count column with the current state of the document.