Rename working views

Revit’s Project Browser allows you to sort and group views and sheets within your project. Each organisation will generally have their preferred project browser configuration embedded within the project template. Despite their differences, many organisation adopt an approach of separating documentation views from working views. Documentation views are typically views which reside on sheets and ‘locked down’ via a view template. This process ensures the views appear as desired when printing sheets.

Creating working view types

Separate working views can be generated to reduce the temptation of working directly in the documentation views. Note that this isn’t essential, and some organisations prefer to utilise the ‘enable temporary view properties’ command. However, from experience, I find this method more cumbersome and prefer working views.

When creating the working views (View > Create > Plan Views > Floor Plan), you have the option of setting the view type. By creating a dedicated working view type for each team member, view templates can be applied automatically when the new views are created.

View template settings

The view templates should only include values for how the view is to be organised within the project browser to maintain flexibility. All other parameters, including model categories, can be excluded from the view template.

Duplicating views

During the view creation process, Revit will typically suffix each new view with “(1)” to distinguish it from the main view. Having views named “LV 00(1)” is not very descriptive. Many organisations prefer to rename these views so that the suffix is your initials, for example, “LV 00_PW”. Depending on how many working views you have, this can be a time-consuming process.

Automated renaming 

To automate this process, I have developed the ‘View.RenameWorking‘ custom node as part of the BVN Dynamo Package. The node allows for two levels of view filtering. The default parameter for the first filter is “Design Stage”, which is set to “Working”. The default parameter for the second filter is “BVN Alphabet”. The second filter value is the new suffix, typically your initials.

By running the script, it is possible to batch rename all of your working views. Note that if you have a copy of a copy, for example, “LV 00(1) Copy 1”, you may receive an error message within Revit saying “the name you specified is already in use. Enter a unique name’. In this scenario, the view will be excluded and will not be renamed.