Build a grid-dimensioning automation

Create an automation that places dimensions between successive grids and across their overall span. Start with your own plan and define the references, spacing and layout it needs to handle.

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1. Prepare the view

Open your project in Revit, choose one floor plan and confirm the connected document in Ideatura. Check the visible grids and existing dimensions. Duplicate the view if you want to review the first result separately. Identify the grid source, groups and geometry: straight orthogonal grids, rotated groups, converging lines or curved grids. Note which grids belong together and which should remain separate.

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2. Create the automation in chat

Start an empty chat. Describe the drawing result and ask Ideatura to create an automation with editable inputs. Adapt this request to your plan:

Create an automation to dimension the straight, orthogonal grids in [plan name]. Add individual grid spacings and an overall dimension for each direction, using host-model grids and the project’s default dimension style. Keep separate grid groups independent and preserve existing dimensions. Let me choose the view, sides and offsets in millimetres before running. Report any grids you cannot dimension.

Review the proposed scope and inputs before testing. If your plan uses a different layout, describe its requirements before the first run.

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3. Define the layout rules

Use the geometry to explain what the automation should do:

• Orthogonal grids: dimension each parallel group, with individual spacings and an overall span.
• Angled grids: distinguish a group of parallel grids rotated in the plan from lines that converge. Specify the intended dimension direction for a rotated group; identify any angular measurements needed between converging lines.
• Separate clusters: identify each group, such as a building wing, and ask for independent strings without bridging the gap between groups.
• Radial or curved grids: state whether the drawing needs angles between radial lines, radii of curved grids, or both. Identify the relevant centre and references.

These are requirements to develop and test for your project. The screenshots below do not establish support for every layout. Test each additional geometry on a small scope before including it in the saved workflow. For a worked example with two separate grid groups, see Create an automation.

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4. Add and review the controls

Once the basic task is defined, ask for the controls you need to reuse it:

Add separate switches for individual and overall dimensions, with side and offset controls for each. Add a dimension-style selector and a host-or-linked grid source selector, including the link to use. Keep the view selector. Make the existing-dimension handling explicit so I can review it before running.

Individual dimensions measure successive grid spacings; overall dimensions measure the span between the outer grids in a group. Choose sides and offsets that leave room for bubbles and other annotations. Select the dimension style required for your drawing, and check the source when grids come from a linked model. Review the generated form before running. Confirm the selected plan, grid source, dimension style, sides and offsets. Define whether offsets are measured in model millimetres or on the printed sheet. The controls should reflect the rules you requested. The tested layout uses 1 a 2000 mm individual offset and 2 a 3000 mm overall offset. 3 preserves existing dimensions and skips duplicates. Check these choices, then select 4 Run.

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5. Test and inspect the drawing

Run on one plan and read the summary, including skipped grids and warnings. Inspect the dimensions in Revit: check the referenced grids, individual and overall values, group boundaries and readability on each side. The result below shows grid-dimension strings along the top of a plan. Use the same close inspection for your result, especially around angled grids, bubbles and crowded corners.

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6. Refine and save the workflow

Correct a specific issue, then inspect that area again. For example:

Move the individual grid-dimension strings to 2000 mm and the overall strings to 3000 mm so they clear the grid bubbles. Keep their references and style unchanged, and do not add duplicates.

Ask for the checked adjustment to be reflected in the automation’s settings. Before repeating the run, check how it handles the dimensions already created so you preserve manual work and avoid duplicates. Test another representative view, reviewing its geometry and inputs first. Include only view types you have tested. When the workflow gives the intended result, open the automation card’s … → Star, give it a clear name and choose a library folder. Reopen the saved entry and check that its inputs and description match the tested workflow. Save the checked Revit project separately. Review the inputs when reopening your automation. See Batch dimensions for applying a defined scope in one run.