Use this Dynamo script to copy elements from a linked model directly into your model. This script addresses a Copy/ Monitor issue when copied face-hosted elements are unmovable and unswappable. While this doesn’t happen all the time, the issue is painful to work around.
Here’s a real world example. An electrical designer needs to transition work from the previous engineer’s model to their own. This ensures their template and in-house families work together. Using the Copy/Monitor batch-copy tool is suitable for this process. However, sometimes this results in causing some face-hosted families to be unmovable or unswappable until they are rehosted. One solution is to manually rehost each family one-by-one, because unfortunately it’s impossible to rehost multiple families in one go, though this is incredibly tedious if 100+ families need rehosting. Placing new families in place is equally painful for a single staff. One work around is to copy over the families using this Dynamo script, which bypasses the hosting error.
There are multiple advantages using this Dynamo script. It offers a solution that resolves the hosting error, copy’s elements incredibly quickly which Copy/Monitor can sometimes take a long time, avoids the cumbersome batch-copy process in Copy/Monitor, and supports copying all categories (Copy/Monitor is limited to the following 14 categories: Air Terminals, Communication Devices, Data Devices, Electrical Equipment, Electrical Fixtures, Fire Alarm Devices, Lighting Devices, Lighting Fixtures, Mechanical Equipment, Nurse Call Devices, Plumbing Fixtures, Security Devices, Sprinklers, Telephone Devices). It also resolves an issue where Copy/Monitor incorrectly sizes or applies the wrong parameter checkboxes in copied families. See the image below an example of incorrectly copied electrical equipment.
The downside of this script is the lack of monitoring, although many users find monitoring poses risks. Additionally, the script is simple and doesn’t replace the mapping features of Copy/Monitor, which some users may find useful for on-going coordination.
Best of luck, and let me know in the comments if this script helped you.
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