The EDGE^R Add-on Hosting Updater tool allows users to associate addon concrete, such as corbels or ledges, with the structural framing element that they are placed on within the project. It will update the add-on to be the same material as the associated structural framing element and also update the weight and volume of structural framing elements to include any associated add-ons. For it to complete these tasks successfully, connection families (if applicable) and add-on families must be configured in a specific way.
The following rules must be followed when building add-on families regardless of if they will be nested into connection families or not. If the add-on family does not meet all of the criteria defined below, then it will not be processed properly by the Add-on Hosting Updater:
All add-on families must be Shared.
All add-on families should include the CONNECTOR_COMPONENT family. This is responsible for making an intersection between the add-on family and the associated structural framing element when placed in the model. Keeping this in mind will help you determine where the CONNECTOR_COMPONENT should be placed within the add-on family.
The add-on family’s name must include one of the following terms: ADDON, CORBEL, PILASTER, LDGE, LEDGE, CORNICE, SOLID_ZONE_RECTANGULAR, or SOLID_ZONE_TAPERED.
The add-on family must have the Material parameter and CONSTRUCTION_PRODUCT parameter set up as an instance parameters.
If you are creating a connection family that you intend to nest one or more add-on families into then this parent family must include the following:
It must have the ADDON_MATERIAL parameter and CONSTRUCTION_PRODUCT parameter both set up as an instance parameters.
Certain parameters from the nested add-on family must be linked to parameters from the parent family:
- Material (nested addon family) → ADDON_MATERIAL (parent family)
- CONSTRUCTION_PRODUCT (nested add-on family) → CONSTRUCTION_PRODUCT (parent family)
If these rules are followed then nested addon families will be processed correctly by the Add-on Hosting Updater. It is important to note that you should only nest more than one add-on into a parent family if all nested add-ons within that family are going to be placed on the same structural framing element within the model and would also all have the same material. If this is not true, then the Add-on Hosting Updater may not assign the expected values to all nested add-ons. Instead, the add-ons should be placed as separate instances in the model in order to be processed correctly by the Add-on Hosting Updater.