RDS VNCC: Revit plugin for room data and finish materials
RDS VNCC (Room Data Sheet) was developed by the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering (IIC), Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, to order for Vietnam National Construction Consultants JSC (VNCC). The plugin reads the room data sheet from Excel into Revit, checks for differences between the two, builds finish floors, ceilings, walls and skirtings by material code, then exports back to Excel, Word and Room Schedule.
From the room data sheet in Excel to finish layers in the Revit model
You prepare a Revit model with numbered Rooms and an Excel file of room data, organised by Level or by Zone, for example a medical examination and treatment block. RDS VNCC matches each Excel row to a Room by Room Number, writes the room name and the floor, ceiling and wall finish codes to shared parameters, then keeps comparing the two sources to report which rooms differ.
- Reads and checks the Excel file, and flags rooms whose Room Number is not in the model
- Room data table with filters by level, room number, sync status and modelling status
- Double-click a row to open the floor plan, zoom to the room and select the matching Room
- Builds finish floors, ceilings, walls and skirtings from each room's material codes and offsets
- Warns when floors or ceilings break after walls are edited, with an auto-fix button
- Shared Material and Type libraries, stored locally, in the cloud or in Excel
- Exports to Excel for editing and re-import, exports Room Data Sheets to Word, creates Room Schedules by level
- Keeps a change history and restores room data to an earlier point
Five command groups on the ribbon
The buttons are enabled only when an account has been registered and activated on the computer.
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Material library
Material manages materials in a folder tree, with description, colour and pattern. Type manages floor, ceiling, wall and skirting types layer by layer.
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Input data
Open and check Excel reads the room data sheet into the model. Export Excel writes the current data to a file for editing and re-import.
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Room setup
Data table opens the interface for managing all rooms: filter, edit material codes and offsets, build finish elements, view history.
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Reports
Export Word creates Room Data Sheets for the selected rooms. Room Schedule creates schedules for each level and for the whole project.
The fifth group, Account, has Check account and Manage account for registered computers.
Where RDS VNCC stores data in Revit
The plugin uses built-in Revit parameters and shared parameters, so the project's schedules and tags can read the data without the plugin.
| Data | Stored in |
|---|---|
| Room name, floor, ceiling and wall finish codes | Room Name and the Room's finish shared parameters, matched by Room Number |
| Finish elements built | Ids of the finish floors, ceilings and walls, written to the Room's shared parameters |
| Materials created from the library | Name distinguished by prefix code, material detail in Description, notes in Comments, folder tree position in Keynote |
| Floor, ceiling and wall types | Layers and thicknesses in Edit Assembly, layer description in Description, notes in Type Comments, type code in Type Mark |
| Type projects | A .json file stored locally or in the cloud, or an Excel file in the template format |
Producing Room Data Sheets with RDS VNCC, step by step
1. Read room data from Excel
Click Open and check Excel in the Input data group, then select the room data file.
- Rooms with a matching Room Number get their Room Name and finish codes.
- Excel rows whose Room Number is not found in the model are reported as errors so you can add them.
2. Open the room data table
Click Data table. The table lists every room with its level, number, name, modelling status, area, finish codes and sync status. Click the header of each tab to collapse or expand it.
3. Filter the list
In the Filter tab, filter by room name or number, by level, by finish code sync status and by modelling status, and choose the columns to show. Click Reset filter to see everything again.
4. Edit material codes and offsets
Click a row to see the room details. In the material tab, change the finish code and click Confirm. In the Model tab, adjust the floor offset, the wall Base Offset and Top Offset, the skirting height and the ceiling offset.
5. Build finish elements
Select the rooms and click Create element. In the Create finish elements dialog, choose what to build (Floor, Wall, Ceiling), enter the offset and click Start. The Ids of the new elements are written to the Room's shared parameters.
After editing finish elements by hand, click Confirm model as is so the table re-reads the model. When a floor or ceiling breaks after a wall changes, RDS VNCC opens a list of errors by room. Click an element to zoom to it, click Auto fix to rebuild it, or click Ignore to accept it.
6. Update when the Excel file changes
Click Update from Excel to re-read the file. If any rooms differ, the interface shows a notice. Click the green button to filter the changed rooms, select the rooms to accept and click Apply. The data is updated in the table and in the model at the same time.
7. View and restore history
Click History, pick a point and click Change details. The table switches to the data at that point. Click Confirm restore to go back to it.
8. Manage the Material library
Click Material. The plugin reads the valid materials in the project and shows them in a folder tree.
- Type a name in the search box to filter materials.
- Click Add new at a folder level and enter a prefix and a name. Actual materials sit at the lowest level.
- Select a material, click Edit Identity to edit the description, and click Apply to save.
- Click Reload from Excel to read the library from the template file, either adding to it or replacing it completely.
- Click Create materials to generate Materials in the project, with colours and patterns read from Excel.
9. Manage floor, ceiling and wall types
Click Type. The project list includes template projects, local projects, cloud projects and projects read from Excel, marked by labels. Types fall into four groups: floor, ceiling, wall and skirting.
- Click Add new element type, then Add layer. Each layer has a material code, a thickness and a Core flag.
- Click Multi-select to Duplicate, Delete or Copy types to the current project.
- Click the cloud icon to Upload, Download or delete .json type projects in the cloud.
- Click Export Excel, Save project or Open project to exchange type data.
Click Create elements to generate the types in the project. Choose Yes to delete the old types and create all of them again, or No to keep existing types and add only the missing ones.
10. Export reports
- Export Excel: choose where to save. The file can be edited and read back in step 1.
- Export Word: select the rooms, click Export Word and choose the folder for the Room Data Sheets.
- Room Schedule: the plugin creates a schedule for each level and one overall schedule for the whole project.
Developer and ownership
- Name
- RDS VNCC – Room Data Sheet for Autodesk Revit
- Version
- Phase 2: adds the Material and Type libraries and floor and ceiling error warnings
- Developer
- Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering (IIC), Hanoi University of Civil Engineering (SDC)
- Client
- Vietnam Industrial and Urban Construction Consultants JSC (VNCC)
- Ownership
- Developed to order for VNCC; usage rights under the agreement between VNCC and IIC
- Platform
- Autodesk Revit 2022 and 2024 on Windows (the demo video runs on Revit 2024); activated per registered account
- Input and output
- Excel (.xlsx), Word (.docx), JSON, Revit Schedule
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