Free Revit Add-In of the Week: SheetLink

Welcome back to free Revit add-ins month! The second free add-in we will explore this month is called Sheetlink. It is made by DiRoots. It allows you to sync data between Revit and Excel.

There is a lot of add-ins that allows you to export and import to Excel. What makes Sheetlink special is that you have multiple options to do so and the graphic interface is extremely helpful.

You can download the add-in here: https://diroots.com/plugins/sheetlink-revit-to-excel/

What would you actually use this add-in for? In the example below we export data to a Excel spreadsheet, modify the spreadsheet and import back to Revit. You can see we use this plugin to modify the Comments parameter of a few doors.

When the spreadsheet is imported back, parameters are modified in the model.

Getting Started With SheetLink

Here is an overview of the Sheetlink menu interface:

On the left area of the menu, you pick what kind of elements you want to export from. We will explore the different ways you can do so.

Select Elements by Category

The default option to create an excel file is Categories. That means you have to pick a category of elements. In this example, we select the doors category.

Adjust the Selection Option

By default, all doors in the model will be included in the exported excel file. At the top of the menu, you can modify the Selection option. Instead of using Whole Model, you can switch to Active View, which will select all doors from the current active view. That means if you are inside level 1 view, only the doors visible in that view will be included.

You can also pick the New Selection option, which will let you create a selection window to pick specific elements.

Once your selection is done, you will have to select the specific elements you want to include in your exported excel file.

Select the Parameters

You now have multiple doors selected. Sheetlink will ask you to pick which parameter you want to export. This part is similar to creating schedules in Revit: use the arrows to add specific parameters.

As you notice, Sheetlink has a great color code to differentiate parameters:

Alternative: Use an Existing Schedule

Instead of selecting specific elements and picking parameters like we just did, you can simply select an existing Revit schedule. On your left, select the Schedules option in the Type dropdown menu.

Then, select a specific schedule in your Revit model. In this example, we use the DOOR SCHEDULE.

If you pick this option, you don’t have to select parameters. The parameters included in the schedule will be automatically included. The parameters will be using the name you set in the schedule header. That means it might not show the “native” name of the parameter. Be careful with that.

Export to Excel

We just saw a couple of different ways to select elements and parameters.

Now, let’s export to Excel. Click on “Export to…”.

Click on export to save a .xlsx file. Open the file in Excel or in any other spreadsheet reader.

As you notice, the spreadsheet is well organized with a color code. Sheetlink will always add the Element ID parameter. This is the “invisible” unique number of the element. Dynamo users should be familiar with this number.

Type parameters are displayed in yellow. Be careful when you modify type parameters. You need to make sure they are the same to all instances of the same type.

There are instructions you can access when changing the sheet at the bottom.

Modify the Spreadsheet

Let’s add our own values to the spreadsheet. In this case, we fill out the Comments parameter for multiple doors. Save the file and close.

Import the Spreadsheet Back

Let’s import the spreadsheet back to our model. Open the Sheetlink menu again. Click on Import from…. Select the excel file you’ve just modified.

You should receive the Model Updated Successfully message.

Have a look at the DOOR SCHEDULE we have originally exported. As you can see, the comments we filled up in excel have been modified in the Revit schedule.

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