FamilyFamilyCategory Property

Retrieves or sets a Category object that represents the category or sub category in which the elements ( this family could generate ) reside.

Namespace: Autodesk.Revit.DB
Assembly: RevitAPI (in RevitAPI.dll) Version: 27.0.4.0 (27.0.4.0)
Syntax
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public Category FamilyCategory { get; set; }

Property Value

Category
Exceptions
ExceptionCondition
ArgumentException Thrown when the input category cannot be assigned to this family.
ArgumentNullException Thrown when the input category is .
Remarks
All category objects can be retrieved from the application by using the Categories property of the Application.Settings object.
Example
C#
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public void GetBeamAndColumnSymbols(Document document)
{
   List<FamilySymbol> columnTypes = new List<FamilySymbol>();
   List<FamilySymbol> framingTypes = new List<FamilySymbol>();
    FilteredElementCollector collector = new FilteredElementCollector(document);
    ICollection<Element> elements = collector.OfClass(typeof(Family)).ToElements();

    foreach(Element element in elements)
    {
        Family family = element as Family;
        Category category = family.FamilyCategory;
        if (null != category)
        {
            ISet<ElementId> familySymbolIds = family.GetFamilySymbolIds();
            if (BuiltInCategory.OST_StructuralColumns == category.BuiltInCategory)
            {
                foreach (ElementId id in familySymbolIds)
                {
                    FamilySymbol symbol = family.Document.GetElement(id) as FamilySymbol;
                    columnTypes.Add(symbol);
                }
            }
            else if (BuiltInCategory.OST_StructuralFraming == category.BuiltInCategory)
            {
                foreach (ElementId id in familySymbolIds)
                {
                    FamilySymbol symbol = family.Document.GetElement(id) as FamilySymbol;
                    framingTypes.Add(symbol);
                }
            }
        }
    }

    string message = "Column Types: ";
    foreach (FamilySymbol familySymbol in columnTypes)
    {
       message += "\n" + familySymbol.Name;
    }

    TaskDialog.Show("Revit",message);
}
See Also