Split by Pattern

Split by Pattern

Draw or import lines over a floor, wall or flat roof and turn every closed cell they form into its own floor, wall, roof or Part. Every cell is shown in a preview before anything changes, and the whole run is one Revit undo step named Split based on pattern.

When to use it

• A paving, tiling, cladding or slab layout drawn as lines that should become individual elements you can schedule, tag and assign materials to.
• A feature wall or facade panel layout where every region needs its own wall.
• A material or finish split that should stay on the original element: the plugin divides it into Parts instead of replacing it.
• A pattern that already exists in a DWG: the visible lines of an import or link are used as they are.

How to use

1. Draw the pattern. Use model lines, detail lines, or place or link a DWG. Every line must meet another line or cross the edge of the element, so that closed cells form. Work in a plan view for floors and roofs and in an elevation parallel to the wall for walls.
2. Open Split by Pattern from BimCode's plugin list inside Revit. If the floor, wall or roof and its lines are already selected, click Use Revit selection. Otherwise click Pick target, then Pick pattern and finish the pick in Revit.
3. Choose the result. Separate elements makes one new floor, wall or flat roof per cell and removes the original. Parts on the original keeps the element and divides it into Parts, one per cell.
4. Click Preview cells. Orange cells are what will be created, green is your pattern and the dark outline is the target. The count, the areas and a numbered list of cells appear under the preview. Nothing changes in the model yet.
5. Click Split into elements (or Create Parts). The new elements are selected when the run finishes. Ctrl+Z restores the original.

The screens

• Workbench — the left column is the three-step flow: result, source, action. The right side is the preview with its cell list.
• Advanced settings — folded away under the steps. It holds the gap tolerance, the smallest cell to keep, the keep original switch and the curve output (match the original curves, smooth splines, ellipses, circular arcs or straight segments). The fold opens on its own whenever one of these is set away from its default, and shows the active values while closed.
• Help — the walk-through, the rules for each element kind, the curve options explained, tutorials and a troubleshooting list.

Good to know

• Pattern lines are never deleted. A loop inside another loop becomes an opening in the outer cell, so cells never overlap.
• Floors must be flat and not shape-edited. Walls must be straight, vertical basic walls without doors, windows, openings or top/base attachments; curved, slanted, tapered, curtain and stacked walls are blocked. Roofs must be flat footprint roofs without slope arrows or shape edits — for any other roof use Parts on the original.
• Parts on the original divides the largest flat top face (floors, roofs) or outside face (walls). An element that already has Parts is blocked, so two divisions can never mix.
• Before it commits, the plugin checks that every cell was created with the expected area and openings. If a single cell is missing, moved or reshaped, the whole run is rolled back and the original stays untouched.
• For a DWG, hide the layers you do not want (hatches, text, grids) with Visibility/Graphics before you pick it — every visible line counts.
• Limits: 6,000 line segments and 500 cells per run. Simplify the drawing or work in smaller areas if a limit is reported.
• Test a new pattern on a copy or a detached model first, and review joins, dimensions, tags and schedules before issuing.