How to Parametrize Details in BricsCAD BIM

Quick answer: BIMPARAMETRIZEDETAIL automatically generates parameters for a saved detail, standard ones like angles, offsets in different directions, and tolerance parameters, forming a framework that controls the position and shape of the reference solids. Extend this framework with custom constraints, evaluate their effect by animating parameters in the Mechanical Browser panel (the same panel covered on this hub’s using parametrize page), and use framework parameters directly in those constraints’ expressions.

Parametrizing a Wall-Slab Connection: A Worked Example

1. Click the detail in the Details panel to open its DWG file; the View Detail dialog displays.
2. Click Parametrize, or click Open and run BIMPARAMETRIZEDETAIL; the detail DWG opens and parametrizes.
3. Open the Mechanical Browser panel via its button in the tool panel set (if not visible, right-click a toolbar or ribbon panel, expand Panels, and select Mechanical Browser, or run MECHANICALBROWSEROPEN).

The Mechanical Browser organizes into: Parameters (right-click one for a context menu: Geometry-driven, Create design table for driving parametric block parameters, Animate, Delete, Renumerate similar nodes, Collapse all, Expand all), Tolerance Parameters (shows the maximum and minimum variation an angle, thickness, or dimension can have from its original value), Constraints (add, modify, or delete them; default constraints are auto-generated linking the detail volume and objects to the reference solids, and can be replaced), Bodies (the model’s bodies), and Component (the detail file’s own properties).

Editing generated parameters changes the detail directly:

• Changing Thickness_Ply1_Wall_30_31 from 40 to 70 visibly changes the detail in the model space.
• Changing Angle_32_30 from 90 to 120 changes the angle between wall and slab, and triggers a warning: since AngularTolerance was set to 10, it automatically updates to 30 to match the 30-degree change you just made. Click OK to accept.

Parametrizing a Structural Steel Connection: A Worked Example

1. Click the detail in the Details panel; the View Detail dialog displays.
2. Click Parametrize, or click Open and run BIMPARAMETRIZEDETAIL; the detail DWG opens and parametrizes.
3. Open the Mechanical Browser.

Worth noting: for connections between linear reference solids specifically, only the framework parameters generate automatically, you’ll need to manually add constraints defining how the detail objects relate to the reference solids. In this example, three coincidence constraints were added manually: two keeping the connection planes of a triangular steel plate coincident with the column and girder flanges, and one keeping the girder’s end section coincident with the column flange. Add these constraints before or after running the parametrize tool, adding them afterward lets you see how the reference solids respond to new parameter values, making it clearer which constraints are actually needed.

Editing parameters here works the same way:

• Changing Angle2_Beam_2E from -28.1931013282 to -40 changes the column and girder, triggering a warning: AngularTolerance was 10, and automatically updates to 11.8069 to match the actual degree change. Click OK.
• Changing Offset1_Beam_2E from 0 to 200 moves the girder 200 mm downward, triggering a warning: OffsetTolerance was 31, and automatically updates to 200 to match the actual offset change. Click OK.

Propagating a Parametrized Detail in a Project

Two methods propagate a saved, parametrized detail: through the Details Panel (propagates a detail from the project to every similar connection in the project), or with BIMPROPAGATEFROMFILE (propagates a detail from an external file).

A non-parametrized detail gets fewer suggestions from BIMPROPAGATE, since it can only match fewer possible locations. For example, a non-parametrized wall-slab connection detail won’t propagate to a location with a different composition, or where a ply differs by even 10 mm from the original. Parametrizing the detail solves this: BIMPROPAGATE can then adapt the detail to situations that differ from the original (a different corner, a smaller profile, and so on), within limits you control via the tolerance parameters.

The Tolerance Parameters

• Angular: the tolerance on the detail’s angle parameters, in degrees; target angles can’t deviate from the original by more than this.
• Dimension: the tolerance for profile dimensions of linear reference solids; target widths and heights can’t deviate from the original by more than this.
• Offset: the tolerance for the detail’s offset parameters; target offsets can’t deviate from the original by more than this.
• Thickness: the tolerance for the total thickness of planar reference solids; target thicknesses can’t deviate from the original by more than this.

Propagating with Tolerance: A Worked Example

Consider a project with many similar connections, but where the connection angles vary, and the lower beam in a truss has a different profile size than the upper beam. Propagating the detail with AngularTolerance set to 0 degrees only propagates to connections with the exact same angle as the original. Changing AngularTolerance to 45 degrees instead propagates the detail to every similar connection, since none of them exceed that tolerance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does BIMPROPAGATE offer fewer suggestions for a detail that hasn’t been parametrized? It can only match locations that are essentially identical to the original; parametrizing lets it adapt the detail to situations that differ within your tolerance limits.

Do all Propagate variants generate the same set of parameters automatically? No, connections between linear reference solids specifically only get the framework parameters automatically, you need to add coincidence constraints manually to define detail object behaviour.

What happens if I change a parameter beyond its current tolerance value? A warning appears, and the relevant tolerance parameter automatically updates to match the actual change you made.

What’s the difference between propagating via the Details Panel and BIMPROPAGATEFROMFILE? The Details Panel propagates a detail already in your project to similar connections within that same project; BIMPROPAGATEFROMFILE instead propagates a detail sourced from an external file.