BIMIO Inlay

Goal. Register an Excel file, sheet and range as a linked table, ready to be drawn.

1. Click + Add Excel table on the toolbar (or in the empty state if there are no tables yet).The standard Windows file dialog opens, filtered to .xlsx and .xlsm.
2. Select the Excel file and confirm.The file can be open in Excel at the time; Inlay reads it anyway.
3. In the Add Excel table dialog, choose the sheet from the SHEET drop-down.When you choose a sheet, the RANGE field is filled in automatically with that sheet's used range (for example A1:G24) and a note shows its size. If the sheet is empty, the field is filled with A1:E10 as a starting point and the note warns you that the sheet appears to be empty, so that you can type the correct range yourself.

   

   assets/shots/inlay/fig-03.pngThe Add Excel table dialog with the sheet drop-down open, the proposed range in the RANGE field and the Used range note below.

4. Adjust the range in the RANGE field if you do not want the proposal.As you type, Inlay shows how many cells the range covers. From 5,000 cells it warns you that drawing will create a large number of elements; above 50,000 cells the link is blocked and you must narrow the range.
5. Tick the target views: Drafting view (ticked by default) and/or Legend view.You must tick at least one. Remember: drafting views are created automatically, but a legend must already exist in the project.
6. Click Add.You can also confirm with Enter (Add is the default button) or close without linking with Esc or the Cancel button. The table appears in the list with the Not drawn status, remains selected and its preview loads on the right. The status message reads Linked. Press Draw to place it.

• If the range includes rows or columns hidden in Excel, do not worry: they will be skipped when drawing, just as when printing the sheet.
• You can link several ranges from the same file: each one is an independent link with its own status.

Goal. Turn the linked range into real Revit geometry inside a drafting view.

1. Click the table's row to select it and review the preview on the right.The preview shows exactly what will be drawn, with the sheet - range - rows x columns summary above it.
2. Check that the row's Drafting tick box is ticked.
3. Click Draw / Update in Revit (or the Draw button that appears when you hover over the row).Inlay reads the Excel file again, creates a drafting view named Inlay - <file name> at 1:1 scale and draws the table anchored at the view's origin. Everything happens in a single transaction named BIMIO Inlay — Draw.

   

   assets/shots/inlay/fig-04.pngA newly created drafting view in Revit showing the drawn table with fills, text and borders identical to the Excel file.

4. Review the result: Revit takes you automatically to the newly created view.The row's status changes to Up to date. If there were warnings (for example, a cell that could not be drawn), the message shows how many and the pill's tooltip lists the details.
5. Place the drafting view on whichever sheet you want, like any other view.Later updates reuse that same view, so the table placed on sheets does not shift position.

• The whole draw is a single transaction: a single Ctrl+Z reverts it completely.
• Do not change the drafting view's scale: the table is plotted at a ratio of 1 Excel point = 1 mm on paper on a 1:1 view.

Goal. Place the table in a legend view, choosing the exact point where it is anchored.

1. Create or locate the target legend in Revit if it does not exist yet.Revit does not allow add-ins to create legends, so Inlay needs one that already exists.
2. Activate the legend in Revit (make it the open, active view).With the legend active, Inlay will let you mark the anchor with a click. If you draw with no legend active and no previous anchor, Inlay will use the first legend in the project at its origin and will warn you.
3. In Inlay, tick the row's Legend tick box and click Draw / Update in Revit.
4. When Revit prompts you, click in the legend to mark the table's top-left corner.The Revit prompt reads Pick the top-left anchor for the table in this legend. That point is stored: you are never asked again. If you cancel the pick with Esc, the table is placed at the legend's origin.

   

   assets/shots/inlay/fig-05.pngAn active legend view in Revit with the point-picking cursor and the table about to be placed.

5. Check the table drawn in the legend.In future updates, Inlay recognises that same legend by its identifier and redraws at the same anchor, even if another view is active.

• The same table can have both tick boxes ticked and be drawn in a drafting view and a legend at the same time.
• If you picked the wrong legend, unticking and re-ticking the box is not enough: the remembered target is kept. To change it, untick Legend, click Draw / Update in Revit (the redraw forgets the previous legend), tick Legend again, activate the correct legend and draw again: Inlay will ask you for a new anchor with a click.

Goal. Find out which tables have fallen out of date with their Excel files and bring them up to date.

1. Click Refresh on the toolbar.Inlay checks each file: if the date and size have not changed, the table stays Up to date without opening the file. If the file changed, it reads the range, computes its fingerprint and compares it with the one from the last draw.
2. Watch the status pills: tables whose content or formatting differs change to Excel pending.The message at the bottom summarises how many tables have pending changes. If the file's date changed but the range is identical, the table remains Up to date: no false alarms.

   

   assets/shots/inlay/fig-06.pngThe table list after a Refresh with two rows marked with the amber Excel pending pill and the Update all pending button visible on the toolbar.

3. Click Update all pending to redraw all the pending tables at once.This button only appears when there are pending tables. You can also update a single one with its Draw button. The update deletes the previous geometry and redraws it in the same view and at the same anchor.
4. Check the final summary in the status bar.It shows how many tables were updated and, if any failed, points you to that row's status for the reason.

• Refresh also detects problems on the Revit side: if someone deleted the view or the drawn elements, the table changes to Missing in model so you know it needs redrawing.
• The check is manual: Inlay does not watch the files in the background. Get into the habit of clicking Refresh when you open the window.

Goal. Redraw a subset of tables in bulk, whether they are pending or not.

1. Tick the box in the first column of each table you want to redraw.
2. Click Draw selected on the toolbar.The button is only enabled when at least one row is ticked. The progress bar advances table by table.
3. Review the summary: Updated N selected table(s), or the failure count if any could not be drawn.Each row keeps its own status and its tooltip with the warnings.

• It is useful after changing the project's text types or styles: a bulk redraw regenerates every table with the current state of its Excel file.

Goal. Decide whether a table is drawn in a drafting view, in a legend or in both.

1. In the row's IN VIEW(S) column, tick or untick the Drafting and Legend tick boxes.The change is saved to the model instantly, with no confirmation button.
2. Click Draw / Update in Revit to apply the change in the model.Drawing deletes the link's previous geometry and draws only in the ticked targets. If you untick both and try to draw, Inlay warns: No target view selected (Drafting or Legend).

• Bear in mind that removing a target and redrawing removes the table from that target: the redraw is always complete.

Goal. Recover a table whose source file is no longer at the stored path.

1. Locate the row with the Source missing pill and hover over it.The pill's tooltip shows the path where the file was looked for. On hover, the Relink button appears instead of Draw.

   

   assets/shots/inlay/fig-07.pngA list row with the Source missing pill replaced on hover by the Relink and Remove buttons.

2. Click Relink and choose the Excel file in its new location.
3. In the sheet and range dialog, confirm (or correct) the new file's sheet and range and click Add.It is the same dialog as when linking; it even lets you point to a different sheet or range if the file's structure changed.
4. Click Draw to redraw the table from the new source.Relinking keeps the views and anchors already drawn: the table updates in place. The message reminds you: Relinked. Press Draw to update the table.

• Relink is also useful for deliberately redirecting a table to a different file, for example the final version of a schedule that used to be a draft.

Goal. Remove the link and delete the drawn geometry from the model.

1. Hover over the row and click the red Remove button.
2. Read the Remove linked table? confirmation dialog and click Remove & delete to confirm (or Cancel to abort).The warning explains that the link and the drawn elements (fills, text and borders) are deleted. The geometry can be recovered with Ctrl+Z in Revit, but the link record cannot.

   

   assets/shots/inlay/fig-08.pngThe Remove linked table? confirmation dialog with the Remove & delete and Cancel buttons.

3. Check that the row disappears from the list and the model geometry has been deleted.Deleting the geometry and the record happens in a single transaction named BIMIO Inlay — Remove.

• If you only want to pause updates without losing the drawn table, do not remove it: simply do not click Draw after a Refresh.