BIMIO Select | User guide

Overview

Select is BIMIO's rule-based selection tool. Instead of picking elements one by one, you define rules: a combination of model categories and conditions on parameters, family, type, material or flipped state. Each rule works as a saved filter with its own colour, its live element count and its detailed list.

With rules ticked you can do several things at once: select all matching elements in the model, colour them in one or more views using each rule's colour, clear those colours, or temporarily isolate and hide them for a coordination review. You can also switch on Live mode so the colouring keeps itself up to date automatically while you model.

The window is modeless: it stays open while you work in Revit, so you can switch between modelling and filtering without closing anything. Rules are stored inside the project itself (they travel with the .rvt file) and can also be exported and imported as JSON to share them between projects or with your team.

Who it's for

Architects, modellers and BIM managers who need to locate, audit or highlight sets of elements by their data: checking empty parameters, reviewing fire walls by rating, seeing which walls sit on each level, spotting badly named families or preparing coloured coordination views.

Requirements

Revit 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 with the BIMIO suite installed.
An open project document (rules are evaluated against the active document).
To colour, isolate or hide: a view that is not a view template (the view picker only offers printable views; view templates are never a target).
To export rules or listings: write permissions in the destination folder.

Where to find it

BIMIO tab→View panel→Select button

If the window is already open, pressing the button again simply brings it to the front: only one Select window exists per session.

The window is titled BIMIO · Select and is modeless: you can keep working in Revit while it is open.

Key concepts 8 terms

Rule: A saved filter with a name, a colour, one or more Revit categories and a list of conditions. An element belongs to the rule when its category is in the list AND its conditions are met according to the match mode. If the rule has no categories ticked, it applies to any category; if it has no conditions, it matches every element in its categories.

Condition: An individual check within the rule, which reads like a sentence: subject (Parameter, Family, Type, Material or Flipped), a parameter where applicable, an operator (equals, contains, is greater than, is between, is one of, exists...) and a value when the operator needs one.

Match all / any: How a rule's conditions are combined: all requires every condition to be met (logical AND); any is satisfied when just one is met (logical OR).

Count: The number of model elements that currently satisfy the rule. It is calculated when the window opens and when you press the refresh button; when you edit or add a rule, only that rule is recalculated. Pressing the count opens the detailed element list.

Rule colour: Each rule has its own colour, shown as a small square next to the name. It is the colour its elements are painted with when you use Colour or Live: a solid fill in the rule's colour with edges 30 per cent darker so the shapes remain readable.

Target views (Colour in): Where the colouring is applied: by default the active view (dynamic: always whichever view is open at that moment), and optionally a fixed selection of views chosen in the picker. Isolate, Hide, Reset and Clear use the same target.

Live: Automatic colouring mode. While it is on, Select listens for model changes and repaints added or modified elements that satisfy the ticked rules, and unpaints those that no longer do, without pressing Colour every time. It only removes colours it applied itself, never yours.

Project index: A reading of the model (categories, parameters per category, actual values, levels, worksets, families, types) that feeds the rule editor's drop-downs so you do not have to type from memory. It is cached on disk so the editor opens instantly; the refresh button clears that cache so the next time the editor opens it reads the model again.

The interface

The main window is a list of rules with a toolbar at the top and an action bar at the bottom. The header shows the Rules title and a subtitle with the project name and how many rules there are. Each rule row has, from left to right: a checkbox to tick it, its colour square (clickable to change it), the name with a summary line of categories and conditions, a button with the element count (clickable to view the list) and a pencil to edit.

The footer actions (Select, Colour, Clear, Isolate, Hide) always act on the rules ticked with their checkbox; if none is ticked, the tool tells you so. The status line beneath the buttons shows the result of the last action, for example how many elements were selected or coloured.

Main BIMIO · Select window with four or five rules in the list, each with its colour, summary and count; two rules ticked with their checkbox; in the footer, Colour in Active view, the Live toggle, the Isolate/Hide/Reset group and the Colour, Clear, Select and Done buttons.

Header and toolbarOn the left, the Rules title with the subtitle Project · N rules. On the right: the Duplicate and Delete group (appears when there are rules and acts on the ticked ones), the circular refresh button (recalculates counts and regenerates the project index), the buttons to import and export rules as JSON, and the blue + Rule button to create a new rule.

Rule listOne row per rule with a checkbox, colour, name, summary (categories plus the first conditions, joined by AND or OR), count and edit pencil. The header checkbox ticks or unticks all rules at once. Double-clicking a row opens the editor; Ctrl-click or Shift-click highlights several rows, and ticking the checkbox of a highlighted row applies the tick to all highlighted rows at once.

Action bar (footer)On the left, Colour in with the target view picker and the Live toggle. In the centre, the Isolate | Hide | Reset group for temporary isolation and hiding in the target views. On the right, the Colour button (paints the ticked rules), Clear (removes the colours), Select (selects the elements in the model) and Done (closes the window). Below, the status line with the result of the last action.

Rule editor (Edit rule window)Opens when you create or edit a rule. It contains the rule's colour and name, a collapsible Applies to categories card (search box, Only selected toggle, Select all and Clear buttons, and the category list with checkboxes and Ctrl/Shift multi-selection) and a Conditions card with the match all/any selector and the condition rows. Each condition has drop-downs for subject, parameter, operator and value, plus remove (x) and add (+) buttons; if you remove all conditions, the + Add condition button appears to create the first one. At the bottom, Cancel and Save rule.

Rule elements window (element list)Opens when you press a rule's count. A table with Id, Category and Name, a free-text filter, the Columns… button to add parameter columns, Export CSV and Export HTML, a totals line that sums the visible numeric columns, and the Zoom to, Select in model and Close buttons.

Auxiliary pickersColour in views: a view picker with a search box, an Active view checkbox, a header checkbox to tick or untick all visible views, the list of the project's printable views (supports the same Ctrl/Shift multi-selection) and Cancel and Done buttons. Rule colour: a palette of 40 colours (pastel, light, normal, dark and grey tones) plus a hexadecimal field with a preview and a Use hex button.

Step-by-step workflows 9 workflows

Tick each step as you go — your progress is saved in this browser, so you can pick up where you left off.

1

Create a new rule

7 steps

Goal. Define a saved filter with categories, conditions and its own colour.

Press + Rule in the top-right corner of the window.The Edit rule editor opens with an empty condition ready to fill in.
assets/shots/select/fig-03.pngFreshly opened Edit rule editor, with the name field empty and the Applies to categories and Conditions cards.
Type a descriptive name in the Rule name field.For example: Exterior walls Level 1. It is mandatory: the rule cannot be saved without a name.
Press the colour square next to the name if you want to change the rule's colour.Choose a colour from the palette or type a hexadecimal value (for example #FF3B30) and press Use hex.
In Applies to categories, tick the categories the rule applies to.Use the search box to find them, Select all and Clear to tick or untick the visible ones, and the Only selected toggle to show only the ticked ones. If you tick none, the rule applies to any category. With Ctrl or Shift you can highlight several rows and tick them all at once with a single checkbox.
assets/shots/select/fig-04.pngCategories card with the text wall in the search box and the Walls and Curtain Walls categories ticked.
In Conditions, build each condition like a sentence: subject, parameter, operator and value.The subject can be Parameter, Family, Type, Material or Flipped. For Parameter, the parameter drop-down is filtered by the chosen categories and the value drop-down offers the actual values that exist in the model; you can also type your own. The + button adds more conditions and the x removes them; if you remove them all, the + Add condition button creates the first one again.
assets/shots/select/fig-05.pngCondition row reading like a sentence: Parameter, Fire Rating, equals, 2HR.
Choose match all or match any in the header of the Conditions card.all requires every condition to be met; any is satisfied with one. If you leave the rule without conditions, it will match every element in the chosen categories.
Press Save rule.The rule appears in the list with its count already calculated and is saved in the project automatically.

Result. A new rule in the list, with a live count, ready to select, colour or isolate its elements.

Level, type and workset are filtered as parameters: use Parameter with Base Constraint (or the appropriate level parameter), Type or Workset, and the value drop-down will offer the actual levels, types or worksets in the model.
For numeric values, type in the project's display units: in a project in millimetres, 3000 means 3000 mm.
The is one of operator accepts a semicolon-separated list (60;90;120) and is between a min..max range (100..200); you can leave one end open (..200 or 100..).
The matches operator accepts the wildcards * (any text) and ? (a single character).

2

Select the elements that satisfy one or more rules

3 steps

Goal. Turn the rules into a real Revit selection so you can edit, tag or inspect it.

Tick the checkbox of the rules you want to apply.The header checkbox ticks or unticks all rules at once; you can also highlight several rows with Ctrl or Shift and tick one of them to tick the whole group. If you tick none, the tool will ask you to do so.
Press Select in the footer of the window.All elements satisfying any of the ticked rules are selected in the model (the union, without duplicates).
assets/shots/select/fig-06.pngSelect window with two rules ticked and, behind it, the Revit view with the matching elements highlighted as a selection.
Read the status line to confirm the result.It shows, for example, 148 element(s) selected. or No elements matched the chosen rule(s).

Result. The matching elements are selected in Revit, ready for any subsequent operation (filtering properties, isolating, bulk editing…). The window stays open.

The selection is evaluated against the whole document, not just the active view: it may include elements that are not visible in the current view.

3

Colour the matching elements in one or more views

4 steps

Goal. Paint each set of elements with its rule's colour for visual reviews or coordination sheets.

Tick the rules you want to paint.
Press the views button next to Colour in if you want to paint more than the active view.In the picker you can keep the Active view checkbox (always paints whichever view is open at that moment) and additionally tick specific views from the list; the search box filters by view name or type. Press Done to confirm. The button label reflects your choice, for example Active view + 2 views.
assets/shots/select/fig-07.pngColour in views picker with the Active view checkbox ticked and two floor plans ticked in the list.
Press Colour.Each rule paints its elements with its colour: a solid fill with slightly darker edges. Everything is applied in a single transaction, so a single Ctrl+Z undoes it.
assets/shots/select/fig-08.pngPlan view with walls painted blue and doors painted orange according to two rules.
To remove the colours, tick the same rules and press Clear.It removes the graphic overrides from the matching elements in the target views.

Result. Each rule's elements are coloured in the chosen views using per-element graphic overrides; the status line reports how many overrides were applied and in how many views.

If an element satisfies several ticked rules, it will end up with the colour of one of them (rules are painted in order and the last one can overwrite the previous ones): avoid overlapping rules if the exact colour matters.
The colouring consists of normal Revit graphic overrides: they print, and can also be removed from within Revit or with Clear.

4

Keep the colouring up to date with Live

4 steps

Goal. Have the colours update themselves while you model, without pressing Colour at every change.

Tick the rules you want to keep painted and choose the target views in Colour in.
Switch on the Live toggle in the footer of the window.When it turns on, everything that matches right now is painted and, from then on, every element you add or modify is repainted or unpainted automatically depending on whether it satisfies the ticked rules.
assets/shots/select/fig-09.pngFooter of the window with the Live toggle in blue (on) next to Colour in Active view.
Keep modelling as normal.Ticking or unticking rules, changing a colour or editing a rule while Live is on forces a full repaint. Elements that stop matching are unpainted on their own, with no ghost colours.
Switch Live off when you are done.When you turn it off, the existing colours stay as they are: use Clear if you want to remove them. Closing the window also stops Live.

Result. A live colouring that reflects the real state of the model as you work, ideal for modelling against a criterion (for example, seeing at once whether a new wall is classified as a fire wall).

Live only removes the colours it applied itself: it never overwrites overrides that you or another tool put in place.
If something is not being painted, there is a technical log in the application data folder (FJV/Misc/logs/live-color.log) that helps diagnose it.

5

Temporarily isolate or hide the elements of the rules

3 steps

Goal. Review a set of elements on its own (or get it out of the way) without touching the view's permanent visibility.

Tick the rules that define the set.
Press Isolate to see only those elements, or Hide to hide them.Revit's temporary isolate/hide mode (the familiar cyan border) is applied in the target views chosen in Colour in. A new Isolate replaces the previous one instead of stacking up.
assets/shots/select/fig-10.pngRevit view with the temporary-mode cyan border and only the rule's elements visible.
Press Reset to return to normal.It switches off the temporary isolate/hide mode in the target views. It does not require any rules to be ticked.

Result. Temporary isolation or hiding, exactly like Revit's native modes: they do not modify the permanent visibility settings and disappear with Reset.

If the view does not support temporary visibility modes (some view types do not allow them), the status line will tell you.

6

Inspect a rule's element list

5 steps

Goal. See exactly which elements satisfy a rule, with their parameters, and act on a subset.

Press the count button (the number with ›) in the rule's row.The Rule elements window opens with a table of Id, Category and Name for all matching elements.
assets/shots/select/fig-11.pngRule elements window with the rule's element table and the text filter at the top.
Type in the filter box to narrow the list down.It filters by id, category, name or any value in the parameter columns you have added.
Press Columns… to add parameter columns.Choose in the picker which parameters you want to see as columns (with a search box and select-all). Your choice is remembered during the session for subsequent lists.
assets/shots/select/fig-12.pngChoose columns picker with parameters such as Area, Level and Mark ticked.
Check the totals line beneath the table.For each visible numeric column it shows the sum over the filtered rows and, in brackets, how many rows contribute a value, for example Σ Area = 1,234.5 (12) — the decimal separator is always the point. It is the quick answer to how much there is without exporting anything.
Select rows and press Select in model or Zoom to.With Ctrl or Shift you can pick several rows; if you select none, the action applies to everything visible under the current filter. Zoom to (or double-clicking a row) also frames the elements in the view.

Result. A filterable inventory of the rule's elements, with custom parameter columns, numeric totals and a direct jump to the elements in the model.

The list is a snapshot of the moment you opened it: if you change the model, close it and reopen it from the count.

7

Export the element list to CSV or HTML

3 steps

Goal. Take a rule's listing out to Excel or an HTML report to share it.

Open the rule's list by pressing its count and prepare the view: filter and columns.The export respects exactly what you see: the filtered rows and the chosen parameter columns.
Press Export CSV for an Excel file, or Export HTML for a web report.Choose a name and folder in the save dialog. The CSV is written in UTF-8 with BOM so Excel displays accented characters correctly; the HTML is a cleanly formatted report ready to send.
assets/shots/select/fig-13.pngExported HTML report open in the browser, with the rule name as the title and the element table.
The file opens automatically when it finishes.If there is no associated application, the file is still saved in the chosen folder.

Result. A CSV or HTML file with Id, category, name and the chosen parameter columns, for all rows visible under the current filter.

Add the parameter columns you need beforehand (Area, Level, Mark…): the exports include only the visible columns.

8

Manage the rules: edit, duplicate, delete, recolour and refresh

5 steps

Goal. Keep the project's rule library tidy and up to date.

To edit a rule, press its pencil or double-click the row.The editor opens with the rule loaded. The editor works on a copy: Cancel discards all changes; Save rule saves them and recalculates that rule's count.
To change only the colour, press the colour square in the row directly.The colour picker opens without going through the full editor.
To duplicate rules, tick them and press Duplicate in the top bar.Each copy appears with the suffix copy in its name; useful as a starting point for a variant.
To delete rules, tick them and press Delete.You are asked for confirmation. Bear in mind that deleting rules cannot be undone.
Press the circular refresh button when the model has changed.It recalculates the counts of all rules and clears the project index cache, so the next time the editor opens it offers the newly added parameters, values, levels and worksets. With Live on it also forces a repaint.

Result. Up-to-date rules, with counts and editor suggestions synchronised with the real state of the model.

Counts do not update on their own when the model changes: refresh whenever you need reliable figures.
Each rule internally keeps a stable identifier that travels in the exported JSON: thanks to it, the import recognises existing rules and updates them instead of duplicating them.

9

Share rules between projects (export and import JSON)

4 steps

Goal. Reuse a set of rules in another project or distribute it to the team as a standard.

In the source project, press the export button (upward arrow) in the top bar.Choose a name and folder; bimio-select-rules.json is proposed by default. The file includes all the rules plus a self-explanatory _README header with the project's real context (categories, parameters, values, levels, worksets), designed so that a person or an AI can edit or create rules directly in the JSON.
In the destination project, press the import button (downward arrow) and choose the file.
Decide in the dialog: Replace all or Add new only.The dialog only appears if the project already has rules; if there are none, the ones in the file are added directly. Replace all replaces all your rules with those in the file. Add new only adds just the new ones: those duplicated by content are skipped, and those sharing an identifier with an existing rule but which have changed are updated in place (the final summary tells you by name which ones were overwritten).
assets/shots/select/fig-14.pngImport rules dialog showing how many rules the file contains, how many appear identical, and the Replace all and Add new only options.
Review the import summary.It reports how many rules were added, updated or skipped. If the file comes from a newer version of BIMIO and contains unknown operators, those conditions are skipped and a count warns you.

Result. The set of rules becomes available in the destination project, saved in the document itself, with counts already recalculated.

Export from the project with the most complete model: the file's header captures that project's real values and makes it easier to adjust the rules afterwards.
Closing the import dialog without choosing is equivalent to the safe option, Add new only.

Options reference 9 options

Option	What it does
Per-rule checkbox and header checkbox	They set which rules the Select, Colour, Clear, Isolate and Hide actions use, as well as Duplicate and Delete. The header checkbox ticks or unticks all rules at once.
Colour in (view picker)	The target for colouring and for Isolate/Hide/Reset/Clear: the active view (dynamic, always whichever view is open at that moment), a fixed list of chosen views, or both. Only printable views that are not templates appear.
Live (toggle)	Automatic repainting while you model: it paints new or modified elements that satisfy the ticked rules and unpaints those that stop satisfying them. When switched off, the existing colours are kept.
match all / any (editor)	How the rule's conditions are combined: all of them (AND) or at least one (OR).
Category search box, Only selected, Select all and Clear (editor)	Tools for handling the category list: filtering by text, showing only the ticked ones, and ticking or unticking everything visible under the current filter.
Rule colour	A palette of 40 colours (four rows of system tones plus greys) or any #RRGGBB hexadecimal colour with a preview. Accessible from the rule's row or from the editor.
Columns… (element list)	Which parameters are shown as columns in the Rule elements window. The choice is remembered for the duration of the Revit session.
Text filter (element list)	Narrows the rows down by id, category, name or the value of any visible column; it also affects the exports and the totals.
Refresh (circular button)	Recalculates all counts and invalidates the project index cache so the editor's drop-downs reflect the current model.

What you get out

A selection of elements in Revit (the union of the ticked rules, or the subset chosen in the element list).
Per-element colour graphic overrides in the target views (a solid fill in the rule's colour with darker edges), applied in an undoable transaction.
Temporary isolation or hiding in the target views (Revit's native temporary modes).
The set of rules saved inside the project itself (it travels with the .rvt file).
An exported JSON rules file, with a self-explanatory header and project context, for sharing or editing outside Revit.
Element listings exported to CSV (UTF-8 with BOM, suitable for Excel) or to an HTML report.
An optional technical log of Live mode in the application data folder (FJV/Misc/logs/live-color.log) for diagnostics.

Pro tips 5 tips

Think of rules as saved project filters: build a library (by fire rating, by level, by workset, by badly named families…) and reuse it in every review.

For data audits, the is empty, exists and does not exist operators are gold: a Doors rule with Mark is empty instantly gives you the count and the list of unmarked doors.

Type numeric values exactly as Revit displays them (display units): 3000 for 3000 mm in a metric project.

The colouring and its clean-up are normal Revit transactions: Ctrl+Z undoes them; deleting rules, on the other hand, cannot be undone.

Before opening the editor in a large, freshly modified model, press refresh: it regenerates the index and the drop-downs will offer the new values.

Good to know

Rules evaluate model instances only (not types) and always against the whole active document, not the current view or linked models.

The matches operator uses the * and ? wildcards; there is no regular-expression support.

If an element satisfies several ticked rules, the final colour depends on the painting order: overlapping rules can overwrite one another.

The view picker only offers printable views that are not templates; Isolate and Hide additionally require the view to support temporary visibility modes.

The editor's value drop-down shows at most 400 values per parameter; you can always type the value by hand.

Counts do not update automatically when the model changes: you must press refresh (or have Live on for the repainting).

When importing a file created by a newer version of BIMIO, conditions with unknown operators are skipped (you are told how many).

Only one Select window can be open per session; when Live is switched off, the colours already applied remain until you use Clear.

Deleting rules is final: it does not go through Revit's undo.

FAQ 8 questions

Where are the rules stored? Can the rest of the team see them?

They are stored inside the Revit document itself (in the project's extensible storage), so they travel with the .rvt file: when you synchronise or share the model, the rest of the team sees the same rules. Every change to the rules is saved immediately; remember to save or synchronise the project so it persists on disk.

How do I filter by level, type or workset if they do not appear as subjects?

They are treated as parameters. Choose the Parameter subject and type or select the corresponding parameter: Base Constraint (or another level parameter), Type or Workset. The value drop-down will offer the actual levels, types or worksets in the model. Old rules that used the dedicated subjects migrate to this format automatically when you edit them.

In which units do I type numeric values?

In the project's display units, exactly as Revit shows them. In a project in millimetres, for a height greater than 3 metres type 3000. The tool converts internally to Revit's units so comparisons are correct. It accepts either a comma or a point as the decimal separator.

I have painted with Colour and now I want to remove the colours. How?

Tick the same rules and press Clear in the same target views: it removes the graphic overrides from the matching elements. Right after painting you can also undo with Ctrl+Z, because the colouring is applied in a single transaction.

A rule's count does not change even though I have modified the model. Is it a bug?

No: counts are calculated when the window opens and when you press the refresh button, not continuously (recounting the whole model on every change would be slow in large projects). Press the circular refresh button to update all counts and also the editor's index of parameters and values.

What is the difference between Colour and Live?

Colour paints once, at the moment you press it. Live keeps the painting up to date: it listens for model changes and automatically repaints or unpaints the affected elements according to the ticked rules. Live only removes colours it applied itself, and when you switch it off it leaves the colours as they are (use Clear to remove them).

Can I write or modify rules outside Revit, for example with an AI?

Yes. The exported JSON file includes a _README header documenting the full format (fields, supported operators, how the colour is encoded) and the project's real context: categories, parameters with their values, levels, worksets, families and types. With that, any person or assistant can add valid rules to the file and you simply import it.

Does Select work with elements from linked models?

No: rules are evaluated against the elements of the active document. Elements from linked files are neither selected nor coloured.