The interface is comprised of a Revit ribbon panel which is used to open a windows form with main program control elements.

The ribbon panel

The ribbon panel is found under the "Add-Ins" tab of the Revit interface.

The program window

The program window and it's tabs looks as follows:

Tabs

(1) Tabs The window contains 4 tabs: Setup, Config, Run and Help. "Setup" tab contains tools used to prepare parameters and corresponding data ready to export. "Config" tab configures the export process and sets PCF options. "Run" tab contains the "Go!" button which is used when everything is ready. Generally you'll want to start from the first tab and proceed top to bottom on each tab, moving to next tab when the previous step is complete.

Setup tab

PCF parameter MANAGEMENT

(2) Import PCF parameters This button creates a number of shared parameters for piping systems, pipes, pipe fittings and accessories. Each parameter corresponds to a PCF field as specified in the format specification, see [PCF Compliance] (https://github.com/shtirlitsDva/pcf-exporter/wiki/PCF-compliance) for more information.

(3) Delete PCF parameters If you no longer wish to have these parameters in the model you can use this button to completely delete them. Beware, any data associated with the parameters will be lost.

PCF parameter INITIALIZATION

(4) Select parameter setup file (EXCEL) Use this button to select the prepared piping specification file. See EXCEL INTEGRATION for more information.

(5) Worksheet chooser When the program have read the EXCEL file chosen by button 4, it presents all of the worksheet names present in the workbook in a drop-down list. Select the correct worksheet to be imported by button 6 or 7.

(6) Populate PCF parameters ELEMENT This button populates the element PCF parameters with data read from the EXCEL sheet chosen in point 5.

(7) Populate PCF parameters PIPELINE This button populates the pipeline (Piping System) PCF parameters with data read from the EXCEL sheet chosen in point 5.

Create and export element schedule

(8) Create schedules Creates a number of schedules inside of Revit to help you manage the data entered in the PCF parameters and to manually edit if necessary. "PCF - ALL Elements" lists all families and types for which the PCF parameters were created eg. pipes, pipe fittings and accessories. "PCF - Filtered Elements" -- as previous, but filtered to exclude all elements with empty "PCF_ELEM_TYPE" field. Please note that the excluded elements are also ignored when exporting to PCF file. "PCF - Pipelines" lists all instantiated Piping Systems.

(9) Export schedule to EXCEL Exports all families and types of elements and Piping Systems to EXCEL. This function is meant to help create the first configuration file.

Config tab

Scope

(10) There are three options for scoping the export data: "All pipelines", single "Specific pipeline" and diameter limit filter. Note, pipelines are defined as distinct Piping Systems. "All pipelines" option exports all elements divided in pipeline (Piping System) groups as defined by PCF syntax. "Specific pipeline" option activates an input box, where you must input the "Abbreviation" parameter of a specific Piping System and the system exports only elements that belong to said Piping System. The diameter limit filter instructs the application to ignore all elements with diameter less or equal to the one input in the "Diameter limit" box.

PCF File Header

PCF has a number of general settings which have to be set when creating a valid PCF file.

(11) UNITS-BORE Choose whether to write pipe dimensions in millimeters og inches. Metric users should choose "MM", while imperial users should choose "INCH".

(12) UNITS-CO-ORDS Same as above, but for geometric coordinates of the elements.

(13) UNITS-WEIGHT Defines the units for component weights.

(14) UNITS-WEIGHT-LENGTH From the "PCF reference guide": Defines the units for component weight/unit length. For example, to express pipe weight data in LBS/FT, you can use the following syntax:
UNITS-WEIGHT LBS
UNITS-WEIGHT-LENGTH FEET

Run tab

Output directory

(15) Select output directory Select a directory where the PCF file will be written.

Export PCF data

(16) Export PCF When everything is ready, push this button.