Grasshopper®

BEAM components for Grasshopper®

BEAM adds a BEAM tab to Grasshopper. Its components read and write BEAM data in the Rhino document, manage levels and parameters, and export .beam and IFC files.

Download the example .3dm and .gh files.

Use Grasshopper to create many families at once, for example one family per façade panel with its own area parameter. Or keep a parametric script that bakes geometry with BEAM data, ready to export and update the Revit model.

How the components work

• Referenced or baked. The Write components update objects referenced from Rhino. If the geometry is not referenced, they bake it first. Use the Layer input to choose the layer, with :: for sublayers.

• Refresh. List components such as Families and Levels have an optional Refresh input to read the document again.

• Names. Names and values cannot contain \ : { } [ ] | ; < > ? ` ~ " /.

Blocks

Component	What it does	Inputs	Outputs
List Block Definitions	Lists block definition names	Refresh	Blocks
Find Blocks by Name	Finds instances of a block definition	Name	Blocks
Find Blocks by Mark	Finds instances by Mark	Mark	Blocks
Find Blocks By Id	Finds instances by GUID	Id	Blocks
Get Block Geometry	Gets the geometry of a block definition	Name	Objects

The Block parameter holds a Rhino block instance.

Document

Component	What it does	Inputs	Outputs
Families	Lists the families in the document	Refresh	Families
Get Family Objects	Gets the objects of a family	Family	Objects
Categories	Outputs a category. Pick it from the right-click menu.		Category
Category Parameters	Lists the parameters bound to a category	Category	Parameters
Parameters	Lists the custom parameters	Refresh	Parameters
Parameter Info	Describes a parameter	Parameter	Name, Instance/Type, Type, Parameter Set, Categories
Create or Edit Parameter	Creates or changes a parameter	Name, Instance, Type, Categories, Parameter Set	Parameter
Delete Parameter	Deletes a parameter	Name
Get Project Information / Set Project Information	IFC project information	Name, Long Name, Description, Phase
Get Location / Set Location	IFC site and building	Longitude, Latitude, Site Name, Site Description, Building Name, Building Description
Get Postal Address / Set Address	IFC address	Purpose, Description, User Defined Purpose, Internal Location, Address Line 1, Address Line 2, Postal Box, Town, Region, Postal Code, Country, Assign Address to Building?, Assign Address to Site?
Get File Header / Set File Header	IFC file header	Description, Author Name, Author Email, Organization, Authorization

For Create or Edit Parameter, set Instance to True for an instance parameter or False for a type parameter. Type is one of Angle, Area, Integer, Length, Number, Text, Volume, YesNo, Url.

Levels

Component	What it does	Inputs	Outputs
Levels	Lists the levels	Refresh	Levels
Create or Edit Level	Creates a level, or changes the height of an existing one	Name, Height
Delete Level	Deletes a level. The last level cannot be deleted.	Name
Get Level Height	Gets the height of a level	Name	Height
Get Level By Height	Gets the level at exactly this height	Height	Level
Get Closest Level By Height	Gets the closest level below a height	Height	Level
Assign Level to Family	Sets the level of a family	Family, Level
Get Level of Family	Gets the level of a family	Family	Level
Assign Level to Block	Sets the level of a block instance	Block, Level
Get Level of Block	Gets the level of a block instance	Block	Level

Read

Component	What it does	Inputs	Outputs
Get Object Parameters	Reads object properties	Object	Family, Subcategory, Material, Data
Get Family Parameters	Reads family parameters	Family	Category, Parameters, Values
Get Block Parameters	Reads block instance parameters	Block	Category, Parameters, Values
Get Curve Parameters	Reads curve data	Curve	Set, Data, Parameters, Values
Get Point Parameters	Reads point data	Point	Set, Data, Parameters, Values
Get Object User Text	Reads Rhino user text	Object	Keys, Values

Write

Component	What it does	Inputs
Set Object Parameters	Sets object properties	Geometry, Family, Subcategory, Material, Data, Layer, Bake
Set Family Parameters	Sets the category and parameter values of a family	Family, Category, Parameters, Values, Instance
Set Ifc Family Parameters	Sets the IFC type of a family	Family, Type, Predefined Type, Description
Set Block Parameters	Sets block instance parameter values	Block, Parameters, Values
Set Curve Parameters	Sets curve data for URSA	Curve, Set, Data, Parameters, Values, Layer, Bake
Set Point Parameters	Sets point data for URSA	Point, Set, Data, Parameters, Values, Layer, Bake

Parameters and Values are matching lists. In Set Family Parameters, a parameter that does not exist yet is created: as an instance parameter if Instance is True, otherwise as a type parameter.

Export

Component	What it does	Inputs
Export BEAM	Exports objects and blocks to a .beam file	Objects, Name, Plane, Export
Export BLOCS	Exports blocks to a .beam file	Blocks, Name, Plane, Export
Export IFC	Exports objects to an .ifc file	Objects, Filename, Plane, Schema, Export

• Objects must be referenced from the Rhino document.

• Plane is the export origin. The default is World XY.

• Schema is 0 for IFC4 or 1 for IFC2x3.

The export runs when you click the Export button on the component, or when the Export input is True.