Once you install the app, it is called on demand as required by the user. Click the “Space Planning” icon on Space Planning Panel of the “Add-Ins” tab on the Ribbon.

When the app is started, it looks for Cubes already placed in the project. If no Cubes are placed, the “Program” tab is activated. If Cubes are already placed, the “Walls” tab is activated.

Import Space Program into App
Activate the app and select the “Program” tab.
Under the box labeled “Browse to select a Program CSV file to import,” the app will display the previously used program file. The original default file is the app sample file. Click the “Browse” button to select your program file. See note about CSV Program File Format below.
If “Display in centimeters/ Import square meters” is checked on the “Settings” tab, the app will assume the areas given in the program file are square meters. Otherwise, square feet will be used.
Click “Import Program” to import the selected program file. For verification, the app will display the number of Departments, Room Types and total number of Rooms imported.

Place Cubes In Project
Select the “Cubes” tab. If you are using the Special Corridor/Circulation Cube, check that box, verify your Default Corridor Width and make sure the Designation matches the Room Type in your program file.
Place the Cubes. The app will place the Cubes grouped by Department, by Level if appropriate and in order of size. At this point, you can do a quick visual check of the program. If any errors are discovered, the project can be discarded, the Program CSV file can be modified and the program reimported.
Select the “Cubes 2” tab. This page contains several settings you can use to customize the process as desired.
The app includes a variety of Multi-Category tags. At this point, start with “Tag All Not Tagged,” select “Multi-Category Tags” and select the tag “Space Planning Presentation Tag : Department Only.”

Assign Colors To Parameter Values
Select the “Colors” tab. Select a Parameter from the list on the left hand side. The app will display a list of all values currently in use for each parameter. Click in the cell in the Color column to register a color with a Parameter-Value combination.
Use the “Export” button to export the current color configuration out to an xml file. Use the “Import” button to import an existing color scheme
Note: If no color is assigned to a Parameter-Value combination, the app will assign a random color during the Filter Assignment process. For best and most consistent results, make sure to assign the colors yourself.

Create and Assign Filters
Select the “Filters” tab. Select a Parameter from the list on the left hand side. The app will display the number of unique values for this parameter.
Click on “Create Filters” to create filters for all Parameter-Value combinations for this Parameter. The app will show how many filters were created and how many already existed. (The filters only need to be created before they can be assigned to View Templates, but only need to be created once.)
Select an “Active View Template.” Before clicking on “Add Filters,” review the options under “Add Filters for this Parameter to the Active View Template.”
If you are making use of the special Corridor/ Circulation Room Type cube, check that box. This will add an extra filter for that to the View Template.
Select a value for Cube Transparency as desired: This setting can be different for each View Template. 3D views tend to read a little better with medium transparency.
Select a value for Cube Line Weight as desired: This setting can also be different for each View Template. A heavier line weight in plan views helps with definition, but a thinner line weight is more appropriate for 3D views.
If you haven’t assigned colors, you can adjust the starting point of the random color list.
Click “Add Filters” to add the color scheme the Active View Template. At this point you may need to close the Form and switch views to review the changes.
Select the “Filters 2” tab. This tab contains a few utilities for managing filters. You can adjust transparency and line weights for fine tuning your presentation, delete all filters and start over or copy filters from one View Template to another.

Create Legends
Select the “Legends” tab. The app will draw a legend starting at the lower left corner of the current view. Select a Parameter from the list on the left, and select options as desired from the choices on the right. Then click “Draw Legend.”
If you need to make changes to legend appearance, you may need to edit the families “SP_Legend.rfa” and “Space Planning Legend Tag.rfa.”

Arrange Cubes As Desired
Once the Cubes are placed, you can move them around as desired. The Cube Tags will continue to display the original information, but update the Actual Area whenever a change is made. The Cubes have Tags that display the dimensions of the major sides and built-in wall tolerance centerlines to help you align the Cubes.
The Cubes can only be stretched in 2D views, but the result of any modifications is readily visible in 3D views.
The Cube dimensions can be set to round to the nearest interval as shown on the “Settings” tab. There is one setting for the Adaptive Component families and one setting for all other shapes. Also, on the “Walls” tab is a button, “Set Wall Thickness,” that will allow you to standardize the wall tolerance to match the wall thickness when you draw walls around the Cubes.

The Cubes can be swapped from one shape to another. To help with this, there are two buttons on the ribbon, next to the main Space Planning Icon. The buttons are:
The “Auto Swap” button: Allows the user to easily change a Cube to a different shape family.
The “Swap AC” button: Allows the user to change the selected Cube to an Adaptive Component shape. Using this button is recommended because a manual swap will reset the size of the Cube and move it to the 0,0 point of the view.

Here is a brief description of the available shapes:
SP_Rectangle: This is the default shape. This shape has a parameter called “Hold Area,” which will adjust one dimension whenever the other is modified. This shape is the only one that has a “Hold Area” parameter.
SP_Shape_Angle: This shape is basically a rectangle with one side angled. There is a setting on the “Settings” tab that is used to set the default angle whenever the Cube is swapped to this shape.
SP_Shape_L, SP_Shape_T and SP_Shape_U: These shapes are as indicated by their names. These shapes have additional dimensions as appropriate
SP_Adaptive: This shape is a four-sided flexible shape. This shape will update the Actual Area upon change, but does not display dimensions of its sides.
SP_Corridor: This shape is similar to the SP_Rectangle, with the following differences. The shape does not have a “Hold Area” parameter. It is placed using the “Default Corridor Width” as shown on the “Cubes” tab. The corners of the shape are not rounded, so multiple pieces can be butted together and change direction. When the shape is included in the filter creation process, the line weight is set to thin and the color matches the cube color to hide the joints. The shape is also ignored during the “Draw Walls” process, so no walls are drawn at the joints.
When Cubes are swapped, they reset to their default shape, and all previous dimensional information, except for Target Area, is lost. If you might need to restore the previous dimensions, make a temporary copy to manipulate and delete the extra Cube when your changes are complete.
If you find you need additional shapes, please contact us.

Draw Walls Around Cubes And Place Revit® Rooms
Once the Cubes are arranged, the app will draw walls around the Cubes.
Select the “Walls” tab. Verify that the wall type is the correct thickness to match the wall tolerance of the cube families.
Select the “Parameters” tab. If you have imported information from your program that you want to have transferred to parameters in your rooms, register the parameters here.
During the 'Draw Walls' process, the app will draw walls of the selected type around all vertical faces of the cubes. The center line of the walls will be one half of the wall thickness outside the cube.
After all the walls are placed, the app will attempt to remove the extra walls between the Cubes/ Rooms, though some manual cleanup may be required. There are a few reasons why this wall clean-up process may not work properly, including parallel walls that don't align perfectly or walls slightly askew. If you are having trouble with the wall removal process you can go to the Settings tab and click the box 'Skip overlapping wall removal.'
Once all of the walls have been placed and extra wall removal is complete or skipped, the app will continue by placing a Revit® Room corresponding to each Cube, and transferring the Room Name, Department, Capacity, Comments, Room Type and Target Area of the Cube to the Room.
To help finish up the Draw Walls process, the app has a “Clean Up Walls” process. If you have several rooms along a corridor or outside wall, this process will replace all the short segments with one long segment, after the user picks the start and end point of the intended long segment. See the “Walls 2” tab for applicable settings.
At this point, your space program has been converted to walls and rooms, along with important room information, that can be developed further as desired.

Continue In Current Project Or Copy/Paste To Another
Depending on office workflow, project requirements and type of startup Template used, the walls and rooms can be further developed in the current project, or they can be Copy/Pasted to another project. Continuing in the current project may be faster if fewer configurations are anticipated, but will leave potentially unwanted elements and type definitions in your project. Copy/ Paste to a new or different project has the advantage of leaving all of the elements and type definitions behind. Because of this, it is easier to create and discard iterations in multiple projects.
To Copy/ Paste to a new or different project: in the current project, select all elements in a plan View for a single story project or select all elements in a 3D View for a multi-level project. Filter the selection. Click ‘Check None’ then check Walls and Rooms, then click ‘OK.’ Copy the selected elements to the clipboard. In the Target project, select the Modify tab and Paste From Clipboard.

Space Planning Quick Start
The app provides a few items to help the user get started. The app will:
Open a sample project with colors and filters containing all the families along with a sample program to help you quickly understand the process.
Open a sample project containing all the families but with no colors or filters that can be used to establish your own starter template file.
Load the families into the current project, so the user can include them in a template.
Sample color mapping file. Also export a customized color mapping that can be reused for other projects.
The sample files also contain view templates. See Note on View Templates and Visibility below.

Special note on Circulation/ Corridors
The app allows a variety of ways to handle circulation.

1.
Ignore circulation or use a net-to-gross multiplier
To use this method, make sure the "Use Special Corridor Cube Family" box is not checked. The spaces don't actually "exist," so no walls are drawn around the spaces.

2.
Add in to the program as normal spaces.
To use this method, make sure the "Use Special Corridor Cube Family" box is not checked. These spaces actually "exist," and would have walls drawn around the spaces.

3.
Program as special Circulation cubes.
To use this method, make sure the "Use Special Circulation Cube Family" box is checked. The spaces actually "exist," but no walls are drawn around them.
Divide your program into smaller chunks that work well with your Default Corridor width. For example, if your corridor width is 8 feet, make the area 160 square feet to produce Cubes that are 8 feet wide by 20 feet long. As an example, if you have determined that you need 2,000 sq. ft. of corridor, set the program item to 160 sq. ft. and set the quantity to 12, which equals 1920 sq. ft. Then add one program line item of 80 sq. ft., to total 2,000.
Use a Generic Model Schedule (see schedules in the sample projects) to keep track of your Circulation areas.
The Corridor Cubes have square corners and same-color edges to allow them to butted together. As the design is refined, the cubes can be stretched to fit, copied and/or deleted as required.

Settings
The app provides a variety of settings to customize the app as desired to accommodate office workflow and requirements, including dimension rounding and graphic appearance.
Cube Settings (On “Cubes 2” Tab)
Use these settings to customize the Space Planning Cube families. These settings will update all Space Planning Family Types in the project, except Adaptive Component family types as noted.

< Set Radius > Applies to the plan representation at the corners.
< Set Notch Radius Factor > Applies to any segment that does not extend the whole length of the cube, as a factor of the main radius.
< Set Dimension Offset >Applies to the location of the dimensions in plan view.
< Set Angled Shape Angle > When a cube is changed to an angled type, the angled segment will default to this angle.
< Set Rounding > Round dimensions of Cubes except Adaptive Components.
< Set Rounding AC > Round dimensions of Adaptive Component Cubes.
Wall Settings (On “Walls 2” Tab)
< Wall Cleanup Tolerance >  When using the “Clean Up Walls” process, set the "Sliver tolerance" to skip chases, alcoves, etc.
< Auto Straighten Walls >  When using "Clean Up Walls" process, automatically align the wall with the first point picked.
< Set Wall Thickness >  Set the Wall thickness and wall tolerance centerline for all Cubes.
App Settings (On “Settings” Tab)
< Skip overlapping wall removal > In certain cases, automatic removal of wall may need to be skipped.
< Close Form After Process Is Complete > If checked, the app will avoid an extra mouse click to close the Form and send you back to your project. If unchecked, the app will stay active, allowing you to experiment with the various settings without having to call the app over again.
< Do not show this again: Egan Space Planning is not running > The app will display a dialog when the app trial period is about to expire or if the computer's license has been transferred to another computer. This setting will suppress this dialog.

Additional Room Parameters (On “Parameters” Tab)
Transfers information from the Cube to the Room during the “Draw Walls” process. Note: To complete this process, the parameter must be added as project parameter. Built-In-Parameters, like Occupancy and Comments, do not need to be added to the project. The following three settings are ignored if blank or if the value is not found.
< Cube Room Type > Transfers to user-designated Room Type parameter.
< Cube Capacity > Transfers to user-designated Capacity or Occupancy parameter.
< Cube Comments > Transfers to user-designated Comments parameter.
When the app Form is closed, the current settings are stored in the computer user profile, so they don’t need to be re-established with each use.

Notes:

CSV Program File Format
The file used to import the program must be in a Comma Separated Values file (CSV) in the format " Department, Room Name, Target Area,Quantity,Room Type,Level,Capacity,Comments"
Special Services,Large Conf Room ,300,1,Conference Room,1,Min 15 people,Accessible from reception
Administration,Toilet,80,2,Support,1,NA,ADA compliant
Because the file is a comma delimited format, commas are not allowed in the room definition. For example, "Admin,Lockers,Staff,200." In this case, the entry "Lockers,Staff" should be changed to "Staff Lockers". If you need to use commas and require a different program file format, please contact us.
If the app has a problem reading a line in the program CSV file, it will display an error dialog displaying the line number and the contents of the line to help diagnose the problem. Lines with problems will not be included in the imported program, so if you encounter a problem line, you should fix it and reimport the program before proceeding.
For help getting started, use the file "Starter Program.xlsx" in the "Samples" folder of the app for help creating your CSV program file. See the "Samples" tab.

Program column specification:

Department Required Will be transferred to the "Department" parameter of your Room.
  Use whatever organizing breakdown you want.
  If necessary, this column may all contain the same value.
  
Room Name Required Will be transferred to the "Room Name" parameter of your Room.
  
Target Area Required Will be transferred to the "Target Area" parameter of your Room, if established.
  Must be a positive number
  
Quantity Optional Not transferred to the Room.
  If blank, 1 is assumed.
  The app will place the specified number of cubes.
  
Room Type Optional Will be transferred to the "Room Type" parameter of your Room, if established.
  Used for identifying or organizing by an alternate method, if desired.
  
Level Optional Not transferred to the Room, but will become a Property of the Room.
  If blank, 1 is assumed. Use 1,2,3.. for levels.
  If you have more than 2 levels, make sure to add the levels to the Revit® project file.
  
Capacity Optional Will be transferred to the "Capacity" parameter of your Room, if established.
  For tracking during design.
  
Comments Optional Will be transferred to the "Comments" parameter of your Room.
  Enter additional information as needed.

Saving Color Mapping and Spreadsheet Files:
There are frequently permission restrictions when trying to write to the folder where Revit® apps are located, so the app is designed to prevent overwriting the samples or writing a new file to the samples folder. Select a different folder, either in your MyDocuments folder, or in your project folder. If this file is saved to a network location, it can be reused by other users and/or other projects.

View Templates and Visibility
The app and the sample files assume that all view/visibility settings are governed by View Templates.For best results, make sure all new views have View Templates assigned.
The individual categories used in the Cube Families are shown below in the format:
Category > Subcategory <> Space Planning Cube Usage

Tags
Generic Annotations <> Dimension Tags/Labels
Detail Item Tag <> Legend Tags
Multi-Category Tags <> Cube Tags

Cubes
Generic Models > GM Plan Rep <> 2D Representation of Cubes with Radiused Corners
Generic Models > GM Room Extents <> 3D Representation of Cubes with Square Corners
Generic Models > GM Room Extents AC <> 2D and 3D Representation of Cubes with Square Corners
Generic Models > Wall Centerlines <> Wall Tolerance Centerline

Network deployment
The app includes feature to make it easier to deploy in a network environment.
Please see http://eganbimresources.com/network-deployment-and-automatic-activation.html for information on the network deployment features of Egan BIM Resources apps.
The app includes support for a Network Floating License. See http://eganbimresources.com/network-floating-license-setup.html for more information.

The installer that ran when you downloaded this app/plug-in from Autodesk App Store will start installing the app/plug-in. OR, simply double-click the downloaded installer to install the app/plugin.

You may need to restart the Autodesk product to activate the app/plug-in.

To uninstall this plug-in, exit the Autodesk product if you are currently running it, simply rerun the installer, and select the "Uninstall" button. OR, click Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features (Windows 7/8.1/10/11) and uninstall as you would any other application from your system.

This app is licensed by application, not by version. Your license will allow you to use any year’s version on your computer at any time, so the use of this app will not affect your Revit^® upgrade schedule.

Previous versions of the app are available on our website https://eganbimresources.com

At this time, no shapes containing circles or curves are available. If you have a need for these shapes, please contact us.