Summary
Type Manager Pro is a commercial Autodesk Revit add-in developed by IB-BIM Tools / Itzik Bejarano for batch renaming Revit types. Unlike family-data management tools that focus on Type Catalogs or Lookup Tables, this add-in is centered on the practical day-to-day task of renaming existing Revit element types inside a project with controlled preview, validation, Excel export/import, and undo support.
Purpose and Design Intent
The add-in is designed to help BIM managers, coordinators, and Revit power users rename many Revit types quickly while avoiding common naming mistakes. Revit type names are often managed manually across walls, doors, windows, furniture, equipment, annotation objects, and other model or documentation categories. Type Manager Pro provides a dedicated interface where users can select a category, filter available types, preview proposed changes, validate results, and execute all approved renames in a single Revit transaction.
Core Workflow
Users open a Revit project, go to the IB-BIM Tools ribbon tab, launch Type Manager Pro, and choose a category from the dropdown list. The tool displays all types in that category with selection checkboxes and a live preview column. Users can select individual types or all visible types, apply a renaming operation, review the preview results, and then execute the valid changes. The execute button changes color to communicate status: gray when no items are selected, green when valid renames are ready, and red when all selected items contain errors.
Rename Operations
- Prefix: Adds text before the current type name.
- Suffix: Adds text after the current type name.
- Find/Replace: Replaces matching text inside type names.
- Wildcard support: Supports wildcard patterns such as asterisks and question marks in find-and-replace operations.
- Search filtering: Allows users to filter the displayed type list before selecting and renaming items.
- Live preview: Shows proposed new names before changes are applied, with valid changes and errors visually distinguished.
Excel Export and Import
Type Manager Pro includes an Excel-based round-trip workflow for users who prefer to review and edit type names in a spreadsheet. Selected items can be exported to Excel with five main columns: ID, Category, Family Name, Original Name, and New Name. The ID, Category, Family Name, and Original Name columns are reference-only, while the New Name column is editable. The exported workbook also includes workflow instructions to help users understand which data can be changed safely.
During import, the add-in reads the edited New Name values and applies them back to the corresponding Revit types. This is useful when renaming standards need to be reviewed by another team member, when type names are easier to edit in bulk in Excel, or when large naming updates require sorting, filtering, and spreadsheet-style editing before being committed to the Revit model.
Validation Rules and Safeguards
The add-in validates proposed type names before applying changes. Validation is important because Revit type names must be unique within their family or category context and cannot contain certain invalid characters. The preview workflow helps users identify naming conflicts or invalid entries before execution. If a rename is valid, it can be applied; if it produces an error, the user can correct the input before committing changes.
The add-in also supports Revit undo behavior. After executing rename operations, users can press Ctrl+Z in Revit to undo all applied changes in one step because the operation is handled as a single transaction. This gives BIM teams a safety net when testing naming changes or applying large batches of edits.
Worksharing Behavior
The documentation notes worksharing considerations for central and workshared Revit projects. Since type renaming changes project data, users should make sure they have the appropriate permissions or element ownership before executing batch changes. In coordinated BIM environments, this is especially important because type names can affect schedules, tags, standards, view filters, and downstream documentation consistency.
Supported Categories
Type Manager Pro supports a broad range of Revit categories that contain type definitions. The user guide indicates that users select a category from a dropdown, with Walls shown as the default example. The tool is intended for type-based categories where naming standards need to be applied consistently, such as model elements, annotation-related content, and other Revit families or system families that expose editable type names.
Workflow Benefits
- Speeds up large type-renaming tasks across Revit categories.
- Improves naming-standard consistency by previewing proposed names before execution.
- Reduces the risk of duplicate or invalid type names through validation.
- Supports spreadsheet-based review and bulk editing through Excel export/import.
- Improves BIM management workflows where naming standards affect schedules, tags, view filters, and documentation.
- Allows large rename operations to be undone in one Revit undo step.
- Helps teams clean up inconsistent type names before project milestones, model exchanges, template updates, or standards audits.
Best-Fit Users and Use Cases
Type Manager Pro is best suited for BIM managers, BIM coordinators, model managers, Revit power users, standards administrators, and production teams responsible for maintaining clean and consistent type naming. Typical use cases include applying office naming standards, adding project prefixes or suffixes, correcting inconsistent manufacturer or family type names, translating naming conventions, preparing templates, cleaning models before delivery, and reviewing naming changes in Excel before applying them to Revit.
Cost, Trial, and Support
IB-BIM documentation describes Type Manager Pro as a commercial Revit add-in available through the Autodesk App Store. The license information lists a 30-day free trial with full functionality, a per-user annual subscription, and updates included during the active subscription period. Support is provided through the developer’s published email contact, and the documentation recommends testing in a non-production environment before applying changes to critical projects.
Overall Assessment
Overall, IB-BIM Tools Type Manager Pro is a focused Revit productivity add-in for batch type renaming. Its value is strongest in BIM management and model cleanup workflows where type names need to follow project or office standards. By combining category-based selection, prefix/suffix operations, find-and-replace, wildcard support, live preview, validation, Excel export/import, and single-step undo, it gives Revit teams a safer and faster way to manage naming consistency than editing types one at a time.
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