By Dennis Collin
New users of Revit who are moving across from a traditional 2D drafting package often find the use of the properties dialogue box in Revit an unfamiliar one. This is due to the nature of using this in Revit on a regular basis compared to that of AutoCAD where it may be used less frequently. The one issue some new users find is the automatic updating of the properties to the model components. This happens when the mouse is moved away from the properties dialogue box. This can in fact be disabled by editing the Revit.ini file. The link below provides simple instructions on how to do this.
A few Revit versions ago, a feature was added so that when editing meta-data in a Revit Project the values would be automatically applied upon moving one’s cursor from the Revit Property Palette onto the screen. This can sometimes be annoying if you want to verify values before applying changes or if your cursor ‘slips’.
Fig.1 - Values are applied by using the Apply button or clicking on screen
This behaviour of the automatic application can be modified by editing the Revit.ini file.
The file is located in the C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2018 folder and can be easily edited in an application like Notepad. It is usually advisable to make a backup copy first!
To make the change, locate the following code in the Revit.ini file:
[UserInterface]
Add a line of text if not present or edit the line of text to read:
DisableMppAutoApply=1
The modified ini file should look something like the image below:
Revit will need to be restarted if making changes to the file and Revit is open.