A TXT File may be a Type List

Here is a short note on a little issue to be aware of by Chuck Dodson of SGA Design Group:

Question: I am stuck trying to figure out the meaning of this error message:

TXT type list error message

I am creating a family in code. I get the same problem if I create it manually.

Do you have any idea what the message is saying?

Looking online, I find comments about Shared Parameter file corruption, but I'm not using any.

The odd thing is, if I rename the family, it loads fine. I can drag it from explorer; fine. I can load it from the open family file; fine. But if I use the Load Family button, I get the message, although it does actually load.

Any ideas?

Answer: I solved this.

I was writing a text file (.txt) in the same folder that my families were being created in. For some reason, Revit assumes it is a shared parameter file.

I changed the filename extension of the ASCII files I was writing to DEF instead of TXT and the problem is solved.

The '(' in the message above is a reference to a parenthesis starting on the first line of the text file. Thought you might want to know.

Jeremy adds: yes, I did know, in fact, and so do most family developers, but possibly a number of API newbies do not, so I am sure that this is information worth publishing and sharing. Thank you very much for that, Chuck!