Arrays are really nice but have two MAJOR flaws in Revit. The first and most frequently discussed is that they can't have a value of "1". I'm not putting this on my list because I think everyone knows that needs a "solution". Suffice it to say, we need some way to enter the spacing and the vector of the array without having to have the second member populated. (Oh, and while you're at it fix that pesky radial array requiring 4 families nonsense too...) That makes baby Jesus cry...
The second flaw is the fact that the arrayed elements have to be exactly identical. I know, you're thinking: "That's not a flaw, that's the point!". Oh, I beg to differ! The point of an array is to define a repeating pattern of elements, nothing more and nothing less. What I want, when defining an array, its to tell it if I'm making an array of an instance of a family (implying all elements will be identical) or of the type of that family (implying that within the array instances elements could vary their instance values). Why, you ask? Well, whether it is an array of chairs around a table or structural members in an auditorium what do you when one of those elements needs to be slightly different? You blow your array to smithereens Terminator style, that's what you do. (Hasta la vista, baby...) Why should we have to? They're all still basically the same. They're all still chairs around a table but I want the 1st and 4th to be high back chairs? Or perhaps I want the top two beams to be 5 inches longer to engage with a steel beam instead of the tilt-panel the rest meet up with. Why should I loose the parametric behavior of the array?
This is a CRITICAL way to greatly expand the power of content creators to meet the demands of their end users. That's why #4 is differentiating between type-based and instance-based arrays.
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