© 2010 Autodesk
Introduction to Revit 2011 API
Ribbon API
Overview
§The Ribbon API is the only GUI customization API
§Menus and toolbars need to be migrated to ribbon
§Easy to use
§No WPF knowledge needed
§Guidelines provided
§Ribbon design guidelines.pdf
§Autodesk Icon Guidelines.pdf
§
As we have seen earlier, Revit 2010 has a completely new look with a ribbon based UI. Unlike AutoCAD based products, this change is not optional. There is no way to turn this off and switch back to the old UI. If you used toolbars in Revit 2009 and earlier, you will need to migrate your application to use the ribbon.

The Ribbon API is available to add custom ribbon panels, add various types of UI widgets on the ribbon panel.

This API is quite straight-forward to use. There is no need to learn WPF, for example.

In addition to the programming aspect, there is documentation with guidelines for designing your custom ribbon and icons. This is to ensure that your application is nicely integrated with Revit UI. The documentation in the SDK folder:

Ribbon design guidelines.pdf
Autodesk Icon Guidelines.pdf