What's the difference between using the Wall Opening tool, an opening family (found with the doors and windows), and using the profile tool when it comes to creating openings in walls?
An opening family will respect the room bounding qualities of a wall. So if you want an opening between two rooms, but want them to remain two separate rooms, use an opening family.
The Wall Opening tool and using Edit Profile will change the room bounding of the wall. So if you want two areas to be a single room, use the Wall Opening tool. While Edit Profile will usually work as well, Edit Profile doesn't work on curved walls. Wall Openings do cut curved walls, as do opening families so as a standard, use an opening family or the Wall Opening tool depending on whether you need room separation or not.
Why not just make the Wall not Room Bounding and not worry about whether it's an opening family, Wall Opening or Edited Profile? Because that will affect the square footage of the room. Turning of Room Bounding will count the space covered by the wall in the calculations, and that's not something we generally want to do.
For additional information, check out Steve Stafford's Revit OpEd blog:
http://feedly.com/k/1kDDCqB
http://feedly.com/k/1kDDCqB
