topic Re: Where are .aat files stored in Project data & BIM

Where are .aat files stored

Anonymous — Fri, 26 May 2023 13:22:34 GMT

I am trying to find a complex profile I made recently.
I understand that complex profiles are attributes.
Where in my iMac hard drive directory are they stored ?
I have tried "FIND" using .aat with no success.
I have tried "FIND" using the name of the complex profile with no success.
Any information would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Peter Devlin

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 08:51:37 GMT

Peter,
1. Open your recent projects and look in the Profile Manager.
2. ".aat" is created when you export atributes (Complex Profiles,.....) out from the project.

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:17:35 GMT

Hello andro55,
Thank you for posting back.
I know how to access attributes
within Archicad. All attributes can
be found in the attribute manager
and complex profiles can be found
in the profile manager and in the
wall tool, beam tool, and column tool settings.

What I wanted was the location in my hard disk
of these attribute files so that I could put one
that was downloaded into my hard disk.
Thank you,
Peter Devlin

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Karl Ottenstein — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:54:23 GMT

Peter wrote:
What I wanted was the location in my hard disk
of these attribute files so that I could put one
that was downloaded into my hard disk.

Hi Peter,

There are no *.aat files other than the ones that you export. That's what andro55 was saying.

All attributes are contained WITHIN your project file unless you export them as an attribute transfer file (*.aat).

You do not need to export them to use attributes (complex profile) from one project in another ... because Attribute Manager can open not just *.aat files, but also PLN and PLA files.

If you receive an *.aat file from someone, you can put it anywhere you want. ArchiCAD will not look for it. You must explicitly open it in Attribute Manager and then use whatever contents you want via Append or Overwrite commands.

Hope that helps?

Karl

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:27:58 GMT

Hello Karl,
Thank you for your reply.
I went to the Object Depository and downloaded a file
from the attributes folder called India_Locations by vistasp.
What appeared on my desktop was a file called India_Locations.zip.
When I unzipped this file I had on my desktop a file called
India Locations.aat which, according to Get Info is a Unix Executable fie.

I recently made a complex profile called TJI Joist. It works in any
AC project that I export it to. If I wanted to upload this file to the
depository I would have to find this file somewhere on my hard drive
so that I could upload it. I can only assume that vistasp did exactly this
to upload his attribute to the depository.
The question is where are AC attribute files stored so that I can find the
TJI Joist .aat file to duplicate and place on the desktop.
Can I "export" an attribute to my desktop ? This does not appear to be
an option in Attribute Manager.

Put another way, do you know how vistasp did what he did ?
Thanks,
Peter Devlin

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Karl Ottenstein — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:18:51 GMT

Peter wrote:
I recently made a complex profile called TJI Joist. It works in any
AC project that I export it to. If I wanted to upload this file to the
depository I would have to find this file somewhere on my hard drive
so that I could upload it. I can only assume that vistasp did exactly this
to upload his attribute to the depository.
The question is where are AC attribute files stored so that I can find the
TJI Joist .aat file to duplicate and place on the desktop.
Can I "export" an attribute to my desktop ? This does not appear to be
an option in Attribute Manager.

Hi Peter,

Open the project that has your TJI Joist profile in it.
Open Attribute Manager. Switch to the Complex Profile tab.
Select the TJI Joist profile on the left and click the Append button to copy it to the (blank) right panel. Now click the save button to save an *.aat file that contains nothing but the TJI Joist profile. The Save As dialog will let you specify where you want to put it. Now zip it and upload it. 😉

Cheers,
Karl

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:04:56 GMT

Hello Karl,
I did exactly what you said to do and it worked perfectly.
I now have on my desktop a .aat file named TJI.aat.
Interestingly, Get Info says it is an Archicad file not
a Unix executable file like vistasp's India Locations.aat.
Also, I opened an instance of my Archicad template,
went to attribute manager, navigated to my desktop
and opened TJI.aat. I selected TJI.aat in the right panel
and appended the list in the left panel. Now I have an
attribute named TJI Joist(2) in the list in the left panel.
So the file knows it's name internally irrespective of what
the file is named when saving.
Thank you Karl. Great information.
Peter Devlin

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Karl Ottenstein — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:02:49 GMT

Peter wrote:
So the file knows it's name internally irrespective of what
the file is named when saving.
Thank you Karl. Great information.

Hi Peter,

You're welcome. The file name is just the name of the 'container'... since the *.aat file can contain any or all attributes. Since the *.aat file format is ancient (in computer years), it is a binary file rather than an XML file, which is how Graphisoft would probably create it if doing it fresh today. That's why Spotlight (or Windows' Find) can not "see" the contents of the *.aat, which would include the actual attribute name ("TJI Joist").

The OS X file association for old or downloaded *.aat files - defaulting to 'unix executable' - is related to the AC installer not specifying the associated app for them ... and OS X noticing that they are binary files. You do a Get Info on any *.aat file (cmd-I) and in the Open with panel, select Other and browse to the ArchiCAD 15 app and then click the "Change All..." button to associate all *.aat files with AC 15 (or whatever).

Cheers,
Karl

Re: Where are .aat files stored

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:05:19 GMT

Hello Karl,
Thank you for the information.
I know I don't understand it all
because I am not that knowledgeable
about computers.
Thanks,
Peter Devlin