topic How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML in Libraries & objects

How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Anonymous — Thu, 24 May 2007 11:18:42 GMT

Dear Archicad User i am doing some experiment how to convert GDL object to XML format using with LB_XML Converter Tools in (Lib Dev Tool kit).

Please Guide me if you know this procedure if will very helpfully for me .

thanks

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Frank Beister — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:34:00 GMT

Mac or win?

There comes a documentation with the kit. Follow the headlines and you come to the command line parameters. Create a Reference of the EXE file and open its settings dialog. Add the needed commands at the end of the infield with the program path and name. Close window and doubleclick on the referenced item. A black text window should open shortly and should do the job.

Other way: Open MS Dos box and navigate to the XML... folder. type in program name, followed by the parameters. If you add no parameters all available should be listed after pressing return.

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Anonymous — Fri, 25 May 2007 04:08:51 GMT

Hi Mr.F.Beister

thank you for your prompt reply if you guide details briefly it will helpful .

thanks

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Anonymous — Fri, 25 May 2007 04:12:50 GMT

Dear

I am using in Windows i need help for that

thanks

LP_XML Converter Tool

Anonymous — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:26:22 GMT

Dear User

LP_XML Converter Tool for use XML Files to ArchiCAD or ArchiCAD (GDL) files to ArchiCAD or else We can use Both converts.

Could you tell me correct way to do this

Re: LP_XML Converter Tool

Frank Beister — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:36:24 GMT

Instead of opening a new thread you should renew your last posting to bring up.

The converter itself is obvisiously not used very much in this group, so you will not get much response. When I am back on my home machine I can send you a screenshot of my settings.

But PLEASE read the documentation to the tool and ask, WHAT you do not understand and what you wanna do at all! I will/can not explain the whole converter. 😉

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Ralph Wessel — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:04:55 GMT

Baheerathan wrote:
I am using in Windows i need help for that

You will need to call this from the Command Prompt (Accessories/Command Prompt). First change to the directory containing the conversion utility, e.g.

(for 8.1) cd C:\Program Files\Graphisoft\LP_XML_Compiler\
(for 9) cd C:\Program Files\Graphisoft\LibDevTool_9_1810\Tool\Win\
(for 10) cd C:\Program Files\Graphisoft\LibDevToolkit 10\Tool\Win\

The exact paths depend on your installation.

To convert GDL objects to XML enter:
LP_XMLConverter.exe l2x <source dir> <dest dir>
...where <source dir> is the current location of the library parts and <dest dir> is the destination of the XML files (don't enter the <> characters). A quick way of entering a directory is to drag the folder from Windows Explorer and dropping it onto the Command Prompt window. Just make sure there are spaces between the directorys.

To convert XML to GDL objects enter:
LP_XMLConverter.exe x2l <source dir> <dest dir>
...where <source dir> is the current location of the XML files and <dest dir> is the destination of the GDL objects.

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 03:41:00 GMT

Dear Ralph Wessel

Thank you for your proper Guidence I did sucessfully

regards

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:05:46 GMT

Hi
Im trying to use the xml converter to convert from a gdl file to xml.
I am on a mac. I have downloaded the lastest Library dev pack etc.
I've tried and tried and still can't get it to work. It always say error opening or error saving.
Would someone please be able to help. A screen shot of the setting you use would be fantastic.

Thanks

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Ralph Wessel — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:16:03 GMT

sdb wrote:
Hi
Im trying to use the xml converter to convert from a gdl file to xml.
I am on a mac. I have downloaded the lastest Library dev pack etc.
I've tried and tried and still can't get it to work. It always say error opening or error saving.
Would someone please be able to help. A screen shot of the setting you use would be fantastic.

To convert from XML to GDL, try something like this in the terminal:

cd /Applications/Graphisoft/LibDevToolkit\ 11/Tool/OSX/LP_XMLConverter.app/Contents/MacOS/

./LP_XMLConverter x2l /Users/rwessel/Desktop/LibraryXML/ /Users/rwessel/LibraryGDL/

...where LibraryXML is the folder containing the source XML and LibraryGDL is the destination of the converted parts. You would need to use the path to your installation of LP_XMLConverter of course.

The converse (GDL to XML) would be:

cd /Applications/Graphisoft/LibDevToolkit\ 11/Tool/OSX/LP_XMLConverter.app/Contents/MacOS/

./LP_XMLConverter l2x /Users/rwessel/Desktop/LibraryGDL/ /Users/rwessel/LibraryXML/

Edit: The above is entered into a terminal session (look in Applications/Utilities/Terminal)

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:53:51 GMT

Thanks Ralph, it worked perfectly.

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

owen — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:34:42 GMT

Ralph wrote:
To convert from XML to GDL, try something like this in the terminal:
cd /Applications/Graphisoft/LibDevToolkit\ 11/Tool/OSX/LP_XMLConverter.app/Contents/MacOS/

./LP_XMLConverter x2l /Users/rwessel/Desktop/LibraryXML/ /Users/rwessel/LibraryGDL/
...where LibraryXML is the folder containing the source XML and LibraryGDL is the destination of the converted parts. You would need to use the path to your installation of LP_XMLConverter of course.

I am having problems using the XML Converter to convert a batch of files to XML. Running the following command:

/Applications/Graphisoft/ArchiCAD\ 11/LibDevToolkit\ 11/Tool/OSX/LP_XMLConverter.app/Contents/MacOS/LP_XMLConverter 12x /Users/username/Desktop/ /Users/username/Desktop/

i get a 'Command line arguments error' everytime.

However i can convert the same objects individually using:

/Applications/Graphisoft/ArchiCAD\ 11/LibDevToolkit\ 11/Tool/OSX/LP_XMLConverter.app/Contents/MacOS/LP_XMLConverter libpart2xml /Users/username/Desktop/Test.gsm /Users/username/Desktop/Test.xml

Any ideas what the problem could be?

Also has anyone had any success in running these batch conversions via Automator?

cheers,

os

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Karl Ottenstein — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:16:38 GMT

In your quoted code, you has 12x (twelve x) as the parameter to the tool

The correct parameter is l2x (letter "l" - as in libpart, 2 as in "to", "x" as in XML).

HTH,
Karl

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

owen — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:54:58 GMT

Ah stupid mistake! Thought i had copied the code across from the HTML docs but i must have retyped part of it ... all good now

thanks Karl!

(and my what good eyes you have)

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Karl Ottenstein — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:51:15 GMT

owen wrote:
(and my what good eyes you have)

Glad that was it! 🙂 But, no, my eyes are not that great - older I get, the more stuff I see that isn't really there! 😉 But, when GS introduced this tool several years ago, I had the same problem, because a one and an el looked the same in the font that they used, and they did not state the logic of the mnemonic clearly enough to get through my skull (xml-to-lib [x2l] and lib-to-xml [l2x]. If uppercase, it would have been more obvious - never did check to see if it accepted that parameter in either case...

Many cool things are possible with the xml copies on a Mac - from finding content via Spotlight, to using all of the various Unix tools to find/change things globally in multiple objects. Have fun.

Cheers,
Karl

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Ralph Wessel — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:54:20 GMT

owen wrote:
Also has anyone had any success in running these batch conversions via Automator?

Karl has done a great job of answering the first part of your query, so I'll tackle the rest. Yes, you can run this from Automator or any other tool which can run shell scripts, e.g. XCode or AppleScript. The former can be used to automatically build up to date libraries in conjunction with add-on builds. For Automator, look for the "Run Shell Script" action, and enter the same commands used in the Terminal.

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

owen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:50:25 GMT

Karl & Ralph,

thanks for the help - have not figured out Automator yet (get an error running the same Terminal command via Run Shell Script) but im sure it is just user error 😉

More user-friendly GDL editing is a long standing wish .. are there any 3rd party apps you guys use for your editing or do you do it all in the ArchiCAD GDL editor? I was looking at BBEdit to edit (either the XML or just copy-paste the script) as it is possible AFAIK to create a custom language library/plugin to recognise GDL syntax/functions and format their display ... but i think that is a can of worms i'd rather not open (bit beyond me atm)

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Jochen Suehlo — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:13:48 GMT

At
openGDL.org

you find a syntax scheme for PROTON Edtor (Windows)

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

owen — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:47:22 GMT

Joachim wrote:
At
openGDL.org

you find a syntax scheme for PROTON Edtor (Windows)

Thanks for the link .. i cannot seem to find Proton for download either on the Proton site nor on Versiontracker (missing file on Version Tracker). Is it still available?

Having a look at the syntax scheme it looks somewhat similar to a BBEdit Codeless Language Module (a .plist file). It has all the GDL commands & keywords up to AC10 so it could be a good start on creating one of these modules.

but maybe Graphisoft should do this if they aren't going to give us a better built-in editor soon?

Re: How to convert GDL object to XML using with LB_XML

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:20:39 GMT

Hello y'all,

I found this thread very helpful. After a few attempts I was able to convert libraries into xml, great. Thank you very, very much. Question: Is it possible to convert a library with it's full directory tree into one single xml-file (and back)? My goal would be to modify every objects in a library with a single stroke, using eg. applescript.

Thx a lot again and keep on rockin' in the free world.