topic Re: MacXRock in Visualization

MacXRock

Anonymous — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:56:46 GMT

I downloaded the MacXRock program last week and it seems to work fine until I have to import the output file into Archicad.

I get an error message saying it doesn't recognise the file format, which seems to appear as a text file.

Anybody had a similar experience?

thanks in advance

Joel

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:20:27 GMT

What is the program and file format?

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:28:11 GMT

ArchiCAD 11 (Build - 1112) on a PPC Mac

the file extension doesn't show, but the Mac opens it in textedit

Can I attach it to this message somehow for people to look at?

Re: MacXRock

David Maudlin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:29:59 GMT

Joel:

I think Matthew is asking about the MacXRock application, particularly the file type it is creating that you are trying to bring into ArchiCAD.

David

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:38:52 GMT

Well, the program is available here: http://www.laffeycomputer.com/macrock.html

and on that website it refers to the file format as "DXF ASCII file format"

Sorry if I misunderstood.

J

Re: MacXRock

David Maudlin — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:27:52 GMT

Joel:

You can try to open the file as a library part, which also makes sense as you would be placing these rocks as objects:

1. Go to File>GDL Objects>Open Object...
2. In the Open Library Item window, change "Enable:" to DXF File
3. Browse to the dxf file, select, and click on Open
4. The file will open as a GDL library part (this may take some time, depending on the file, similar to opening a dwg file)
5. Then go to File>Save As... to save the library part with a new name into the appropriate library
6. You can now place this part in your project using the Object Tool

If this does not work, then you may need to find a way to translate the file into a format ArchiCAD likes.

Side note: based on the web page description, these objects could contain many, many polygons, which will slow down 3D generation times, so be judicious when setting the parameters of the rocks.

HTH

David

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 09:04:18 GMT

Thanks for that David, it all works fine and I end up with a .GDL file, but then it won't appear in the library.

I know people out there have got this program to work for them, so there must be something I'm doing wrong…

Cheers

Joel

Re: MacXRock

David Maudlin — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:55:44 GMT

Joel:

After saving the object in a currently loaded library, you may need to reload the library for the part to show up.

HTH

David

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:26:40 GMT

Still no joy I'm afraid.

It appears in the library manager and I add it, but then when I go to use it from the object tool, the 'other objects' file is shown empty.

Thanks for trying to help anyway David.

Cheers

Re: MacXRock

David Maudlin — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:44:36 GMT

Joel:

Rather than trying to load this as an individual part, create a new folder, save the part into this folder, go to the Library Manager and add this folder to your loaded libraries, and click "Reload", then in the Object Tool dialog box, navigate to this folder and see if the part shows up. If not, then I'm out of ideas. Hope this works.

David

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:52:37 GMT

Nice idea, but the new folder doesn't show either…

Thanks for trying though. I appreciate it.

Cheers

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:02:33 GMT

When I open it with Archicad and then do a save as a GDL part, the file extension is .gdl rather than the usual .gsm file type…

Any idea if this might be causing the problem with importing it?

Cheers

Re: MacXRock

David Maudlin — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:49:24 GMT

Joel:

.gdl is a simple text file that is generally used as a macro for .gsm parts. You could try creating a new .gsm object, then copying and pasting the .gdl text into the 3D script window and see if this will generate the part in 3D (you could also paste the text into the 2D Script to see what you get in 2D). You can also post the .gdl file here and I or someone else might be able to see what it is.

David

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:15:19 GMT

Yep, I thought that might be the case, so I tried both of those things. unfortunately… both the 3d and 2d script wouldn't do anything

The forum won't let me attach a .gdl apparently… otherwise I'd post it.

I'll email it to you if you like though?

cheers

joel

Re: MacXRock

David Maudlin — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:25:39 GMT

Joel:

You might try zipping the file, there is a 256 kb size limit on the forum (I don't know if the forum only accepts certain file formats). If that doesn't work, then PM me for e-mail info. The advantage of trying to post the file to the forum is that someone else may see something in the file that I am missing.

David

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:36:07 GMT

Looks like it's attached this time.

If we can't get it to work, I apologise in advance for wasting your time…

Cheers

Joel

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:41:12 GMT

And I thought I'd post the original file too:

Re: MacXRock

David Maudlin — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:19:07 GMT

Joel:

I could not get this to work in ArchiCAD 11, so on a lark I tried the files in ArchiCAD 7 with the thought that this is an old file format. I was able to use the method I described earlier and was able to open your original file as an object. I got a warning about the scale, but the process did work. I have attached the part, which while translated in ArchiCAD 7 appears to work in ArchiCAD 11. Your signature indicate ArchiCAD 6.5, so you can experiment with earlier versions.

David

Re: MacXRock

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:28:44 GMT

Oh, that's good news. nice work.

unfortunately we've upgraded and no machines have 6.5 any more. maybe it'll work with 9…

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it

Joel