topic Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first? in Documentation

How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

alexliz24 — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:03:19 GMT

I have this set of layouts in my v11 project file. They were the ones submitted to the planning authorities for planning permission, and now, I need to go back to them to see something (OK, I could actually get off my chair and open the physical brief on the shelf and look at the actual plotted and approved documents, but who wants to do that, right?)

So I think to myself: I'll just switch to my Drawing Manager window, select all those drawings in the submitted layouts, then click on the Break Link icon.

Wrong answer! ArchiCAD updates them _before_ cutting them loose! So all changes since permission acquisition time are passed onto the layouts, and I can't consult them anymore to see what I submitted to the authorities.

Bottom line: is there a way to break a drawing's link without it being updated in the process? Many thanks, people!

Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

Thomas Holm — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:19:15 GMT

If the linked drawings are external, you could move them before the update so Archicad can't find them.
If internal, the advice must be to change them to Manual update - but I guess that too has to be done in advance. And that may give you other problems, such as forgetting to update before publishing.
I use Autoupdate whenever possible, but I Publish to PDFs when I send anything out, and keep the PDFs for reference.

Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

alexliz24 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:32:05 GMT

Hey Thomas! Thanks for the post!

I tried it and it works fine: if I show a layout which poses no updating problems (i.e. I don't mind if it gets updated, or one that is static already), then go into my Drawing Manager and tidy up all my drawings (those which I need to make static) by going into their Drawing Settings and selecting Manual Update, then I can safely break their links, and they will stay put.

Problem solved!

Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

Thomas Holm — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:12:00 GMT

alexliz wrote:
..Problem solved!

OK. But remember, using Autoupdate and save PDFs is safer!

Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

alexliz24 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:13:47 GMT

I see your point, and I already do save PDFs for reference purposes, but...

there are some things that I would like to keep within the ArchiCAD interface to maintain a unified work environment. I take your point though, and perhaps I need to re-evaluate the necessity of all this.

Many thanks!

Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

Thomas Holm — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:34:52 GMT

OK fine!

Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

Erika Epstein — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:46:43 GMT

It's always a good idea to archive a file at legal points like a submittable. This, along with a pdf of what was submitted should be an office standard.

Re: How to break drawing link w/o updating first?

alexliz24 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:49:42 GMT

Off and on, I have done just that. I agree I should make it practice standard.