Good practice saving library parts

[Martin Walter]

Actually my AddOn saves all created library parts under the "users\user\documents\special name" folder. But if the user works some time with the AddOn there are getting more and more files and everything gets confusing. Should I use subfolders? Can unused library parts be deleted? Or what would be a good practice saving library parts create from an self designed AddOn?

[Nader Belal]

@Martin Walter

Ok, your question appears simple, but the background that have created this situation is a little bit fuzzy, so here are your possibilities:

• I have not worked with that particular AddOn, but I can only guess that it's badly designed, as it doesn't stick to ArchiCAD's Library Parts Standard Convention, since it doesn't use ArchiCAD's GDL parametric properties (ie: you should not have multiple identical objects of different dimensions, see photo)
• Sometimes, AddOns or even GDL create dependencies to function, and some of those must have a specific location to function correctly, but in your case, I would advise that you make a secure copy of that folder, then try to move those Library parts, and test them, if nothing happens, then all solved, if not you would still have the safe copy that only needs to be put in its original location.
  PS: Even if the trial was successful, I advice you don't delete the secure copy just in case of a hidden error.

The answer of whether you should delete unused library parts or not, will depend on your project's needs, but generally speaking, you should not overload you ArchiCAD project with unused Library Parts, cause it will occupy a bigger space on your storage device, & memory, that if you don't consider your project's file size if saved as a PLA.
So as a rule of a thumb, always keep ArchiCAD's standard library, your firm's standard library (if you have it), and only those library parts that have been used in your project when finished, or those you may expect to used if the project is still in WIP phase.
PS: Some library parts may need their dependencies of GSM files (macros), so you're not sure what're you deleting, just proceed with delete, trial & error.

[Ralph Wessel]

Martin wrote:
Actually my AddOn saves all created library parts under the "users\user\documents\special name" folder. But if the user works some time with the AddOn there are getting more and more files and everything gets confusing. Should I use subfolders? Can unused library parts be deleted? Or what would be a good practice saving library parts create from an self designed AddOn?

What is the purpose of this add-on?

• 1. To create library parts that are directly used in an active project, i.e. for architectural documentation purposes?
  
  2. To create library parts that will be used by others in a project, i.e. for development purposes?

If it's the former, you will quickly run into severe coordination problems if the projects are shared or the same user works on multiple projects.

In general, add-ons should create library parts in the project embedded library. This makes it easy to share with other users (or on other computers) and is the only way it will work if you use TeamWork.