BIM Coordinator Program (INT) April 22, 2024

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Module file exported layers

Anonymous
Not applicable
I have been working in Archicad for years and whenever I use module files, only the layers that are visible in the saved view are exported with the module. Any other layers in the file which are not shown are left behind as if they don't exist. This has always been the case.

For some reason today I have exported modules with only 8 or so visible layers that I want to be included in the module, the rest are turned off, but when I place the module, it consists of every layer, including ones that are hidden in the saved view.

Am I missing something here?
6 REPLIES 6
Barry Kelly
Moderator
I am pretty sure that if you select elements in plan and then 'Save Selection as Module', you will only get what you have selected along with associated attributes (layers).

If you 'Save As' the whole file as a MOD file type, then I think you may get all elements in the file (plan only) and associated attributes, whether they are on hidden or visible layers.


However when you open a MOD file, Archicad will use the attributes of the last file you had open.

You can test this if you want.
Open a MOD file you have saved and you will see all the extra layers as you describe - the attributes of the last file you had open.
Now delete all of these layers and bring your MOD file in again.
It should have only the layers that it was saved with.

I just tried and the 'Save Selection as Module' definitely only saves the layers you can see (i.e. of the elements you have selected).
The 'save file as' method does save all used layers and elements in the plan view, even if they are hidden.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Anonymous
Not applicable
Hi Barry,

I am not saving selection as module or 'save as' the whole file as a mod type.
I have saved views that I am exporting as a mod from the publisher.

I have done it this way for years and it has always only exported the layers that are turned on in the saved view being published. To confirm, I just started a new file and tested this and it worked as normal. For some reason the other file I'm in is working differently. I can only assume its a setting somewhere
Barry Kelly
Moderator
jake_h03 wrote:
Hi Barry,

I am not saving selection as module or 'save as' the whole file as a mod type.
I have saved views that I am exporting as a mod from the publisher.

I have done it this way for years and it has always only exported the layers that are turned on in the saved view being published. To confirm, I just started a new file and tested this and it worked as normal. For some reason the other file I'm in is working differently. I can only assume its a setting somewhere
The only options I know of when publishing MOD files are those in the attached image.
I don't see anything to do with visible/hidden layers.

So I have no idea why you are getting different results in 2 files.
Does anyone else have any ideas?

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
Barry Kelly
Moderator
I Just tried publishing a MOD in 22 and it only saves info from the visible layers.
So it seems this is indeed the normal behaviour.

Still that does not answer why your other files saves the hidden layers as well.

Barry.
One of the forum moderators.
Versions 6.5 to 27
Dell XPS- i7-6700 @ 3.4Ghz, 16GB ram, GeForce GTX 960 (2GB), Windows 10
Lenovo Thinkpad - i7-1270P 2.20 GHz, 32GB RAM, Nvidia T550, Windows 11
The only explanation I can think for that behavior is the layer combination (it should be a specific layer combination, for this purpose only: 'unit mod publishing') used by the view used by Publisher got inadvertently changed at some point. Otherwise it just cannot happen.

Perhaps if the module is getting published with nested modules, something with a similar effect could happen by mistake (a module placed on a layer shown in the layer combination is included by mistake in the published module; its elements are hidden in the view but the host layer is part of the export so the nested module goes too) (I never did this intentionally, I have great fear of losing control of nested modules, and nested stuff getting duplicated with each publish-update; but I think it would work like that). But it doesn't sound like your case.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thanks for your input everyone. Ignacio was correct. It was due to nested modules. Even though I had the layers that I wanted turned off, it would export all layers from the nested module, including ones that weren't visible. I checked the option to break nested hotlinks and it fixed the problem.

We are only exporting these modules for interior designers to use as backgrounds, so it really doesn't matter that the nested hotlinks are broken. We just wanted to keep the modules as clean as possible for them to keep things simple
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