WISH LIST: Video to Update Global Library

[iggiv]

I am sure that there will be a video with step by step on how to upgrade my existing library to the international library. I have tried to do the upgrade to be prepared for when the final version is released, but I do not understand what or how to do it.

I have noticed that one disadvantage is that the library is not organized within the MasterFormat USA classification, which I would like to have sorted by since I have been doing architecture in the USA for a long time.

I look forward to understanding how to do this upgrade in a clear and easy way.

[Francois_MCD]

@iggiv I agree with you that proper Videos about all aspects of the Global Library will help all users in dealing with the changes in migrations, template preparation & library management on this new technology. I'm sure the GS team has much of this ready or in process already. We look forward to seamless onboarding for solo, hotlink & teamwork files.

Regarding the "MasterFormat USA classification", I fully agree that preparing even our Library organization to match our local / practice standards is very beneficial for production. I just don't think the GS team can satisfy every code / local standard globally. I did read in previous post feeds that we can re-organize the Library Packs to our liking into sub-folders. Extracting them is also possible although the GS team strongly don't recommend it, they did indicate that it is possible.

Having been on the Beta before the Tech Preview, I can clearly understand why they say that. The Global Library system and how it works on the back end are vastly different to the way the preceding "Monolith Libraries" work up to AC27. It will take some time of learning, using & testing before I would even attempt something like this.

From this new AC28, there are so many changes (not only the Global Libraries) that will impact our template setups & workflows. It will take a lot of time to understand it and adjust our setups to make the most of this new Archicad going forward. Once we get into it though, it will hopefully soon be work as usual. 

Finding ways to integrate our local / practice standards will still be valuable. I'm thinking of the possibility to attach / insert our code IDs / Keys into the Objects inside the Libraries and then have an option to View the objects that that particular hierarchy structure. This may be a wild card, but that would open the flexibility for users to have different organization views without forcefully extracting the Library Packs to get them re-organized and in doing so, most likely break something.

[iggiv]

I appreciate your comments and look forward to using AC28, understanding that there will be a learning curve. Overall, the AC28 Preview seems to be much more stable than AC27.

So far, I have only encountered one bug when importing “working environment” settings, which I have already reported.

[Barry Kelly]

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@Francois_MCD wrote:

I did read in previous post feeds that we can re-organize the Library Packs to our liking into sub-folders.

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I tried this.

It only affects the view in the Library Manager.

You can load the libraries within each folder and the folder will show in the Library manager with just those library pack in that folder group.

Rather than one long list with 50 odd library packs.

It does not affect what you see in the object settings in Archicad.

The objects will still be organised in the same folder structure.

So I am not really sure what the benefit of doing this is.

I guess it allows you to have all of the extra language packs in their own folders.

And you can have a group for furniture objects, annotation objects, lighting, or how ever you want to split it up.

So you can pick and choose what groups of objects to load.

But you still have to select all of the packs within the folder to load them, you can't just load the folder.

Barry.

[Barry Kelly]

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@iggiv wrote:

I am sure that there will be a video with step by step on how to upgrade my existing library to the international library. I have tried to do the upgrade to be prepared for when the final version is released, but I do not understand what or how to do it.

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Don't think you can open an old file in 28, swap to the new Global Library and keep working.

Because you can't.

You can open an old file in 28 and keep using the current old library as well (i.e. 27 library).

There is no migration between the old and the new.

In 28, you need to start with a new template, either a default one from Graphisoft, or make your own.

If you have your own template, you will need to delete the old libraries and load the new Global Libraries.

Then physically go through your template and replace an 'missing' objects with ones from the Global Library.

This includes any section, elevation worksheet, details markers you may have placed.

Also drawing titles and any pre-placed objects you may have.

Your object Favourites will also need to be updated so they also use the Global Library objects.

From the Tech Preview FAQ ...

It is possible to open an old file (or template) in 28 and load the migration libraries as well as the Global Libraries.

This way any existing old objects will still be there and can be used.

But when placing new objects, you will only see those in the new Global Libraries.

This will get a bit confusing, so I would not recommend it.

Barry.

[Francois_MCD]

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@Barry Kelly wrote:

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I tried this.

It only affects the view in the Library Manager.

So you can pick and choose what groups of objects to load.

But you still have to select all of the packs within the folder to load them, you can't just load the folder.

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Thanks @Barry Kelly you make some important points to note in our workflows.
This option to re-organize the Library Packs themselves into sub-folders is only influencing how they appear in the Library Manager.
Question: by "groups of objects" do you mean / refer to Library Packs as grouped in sub-folders?

My understanding of @iggiv's question, is that the intention of the post refers more to re-organizing the Objects within the Libraries themselves. Which have been well possible (not necessarily easy, but possible) and done by some practices to more deeply align navigation & organization of content in the interface to the practice standards and eliminate content never used. And though I don't recommend to extract the Library Packs, I do understand the need for video / training content to get a deeper understanding of the management of new Library Packs & Objects.

A good example is how our Layers are grouped by naming to refer to the sections of our "National Building Regulations". In the practice this has helped with fostering more engagement with and understanding of this code that we have to comply with and incorporate into our specifications. This also makes it easier to find "things" beyond model elements, in a more consistent way, resulting in overall improved & more accurate production.

Extracting the older version Libraries was much easier & achievable. Doing so with the Library Packs for a similar purpose on the other hand, is in fact a very drastic (and not recommended) option, because that will totally break the nature of how the GS Team have designed them to function in migration & updates.

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[Barry Kelly]

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@Francois_MCD wrote:

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Question: by "groups of objects" do you mean / refer to Library Packs as grouped in sub-folders?

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I mean you can group the library packs how you want so you can load just the furniture objects for example.

To control how the objects appear in folders in the object settings, you would have to extract the library pack, extract the LCF, re-arrange the folders, re-create the LCF and then re-create the library pack.

A very tedious process.

I am not sure if there is some control of the folder structure from a file within the library pack, without having to extract the LCF.

I am still trying to figure all of this out.

There are path table name files in each library pack which seem to have the folder path of the object.

But we need an easy way to edit these JSON files.

Barry.

[Francois_MCD]

Thanks @Barry Kelly 
Is the tool to migrate / update our old version AC template Favorites to AC28 Library Packs available in the AC28 Tech Preview?

[Barry Kelly]

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@Francois_MCD wrote:

Is the tool to migrate / update our old version AC template Favorites to AC28 Library Packs available in the AC28 Tech Preview?

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See my answer here ...

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Graphisoft-Technology-Preview/WISH-LIST-Video-to-Update-Global-L...

There is no tool to migrate the template, that will be a manual process.

There will be a tool to migrate favourites.

Barry.

[iggiv]

Thank you everyone comments including Barry Kelly’s input. I understand this is not going to be easy, and while I am waiting for the commission of a new large project, I would like to use this opportunity to update my AC27 templates to the new Global Library.

I do not intend to modify the original library but to organize the elements used in folders for my ease of search. I can easily achieve this within the “Favorites” palette where I control the folders, add any property values, or classifications, and/or modify the attributes, this way I do not have to search directly from the original library unless is a new element.

What I intended was to have the ability to change the original basic settings of a library by adding a tag to the “Model View Option,” as CI Tools do for some elements.

I do not want to make this message too long, but I made the mistake a few versions ago of changing all the attributes to unclothed and cleaning the way they were organized. BIG MISTAKE, as this procedure changed the internal code. However, I am happy with the way they turned out once I added them to the “Favorites” palette.

I have created a new file with all of the library parts and modules to change all of the settings in one file before building a new template. I thought this way would make it easier to update the “Global Library.”

I then did not load any of the libraries previous to AC28, and as a result, I have over 3,050 elements with missing parts. Some of them are duplicates since they are also in modules.

However, when I choose a missing library and go to the settings window to replace the element with the new AC28 element, it does not seem to work, and the element does not show on the drawings.

I must be doing something wrong!!. I will have to stop and wait for some tutorial on how to update the “Global Library.”

I just had the time to spare before I got the commission for the new project and wanted to modify my template.