Copying all file to another file

[riyadist]

Dear Community,

I have a document from another office and I would like to copy all model into my template. But I  have faced lots of problem.

First Method:

I selected all and saved as module  and import them. The problem is I can not change window details in the new file. All windows and doors imported as a basic view mode. So I gave up

Second Method:

I editted my story settings based on the other file. And I select all model and grouped. Then pasted into my template. Even though I  arranged all stories, I faced missing walls. I exploded module files. Tried again. Nothing changed. So I gave up

Third Method:

I tried to import all my features into the other file. But the problem is my favourites can import but the textures are missing. Then I wasted a lot time and gave up.

Why it is too hard to copy one file to another? Is there another way?

Thanks.

[Lee Hankins]

Unfortunately there isn’t an easy method. You can methodically replace the attributes from your template to the other file but it would be quite difficult as you weren’t the author of the other file to fully understand the impacts of replacing the attributes and it’s likely things like the layers won’t match in any way and they use indexes rather than their names. 

We have 20+ year old files in our office that we often have to unarchive and upgrade which are not based in any way on our new template and I upgrade using a double pass method where I merge the old file in to a new template file and then work my way through deleting and replacing attributes until I end up with only the template attributes and those that are specific to the file. It’s slightly easier as we have always used the standard Archicad attributes which have remained in place but evolved over the years. 

Once I’ve tidied the file up I then merge it all in to another clean template file. It’s important to note that no 2D data or layouts will transfer with a merge. 

[rjwilden]

Another reason not to have yearly updates. The transfer of files from one version to the next is a problem, even for project two years old. Even projects going  back to V6.0 sometimes come back to annoy me. Always a bad day at the office.

[Lee Hankins]

We created our template back in Archicad 18 and since doing that, updating projects from version to version has been a breeze. The only hiccups I’ve had were between 19 and 20 with the change to the doors and between 24 and 25 (I think) with the changes to cabinets where I had to redefine all of our Favourites to use the updated object versions. The template advances with new features but because of how it’s set up we can generally push those new features across to any older files from 18 onwards. Even with some tweaks probably taking 2-3 hours I can upgrade an Archicad 5 file to 26 with all of our new template features. Templates and Favourites are the key. 

[Barry Kelly]

Using old files in new versions is generally no problem at all.

Just open them and carry on working, but it means you will be working with you old methods and possibly most making the most of new features.

There is nothing that says you have to update your libraries and attributes.

That is a purely personal choice.

Usually you can migrate the library to the latest version, but there will be some issues with updated objects as Lee said in an earlier post, but if you have the migrated libraries loaded, you should still have all the old objects as well as the new.

The problem arises when you want to copy and paste (or share hotlinks) from an old file into a new file/template.

If the attributes and libraries in those files must be the same, or you are going to run into trouble.

Old attributes will import if the attribute numbers don't match.

Or old attribute will change if the attribute numbers do match, but the actual attribute is different.

There is not much you can do except for manually going through and fixing the changes.

Libraries will be an issue unless you also load the migration libraries.

That should take care of most problems.

If any textures are missing, it means the old file had a library loaded with those textures, that you do not have loaded in you new file.

You just need to find those libraries and load them too.

So the short story is...

Starting a new file in a new version should be no problem.

Starting an old file in a new version should be no problem.

Merging an old file into a new file will be a problem if the attributes don't match.

Barry.

[Patrick M]

stories have to match, then you should be able to copy/paste or use the merge function.

I typically move everything to the Archicad layer first, and expect to do a LOT of attribute clean up.

Alternatively, you can save the building/file as a .mod and place it as a hotlink

[Barry Kelly]

---

@Patrick M wrote:

stories have to match, then you should be able to copy/paste or use the merge function.

---

Yes, I forgot about stories.

They should match, otherwise you will have some fixing to do if you are merging / copy & pasting.

But again, not a problem if you just open the old file and work on it.

Barry.

[Patrick M]

but a module can "ignore" story settings; at least floor to floor. The number of stories still needs to match or align; but I've done dummy stories to fill in the gaps where needed. so I guess it depends on what you need from the building you are dropping in place.