GDL TEXT DATA FILE

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I have a library part made, I believe, in AC 6.5
which opens an external file having the file extension *.GDL.
One typed in the file name in a text type parameter
and a dialog would come up inviting one to "Brows" in
a directory for that file, when the file name is hi-lighted
the file is opened and read.
This worked perfectly in 6.5 but in AC 8.1 when I "Brows" for the file
I can find it but it is dimmed and cannot be selected.
I notice that the the file type at the top of the directory window
says "Enable GDL TEXT DATA FILE".
The file I want to read is a *.gsm file type which is the only
library part file type allowed in AC 8.
How do you save a simple 2D only library part as a gdl text data file?
I am guessing this is the problem since in AC 6.5 the library part to be
read had to have the file extension *.GDL.
Would anyone care to comment on this issue?
Thank you,
Peter Devlin

[Ralph Wessel]

Peter wrote:
How do you save a simple 2D only library part as a gdl text data file?
I am guessing this is the problem since in AC 6.5 the library part to be
read had to have the file extension *.GDL.

Files with the .gdl extension are just plain text files. You can create one with any text editor and save it with the .gdl extension (or save it as .txt and change the extension later to .gdl). Just make sure that whatever you use is really saving as plain text. Saving as a native MS Word document, for example, won't work. You can open and edit the file in ArchiCAD too - use 'Open Object...' and select the file type 'GDL Script'.

[Anonymous]

Ralph,
Thank you for your reply.
I tried opening the library part by going to open object,
and setting the file type to "gdl script" but then the file name
dimmed and was not selectable.
Apparently, in AC 8, it is not permitted to "save as" *.gdl
or to "open as" *.gdl.
Alternatively, I am clearly missing something.
Thank you,
Peter Devlin

[Ralph Wessel]

Peter wrote:
Apparently, in AC 8, it is not permitted to "save as" *.gdl or to "open as" *.gdl.

Odd - I can open .gdl files in 8 and 8.1. I've attached a trivial example file (test.gdl) - could you download it, unzip it, and see if you can open it from ArchiCAD?

[Anonymous]

Ralph,
Thank you for the test.GDL.
I was able to select it and open it with the file type set to "GDL Script"
whereas my *.gsm file was dimmed.
How did you create this file?
The file I created was made by dragging and dropping a bunch of lines
into the 2D script window of a new "Untitled" object.
The only option for saving the object was as a *.gsm.
No option to save as *.gdl was available, unlike previous versions of AC.
Thanks,
Peter Devlin

[Anonymous]

Peter

Peter wrote:
The file I created was made by dragging and dropping a bunch of lines
into the 2D script window of a new "Untitled" object.
The only option for saving the object was as a *.gsm.
No option to save as *.gdl was available, unlike previous versions of AC.

To create such a text file you now have to copy the text from the 2D script window and paste it into a word processor/notepad/textEdit and save as plain text as Ralph suggests. You can then alter the .TXT extension to .GDL

regards