Global Library 29 Update 1 ... Compatible with Archicad 28? + Management of Libpacks in the BIMcloud

[GabrielGG]

Hello,

I always thought that the interesting thing about the Global Library is that it's independet of the Archicad Version Running.
With Archicad 28 the Global Library had no "28", now it has become the "29" and I'm a bit confused because I thought the Global Library Update Version would be independent of the Archicad Version Nr.

My simple question is ... It's the Global Library for Archicad 29 comppatible with Archicad 28?

Will this be like this in the future? Global Library for Archicad 35 will be compatible with Archicad 28?

It's very Important for me to get some clarity about this, to configure properly how the Libraries are organized in the BIMcloud.

I also think the Mappiing Values of the Library 29 Update 1 are still not Online, maybe somebody can confirm it.

Thanks in advance

[Turit]

I quickly checked, it is possible to import Global Library 29 into 28. I see the 2D cats from the new library update. 😻

[GabrielGG]

Thanks @Turit 

the real question is not ONLY if this works between Archicad 29 and Archicad 28, the REAL Question is if this is the concept of the global Library and if it's going to continue working like this for many versions to come.

It would be great if @GRAPHISOFT  could answer the question. Otherwise we can only speculate about it.

[Barry Kelly]

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@GabrielGG wrote:

the real question is not ONLY if this works between Archicad 29 and Archicad 28, the REAL Question is if this is the concept of the global Library and if it's going to continue working like this for many versions to come.

It would be great if @GRAPHISOFT  could answer the question. Otherwise we can only speculate about it.

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It has been discussed by Magdolna from Graphisoft.

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Graphisoft-Technology-Preview/Archicad-29-Library/m-p/673522/hig...

29+ library parts are compatible with 28, unless they were specifically written to use features only in 29+.

Barry.

[GabrielGG]

Thanks @Barry Kelly  but I've no acccess to the link because it was part of the technology Preview. It would be good to move the discussion to the Main Forum if relevant to the general users of archicad once the Tech preview was closed. Do you think Graphisoft could do this?

It would be good to know how is Graphisoft going to document this issue. Will each Library part contain the information about which version of Archicad is it compatible with? was this discussed in the tech Preview?
this is not a trivial problem in a medium/big architecture office.

Thanks in advance

[Barry Kelly]

Sorry, I forget that as moderator I have access to closed forums.

I didn't even realise it was in the tech preview forum to be honest.

I should look closer. 😞

There is a library and object knowledge base forum with posts about the new global libraries.

One of them is ...

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Libraries-objects/Global-Libraries-Introduction/ta-p/631542

This is the portion of the post in the tech forum I was linking to regarding the 29 library being backward compatible with 28.

(3) Backward Compatibility

Library packages are generally backward compatible. For instance, if a project is created in Archicad 29 using libpacks from Archicad 28, then opening that project in Archicad 28 will simply use the same AC28 libpacks without issue. However, if the project was using newer AC29 libraries and is opened in Archicad 28, then those AC29 libraries will still be used—not replaced or downgraded—unless manually switched.

That said, not all libpacks are backward compatible. The MEP Library and the Built-in Library introduced in Archicad 29 require a minimum version of AC29. This is mostly because they depend on new Archicad-level features. So while most libraries remain flexible, some will remain version-locked. As a general rule of thumb, the MEP Library and the Built-in Library should be considered version-locked.

Barry.

[GabrielGG]

Hi @Barry Kelly ,

I found this link now:

Archicad 28 Global Library: A Smarter, Scalable Alternative to the Monolith Library

In this Article the talk also about the "Built-In" Library Parts

"Language Localization: The Global Library supports all Archicad languages, allowing content localization based on the project’s default template settings. Built-in library parts will retain their language according to the Archicad version, with plans to migrate these to the Global Library in the future."

I found also here what are the Built-In Library parts
Gelöst: Why the "Built-in" Objects / Settings / Options? - Graphisoft Community

Now I think I understand the concept ... the Libraries are thought to be always Forwards-Compatible but the backwards-Compatibility it's not always guaranteed.

"Global Library Forward Compatibility: Starting with Archicad 28, the Global Library system removes the need for version-specific suffixes in object names, ensuring forward compatibility."

This means to me, that it will become allways more important to migrate all projects in the office to the same Archicad version if based in the Global Library. I hope I make the right interpretation.

"As the Rule of Thumb is, that MEP or Built-In Library parts are Version-Locked but the others tend to be Version unlock (Backwards compatible)" ...it would be great if Graphisoft put this information somewere in the Library Parts of the Global Library if these become version Locked (not backwards compatible anymore) at a certain point during the development ... somethin like "this Library part is compatible from AC30 onwards" ...because you can't find this information in the name.

I find it a bit confusing now, because I thought I will save myself a lot of time Managing different libraries for different Archicad Versions. But It seems not to be the case, excep if we migrate all projects to the last Archicad version. Otherwise I will have to host the Libpacks of each Archicad Version in a different Folder with the Archicad version, instead of havig only one folder with the Libpacks that can be read with all versions of Archicad.

The question now is ... there is an official Graphisoft Guide about how to manage LibPACKs in a Bimcloud where there are many different Projects Running on different Archciad Versions?? ... It's still not the case (we are going to start the first project with the Global library soon) but it will be the case sooner than later ... in our Practice we have arround 20 Projects running at the same time ... and I can't take the decision about how to manage the Libraries based in "As a Rule of Thumb ..."

[Barry Kelly]

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@GabrielGG wrote:

The question now is ... there is an official Graphisoft Guide about how to manage LibPACKs in a Bimcloud where there are many different Projects Running on different Archciad Versions?? ... It's still not the case (we are going to start the first project with the Global library soon) but it will be the case sooner than later ... in our Practice we have arround 20 Projects running at the same time ... and I can't take the decision about how to manage the Libraries based in "As a Rule of Thumb ..."

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I personally don't use BIMcloud, so I have not even thought about this.

And as we are only in our second version of global library packs, I agree it is unclear how versioning of objects will be documented.

We just see a MEP library and have no way to know it is for versions 29+ and won't work with 28.

But I guess we had the same problem before.

If an object was not backward compatible, it would just become 'Missing".

Maybe @Magdolna Marosvari could help to explain or point us in the direction of existing documentation or posts?

Barry.

[Magdolna Marosvari · Accepted solution]

Hi @Turit ,

Yes, it is if you don't insist using an installer. The installer of library updates is compatible only with the respective main AC version (in this case 29). But if you simply download the packages.zip from here and load the extracted packs in the Library Manager then you can use the new content in 28 too. The only exemption is the MEP content where the min AC version was increased.

May the paws be with you! 🙂

Magdolna 

[GabrielGG]

Thanks @Magdolna Marosvari !!

Very happy about your answer. That sayd it would be great that Graphisoft Documents this a bit better and Eventually it should modifiy the naming convention of the Libraries to avoid confusion.

For me would make sense to:

• Name the Libraries with it's own Revision Nr. if not binded to the Archicad version as it was at the beginning of the Global Library with the Update 1, Update 2, etc ... but without the Archicad version in the name
  • In this case the Library 29 would have been the Library update 4 (if there is any difference with the update 3, because it was not communicated)
  • And the Library 29 update 1 would be the Library update 5
• Name the Libraries that are Version binded with the verson Nr. ... that would mean the MEP library gets 28, 29, 30 in the name.
• Name the Installer ... "Installer Library Version xyz for Archicad xx"

In this way if there are no updates to the Libraries when a New version of Archicad comes out, the library is not having a new name with 29 at the end (or not all of it, only the Libraries that really are different.

All of this might sound too complicated but it's quite important for Offices running many projects on the BIMcloud.

Thank you!

I foud a problem with the last update to the Library 29. When searching for the mapping Values, you can Only get the Mapping Values for the Library 29 when Archicad 29 was released, but the Mapping Values of the Library 29 Update 1 are not available for Download.

And last but not least ... it would be great to get the complete Mapping Values file for each new update (the result after applying the added, modified and deleted values). We modify the mapping with a Python script and it's easier to modify the final version and overwrite the complete Mapping instead of having to modify the removed, modified, and added Values separatedly and apply these also separatedly in Archicad.

Thanks Again!