Library update/upgrade when upgrading Archcad

[Anonymous]

I was wondering why, when I upgrade from one release of AC to the next version, the installation software does not merge the old libraries with the new libraries instead of migrating the older libraries. Having just one linked library is much easier when looking for objects than having to search through several libraries. It would also be nice when launching Archicad that ALL libraries be loaded for access but not necessarily saved within the project. This way all projects have access to all libraries. And finally I am wondering why when creating a new library object it is not possible to save it directly to an existing library. As an example, say I create a baseball diamond of a specific size, while I can save it to any folder on my PC, what I can't do is save it directly to the already created "Sports Facilities" library that comes with AC20. Any thoughts?

Mike LaCroix

[Barry Kelly]

DrWho wrote:
And finally I am wondering why when creating a new library object it is not possible to save it directly to an existing library. As an example, say I create a baseball diamond of a specific size, while I can save it to any folder on my PC, what I can't do is save it directly to the already created "Sports Facilities" library that comes with AC20. Any thoughts?

That is probably because the library is a Library Container File (.LCF).
Basically this is a ZIP or compressed files for library objects.
All objects and macros contained in the one file.

You would need to extract the contents before you could save to it.
You can then save it back as a container if you want to.

Barry.

[Erwin Edel]

I would recommend having a company / project library next to the standard ArchiCAD library. If you are ever sharing your work with someone else (outsourced or same office) they would need to have your customised standard library, or they will be missing those parts.

If you want to find all sports things (for example), there is a search function, which takes into account keywords embedded in the library parts. This is even faster than browsing to one folder inside the library, once you get used to it. You can even have it search the bimcomponents portal for any extra parts you might not have.

You can set up the keywords in the details tab of the library part if you edit it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Barry and Irwin. I see the point that the libraries are kept in a container file but when upgrading it should be easy for the installer to unzip the various library containers then merge them and rezip them again. That way you don't end up with tons of duplicate items in different libraries like I seem to have and that is just a waste of storage space. Maybe Graphisoft can do a review to see if it makes sense to let the installer software do the heavy lifting and merge the libraries during the install. As for the search function I personally haven't used the search function when selecting an object as I have always just looked through the folders to find what I want.I think I will look more into the search function and see how it affects my work. I also agree with having a company library of items that are special to the company.

Regards,
Mike Lacroix