Removing a library without placed objects corrupts other objects

[AndreaM]

I am trying to cleanup an older file I got as an archive file. In order to reduce the amount of duplicates, I found all the placed objects and moved them into a separate library I want to keep. Then I deleted the original library with its thousands of unused / duplicate objects. The Library Manager claims this library has 0 placed objects and instances (it does have some parts that are used in attributes, but I ignored that for now). 

After I delete this "unused" library, some of the objects remaining in the file begin malfunctioning (but are not reported as missing) - showing black dots instead of actual doors/railings/etc. These objects are still located in the remaining library, but for some reason they do not work as they should.

Why is this happening? Is it possible that the remaining objects were somehow referencing unplaced library parts from the deleted library? Is there any way to identify which ones so I can safely remove the rest?

Operating system used: Windows 10

 

[BerndSchwarzenbacher · Accepted solution]

Hi Andrea,

It's very likely, that some of the unplaced library parts are macro objects. These are objects that are referenced by the placed library parts.
You'd need to go through your library parts and check which macros they are using.

Or you check the subtype of the unplaced libraries. The once you shouldn't remove likely have the "Macro" subtype.

Best regards,
Bernd

[Lingwisyer]

If you create a PLA, it will include all of the placed objects as well as their macros, which you can then export to your desired location.