Symbol / Block / Component in Archicad - Best Practices

[Anonymous]

I want to create a truss made up of 2 rafter objects and a custom 3d steel tie rod that I have made for a collar tie. In VectorWorks or Sketchup, I would save this as a symbol or component respectively. I would then place as many instances as I needed to and if I needed to make a change, I change one and they all change. I have tried saving as a GDL but it removes the editing functions of the individual components. I have thought that I could save it as an external file and hotlink it, then modify the original. This seems the closest to Symbol/Component functionality but also seems like a pain because I don't have the rest of model to work from while I modify. I also though of creating a selection set, then modifying settings, but this means I can't modify graphically and have them all change at once automatically. I'm just wondering what other people are doing out there to create efficient work-flows.

Thanks, Matt

[Anonymous]

Additionally, in Vectorworks you can replace a selected symbol with another symbol. Say if you have a lighting plan and you want to replace a 6" can symbol w/ a 4" - you choose it, choose the new symbol, then replace and every one of those symbol instances get replaced with the new one. Is there a way to do this in Archicad?

[Anonymous]

Advice from one Clark to another!!

I would investigate hotlinked modules for the roof truss. These do exactly what you are after. Just remember to resave any edited elements as the same module name and update them again in the hotlink manager and it should work.

Using the find and select tool to swap out one library part with another is also easy.

1) Select one of many parts you want to select.
2) Click 'find and select',
3) Click the 'copy settings' button above the big plus.
4) Click 'more choices' and find the 'name' criterion - you will find the name of the object is loaded already,
4) Click the big Plus button on and switch between each storey level and it will select all the parts with the same name!
5) You can then modify them all in the settings dialog as normal.

Hope that helps!

Pete.