Copy saved view from one file to another.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if I can copy a saved view from one drawing to another and how.

[Laszlo Nagy]

You mean copy a saved View from one Project File to another? That unfortunately is not possible to do.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, that might be a desire for future versions.

[Anonymous]

There is a way that is not immediate but it works. You can place a camera in the path view and then copy and paste the camera.

[Erwin Edel]

A 'view' in ArchiCAD terminology is a saved part of your model (floor plan, section, detail etc etc) with settings for Layer Combination, Scale, Pen Set etc etc saved.

It is part of the work flow of Project Map (your model) > View Map (how to present the model) > Layout Book (your model on 'paper') > Publisher (the end result for the outside world as PDF or printed etc).

A 3D window view of your model is indeed best saved through placing a Camera in a Path. While you can also save a 3D 'view' (with all the settings linked as described above), this will not relate to a camera even if it says you saved Camera X. Move the camera in plan or redine it from 3D, this saved view will not change with it (unfortunately).

[Nikolokobe]

I find this inability to copy views as one of the most frustrating and puzzling things in otherwise amazing software that is Archicad. We can transfer between files:

- 3d model

- 2d linework, including labels
- Layers

- Layer combinations

- Schedules

- Custom user profiles

- Layouts

- Pretty much EVERYTHING useful, apart from views....

Why on earth not this as well as others? It seems like a simple enough thing to do - every view has only a small number of different parameters:

- Home story

- Layer combo

- Scale

- Structure Display, etc.

Nothing earth shatteringly complex, am I right? And this issue hasn't been resolved over a course of... how many years of development? It's super tedious trying to match an old file to the current company standard, please Graphisoft, please make this work.

[Barry Kelly]

It seems logical that it should be possible, especially for identically set up files.

But what happens if you want to copy a view for the plans and a storey does not exist or is called something different.

Or you want to copy a view for an elevation or section and that elevation/section does not exist.

Views are created from the view points in the Project Map, and not all files are set up the same.

Then you have the issue of layer combinations' pen sets, model view options, graphic overrides, renovation filters, dimension style.

These are often different between files.

So when copying a view are all these things just created?

That would lead to a mess like we have now with attributes being different between files.

So if they are not the same, do they just come across as "Missing"?

What happens then if a layer combination, pen set, etc., has the same name but different settings?

Can Archicad check for this and mark those as "Missing".

I don't think it will be a very easy problem to solve.

Besides that, you have the view points you need already - if not you can copy and paste section/elevation markers.

It takes only a few seconds to create a view (a quick drag in the Organiser) - with clone folders it is automatic.

So I think it is actually quicker to create the exact views you need rather than import them and have to check/change all the settings any way.

A good template with all the views you need is very important, to save creating new views all of the time.

Even create views you might not need.

It is super easy just to delete them if you don't want them (or just ignore them).

Barry.

[Nikolokobe]

I agree with you that it would potentially make a big mess with some items missing between files - levels, elevations, sections, pen sets, etc. This is an issue with any transfer between files, including a "simple" copy / paste of the 3d model - it can and will cause headache if not done properly, but the fact is it could be done.

"Missing" attributes could default to some generic setting (or to some ugly override to clearly tell us that we did a bad transfer) with a label beside it - "missing original" or something like that. I'll happily clean up any mess caused by a bad transfer, or just go back and do it right, I would just love to have that as an option. I already have that option with simple copy / paste or when I transfer using attribute manager and override layers/combos by name/index.

It's messy if it's not done right, but it is pure poetry if everything is done right and clicks into place as intended.

I'm not sure I understand your comment, could you please elaborate a bit on this?

"It takes only a few seconds to create a view (a quick drag in the Organiser) - with clone folders it is automatic."

I know I can clone views within one file with ctrl+click&drag, or even a folder of views. How can this help us between two files? Usually I have 30-ish views in 4-5 folders and when I need to add new views they need to be at different folders, different levels, different view types (plans / sections / elevations) it's not like they stack neatly at the bottom of the list for easy management.

[Barry Kelly]

You can only drag in the Organiser from the Project Map to the View map within the same file.

You can't do this between 2 files which is what you are wanting.

What I was trying to say is it will take you the same amount of time to copy from one file to another and fix up 'Missing' settings as it would to set the correct settings for what you want and drag the view point from Project Map to create the view in the View Map.

As it is so quick to create the views exactly how you want them, is it worth having the ability to copy them from another file (if we could), with the potential for settings to go 'Missing' and have to fix them up?

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@Nikolokobe wrote:

Usually I have 30-ish views in 4-5 folders and when I need to add new views they need to be at different folders, different levels, different view types (plans / sections / elevations) it's not like they stack neatly at the bottom of the list for easy management.

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You can drag single view points into any folder you want (unless it is a clone folder - they populate automatically and can't be changed in any way).

If you need multiple views that are to have the same settings, you can drag multiple view points at the same time - they can even be different types of view points (plan, section, elevation, etc.).

You can drag into any View Map folder (so long as it is not a clone) or you can drag to the bottom of the View Map list (or anywhere in the list), and then you can reorganise them as you want.

And if you happen to get the view settings wrong as you drag them across, you can change them after either singly or select multiple and change them all together.

Barry.