Legacy AC files

[rm]

OK,

Here is a crazy idea. I go to open an AC 6.5 project I worked on several years ago, because my client wants to expand on the project. Guess what using AC12, that cannot happen.

This is were all the apologist say, geez can't believe you expect to open an AC 6.5 file in AC12. Hey charge your client for remodeling the entire project, reproduce the usable portions of the construction documents, CLICK your done.

RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

So what if I can open ten year old Word documents, Photoshop documents, Illustrator documents, Artlantis Documents. Why should I expect the need to open an architectural project that is less than ten years old. I should tell my clients that we need to start from scratch because I was not smart enough to convert their project to the latest version of the CADD program I am using everytime they update the software. DUH, what idiot I am

GS, this is just one more way your competition is going to hand you your lunch!

Aggravation continues to mount!

[Karl Ottenstein]

Hi Robert,

Many feel your frustration, and it is therapeutic to vent here ... but this topic has been hit hard already in several threads and polls over the last couple of weeks.

See the table here:
http://www.archicadwiki.com/ArchiCAD%20versions

concerning which versions can read or write which other versions . You'll have to open your 6.5 project in 10, save as a 10 file, then open that file in 12.

There is a poll related to your frustration here:
http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=134928#134928

Please vote and comment there.

Regards,
Karl

PS Ideally your old file was saved as a PLA, otherwise of course you'll need to get a copy of the 6.5 library also... I even forget to do it myself, but for anyone still reading, it is really important to save your project as a PLA before putting it to bed and on an archive disk so that you have all of the lib parts used in case you need to open the project years down the road.

[Edit: typo]

[Karl Ottenstein]

PS You do not list your machine, only the OS. If it is an Intel Mac, then you can download the Intel version of AC 10 (if you do not have it) here:

http://tr.graphisoftus.com/

Look under AC 10 for the 2006.8.30 entry with the download links.

[Edit: typo]

[Karl Ottenstein]

I think you'll also be interested in this thread started by Stefan
http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=26473

entitled "Long term preservation of BIM models".

Karl

[rm]

Karl,

Again.....I owe you THANKS!!!

My bad for not searching this out in another thread. Truthfully, I am not nearly active as I used to be in reading all threads. That said, despite others applauding or complaining about legacy projects in AC, the fact remains that most architects would like to be able to open the majority of their previous projects in the current version of AC.

Your point is well taken about archiving projects as a PLA file.

I will vote as you suggested.

Thanks again!

[Karl Ottenstein]

You're welcome. 😉

Karl

[Thomas Holm]

rm wrote:
Your point is well taken about archiving projects as a PLA file.

FYI, I'm right now (in AC12) working on a project that I originally started 15 years ago, using Archicad 4.1 in 1993. It was saved as a PLA in AC4.5.
(It's a new addition to a small community centre I designed back then).

I've had some issues with library parts - I opened the project with AC 7, converted library parts using the Special menu, and did the same with AC8.1. The AC8.1 .pla opened in AC12.

I've found it advantageous to successively replace the old library parts. They don't behave well, and they lack the refinement expected nowadays. But the file is definitely useful and has saved me oceans of time!

[rm]

I opened a 6.5 file in AC8, that worked fine. That is not the problem now. The problem is opening the file in AC 9,10, or 12 after the AC8 file was saved in as a PLA file. The library parts completely break down, macros are lost, its a mess.

So, I will simply work in the file in AC 10 bringing loading all the parts I dont need ..... conceptually defeats the purpose of archiving a file.

On an up note, I opened the 6.5 file which I created on Mac G4 with tons of RAM back in the day. The model has lots of model trees in it. Navigating the model was painful at best.

I am running a new MacBook Pro 2.8ghz with the integrated graphics chip...it is WILDLY FAST. I am navigating the model in real time - READ NO LAG AT ALL !!!!

I will post the details in a different thread - APPLE has really out done themselves with this laptop!

[Thomas Holm]

rm wrote:
I opened a 6.5 file in AC8, that worked fine. That is not the problem now. The problem is opening the file in AC 9,10, or 12 after the AC8 file was saved in as a PLA file. The library parts completely break down, macros are lost, its a mess...

just a couple of ideas...
- first check that you have Archicad 8.1. (Pure 8 was a lemon and should be deleted. The upgrade was free and should still be available through your reseller).

- then, do a search here or in the Wikipedia and check how to install and use the Special menu in each Archicad version to convert and re-save the old library objects, windows and doors from the original .pla file. (Old door objects had a .dor extension, for example, from 7 and on they're all .gsm)

The problem is that this process - converting old library objects - isn't handled with the same care by later versions using the automatic open/save .pla procedure. And it's not very well documented either.

To get it right, I had to File>Open and Special>Convert lib objects and re-Save the project .pla in several successive steps, using later and later AC versions.

(I did it in AC7, and then 8.1 or 9 and then 12).

After this process, Archicad12 is able to utilize, treat and view the file correctly in all views. Still some of the old objects don't look very good, but that is entirely another issue 😉

The work involved when re-awakening old projects this way is why I think GS should adopt the idea of (at least optionally) storing placed objects automatically in the project file. It would make life much easier for many users. If it was the standard, I'd have to worry much less about version upgrades.

[Laszlo Nagy]

I am afraid that simply updating Library parts to the latest version may not be the only thing that needs to be done.
I recall when we upgraded a Project from AC6.5 to AC9 at the end of the DD phase. All my Zone Stamps stopped working. After some investigation I found in the 2D script of the Zone Stamp that I have to change a very small thing in a GDL command because in AC9 its way of operating changed.
Also, I got the info from GS after AC10 came out that the program had become much stricter when handling errors in GDL data, so something which might have been working in AC9 because it was more permissive, may not have worked in AC10.
So after such an upgrade one for sure needs to check and possibly replace older library parts with newer ones. This task and its time requirement needs to be planned for when upgrading projects.