Merging two templates - attribute management?

[Mats_Knutsson]

Hi folks,

I'm scratching my head in front of the inevitable I guess.  I have a pretty good arch tpl and now we'll get our 20 landscapers to move from Autocad+NovaPoint to Archicad+Land4 which is really great for everyone except for the one having to work with the good ol' file based attributes monster Archicad. The landscapers need a bunch of new attributes high and low. I haven't done a similar makover for at least 15 years and vaguely remeber to add fake attributes (to get a fair amount ow "space" with the attribute indexes) for every category and then add the new attribites so there wont be attribute index collisions. Am I on the right track?

Br,

Mats

[kim · Accepted solution]

I believe Archicad 24 onwards has a new reindex functionality under layer manager which I was playing with when doing my own office template recently.  Previously there was a common method to create blank attributes so they would not get polluted during a project, but I found it only ever worked if everyone was very strict on that project (it never worked)

The reindexing feature looks good, but I had to do it for each attribute. so if there was a gap eg 100 then 145, by selecting the second one and reindexing, you can force the element ID to 101 or any other number you choose. What I find good is to make the first few characters specific to the template so you can spot new ones that require managing as they get added over time.

More experienced users may have further tips on attribute reindexing.

Good luck.

[Barry Kelly · Accepted solution]

What I have done in my template is to create an attribute (for each type) with a higher index number that gives me space to add new attributes.

It could be a 100, 200 or even a 1000 gap.

Just depends on how many new attributes you think you might add in future.

All this does is, just leaves a gap that you can re-index the attributes you want as part of your template to be below that maximum number.

Any new attributes that get created will have a number greater than the highest attribute number and you have no control over that unless you manipulate them manually after creation.

So that is what I do.

If a user needs to create a new attribute, they can, and I know they will not overwrite any attributes I have deliberately set in my template.

That still doesn't solve the problem if you want to combine (or copy and paste) 2 files with user attributes.

User attributes will still be a mess and will overwrite each other.

But any new attributes I want as part of the template, I will create as normal and then manipulate the index number to be what I want (below that maximum attribute I set).

If a user has created an attribute I want, I will copy it to the template and then manipulate its index number.

It used to be a case of appending to the right side of the attribute manager, duplicating to get to the number you want it to be and then overwriting back to the template (left side).

But now we have the re-index option, it is all a little easier.

Once your template is done and you start using it in new jobs, you can then use the attribute manager to overwrite all attributes in any job with the attributes from the latest template.

Knowing that file will get the template attributes and any user attributes will be un-affected because they will be above the highest template attribute.

If any of those user attributes now double up with your template attributes, you can tidy up with the 'delete and replace' option - obviously keeping the template attribute.

Barry.

[Mats_Knutsson]

I'll do something like this. Thanks 🙂

[Mats_Knutsson]

Great explanation. I actually forgot about the reindexing feature. I'll guestimate a smart indexing structure...maybe keep the landscapers at 400... Not sure I want to condense the existing indexes. They go from 0 to 300...many years of mayhem there. I should...

[Barry Kelly]

I wouldn't go playing with the existing index numbers unless you are truly starting again with a new template.

Keep what you have as it is so you are compatible with existing files.

Create the new landscaping attributes, but re-index them so there is a buffer between your existing and the landscaping.

Maybe start indexing them at 1001, 1002, etc.

Then re-index the last landscaping attribute as 2000.

Now any new user created attributes will be 2001, 2002, etc.

As far as I know there is no limit to the index numbers.

But the column showing the numbers can not be widened, so you can only see maybe 6 characters.

Barry.

[Mats_Knutsson]

I'll buffer :). Keep to three figures.

(Eagerly awaiting cental attribute management...for the last 10 years at least.)