Modeling
About Archicad's design tools, element connections, modeling concepts, etc.

Problem With Drag & Drop To Create Modules

Anonymous
Not applicable
I noticed I can highlight a bunch of objects in AC and drag them to my desktop where they automatically turn into a MOD file. Cool! However, if I double-click on the file, AC locks and uses my CPU 100% until I kill the process. I tried this trick with two walls, and when I tried to open it by double-clicking, it sat there for about three minutes before I killed it.

On the other hand, if I'm already in AC, I can use File->Open to open the module and it opens just fine.

I'm guessing this is a bug, but I would like to know if other people get the same response.
4 REPLIES 4
Anonymous
Not applicable
It sounds a bit buggy, but modules are not meant to be opened directly, but rather are intended to be merged into an existing file. They are not complete files, only fragmentary assemblies so they may lack header data necessary to open rather than merge. This doesn't really seem like a problem to me.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Matthew wrote:
...modules are not meant to be opened directly, but rather are intended to be merged into an existing file. They are not complete files, only fragmentary assemblies so they may lack header data necessary to open rather than merge.
That's possible, but I can open them from the File->Open menu, so I would think they could be double-clicked. And we are bound to run into situations when we will need to modify existing modules.

For the most part, I was curious to see if anybody else's AC reacted this way. I like to know if it's me doing something wrong, or if it's AC.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Jay wrote:
That's possible, but I can open them from the File->Open menu, so I would think they could be double-clicked. And we are bound to run into situations when we will need to modify existing modules.
I assume that it opens into the current or a new plan file? (I haven't tried it myself.) Many programs do not open all available file types with a double click, so this is not especially strange behavior.

For editing, just merge, break the link, make the changes, select, save selection as module, and overwrite the previous one. You can also keep a bunch of modules in a dedicated PLN file and publish them. This works great for repeated assemblies in a project such as unit plans, standard lavs and kitchens, balconies, dormers, porticos, etc.
Ben Odonnell
Contributor
Jay,
You haven't done any thing wrong. It seems to be a bug in the way that the mod file is saved out from ArchiCAD. I had exactly the same result as you did.

Cheers.
Ben
Ben O'Donnell
Architect and CTO at BIMobject®
Get your BIM objects from bimobject.com