Separate files for model and layouts

[David Collins]

The ArchiCAD 10 New Features Guide hints pretty strongly that using one project file for both model and layout information, for anything other than small projects, is asking for trouble. We are advised to keep two separate files for each project, one for the model and another for the drawing layouts. I really like the way Plotmaker has been incorporated into ArchiCAD, but this caveat is a little worrisome.

How small is small? What exactly happens when too much stuff gets loaded into a single file? Do things slow down and start to get squirrely or does the file size just get to be monstrous? If you're not trying to feed a project out over a network, is a large file size that serious a problem?

[Anonymous]

My recommendation is a 2 stage approach:

Project specific information should be part of the project's pln/plp file.

So called "Standard Details" should be linked externally. We use a PLP file and store all of our non-changing reusable details in it. Those drawings are then placed in the layout book directly and not placed into the project's pln/plp unless they need to be modified.

This method keeps the project's file size down and since the standard details don't change there is really no benefit in spending the time to place each one into the project file just to place it on a layout. You can also set the external standard detail drawings to manual update and the internal drawings to automatic update. Then you won't have to wait for the unchanging information to be "updated" (oh, the irony).

Separating the layout book from the model info (which is how it works in AC 9 anyway) isn't really all that necessary until you get into very large projects (mid-rise/high-rise/multiple buildings) where teamwork workspace allocation is more complex. At least in my opinion.

It takes longer to update drawings from external sources simply due to the time it takes to open the external file and generate the views. The files sizes in AC 10 are so much smaller that things are sped up quite a bit over the network AND local disks.

[Aussie John]

I havnt used v10 yet but would be surprised if combining PM and ArchiCAD effected the file size too much as there was a doubling up of information by having a layout file and a CAD file. Im sure it is bigger but by how much only users can tell us. Does the load time of the file get effected much. The way I see it Archicad already saved the View sets in the file and the layout is just a reference to the viewset. I look forward to seeing the results when v10 ships here.

[Anonymous]

Aussie wrote:
I havnt used v10 yet but would be surprised if combining PM and ArchiCAD effected the file size too much as there was a doubling up of information by having a layout file and a CAD file. Im sure it is bigger but by how much only users can tell us.

The file sizes in 10 are substantially smaller. This is due in part to the consolidation of PM and AC (compared to the combined sizes of the AC & PM files), and also due to improvements in the way AC stores its data. I haven't had a chance to do a direct comparison but I will check the sizes before and after once I get to converting some more substantial projects.

[Laszlo Nagy]

Here is some data about comparative files sizes:

http://www.archicadwiki.com/Archicad_10/Project_Migration/File_and_project_sizes?highlight=%28Projec...

[Rakela Raul]

wow, first time i pay attention to this....super !!

[Brad Elliott]

The way I read that is I assumed once you reach a point where your project is complicated enough that you are linking a significant amount of outside information to your project it is probably more effective to break the layout into it's own file. I assumed that on our multi-building on a site projects with a lot of hot linking they will want to have an independent layout. But we will see.

Also, the one issue that has developed with not integrating the standard details into our project file is that people get spoiled by the auto notation of the documentation and lose track of updating detail marks. On our last big project we started actively trying to bring everything in to the building just to make sure our referencing was taken care of. One little bonus of the combined file is that the referencing now shows up in the model file as well as the layout.

And finally I see compression can be turned off. What are the possible negatives of leaving it on? I am not strapped for hard drive space and losing the Plotmaker overhead will free up a lot more so I can easily turn it off if there is a reason to.

[Thomas Holm]

My migrated and merged project files ( not too big) are constantly less than 30% the size of AC9.pln and PM9.lbk combined.

What worries me a little is that I'm not sure there's an easy way to split a combined model and layout book .pln file into separated plns, should you need it after the project has grown. Maybe someone has read more thoroughly in the docs?

[Anonymous]

Thomas wrote:
What worries me a little is that I'm not sure there's an easy way to split a combined model and layout book .pln file into separated plns, should you need it after the project has grown. Maybe someone has read more thoroughly in the docs?

I haven't had the need to try it yet, but I imagine that the easiest method would be to import the layouts into a new file and then delete them from the original.

[Thomas Holm]

Yes. But BookSettings 'n all don't follow, or do they?. I think an ExportLayoutBooktoSeparateFile command that really does eliminate all extra work is needed. A ReverseMerge, if you will.