.mod files taking on attributes of other open files

[Anonymous]

Two days ago I updated our .mod files to have the same attributes as the host file using the overwrite command in the attribute manager. I verified that they were all working correctly and then updated each hotlink. Today I opened one of these updated .mod files and its attributes are that of another project all together. The only thing I can think of is that I had the other project open at the same time I opened the .mod file.

I just don't want to bring in the other projects' layers into the host file, what do I do?

[Anonymous]

So I think I may have figured it out, the mod files take on the attributes of the last opened file. I have tested this with 3 different projects now and the behaviour is consistant:

I open project #1, close it, open a mod file and the mod file has the attributes of project #1.

I open project #2, close it, open the same mod file a 2nd time and it has the attributes of project #2

I open project #3, close it, open the same mod file a 3rd time and it has the attributes of project #3... you get the picture

All very strange... Any one else encounter this?

[Barry Kelly]

As you have discoverd MOD files don't actually have their own attributes.
MOD files are designed to be small so only contain the element information of what is in them.
Anything that is not used is not save in the MOD.
It is fleshed out with the attributes from your previous file as you have discovered.
If you want complete control of the attributes than just save as a PLN.
You can do the same with a PLN as you can a MOD - the file is just bigger.
Barry.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Barry,

I thought I had remembered hearing something like that but when I started searching for info on mods again I couldn't pull anything up. Thanks for the clarification.

[Anonymous]

Oh! One further question Barry! In your post you wrote:

"As you have discoverd MOD files don't actually have their own attributes.
MOD files are designed to be small so only contain the element information of what is in them."

So if I have an element placed in a .mod with a certain set of attributes it should retain those attributes, n'est-cs pas? The file and the elements within the mod files I was observing were both taking on the attributes of the previously opened file... Should this happen?

[Laszlo Nagy]

The MOD files only store references to attributes, not the actual definition of the attributes themselves. It stores attribute references by index number, not name.
So it stores: this surface has "Material #123". What the definition of Material #123 is depends on the PLN file opened just before that.

[Anonymous]

Now I gotcha, I knew those numbers were good for something