How to merging two Archicad .tpl files

[mrsneuna]

so I have two Archicad .tpl files, and both templates are very useful. I would like to merge them into one, but when I tried, I encountered some errors. Is there a way to combine both .tpl files into a single template without errors?

Operating system used: Windows 10

[Barry Kelly]

What errors are you getting?

Barry.

[Lingwisyer]

How are you trying to merge them?

[mrsneuna]

I opened Template File 1 and used the Attribute Manager to import from Template File 2. I selected several attributes from the second template and clicked Append. However, I encountered errors indicating that some fill types and cover fills were missing. Could you please confirm if this is the proper method for merging two template files, or if there is a recommended approach to avoid these missing attribute errors?

[mrsneuna]

I encountered errors indicating that some fill types and cover fills were missing

[Lingwisyer · Accepted solution]

Ensure that you have the "Include All Associated Attributes" checkbox selected else you will get a missing attribute error for anything used that was not included in the append, and did not already exists. I think it matched the Attribute Number first, and if that was not found will try to match the Attribute Name.

Ling.

[Barry Kelly · Accepted solution]

Tick 'Include associated attributes' as Ling suggests.

I would also try to avoid simply 'Appending' attributes, as you will probably end up with duplicates for similar attributes.

Overwrite 'by index' or 'by name', but you still have to be careful.

I would actually carefully compare the attributes in the second file to the main one and bring in just what you want to update or create as a new attribute.

It all depends on the two files.

Do they have attributes with the exactly the same names but different index numbers?

These are probably supposed to be the same attributes, so overwrite by name so you don't end up with duplicate names.

Or do they have attributes with different names but the same attribute numbers?

These are probably supposed to be different attributes, so you definitely what to overwrite by name or these you can append.

If you overwrite by name and they have different names, they should automatically append with a new index number.

Archicad actually uses the index number when it uses attributes (the names are just for our benefit), so I prefer to keep my files all having consistent index numbers, which allows me to copy and paste elements from one file to another without then automatically creating new attributes.

If you are changing any of the index numbers in your merge process, you will not be able to successfully copy and paste elements between files without them changing or creating new attributes.

Barry.

[Lingwisyer]

On the topic of attibute management, I think there was a thread around here about exporting the attribute index as a xml which you can then use to compare mulitple files. Following on from that, someone else made an addon or something which does the comparison and highlights inconsistencies and new things.

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Project-data-BIM/Attribute-mismatches-an-app-to-find-them-all/m-...

Ling.

[mrsneuna]

Yes, they have different index numbers and different names. At first, I appended everything without ticking 'Include associated attributes,' which caused errors. Then, following Ling’s suggestion, I tried appending the attributes one by one while ticking 'Include associated attributes.' After checking, I noticed some duplicates with (1), (2), and so on. So I deleted the duplicates by manually renaming them back to the original names one by one. Is this the correct way to handle it

[Barry Kelly]

You shouldn't be able to rename them if another attribute already has that name.

Best is to delete, then you will have an option to 'delete and replace', where you can choose the original attribute that already has the correct name.

Barry.