How to reindex attributes (best practice)

[Sam Karli]

Hi,

I'm about to work on a new template file, essentially by decimating/simpifying an old one (and later growing it).

My problem is that i can remove attributes that I don't need but cannot reindex so that there shouldn't be any gaps between them.

If i reindex them using the Attribute Manager (> Append to temp/Delete all/< Add by index) then the inedexes will be OK but the relations between the attributes will be lost (like a composite will reference a bad fill etc; not mentioning the Favorites).

Is there a method with I can reindex while not loosing the references?

Thanks in advance.

[Laszlo Nagy · Accepted solution]

I think if you use the Reindex button in the Attribute Manager Dialog, Archicad makes sure that all references will point to the new index number. However, you will have to do it one by one.

[Barry Kelly · Accepted solution]

And just be careful, as your re-indexed template will no longer be compatible with any of your old files.

So no more copy & paste from other files unless they are also based on your new template.

Barry.

[Sam Karli]

Thanks for both,

I consider exporting both attributes and favorites into .xml and writing a script to replace stuff according to a mapping.

I did this mapping (given in an .xls, btw) before for modifying ArchiCAD Library's default parameters, so should apply for attributes and favorites, too.

PS this reindexing is ultimately the most brainrotting thing I've done this year. After reindexing 20 layers I have unintentionally pushed the purge button in the vicinity and had to do the whole from the start 😞

[Laszlo Nagy]

There are two other things I can think of that can be affected by attribute reindexing:

1. Default settings in tool settings dialogs - this is not that much of a problem because you can just apply Favorites after the reindexing and the tool default settings will be the same as the settings of one of the favorites.

2. Library Parts default attribute settings - Library Parts in the default Archicad Library refer to many attributes (like Pen 19 or Pen 91 for fill backgrounds), so just make sure that reindexing does not change the index number of all those attributes, otherwise the 2D and 3D representation of many Library parts can get messy.