updating hotlinks in Achicad 9

[Anonymous]

I'm sure this is a really stupid question. I've just returned to Archicad after several years away and am now working on 9. I can't figure out how to update my hotlinks from Archicad. If I go to the hotlink manager and try to add hotlinks, it greys out the PMK files and only lets me add PLN files- which isn't what I want to update. When I try to update from Plotmaker, using the navigator box, it never updates the plans to show the reflected changes. The book isn't shedding much light on this and it seems like a really basic thing. I seem to remember a "save special" command from the version that I used to work on. Can somebody help me out?

[Anonymous]

jpauly wrote:
I've just returned to Archicad after several years away and am now working on 9. I can't figure out how to update my hotlinks from Archicad. If I go to the hotlink manager and try to add hotlinks, it greys out the PMK files and only lets me add PLN files- which isn't what I want to update.

Read in Helps:
ArchiCAD 9 Reference Guide > Documentation > Working with PlotMaker > Drawings

jpauly wrote:
I seem to remember a "save special" command from the version that I used to work on.

1. Options>Work Enviroment>Command Layout Schemes>Menu
2. In right Section "Biuld or edit this menu" from the list choose Menubar.
3. Click on "Menu Options" button. Choose "New Menu". Type "Special"(or something else if you need).
4. In the middle section "Application commands and menus" under "List:">"All commands by theme" you find "60 Special" folder. Select all needed submenus and >>Add selected>> (or Drag and Drop) in to your new created Menu in right section.
5. Click "OK" Button to apply and close dialog.
Have Fun!

[Anonymous]

O.K., thanks for the reply. I've read that whole section in the book and it's not really clear. All that I want to do is import a PMK file into a layout (within a book) and then be able to update that PMK file from Archicad without doing "save as" and overwriting the file. I can't get the PMK files to show up in the hotlink manager- they're greyed out when I try to add a hotlink, and when I update the PMK files from plotmaker, they don't show the reflected changes. I have a feeling I'm missing something really simple here.

[TomWaltz]

The trick you are looking for is the Archicad Publisher.

It will update all of your PMKs in one command. It can be time consuming to publish an entire project to PMK, but works.

The PMK in and of itself must always be updated. If you change the Archicad file, you must either Save As... or Publish to PMK for the files to update in Plotmaker.

The only other alternative is do directly link Plotmaker to the PLN file, which bypasses PMKs completely.