Why are dimensions not stored in Complex Profiles?

[Gus]

I create complex profiles and dimension them so that they are easier to work with. Then I store those profiles. When I come back to them to edit them again, the dimension strings I created previously have disappeared. Does anyone know why this happens? Am I doing something wrong?

[Karl Ottenstein]

Is it possible that when you have the profile editor open, you have the visibility of the Drafting layer off (see eyeball in screenshot). Dimensions automatically go into that layer.

[There is a bug in AC 20 where the Info Palette suggests that the dimensions are going into the Construction layer, but if you select a dimension and display its settings, you'll see that it really is in the Drafting layer.]

[Gus]

Karl,
Thanks for your reply.
I did check this before and all those layers were on.
I checked it again just now, and they are still all on, yet the dimension strings do not reappear after the profile is stored and then opened again.
Michael

[DGSketcher]

In my experience whenever you store the profile and close the window AC consolidates the data down to lines & fills. Everything else seems to be deleted which kind of makes sense to keep the data clean.

[Karl Ottenstein]

DGSketcher wrote:
In my experience whenever you store the profile and close the window AC consolidates the data down to lines & fills. Everything else seems to be deleted which kind of makes sense to keep the data clean.

I never noticed that before (I hadn't used dimensions). As soon as I click Store Profile, the dimensions are gone.

Personally, I don't see why they would delete any extra data that is on the Drafting layer - it has no impact on the profile itself, but allows us to document what we're doing.

[Barry Kelly]

I would say it is a bug.
When you add the dimension the info box says it is in the 'Construction' layer - but you can't change it as it is greyed out.
If you open the dimension settings it shows the 'Drafting' layer.
But when you close the settings the info box still shows 'Construction'.

You can explode the dimension yourself then it will be in the 'Drafting' layer which is what should happen when you save the profile (dimension gets exploded into lines and text).

This is the same for versions 17, 18, 19 & 20.
I haven't checked back older versions but it used to work as I have used dimensions in my complex profiles before and I am sure I never manually converted them.

Barry.

[Barry Kelly]

I just checked all the annotation tools and they all default to the 'Drafting' layer all except the linear dimension tool.
Even the other dimension tools default to 'Drafting'.

Barry.

[DGSketcher]

There are occasions when retaining dims etc would be useful for record purposes but the other thing I noticed is even polylines are exploded.

From the online help regarding the profile layers:

Drafting: Active if you are using any other drafting tool. These elements will not be part of the saved profile element. Click the eye icon to show/hide the drafting elements in this window.
Items drawn on the Drafting layer will be saved as part of the profile attribute, but they will not be visible in the placed profile.
Note: Dimension elements placed in the Profile Editor window are not saved as part of the attribute; they are for drafting purposes only.

SRC: http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-guide/user_interface_refer...

[Barry Kelly]

DGSketcher wrote:
There are occasions when retaining dims etc would be useful for record purposes but the other thing I noticed is even polylines are exploded. ...
Note: Dimension elements placed in the Profile Editor window are not saved as part of the attribute; they are for drafting purposes only.

They used to be exploded to lines and text automatically and kept in the 'Drafting' layer when storing the profile.
I have many that still have the dimension back from whenever complex profiles first made their appearance.

You can explode them yourself and keep them as part of the profile (visible in editor only).

Barry.