• Archicad 10
• Project Migration
• AC and PM files into a single AC10 file

Create Single File in ArchiCAD 10

Use this option for relatively small projects, to merge both the Layout Book from PlotMaker and Project File from ArchiCAD 9 into a single project file in ArchiCAD 10.

When creating a single PLN file in ArchiCAD 10, you will merge Layout Data into a Project File. In ArchiCAD 10, every Project File must contain both Model Views and a Layout Book as default. This means that the PLN file into which Layout Book data is merged will already contain one or more Layouts, with their own attributes and settings. For this reason, the procedure follows the usual rules of merging, which means that in case certain settings exist in the receiving file, existing data is used, and are not overwritten by merged data. Therefore, when merging Layout Book data into a PLN file, the following settings of the Layout Book are not carried through:

• Book settings
• Project Info
• Grid settings
• Default Master Layout setting

Also, settings in the Layouts page of Project Preferences in ArchiCAD 10 will not be modified by data of the imported Layout Book.

The program will compare the names of the Attributes and Master Layouts of the merged file and the host ArchiCAD 10 file. Please note that the program compares only the names (but not content or definition) when checking for matching Attributes/Master Layouts. If the Attribute or Master Layout names in both files are identical, they will be considered identical by the program, and the existing files in ArchiCAD 10, along with their settings, will be kept.

The structure of the merged Layout Book (its Layouts, Subsets, Master Layouts and placed Drawings) is inserted into the existing Layout Book structure of the ArchiCAD 10 PLN file.

The steps are the following:

1. Open the PlotMaker 9 LBK file in ArchiCAD 10 and save it as an AC 10 PLN file.

2. Open the ArchiCAD 9 PLN file in ArchiCAD 10 and save it as another AC 10 PLN file. You now have two new ArchiCAD 10 files; these two must now be merged.

3. In the latter active Project File (the one containing model data), use the File > File Special > Merge command to merge data from the other saved ArchiCAD 10 file (the one containing Layout Book data). In the appearing dialog box, choose Layout Book to merge Layout Book data of the file into your active Project File. Click the Merge button to carry out the operation.
   
   

If you open the Organizer from the Navigator, you will see that all Layout Book data has now been merged into the Project File.

Note: You should follow the route specified in this guide, that is, merge the PLN File containing Layout Book data into the PLN File containing Model data, and not the other way around. This is because of the rules of merging, and because Views and certain other data would not come through if you merged the Model data into the file containing Layout Book data.
In case you do not wish to merge the Layout Book in its entirety, only some of its Layouts, do the following:

1. Open the ArchiCAD 10 PLN File containing the Model data.
2. Open the ArchiCAD 10 PLN File containing the Layout Book data.

3. In the PLN file containing Model data, open the Organizer in such a way so that you see the Layout Book of both files. In the below illustration, the PLN File containing the Model data is on the right.
   
   

4. Using drag-and-drop, move the desired Layouts from the Layout Book PLN file (on the left) into the Model PLN file (on the right).

If you have Drawings placed into the Layout Book PLN which point to the Model PLN as their source, then the Drawing references will automatically switch from external file references to internal references after the Layouts are merged.

Note: Such drawing links will not be redefined as internal references if the name of the source project file has changed since the drawings were placed. In this case, you should select all such drawings in the Drawing Manager and use the Link To button to re-link these Drawings to their source pln (the renamed project file).

Note: Autotext items referenced in the AC9 title block are brought into the layout .pln, but then aren’t merged into the model .pln. The workaround is described on p.70 of the New Features Guide, which is installed with ArcniCAD 10 in the ArchiCAD10/ Documentation folder. Project Info can be exported as a .xml from the layout .pln, then imported into the model file or the merged file.

Note: The library of title types that you created in converting the layout to AC10 is not automatically loaded into the merged file. It must be loaded manually.

Note: The layout sheets, after being merged, came up on the screen with an overlay that says “Switch to Print Set Layer Combination before Printing of Plotting”. The concept of Print Set Layer Combinations could use some documentation. After a layer set is chosen for one layout, it apparently applies to all of them.

CategoryLayouting