Mass Re-index Attributes

[Josh Verran]

Is it possible to re-index attributes on mass?

Eg I have ~50 line types, I want to index so each one has an index 1-50, as opposed to 1, 2,4, 6, 12 etc (not really that bad, but hopefully conveys the idea).

I can do each on individually however this is going to be extremely time consuming, considerin my next move is to reindex fills, then surfaces etc.

[Barry Kelly]

In the Attribute Manager you can 'Append' to the right hand side.

One at a time if you want to control what gets the next number, or you can select the whole group and they will go across in the same order starting at 1.

Then you would select them on the right hand side and 'Overwrite by Index Number' to bring them back with the new index numbers.

But I would strongly advise against doing this if you intend to copy and paste, merge, or hotlink to other files.

Also all of you library objects will suddenly go crazy.

This is because Archicad uses the attribute number and not the names when referring to attributes.

So if an object was using line 5 (dashed) it will now be using line 5 still but will now be dot/dash or zigzag or something quite different to what you would expect.

Barry.

[Josh Verran]

Ah, thanks Barry, I'll stop there.
That's not going to achieve what I was hoping.

The only reason I was going to attempt, is that keep getting odd attributes appearing as staff are importing objects that are then bringing in tonnes of unwanted attributes.

At the moment I'm culling the embedded library each time, then manually clearing the attributes.

The staff need to be able to add new objects to files, but at a bit of a loss on how to stop all these unwanted attributes from appearing.

Was hoping I could use the indexing as a way to quickly identify index numbers that fell outside our default range.

[Barry Kelly]

What I have done in my template, is to add an attribute for each attribute type that has an index number that is higher than any of my standard attributes.

For example the highest attribute number for surfaces is 296.

I create an new attribute that has the number 1000.

What this does is if someone now creates a new attribute for a surface, it will be created with the index number 1001.

All new attributes are created with higher numbers (unless someone deliberately re-indexes it).

So they are easily recognised.

If I need to create a new surface in my template, I do so, but I re-index it so it has a number less than 1000.

Now I know what my index numbers are that I control, and what others have created.

I can easily update attributes (overwrite by index number) from my template to any other file and know that it now contains all of my standard attributes.

Anything that is not in my standard range will not be affected.

I don't even bother deleting user created attributes - they may want to deliberately create a different surface that I don't have in the template.

That is fine but I know I can control my attributes and keep them up to date in any file I want to update.

I think this applies to attributes created from copy & paste as well.

If a new attribute has to be created, I think it creates also with a higher number.

I am not 100% certain of this, as all of my files are based on the same original template, so I don't have the problem of new attribute being created with a copy & paste.

Any new attribute a user has created will have a higher number, and if that gets copied and pasted into another file, it will still have that higher number.

Barry.

[Barry Kelly]

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@Barry Kelly wrote:

I think this applies to attributes created from copy & paste as well.

If a new attribute has to be created, I think it creates also with a higher number.

I am not 100% certain of this, as all of my files are based on the same original template, so I don't have the problem of new attribute being created with a copy & paste.

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I just tested this.

When you copy and paste from another file, if the attribute number exists already, then it does not update anything, it just uses the existing attribute.

If it is a new attribute number, then it creates a new attribute with that number - it does not create an attribute with the highest number.

So you will have no way of knowing that a new attribute has been added except by comparing it to your template.

Barry.

[Josh Verran]

In the context of below, I have been able to solve using the new Attribute Folders, for each of the Attribute types, I ensure all my templated attributes are in folders. This way anything sitting outside a folder can be deleted.

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@Josh Verran wrote:

Ah, thanks Barry, I'll stop there.
That's not going to achieve what I was hoping.

The only reason I was going to attempt, is that keep getting odd attributes appearing as staff are importing objects that are then bringing in tonnes of unwanted attributes.

At the moment I'm culling the embedded library each time, then manually clearing the attributes.

The staff need to be able to add new objects to files, but at a bit of a loss on how to stop all these unwanted attributes from appearing.

Was hoping I could use the indexing as a way to quickly identify index numbers that fell outside our default range.

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[Barry Kelly]

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@Josh Verran wrote:

The only reason I was going to attempt, is that keep getting odd attributes appearing as staff are importing objects that are then bringing in tonnes of unwanted attributes.

At the moment I'm culling the embedded library each time, then manually clearing the attributes.

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That should help with the problem of attribute 'pollution' or 'virus' as some call it.

Those attributes coming from Master_GDL files, should be in the main attribute folder and not sub-folders.

A couple of good links about this attribute polution problem ...

https://shoegnome.com/2023/08/03/archicad-tutorial-92-copy-and-paste-embedded-libraries-and-master_g...

https://www.digital.skewed.com.au/media/webinars/archintensive-2023-dark-side-attribute-chaos

I am not sure if this will be the case if you copy something from a file that does have attributes already in folders though.

Will have to experiment with that.

Do they automatically get put in folders if those folders exist in both files being copied from and pasted to?

Barry.

[Lee Hankins]

I was literally just about to suggest this. That’s how we manage it. Everything is contained within folders in our template so you can immediately see anything that’s been ‘imported’. We have also done as Barrry has suggested and added a ‘BRP Beyond this Point’ attribute to all areas leaving space for at least 100 attributes so that when Graphisoft update the master templates with additional attributes I can import them to our template without affecting any attributes we have already added. 

[k_bauschert]

the only addition to the good advices already given i can offer is my experience of getting our template migrated between versions.

to get an better overview of the entire attributes and derivations from the stock AC template i used Excel sheets.

I exported the attributes from our template and the stock one and put them next to each other in Excel.

This way i was able to track changes and differences between the two, especially occuoied id-"slots" and changed numbers.

Our additions of e.g. layers were shifted to higher id´s as of not to interfere with the stock ones.

[scottjm]

Can confirm as of AC27 4030 attributes will import themselves outside of a folder, even if there where in a folder in the file they were copied from.

I'm pretty sure this is an unintentional 'feature' but I find it very helpful.  

This slide from my attributes webinar seemed to be the thing most people latched on to, makes it easy to see how messed up attribute pollution is.