Contents

Using Library Packages .................................................................................................................. 2

Library Packages ......................................................................................................................... 2
Changes with Library Packages .................................................................................................. 2
Changes in regular workflows ................................................................................................ 2
Additional workflow options .................................................................................................. 3
For third-party library developers ............................................................................................... 3
Setting library part defaults............................................................................................................. 4
Changing defaults in Archicad.................................................................................................... 4
Editing Mapping Value Tables ................................................................................................... 7
Changing .libpack language ............................................................................................................ 9
Changes in Library Manager ........................................................................................................ 13
Changes in Tool Settings Dialogs ................................................................................................. 15
Using Library Packages
Archicad 28 introduced a new library format: the library packages. Here, you can find detailed
documentation on what changes this new technology presents to you as an Archicad user or a third-
party library developer.

Library Packages
Up until Archicad 28, the official library was shipped in .lcf format. Each regional version had two
.lcf files: Archicad Library and MEP. These files contained different library parts, each with
region-specific translations, folder structure, and default settings, matching the default template
files.

On the contrary, Library Packages are smaller parts of the whole library: the previous two .lcf files
are substituted with several Library Packages. These packages contain the same library parts for
each regional version and all localization (translation, default settings, folder structures)
knowledge, so they are suitable for multiple countries.

Changes with Library Packages

By default, the official Archicad templates contain a predefined set of Library Packages, including
all objects previously available for each regional version of Archicad.

If you are a general user who does not want to explore the new technology, you can continue using
the Library Packages the same way you used the previously used .lcf files. However, if you are
reading this page, you are likely hoping to reap the packages' benefits, so let us see how they affect
more advanced work.

Changes in regular workflows

This new technology affects the appearance of the Library Manager (Changes in Library Manager)
and the Tool Settings Dialogs (Changes in Tool Settings Dialogs).

You will also discover that more library parts are available for all regional versions of Archicad
and that even more library packages can be loaded via the Library Manager from the Archicad
Library Packages folder (e.g., different Doors and Windows sets are available by loading different
library packages).

Additionally, the library-related settings on the Model View Options window are separated into
more pages.
Additional workflow options

New workflows become available with library packages and their flexible localization options.
These were previously hard-coded into all released library versions but now can be changed during
Archicad runtime:

• Virtual folder structure: All localization versions can define alternate virtual folder
structures, and users can switch between these in Archicad. The official library has the
same folder structures defined for each regional version as users are already used to. Read
more on this in Changing .libpack language.
• Translation for library-related content: This includes the folder and library part names
and all strings contained in the library parts, which enables you to use the library in the
language of your choice, regardless of which Archicad version you own. Custom libraries
can now also have translations for a broader market. Read more on this in Changing
.libpack language.
• Setting default parameter values: With Mapping Value Tables, a simple text file, you
can change the default values of library part parameters, making creating custom templates
much easier as the library can match the alternate values. The official templates contain a
Mapping Value Table with a complete list of editable default values, so you do not have to
add anything manually; only edit the existing data (read more on this in Setting library part
defaults). This workflow can be achieved with custom libraries, too.

For third-party library developers

Suppose you would like to incorporate any localization knowledge (mentioned above in the
Additional workflow options section) into your custom-made libraries; you can upgrade your .lcf
files to behave like a library package by following the step-by-step documentation in Create a new
libpack from scratch / upgrade .lcf to libpack. You can find links to detailed descriptions of each
required additional file there, but reading through all the user guides (linked above) is highly
recommended.
Setting library part defaults
One of the main benefits of using the library package technology is setting library part defaults in
Archicad runtime. While previously you could achieve this only by using Favorites as a
workaround, with library packages you can now set the default values of most* of the parameters
in each library part. Thus, from now on library defaults can match any custom template.

*The main exceptions are:

• Hidden parameters, because changing them can cause errors in the library
• Most macro parameters are set by caller objects, so changing those default values has no
effect
• Array parameter values, because changing the array size via the mapping table could lead
to errors

Also note that for string parameter values, changing the default via mapping values has priority
over the translation (symbolStrings.po).

Changing defaults in Archicad

Library packages use Mapping Value Tables to define each parameter’s default value. These
tables are saved into Archicad plan or template files; Graphisoft’s default templates also contain
such a table.

To import Mapping Value Tables:

• Open the Edit GDL Library Parts toolbar through Window/Toolbars/Edit GDL Library
Parts.
• Click on the dropdown button on the left end of the toolbar.
• From the dropdown, select Import Mapping Value Table…
• Browse for a Mapping Value Table .json file.
• Click Open.
• Decide what you would like to do with the already existing Mapping Value Table:
o Replace current table → removes previously loaded Mapping Value Table and
loads the currently selected one.
o Keep original on conflict → merge the previous and current tables; the previously
loaded table will define the duplicate values.
o Replace the original on conflict → merge the previous and current tables; the new
table will define duplicated values.
• Click on OK.
This only affects library part defaults, so already placed library parts will not change. For the
changes to take effect, you may have to reset the currently selected library parts in the tool
settings dialog:

• Either select another library part, then change back.

• Or, in the tool settings dialog, right-click on the preview picture of the library part and
select Reset to Default Settings.
Editing Mapping Value Tables
Now that you know how to exchange the Mapping Value Tables in Archicad, you may be eager
to create your own. The easiest way to do this is to modify an existing table.

For the official library provided by Graphisoft, you can download the Mapping Value Tables from
here the Dowload site.

Another way to obtain an editable Mapping Value Table is to export it from Archicad:

• Start a new project using the default template.

• Open the same dropdown on the Edit GDL Library Parts toolbar as before.
• Select Export Mapping Value Table…
 • Save the MappingValue.json file.

Now open the saved .json file in a text editor. You can see it is long: it contains all* parameters
with their meaning name, parameter type, and value.

*The same exceptions apply as before. Also, “all” means this list cannot be expanded without
editing the library.

A single entry in the .json file looks like this:

{
"meaning": "Armchair 01/gs_fill_pen/Furnishing_FillPen",
"type": "PenColor",
"value": 91
},

As you can see, each mapping value has a meaning name, a type, and a value. You can use any of
these to search for what you need. (e.g., you can look for PenColor type parameters with the value
of 91; with a find and replace, you can change them all to a different value).

You can also set Windows or Mac-specific values using “macValue” and “winValue”. This is
mainly used for font types, as the two operating systems have different font type sets:

{
"meaning": "2-way Exterior Door/Font/gs_FontStyle",
"type": "String",
"macValue": "Lucida Grande",
"winValue": "Arial Unicode MS"
},

Edit only the values after the “value” tag (with an appropriate value for their type). Otherwise, the
file may not work properly!

If you wish to know how to add parameters to this list - either for creating your own library or
improving the official one - see the detailed development workflow in How Editable Parameter
Defaults Work.

When you are done editing the Mapping Value Table, save the new version. After that, you can
import it into Archicad, as described before.
Changing .libpack language
One of the main benefits of using library packages is the ability to change their display language
in Archicad runtime. The display language includes the string appearing on the user interface of
each object and how they are organized in the folder structure (because different regions might
have different preferred folder structures).

Archicad includes 29 predefined language options for which translations and folder structures can
be given. The official library packages created by Graphisoft include knowledge of each of these
languages, but third-party packages may only contain some of these languages. This is why the
language selection is not necessarily a single choice but a priority list. If the library package
includes data for the first language in the list, it will be applied. If not, it checks for the second
priority language, and so on.

The language selection will not be applied if a library package does not contain dictionaries or
pathnametables. Read these documents on creating each of the required files:

Creating symbolStrings.po

Creating pathNameTable.json

Creating fileNames.po and folderNames.po

To change the language preference in Archicad, open the dropdown menu at the left end of the
Edit GDL Library Parts toolbar (Window/Toolbars/Edit GDL Library Parts, and select Library
Localization Preferences.
Here, you can see two boxes: the left contains all available language versions (which are not moved
to the Preference List), and the right includes the ranked list of language versions that affect your
plan file.

To add a language version to the Preference List, select it and click the Add Selected button at the
bottom. Once the language versions are added to the box on the right, you can rank them with
drag-and-drop.
Be warned (as the text on the bottom notes) that applying these changes takes time and cannot be
undone. You can edit it again manually in the same dialog.

The changes affect the following:

• Name and structure of the library part folders (1)

• Name of the library parts (2)
• Settings tab of the library part (3)
• Keywords and Description (4)

Unaffected:

• Interface parts generated by Archicad exe (5)

• String parameter values in already placed library parts (unless parameter script is run)

English/International (INT) version

German (GER) version
Changes in Library Manager
As mentioned, Library Packages are smaller parts of the entire Archicad Library. To avoid code
duplication and increase in library size, most of the common code (macros, MVOs, and images)
are stored in “central” library packages (e.g., the Essential Library), accessible by all other library
packages. For these “dependent” packages to work, their dependencies (that is, the “central”
packages they depend on) must also be loaded into the project. The Library Manager handles these
dependencies automatically (see below), so all library packages can access all required code.

When you add a library package to your project in the Library Manager, all its dependencies are
automatically added (as long as they are in the same folder). Archicad also lists the added library
packages in an info window.

If you try to remove a library package on which other packages depend, a warning window pops
up:

If you select multiple packages, and if some of those packages still have dependencies loaded, you
can avoid removing the dependency packages by selecting Remove only independent.

• For example, when designing an office building and wanting to remove unnecessary Beds
and Medical Equipment packages, Archicad will warn you that the Furniture Layouts
library package depends on the Beds package. If you have already placed some elements
from Furniture Layouts, those library parts won’t work if you remove Beds. In this case,
 select Remove only independent, which will remove the Medical Equipment package but
keep the Beds package - so that Furniture Layouts can still work.

You can choose Remove All if you don’t mind the missing dependencies (temporarily).

• For example, you have a modified version of the Tables package. To make it work, you
had to edit the Furniture Macros package. Now you select these two packages in the Library
Manager and then delete them. Archicad warns you that Furniture Macros is a dependency
for other library packages as well, but you choose Remove All. After this, you can load
your modified version of Furniture Macros (and Tables), which will also solve the
dependency warnings.

If a library package is missing its dependency, multiple warnings appear:

• When clicking on Reload and apply

• In the Library Manager’s list of loaded libraries

• A library warning appears at the bottom of Library Manager, and the Library component
in Action Center also turns red

You can avoid these warnings by either (re-)adding the missing dependency or removing the
dependent library package.
Changes in Tool Settings Dialogs
If you open any tool settings dialog, you will see the same folder structure as before. You can
change the view options (e.g. folder view, list vs. icons) by clicking the cogwheel icon next to the
search bar.

A new view option is available: Folder View (with sources) displays the structure of the library
packages.
This shows you which library parts are included in which library package. If you have library
packages in multiple folders, those parent folders are visible here as well (e.g., Archicad Library
Packages), to help you further organize your project.

This tree is made up of two different types of data:

• “Physical file locations” (the folder structure on your computer), which determines the
structure from the root folder to the library packages' folder level
• “Virtual file locations” (pathNameTables, which can be custom-made and changed with
the language preferences of the library: Changing .libpack language), which determines
the folder structure inside a single library package.

If the default option (Folder View) is selected, all library packages' subfolder structures are
merged. In Folder view, the displayed folder structure can only be affected by the path name table
files.