Library palette

Palettes

The Library palette contains library elements of the following types:

• Symbols
• Smart symbols
• SmartParts
• PythonParts

This palette has the following areas:

Navigation field

The navigation field at the top shows the open folder in the library.
Back takes you up one level in the hierarchy.
You can use Find to find library elements in the current folder and all subordinate folders. The program lists all elements with names matching the letters you entered. When you point to one of the elements found, you can see a ToolTip with information about the name, the date the file was saved, the element type, and the file path. You can open it by means of the shortcut menu.

Selecting and filtering library elements

Use Filter to show or hide specific types of library elements (symbols, smart symbols, SmartParts, PythonParts).

Use Sort criterion to sort the library elements alphabetically or by date in ascending or descending order.

Use Hide empty folders to hide folders without library elements. When selected, the icon changes to and appears pressed in.

Use Show only active project to display the selected project only, hiding all the other projects. When selected, the icon changes to and appears pressed in.

Connect (online library) takes you to the Connect palette to log in to Connect. If you are already signed in, the online library will open immediately.

Library

This is where you open the libraries in the Default, Office, Project, Private, and External paths and go to the required folder.

As soon as you select a folder, you can see the library elements in this folder. A folder can contain Symbols, Smart symbols, SmartParts, and PythonParts.

A small symbol indicates the type of library element:

• Symbol or Symbol with resources
• Smart symbol or Smart symbol with resources
• SmartPart
• PythonPart

Preview area

You can see a preview of the selected element. You can define the View and View type (Wireframe, Hidden, Animation).

Except for fixtures, you can see the Dimensions of the library element. The program calculates the dimensions from the min-max box of the library element.

Font size area

Define whether a label in the library element will be resized automatically (Auto-scale) or by a factor you enter (Font factor).

Selection area

You can see preview icons of the library elements in the selected folder. You can select a View for 3D elements. 2D symbols are only visible in plan view.

To select an element, double-click it or drag it into the workspace and place it there. To place the element, use the tools in the input options.

The Selection area provides a shortcut menu you can use to define the size of the preview icons. You can even hide the preview icons by selecting the Text only option. Click an entry to display its picture in the Preview area.
Click Customize User Interface... to open the Customize dialog box, where you can customize the palettes to suit your needs. To do this, select the Palettes tab.

Shortcut menu or icon

The icon appears when you point to folders and library elements.

Folders in the default path provide the following options:

• Copy
  Copies the folder to the clipboard; you can then paste the folder into a different path (except the Default path).
• Smart symbols create an opening of type
  Assigns an opening type to each smart symbol in the folder.
• Smart symbols respect room extension surfaces in animation, section
  Specifies for each smart symbol in the folder how it adapts to room expansion surfaces.

Modifiable folders provide the following additional options:

• Delete
  Deletes the selected folder.
• Rename
  Renames the folder.
• Paste
  Pastes a folder from the clipboard into the selected folder.
• Cut
  Copies the selected folder to the clipboard and deletes the folder.
• Open in File Explorer
  Opens the selected folder in File Explorer.

Library elements in folders in the default path provide the following options:

• Copy
  Copies the library element to the clipboard; you can then paste the library element into a folder you created yourself (this folder must not be in the Default path).
• Open file path
  Opens the folder where the library item is located in File Explorer.

Library elements you created yourself (in the office, project, and private folders) provide the following additional options:

• Delete
  Deletes the selected library element.
• Rename
  Renames the library element.
• Paste
  Pastes a library element from the clipboard into the selected folder.
• Cut
  Copies the selected library element to the clipboard and deletes the library element.
• Replace
  Replaces the selected library element with a new one selected by you.
• Resources included (only for symbols and smart symbols
  Determines whether the resources are stored in the library element or taken from the current project. When you select this option, Allplan saves the current resources with the library element. As a result, the library element always looks the same, even if you use it in other projects.

Bar at the bottom

Depending on the path and folder, the toolbar at the bottom provides more tools.

Nemetschek profile catalog
Opens the Nemetschek profile catalog in Bimplus, adding selected profile groups or individual profiles as symbols to the office folder of the Allplan library.

New group
Creates a new group in the selected folder.

Insert element
Saves library elements to the current library folder and adds library elements placed in the workspace to the currently open library folder.

• Insert symbol
  Saves a new symbol to the currently open library folder.
• Insert smart symbol
  Inserts a smart symbol placed on the workspace into the currently selected folder.
• Insert SmartPart
  Inserts a SmartPart placed in the workspace to the current folder.
• Insert PythonPart
  Inserts a PythonPart placed in the workspace to the current folder.
• New smart symbol
  Creates a smart symbol and saves it to the current library folder.

Add path
Creates a path in the External path folder so that you can access more files with library elements.