Behavior of MEP-Compatible Objects

If MEP Modeler is installed, then many familiar elements from the ARCHICAD Library, such as this Basin, will now include MEP Custom Settings (including the Connection tab page), so you can connect them to any object in an MEP route:

If you are working on ARCHICAD without MEP Modeler installed, the same objects are, of course, still available from the Library, but their custom MEP parameters are not available.

It is likely that an ARCHICAD project file will be shared or transferred among team members, some of whom have installed MEP Modeler, and others who have not. The following workflows explain how the MEP objects will behave in each case.

Note: In the following workflow descriptions, “ARCHICAD Environment” means that ARCHICAD is installed without the MEP Modeler Add-On. “MEP Modeler Environment” means that ARCHICAD is installed with the MEP Modeler Add-On.

Workflow 1: Open MEP Modeler Project in an ARCHICAD Environment

If a project created in an MEP environment is in an ARCHICAD environment (without MEP Modeler), the MEP objects will be available and editable as GDL objects. If you subsequently reopen the project in an MEP environment, the connections will function properly.

Workflow 2: Open ARCHICAD Project in an MEP Modeler Environment

If an ARCHICAD project is opened (using File > Open) in an MEP Modeler environment, then the GDL objects that are MEP-compatible will be automatically “smartened up” to include MEP Custom Settings and connection parameters. Their connection parameters can be used to include these objects as part of an MEP route. Adjacent MEP objects with connected hotspots are automatically connected (provided that the connection geometries are compatible).

Workflow 3: Merge, Copy-Paste, or Send/Receive ARCHICAD Project in an MEP Modeler Environment

If an ARCHICAD project is accessed in an MEP environment without using File > Open (e.g. merging the file; or copy/pasting MEP objects; or accessing such objects through Teamwork’s Send/Receive or Reserve functions), then the MEP-compatible GDL objects will not automatically be converted into parametric MEP objects, as they are in Workflow 2.

If you want continue working on this project using MEP Modeler functions, you should achieve this conversion manually: go to MEP Preferences and click the Convert Objects to MEP Elements button.