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Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 2:58 pm
by MichaelB
I will be grateful for some help here - I use Datacad 16.

While working on a drawing, it closed on me - I just cannot reopen it.

I have tried using the .dbk files - no luck.

I have rebooted - no go.

I can open other drawings in the same folder, but not this one - the file just does not respond.

I cannot purge the file because I cannot open it.

Any ideas? - will be really grateful for advice.

Regards
Michael

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:06 pm
by Aaron Ben-Avraham
This may be a long shot, but do you (hopefully) have Sessions enabled? Check in the Misc tab of program preferences. It has saved me a few times!

Aaron

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:15 pm
by joshhuggins
Try emptying the Temporary Files folder?

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:25 pm
by MichaelB
Josh, thanks - but I had emptied the Temporary File Folder - still no go.

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:27 pm
by MichaelB
Aaron, thank you - but no, Sessions was not enabled - it is now enabled but clearly too late.

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:44 pm
by MichaelB
Maybe this is a Dropbox issue - when I try to open the file I get "A201-Rev D, Floor Plans 1.100, A1.u$r added" and thereunder it says "You added A201-Rev D, Floor Plans 1.100, A1.u$r to your Dropbox". Then I get "A201 - Rev D, Floor Plans 1.100, A1.u$r deleted" and thereunder "You deleted A201-Rev D, Floor Plans 1.100, A1.u$r from your Dropbox"

The "A201-Rev D, Floor Plans 1.100" is the name of the drawing file.

If this is an issue, how come my other files are OK?

Maybe a glitch while working on the drawing...........?? If so, how to resolve or recover?

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:12 pm
by Aaron Ben-Avraham
Maybe try shorting the file name and eliminate the comma's and periods. I remember a long while back periods causing some problem, but I can't recall the exact circumstance... And maybe move the file to a short name folder in c: drive to eliminate any path/length filename issue... Something really simple like c:\test\test.aec

Just throwing it out there to see if it makes a difference.

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:25 pm
by David A. Giesselman
May I ask why you are using a comma in a file name? Just because Windoze tolerates it doesn't make it good practice.

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:03 pm
by Aaron Ben-Avraham
You mentioned DropBox. I don't use it, but I am wondering if it has "versioning"? I use Google Drive to back up my current work to "The Cloud" (tm) :D because it has versioning, so I can go back to a point in time and pick up an older version of a file if necessary. Also with a service that has "versioning" ransomware is a less of a threat, or at least I hope so. That is why I also keep a copy of my stuff on a USB drive unplugged from the server as well!

I also do the same on my LAN with Windows 10 "File History" app. Problem with that is that if you get whacked with Ransomware that spreads over the network, the server hosting the File History share could well be infected also...

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:13 pm
by joshhuggins
Aaron Ben-Avraham wrote:I remember a long while back periods causing some problem, but I can't recall the exact circumstance...
Datacad's built-in PDF generation choked when trying to output the PDF's if the file or folder had a period in the name. Not sure if this is still the case or not.

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:20 pm
by Aaron Ben-Avraham
Yes - you sir are correct! I remember that now... which of course doesn't help with the OP's problem! :?

Thanks!

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:49 pm
by Dave
How's about copying the file to a new location and rename it to something like test.aec and see if that works. I'd create a test folder on c drive call it AEC then the file name will be c:\AEC\Test.aec. this will pull the file away from your google drive and versioning problems. Just to test. If it opens then recopy the file without renaming and see if that opens.

DaveR

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:22 am
by MichaelB
Thank you for the responses to my problem and I address accordingly:

Aaron and DaveR:
I did try the option of shortening the file name and eliminating the commas and periods as suggested, and moved the file to the c: drive - it did not work, I still cannot open. It was worth the try

David: I have used commas in file names as a matter of convenience - and I know my file names are lengthy but the names do briefly describe the files which helps me. Question, and excuse the naivety, but why is this considered not good practice? And what should I be doing for it to be good practice? Would appreciate the feedback.

Meantime, I will redo the drawing - fortunately I have a previous revision in an archive folder - it is just the time factor that is the hassle to redo.

Thanks again

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:44 pm
by Roger D
I usually use an hypen "-" or underscore "_" for spacers.

Re: Cannot open drawing file

PostPosted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 10:45 am
by MichaelB
Hi again

Just to advise how the problem has been solved and to close out this post.

Before coming onto the Forum, I had forwarded the problem file to Datacad SA for help.

They could not open it, so they forwarded it to Datacad Tech Support USA.

They were able to solve the problem by removing some "funnies" in the file, one of which was a huge circle that was causing the file to crash.

I think that while I was working in the file - and I was working with circles at the time - my finger slipped on the keyboard and caused the entry of this problem circle.

Anyway, the file is back up and running, and I do not have to redo the work.

Thanks for the interaction - I learned things - and thanks to Datacad Tech Support!!