Topic Title

Our entire DataCAD staff has been experiencing a number of problems
for the last week and a half or so. The occurrences seem to be random,
and occasional, but are a problem to production. We recently added a
Xerox 510 plotter, which might explain some of them, but we're baffled
as to all of them. These problems seem to have started at the same time
as adding the plotter. Here goes:




1) Upon opening files, text can look like this. Jagged lines extended to
infinity. Looks like GroundLn linteype.
2) All .chr text changes font type and SIZE.
3) Upon opening, all entities extend to infinite length.
4) About 25% of sheets plotted show the above problems on the prints.
5) Batch plotting is messed up. Even though settings are for 24x36,
resulting plot files and direct prints come out 8.5x11. This could be the
plotter driver.
6) Saving files using the dropdown "file" menu while multiple files are
open causes a crash with all work lost since last auto-save.
7) Receiving email in Outlook while multiple files are open causes a
freeze-up.
8 ) Cut/paste function (ctrl-E, ctrl-V) doesn't work with multiple files open.
9) Using cut/paste from Word document inserts only first line of text.
10) The only solution is to close out and restart DataCAD, but with loss of
work.

IT are baffled, too. No new versions of DataCAD or network OS's have
been added recently. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Holy Jumping Cow Batman

There is a lot of stuff going wrong here. Are all these events happening on all the systems? For the CHR fonts & linetypes, could you be missing the assigned fonts or linetype somehow? Crazy overshoots maybe? Too far from absolute zero? Of the 25% of the prints with the printing issue, if you re-run the prints is it the same 25% of the sheet every time or does the problem jump around? Did all these issues crop up after the driver install? Could you upload a larger pic. Hard to see all the detail. Also if you do upload a full res image can you identify one of the weird entities in the screen shot. I'm temped to have you zip and send me your Datacad folder because man that's some weird stuff.

Josh, (I've enlarged the screen shot)

There is a lot of stuff going wrong here. Are all these events happening on all the systems?

We're on a large network and most all the DataCAD staff are experiencing
the same type of things. Files aren't being corrupted as it seems to be
a system thing. Close out of DataCAD, restart, and things are normal...
for a while.

For the CHR fonts & linetypes, could you be missing the assigned fonts or linetype somehow? Crazy overshoots maybe? Too far from absolute zero?

We couldn't be missing any fonts or linetypes because that would have to
be true on each user's machine separately. In the screen shot, each
jagged line is a separate text enitity. No overshoots have changed, they
just show up in the display that way, and some of them print out. We had
a similar thing happen in the past with files that were too far from abs.
zero, but that's not possible here.

Notice the title block with TTF fonts. They remain unchanged. And the
white vortex thingy is an architect's stamp (CA) and each letter is curved
around the stamp (it's own entity), with each jagged line straying out into
space according to its insertion angle. Our stamps are done with .chr
fonts.

Of the 25% of the prints with the printing issue, if you re-run the prints is it the same 25% of the sheet every time or does the problem jump around?

I don't know if anybody's been able to pinpoint this. Some are
experiencing the biggest problems in either details or in files with a large
amount of text like the cover sheet and specification sheets.

Did all these issues crop up after the driver install?

The display issues seem to be random and every now and then, but it
seems like they started at the same time as the plotter was installed.
Nobody can pinpoint a date.

I'm temped to have you zip and send me your Datacad folder because man that's some weird stuff.

Wouldn't do any good, because these things aren't file dependent.

The plotting issues might be driver related, but it doesn't make sense
for all the display issues that occur upon opening a file without using the
plot command.

I have had the same problem for the last few weeks on my office computer. I have also had some other problems like losing fonts during batch plotting many files and the same squiggly lines show up in plots later in the batch plotting session. I have been attributing it to memory problems up until now.

Hello Steve,

Have you tested the theory of the plotter driver causing the issue? If you uninstall the plotter driver on a machine, or Restore one machine with the Registry from just before it was added, do the problems go away?

I'm temped to have you zip and send me your Datacad folder because man that's some weird stuff.

Wouldn't do any good, because these things aren't file dependent.

That's why sending the Datacad program folder (not files) might bring something up when looked thru, unless Datacad can chime in with a known issue. Has v.12 beta / test drive been installed and used to open any of these files at any point? Seems it's all related to the CHR text and possibly the driver in some way. Has a new font or linetype been added to the mix recently? Maybe one copied from a v.12 beta / test drive? New macros maybe? If Paul is also seeing the issue in ver 11 why just all of a sudden? Ver. 11.08.01 has been out for quite a long time. Hmmmm. Have you tried a clean install of Datacad? I'd try removing Datacad and the new printer driver on a system, reload Datacad 11 from the CD without modifying any settings, see it the issue remains. If it seems gone, try updating to 11.08.01 and again see if the issue remains gone. If so I'd work as long as you can without the printer driver. If it works o.k. without it then try re-installing the printer driver. If it still works, configure the system per your office standards and see if that does anything. Crazy one dude.

Steve Scott wrote:

The plotting issues might be driver related, but it doesn't make sense
for all the display issues that occur upon opening a file without using the
plot command.

Hi Steve,

In Windows the selected default printer driver does effect the display.

Just curious - is the new plotter set as the default printer? If it is, what happens if you change the default to another printer? Do the display problems still happen?

Aaron

In Windows the selected default printer driver does effect the display.

Very interesting, I didn't know that. Do you know what the relation is?

In Windows the selected default printer driver does effect the display.

Very interesting, I didn't know that. Do you know what the relation is?

Hi Josh,

The print driver is part of the Windows GDI so programs can use the same API's to draw text and images to screen and to printers.

If a driver is flakey or corrupted, then it can cause display and print problems.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:


The Graphics Device Interface (GDI, sometimes called Graphical Device Interface) is one of the three core components or "subsystems", together with the kernel and the user (window manager), of Microsoft Windows.

GDI is a Microsoft Windows interface for representing graphical objects and transmitting them to output devices such as monitors and printers.

GDI is responsible for tasks such as drawing lines and curves, rendering fonts and handling palettes. It is not directly responsible for drawing windows, menus, etc.; that task is reserved for the user subsystem, which resides in user32.dll and is built atop GDI. GDI is similar to Apple's classic QuickDraw.

Perhaps the most significant capability of GDI over more direct methods of accessing the hardware is its scaling capabilities, and abstraction of target devices. Using GDI, it is very easy to draw on multiple devices, such as a screen and a printer, and expect proper reproduction in each case. This capability is at the centre of all WYSIWYG applications for Microsoft Windows.

That's good to know for this type of trouble shooting. Thanks for the great info Let's hope that driver is Steve's issue.

Okay, our AutoCAD users have about the same size list of things going
wrong for them, too. A few of the plotting issues are identical. Our IT
people are looking into the driver as the culprit. And people think that
California drivers are crazy...

Replacing acrobat 6 with acrobat 7 seems to fix the issues for AutoCAD users. Doing the same for DataCAD users hasn't helped. We have removed all the plotters and their drivers, the new ones, from the machine. Still hasn't helped.
Any ideas?

Hello,

What is their current Default Printer? Maybe reinstalling the latest update (v11.08.01)?

Hello,

What is their current Default Printer? Maybe reinstalling the latest update (v11.08.01)?

FYI - "dpool" who posted above is our network tech.

Neil, we have 30 some odd printers/plotters to choose from. Defaults
are chosen at each workstation for each software type used. Our most
recent addition is a Xerox 510 plotter. We also have four of five other
plotters on the network.

It appeared that the new plotter driver was engaged in global nuclear war
with Adobe Acrobat 6. Everybody was updated to 7, and that only solved
the problems for our AutoCAD users. Some DataCAD users have had a
few less problems, others have had problems start with upgrade to 7,
some (like me) have had 7 since before the plotter and have had no
problems whatsoever, while others have had 7 for a long time and currently have problems.

Still no other ideas.

Hello,

What about the video driver version -- have the machines been checked for the latest ones? Are the machines with the issues using an ATi or nVidia video cards, or are they mixed? What version of DirectX are they using?