Topic Title

Hi All,

For some reason I can't open a DC18 file I previous worked on 11th May 2022.
I get the following messages:-

Exception EAcessViolation in module dcwwin.exe at 002F1BB.
Access violation at address 00FF1BB in module 'dcadwin.exe.
Write of address 0DF80344.

Not too sure what any of this means, see screen capture attachment of the same. The only thing I can think of is that I had a new PC since that time, but other DC files prior to that open ok.

On very rare occasions when DC files refuse to open, the REPAIR option usually fixes the file, so, I tried that & its starts to open for a few seconds & I can see some drawing elements, but then crashes. The backup file also refuses to open.

Therefore, does anyone have any ideas of what to do next ?
I guess I could send the file to DC HQ to see if they can fix it, not too sure how much that would cost, as I don't subscribe anymore....

Hi Clayton,
Unfortunately I can't offer any insights into the error itself (others such as Josh Huggins may be able to offer advice on how to get around the error). Without sending the file to DataCAD one option is to look for older backups. Many backup options keep a version history, so depending on your backup regime it may be possible to recover a previous version of the file.
One of the simplest backup options is to have your drawing files on OneDrive, but many people are not aware that OneDrive keeps a file history that it is possible to restore from (this has included all file types since July 2017). I had in mind that the OneDrive file history only went back 30 days, but I just checked a file that I have been working on over the last couple of months and OneDrive has versions back to 12th May. So, on the off-chance that you are using OneDrive I would check if you have a previous version of the corrupt file in the OneDrive history ...

p.s. since making this post I have looked at the OneDrive options ... I think the 30 day history limit only applies to the free OneDrive option ... paid options (which are very affordable) keep a history of up to 100 versions.

One thing that I have tried with really troublesome files is create a new default file. Turn off all of the displays items in the Display menu like F1 Text thru S1 Hatch Origin, as well as S7 Fills & S0 Bitmaps. Then I would try to do a File, Import and import the troubled file and see it loads. If it crashes during the import, you could try only importing layers and not GTVs / MSP and see if the import works. You mentioned that you see entities draw to the screen, if you can tell which layers seems to start loading you could start the import and only import groups of the first layers first to see if the drawing will load. Then add subsequent layers or groups of layers to see if you can narrow down what layer might have something that is causing the issue. You are basicly trying to see what will import and what will not by elimination.

Another thing you might try is when opening the file is hold CTRL down while the file loads to suppress xrefs loading. If a bad xref is causing the issue, this might let you track down the file that actually has the issue. I am not sure if holding CTRL while trying to Repair or Importing the file like above will work or not but it's worth a shot.

(EDIT: There is an option in the Repair tool to not load xrefs during the repair)

Hi Josh,

That's clever thinking, I never thought of importing ones own file back in to DC so to speak.

Anyway, it imported ok, so I'll filter it down to see what items were causing the issue, but I suspect it was a self-xref.

Thanks again, its much appreciated.

That's clever thinking, I never thought of importing ones own file back in to DC so to speak.

Clay Rogers at Datacad taught me the file import trick a few years back when I was having a similar issue. Apparently it goes through a different set of processes than the Repair process which I find to be interesting itself.

Hi Clayton,
Unfortunately I can't offer any insights into the error itself (others such as Josh Huggins may be able to offer advice on how to get around the error). Without sending the file to DataCAD one option is to look for older backups. Many backup options keep a version history, so depending on your backup regime it may be possible to recover a previous version of the file.
One of the simplest backup options is to have your drawing files on OneDrive, but many people are not aware that OneDrive keeps a file history that it is possible to restore from (this has included all file types since July 2017). I had in mind that the OneDrive file history only went back 30 days, but I just checked a file that I have been working on over the last couple of months and OneDrive has versions back to 12th May. So, on the off-chance that you are using OneDrive I would check if you have a previous version of the corrupt file in the OneDrive history ...

p.s. since making this post I have looked at the OneDrive options ... I think the 30 day history limit only applies to the free OneDrive option ... paid options (which are very affordable) keep a history of up to 100 versions.

Hi Dave,
Yes, I do use MS-ONEDRIVE & never realised the Version-History had multiple saves to access amongst other items when you right click over a file to see a sub-menu. That file of mine though only had the same one file listed, but other files had many version with different dates, so this is good to know