I'm trying to OPEN some legacy MicroStation drawings through AutoCAD. I have done this with nearly 400 files thus far but there are a dozen or so that are coming back with an error message reading 'YOU HAVE A SELECTED AN INVALID OR UNSUPPORTED DGN FILE'. I can look at these through Bentley Viewer, but do not have a full version of MicroStation to try and fix things.
How to fix things via AutoCAD?
We are a water utility and have thousands of detail drawings of service taps and hydrant connections (maybe 11,000 total). These are in the old Microstation J format. Each drawing is divided into a top half and bottom half. The bottom half of the drawing is the actual drawing portion.
The top half of the drawing is text that comes out of an Old Oracle database, into Microsoft Word 2000 through mail merge then is copied and pasted into the top portion of the card. Newer drawings done like this and opened in AutoCAD have the top portion identified as an OLE object (embedded object), while the older drawings just look like a drawing in the top.
I'm looking to update the system to ArcGIS and AutoCAD. The data will be moved to a Microsoft Access database (probably later SQL Server), and I want to convert all the old Microstation drawings into an AutoCAD format. ArcGIS will provide the basemap and be linked to the database, with clickable hyperlinks to open the AutoCAD drawings. I would like to be able to keep the bottom drawing half while changing the top half of each drawing to reflect updated data in the database. If this can be automatically updated, that would be awesome.
One is the best program to automatically bulk convert the drawings from Microstation J to AutoCAD (I have 2011). Also, I'm looking for a method to display the text from the database in the top portion of the card using either mail merge with AutoCAD or some automatic method of pulling the info out of the database. Can I just copy-paste this info into AutoCAD as we did with Microstation or is there a better way?
For some reason, one of our PC's running MEP 2012 has suddenly started to only open drawings in read-only mode. The same drawings will open just fine on other PC's so they / their folders are not set to read-only in windows. The user also has the exact same access rights on the server as the others.
The strangest thing about this is the following warning box that appears on screen. see attached.
For some reason, the alert message which displays the full path of the dwg in question, has it's path modified with a date and time stamp prefixed with a '@' symbol. Needless to say the folder '@GMT-2012.07.17-11.00.04' does not exist. In 18 years of playing with AutoCAD I've never seen this one before.
How can you limit the number of open drawings in a session of AutoCAD. Now I can open up 35 drawings in 1 session which will take up a huge amount of memory.
Is there a variable or something like this that I can limit this to 4 for example?
Autocad 2012 was working fine until a week ago when it started taking a long time to open drawings--even search for drawings on our network. It also takes at least 30 seconds to save files, where it used to take 5 seconds at most.
I found the AutoCad 2012 and AutoCad LT 2012 SP1 Ribbon Hotfix, which sounded like my problem, but it is for Product Version F.107.0.0 and I have Product Version F.51.0.0.
why Autocad 2012 opens one window per drawing as opposed to Autocad 2007/2008 opening one window for as many drawings as you have open. (I also don't care to group/ungroup similar programs through Windows 7.) This must be an Autocad 2012 program default that I can't figure out to change.
View 9 Replies View RelatedWhen I copy or move an object in a file converted from Microstation to Autocad 2012 the system freezes or slows down to a crawl. If I redraw the drawing in Autocad it works fine. I have a lot of drawings converted from Microstation and I don't need to be redrawing them all.
View 1 Replies View RelatedA co-worker had a copy of a handy little guide called "Lynn Allen's Tips and Tricks for AutoCAD 2012". I think she (or another co-worker) got it at AU.
On page 33 under the heading "DGN Support", it says the following:
Complex linetypes are now maintained! To ensure that custom linetypes are displayed, copy the corresponding .rsc files to the support path...........
The way I read that, Acad will read the RSC file and display linetypes from it. Is that true? Does it only work when I'm looking at a DGN file? Or can I use the RSC file with my dwg file? I'd test it myself but I don't have access to any MicroStation files.
If Acad can read the RSC file directly, then I don't see why the linetypes can't be used in a dwg file. AND that being the case, I also don't see why an Autodesk product can't be created to WRITE these RSC files. As far as I'm concerned MicroStation's custom linestyles is so much more advanced than Acad's linetypes.
In 2008, never had this issue.Just dumb, circles, and lines in a view port, that have hidden or center linetyoes assigned to them. When we go to plot using legacy hidden (this new for 2012?) the plot comes out with continuous lines. These are not solids. Just ordinary line entities.Now, when I change the shadeplot to "hidden" the linetype is shown correctly, but now my entities are coloured, when I just want my drawing to be black and white (going to PDF), even though all of the colours in the pen style are set to "Black".
Has this changed? Is there a new variable introduced?
When press "open" the "open"-window dosn't open. Insted it open a comandpromt by the cursor that promt me to enter full search-way and name on the file I want to open.
What can i do to get the "open"-window?
about 3 days ago for some reason my cad is really slow when i have two drawings open at the same time. it lags when i am panning or zooming.
it just started randomly and the computer i am using is new and started using it about 6 months ago and it has been fine since i got it except for the past few days.
it doesn't matter what drawing file is open it lags. RAM is alot (8gigs) again this just started happening randomly. everything else is fine
i am working on AUTOCAD LT 2014
I tried the following method to save all drawing currently open. It always fire fill access arror, whereas AutoCAD can save the file wihthout any issue. Here I am checking for drawings that not even saved once and ask the user to take action for those files.
try
{
DocumentCollection docs = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application.DocumentManager;
foreach (Document doc in docs)
{
string dname = doc.Name;
string s = doc.Name.Substring(doc.Name.LastIndexOf('\') + 1);
[code]....
I'm trying to add a block with an attribute to a drawing. The command works if there is only one drawing open, but when there are other open drawings then the block doesn't appear. Strangely if I select the block in the block editor and then close the block editor the block suddenly appears. Do you know what is causing the block to not appear when other drawings are open?
I included the code below. "s1" works but "s2" has the strange behavior of the block not being visible.
[CommandMethod("s1")]
public void AddBlockWithAttributeToDestination_WithNoOtherDrawingsOpen() {
var attributeValue = "1234";
var destination = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
using (var transaction = destination.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()) {
addBlock(transaction, destination.Database, attributeValue);
transaction.Commit();
[code]....
I'm running 2013 C3D and have a quirk that my drawings zoom out when I first open the file. I'm not even sure what they are zooming out to as it is not 'Extents'.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI usually open several drawing and use"drag and drop".
But something has happened.
Now, I can only open one drawing at the time. When I try to open the second drawing, the program close down the first.
What have I done ? and what shell I do ?
But, I've lost the ability to open drawings with the traditional "tree" type search.... Something like Windows Explorer. Just before this happened, I had blown up a drawing by, apparently, importing one too many iges files. Got a message that Autocad had an error and was shutting down. Now, when I hit file/open, I get nothing but the command line asking me to enter the drawing path.
View 5 Replies View RelatedI am a landscape architect, and have used autocad for the past three years, and I am also familiar with microstation, which I used at a previous job. My question is primarily for the users that are familiar with both products.
Unlike much of the drafting I have done in architecture (which is often straight lines and 90 angles), landscape architecture and land planning often requires long sweeping curves that lead into tangent arcs, and or lines. Microstation has a brilliant arc tool that allows one to create beautiful curves that are always tangent. The arc tool also allows placement of the next curve anywhere, as opposed to snapping to an end point. Is there a way to do the described actions in Autocad?
Is there a way to convert a .dgn to a .dwg without microstation?
-I have read that you can xref a dgn in a dwg but this did not work. civil3D simply does not recognize the dgn extension in any way shape or form ....that i have found.
THE LONG VERSION AS TO WHY:
I have both a dgn and a dwg of the same thing, only difference being the dgn has colored layer linework and lineweights etc. for entites on the same layer. The .dwg is just thousands of white lines on various layers.
to make it easier id like ot be able to have the colors to at least quick select stuff to move to their own layers seperately. rather then have multiple entites on the same layer that are in no way related to each other.
I can't open a drawing I saved yesterday afternoon. I always get a fatal error after reaching 98%. When i try doing recovery I get a message that is something like a program failure.Is there any way to open that drawing?
View 9 Replies View RelatedCurrently when I open up multiple drawings (opening them up one at a time) they all appear in the same window (one instance) of AutoCAD.
I want each drawing to open in separate instances so I can view them on separate monitors (and close one without being asked to close them all).
I have tried changing the SDI system variable from 0 and 1 (and vise-versa)
I have tried changing the windows default program from AutoCAD Application to AutoCAD Launcher (and vise-versa)
I have set the TASKBAR system variable at both 0 and 1 (and vise-versa)
Windows 7
AutoCAD LT 2012
Every drawing I created using LT 2009 opens now with "Open Drawings - Errors Found" window telling me the drawing has xxx numbe of errors and asking me whether to continue or close and recover. Why is it doing this?
View 6 Replies View RelatedI was trying to retrieve a list of the currently open drawings before running a batch script in VB .Net 2008 so that the program can check the selected file listto update against whats open already to make sure that the file isnt read only.
View 2 Replies View RelatedIt seems that once my newly purchased autocad lt. 13 opens up a drawing created by an other co-worker in autocad Lt. 11, it automaticly converts to 13 and now the person using 11 can no longer open the file. what I should do?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI cannot get this feature of 2013 to work for me. When I grab a selected item and drag it to the new drawing window, I get at round circle with a line through it or sometimes I get a command that says invalid.
View 3 Replies View RelatedAutoCAD LT 2014...Any way to turn off the bar near the top that shows what drawings I have open? I like to use a clean looking CAD screen and this is an entire line of stuff I don't need to see. Yes, I'm still using the AutoCAD LT classic workspace (modified of course).
View 2 Replies View RelatedI open a blank 2012 session with drawing1.dwg, then I open a new dwg "drawing2.dwg.So one session, two blank drawings.
I netload an assy into drawing2, and can run a lispfunction from it.
I netload the the assy into drawing 1, and cannot run the lispfunction.
it says "error: no function definition:..."How should the checking process normally be done, to see if a .net dll is loaded?I normally do this with lisp:
(if (not mylispfunctionname)
(progn
(COMMAND "NETLOAD" DLLNAME)
(vl-arx-import 'AcXt-GetColorNoBylayer) ;since I compile to separate namespace vlx's
)
)
The separate namespace thing is secondary, and I am just talking about loading dll's by hand, and running functions from them on command line. Once I get that ironed out, I can tackle how to detect from inside a vlx.I saw Kean's post on making a dll to detect what dll's are loaded, but its not even working for me once I have that info. URL....
i use Autodesk Autocad 2014 , version 18 I have the following problem I open one drawing and start my work Then i open another one and the first one gets delleted , the sheet remaining empty.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI'm using Cad 2011,how do u generate 2D drawings from a 3D object,i know that the command only works on layout n on 2013 the command is "Base".So wat is it on 2011?
View 4 Replies View RelatedI am using 2D-AutoCAD, and trying to plot a drawing on a printer, the drawing is different colors and I want to print it black on white paper, I am unable to select the proper .ctb file from the Plot Style Table pulldown, it does not show up? I have plotted other drawing sets using this method but for some reason cant do it on this particular set.
View 3 Replies View RelatedI need to have two people working in the same dwg, basically at the same time. We call it an Assembly Plan. Everything is done in model space. I want to be able to have each of them basically work in the same dwg and at the end of the day, BOTH of their work is saved in one dwg, but no double lines, etc.
View 2 Replies View RelatedWhat is the best way to get 2D drawings from a 3D model? Flatshot will give a flat view but it does everything in the entire drawing and brings every line with it.
Is there an easy way to get a 2d drawing from one thing in a 3D model? We only have Autocad, no extras like Revit.