Recover drawing data when all seems lost

This is a continuance to my previous post regarding "AutoCAD Automatic Save Feature".

Recovering Drawing Data 101... (AutoCAD 2005 Viewpoint)
1) If you press YES to save changes after a fatal error (assuming it gave you the chance) then a file is created with a "{file name}_recover.dwg" in the same directory as your closed file. Open a new AutoCAD session and run a recover (File>Drawing Utilities>Recover) on the new file. If it's successful REMEMBER to Save As on top of the old file and delete the "_recover.dwg" file. Don't work in the recovered drawing file.

If you can't recover your drawing then move onto # 2.

2) Rename your .bak file to "temp.dwg" and see if that is corrupted too. If that's gone then move onto # 3.

3) Go to your local AutoSave directory. Look for the "{file name}.sv$" file Refer to my previous post "AutoCAD Automatic Save Feature" to recover from that.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS you can open a New Blank drawing and Insert the corrupted file as a block. If this works you'll only get items in Model Space. Paper Space is kyboshed.

Why are my paper space objects white?

Do you have a situation where all your objects in paper space (layout tab) are white? Your objects are on layers with different colors and they're all bylayer. The problem lies within your current page setup.

• Set your layout tab current. Right Click on the tab itself and press Page Setup Manager...

• Press Modify

• Uncheck "Display plot styles"

Civil 3D Synopsis

I took my first Civil 3D (C3D) training class a few months ago. Let me tell you that it is going to be difficult to change someone’s mindset from LDT to C3D’s new procedures if they're stuck in their ways. Do you know anyone who screams, “Bring back R14 & Softdesk 8!” It’s a paradigm shift. Everything is object based. This allows for real-time updates. C3D 2007 service pack 3 is the only version worth working with. I haven't worked with 2008 but will be soon. The big issue I still see is Vault. It’s the replacement for Data Shortcuts. Vault is the current method of sharing database information from one drawing to another. No more common database. All “database” work is stored in the drawing which it was created in. For example if someone drops 200 points and creates a surface EG in a drawing called EG-Surface.dwg then you would check the 200 points, EG surface, and the dwg file into a vault so that any other drawings needing to use them will reference through vault. There are IT related issues with Vault that I’m not too savvy with. It deals with SQL Servers, # of users, etc. Not to mention file backup systems.

Points are going to send some surveyors over the edge. However if they’re taught how to protect their points then they shouldn’t fuss too much about that. The thing I don’t like about points is that if I’m in a “Plan” drawing where I’m doing grading design and I check out the 200 points into my current drawing so that I may reference them then they’re actually inserted into my drawing. If I delete any of them and they weren’t protected then they are gone from vault. Picture this. I’ve xrefed my topo into my drawing that shows points then I check the points out so now I have duplicate points displayed. There is a point on top of the xref point. It’s just plain weird. Can you tell I’m the one who’s trying to cope with grasping these concepts? Locking your points is my main point.

Styles were a big topic because everything displayed is based on a style. It will take someone at each company a great deal of time to setup per their company standards. Styles are stored in a .dwt (drawing template) file and can be accessed through the prospector. One method to tackle styles is to teach most of your CAD staff how to created and manipulate styles so they will be self sufficient. If you are 100% standardized in development of plans and layout then someone could create most of them for staff to use without any hassle. It will be a virtual impossibility to create a style for every single use. Designers are going to want to create styles to view design. I’m sure each one will have their own flare to debug designs.

Figuring out the bits and pieces is something that is going to have to be done when companies start attempting to use C3D as their source for design and production.

There was more we covered that I don't have the energy to post. What I can say is that training is immanent.

I'm not going to blog too much about Civil 3D until we roll out pilot projects or convert completely.

A great resource for all Civil 3D needs is http://www.civil3d.com. I have posted some Civil 3D bloggers site on the right pane under Other Bloggers.

Thanks for reading!

Open explorer in the current open drawing directory

This simple routine has saved me so much time. I work with explorer primarily to navigate through projects. However, I don't use it to open drawings. I work in LDT and we should all know its limitations by now when it comes to associating projects properly.

(defun c:expl () ;;Change "expl" to any command you wish for a macro
(startapp "explorer" (getvar "dwgprefix"))
(princ)
)

Copy the 4 lines above to a ASCII file with an extension of ".lsp". Loading is simple with the "appload" command. Add it to your start up suite and you're good to go!

Viewport Conflict

1) Scenario: You have two viewports ontop of eachother and you can't get into one or the other. Use Ctrl+R as a toggle into any viewport within current Layout tab.

Here's a list of a few must know setvars

1) Missing dialog boxes use: FILEDIA - Set to (1)

2) Getting a prompt About to Regen - Proceed?: REGENAUTO - Set to ON

3) AutoCAD point display: PDMODE - This varies based on how you wish them to be displayed. Use DDPTYPE to change the display using a dialog box. We "use AutoCAD POINT for Marker" for our AECC_POINT objects. This allows us to control their display without changing the master dwg where the points are located.

4) Attribute display: ATTDISP Enter attribute visibility setting [Normal/ON/OFF]: - Set to Normal if they're not displaying, this is default. Set to ON to view invisible attributes. (Use ON to see LDT Profile tag in the lower left corner of your grid). I haven't found a reason for OFF.

5) Middle button to Pan or Osnap: MBUTTONPAN - Set to (0) for Osnaps or (1) for Pan.

6) Change your pick box size: PICKBOX - Set to desired size. Typically around (5).

7) Change your Cursor X,Y vector length: CURSORSIZE - Set to (100) for standard length. Set to a lower # for shorter vectors.

Missing Icon Images on Toolbars (v2005)

This topic probably has been exhausted over the years but I have a tidbit to add to the mix for AutoCAD 2005. I updated a menu (.mnu) file and recompiled it. I opened my AutoCAD session and my icons were missing from my toolbars. Look familiar? ( ) I've done this a few hundred times and couldn't figure it out. I realized that the AutoCAD profile I had current didn't have any of my Support File Search Paths. The one I needed points to the location where I keep my bitmap files. I added that directory to my Search Paths and recompiled my menu and walla. It was found !

I get the task of working with the Custom User Interface (CUI) editor for our up and coming upgrade to 2007.

Civil 3D Styles

This article on Cadalyst's Website by Bill Frederick was very informative.
http://aec.cadalyst.com/aec/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=324287

It gives a good insight to the undertaking that will have to be done with every office. The first line poses a question, "Why are so many Autodesk users terrified to make the jump to Autodesk Civil 3D?" I will have to agree that Styles are a BIG deal. Every object has a style associated to it. If you want to change the appearance of an object slightly you have to create yet another style. I think if you don't have someone like a CAD or IT Manager tasked to manage these it can get out of control quickly.

One of the things that I'm a bit worried about is that Styles are stored inside the dwg. file. How do I safeguard my styles if I have to send out my dwg files? I know that I'm going to be spending a great deal of time to establish styles based on my company's standard.

I haven't had the opportunity to work with Styles as of yet but this task will be on my plate soon.

AutoCAD Automatic Save Feature

The automatic save feature explained... (AutoCAD 2005 TESTed)

I did some research regarding why Autosave does and doesn't save a backup on your local system.

We had an incident a few months ago where AutoCAD crashed a .dwg and corrupted the .bak file in the current drawing directory and didn't save a .sv$ in the temp local directory. Definition: FILE WAS TOAST and work was lost!!! :-(

To test this I set the time located in my Options to 1 min. because I didn't think that it saved a .sv$ file ever. It actually works even if you don't see it pop up in your command line. The thing to be aware of is that the .sv$ file gets deleted from your local directory when you successfully Exit your drawing file. This feature is designed to be used when AutoCAD exits abnormally, i.e. Fatal Error.

If your drawing crashes and you loose work attempt to rename the .bak file to a different name but use a .dwg extension. If your work is still not all there go to your local temp directory and look for your drawing name with the extension .sv$. Rename the extension to .dwg and open it to see if that recovers more data. You can compare Modified times as well. If the file doesn't exist, it only means that AutoCAD failed to perform as designed...

Sometimes AutoCAD will save a .bak file in your local directory along with .sv$ files. AutoCAD designed the autosave feature to delete the .sv$ after the second autosave and create a permanent .bak file. This is a Crap Shoot. I had it work on 2nd save then on the 3rd then it didn't do it at all on one of my tests. Another AutoCAD program failed to perform as designed... again...

The moral of the story is to, "SAVE Often"...

To find your temporary Autosave directory go to your options and under the Files Tab is an Autosave location.




















For more information about recovering drawing data refer to my new post "Recover drawing data when all seems lost".

Blog Under Construction

I've just created this blog. Sorry for the let down...