AutoCAD 2007/2008/2009 DWG Format

[#1]

A file we are working on routinely disappears. It erases itself from the server. While working on the file, AutoCAD will notify the user that the file is already open and the file will become read-only. Once it is read only, it can be saved under a different name. Once it's a different name, it can be saved back as it's original name.

Sometimes the file will just erase itself off of the server.

Has anyone ever seen something like this before?

We currently have three files in one project that do this.

[#2]

i didn't see any takers on this one, so...

a quick thing to test. if you save the file to a local drive for a while, does the isbehavior cease? if it does cease, you've found the culprit. if it doesn't, you may need to look at the way AutoCAD is configured/customized.

-dave

[#3]

Years ago I had one file that would flake out like that. Funny thing is once I named it something else it was fine. Save it to the original name and it would mess up again. The file I had trouble with was named with two zeros at the end, like SPQ08M00.dwg. I don't normally use '00' for a drawing file but It was a special situation.

Anything similar going on like that with your files?

[#4]

Actually, I think I found the problem.

I also posted regarding the -scalelistedit problem at:
http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=655652

When I cleared out the extra scales in the drawings, they stopped disappearing from the server.

We had one file with over 20,000 separate scales.

I've since spoken with those responsible, and have hopefully stopped that from happening again.

[#5]

Yeah, I've seen stuff like that happen before, but not with disappearing files.

It was the scalelistedit thing that had totally messed up the files.

[#6]

Can you move the data in these three files into new DWGs? If so, does the problem persist for these?

On the server, open a cmd window and type OPENFILES /?
Review OPENFILES if you're not familiar and use it to see what's locked up.

Depending on your AutoCAD version, Autodesk has something similar: WHOHAS. See Help.

[#7]

Just a follow-up years later it seems.

It turned out to be a problem with scalelists.  We used -scalelistedit to reset the scales in all of our drawings and files x-ref'd into them.

They were acting like a crazy virus that would grow exponentially every time someone opened or saved a file.  The number of scales just got so big that the file would literally self-delete.

Very weird.