User Profile disassociates with ARG

[Veronica50506]

I just switched to AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 from 2011. I work on a network so we have shared locations for line styles, plot styles, and drawing templates. Additionally I prefer to not have to create new drawing scales every time I open AutoCAD.

I have tried many times to save and use a user profile. It will work the first time it is opened, but any subsequent time it uses the name but assigns AutoCAD's default settings. I have not tried every combination, but these are the settings/changes I have tried:

1) Adding a setup switch to default to my profile: http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Startup...

2) Having this profile loaded and unloaded in my last session of "options"

3) Writing this setup switch by a full file path or just the name

4) Chaning all references to <<Unnamed Profile>> in the .ARG to the profile name

5) Checking .ARG file before and after to see if they were someow being overwritten

Has anyone else run into this? How was it solved?

Alternately, does anyone know if there is a specific folder the profile must be saved in? I am wondering if the profile specifies a file location that does not contain the profile, so it can't find it after the initial loading.

Thank you!

[rkmcswain]

Do you have a CAD administrator of sorts there?
Is it possible that certain things are being reset (or set to a specific value) on purpose by this person?

What things are being set to the "AutoCAD default settings"? Some things are saved in the drawing, so maybe you are just getting the wrong template loaded. Some things are not saved at all.

To answer the question in your next to last paragraph, I do not rely on profiles at all. I use startup files to set the things that need to be set at startup (but not things are saved in the drawing - those get set in the templates). This includes essentially everything in Options and many other things. That might be overkill for some, but it works for me/us.

[Veronica50506]

We have an administratorfor the license, but since our work is relatively autonomous our little 4 person user group does not share settings with the administrator. Plus, the "works the first time and never again" pattern has been consistant even when I am opening the program 5 minutes apart, so I do not think it is the doings of an individual. Also, if I unload and reload that ARG file it understands the ssettings I want again.

What is being set to default, that I have noticed at least, is all file paths and the preset scales. It loads the correct template the first time I create a new drawing. Your suggestion is making me wonder if there is some setting in the template that disassocites the profile from the settings therin.

I am unfamiliar with startup files. Can these be used to tell Civil3D where to look for plot styles? If so, could you point me to a tutorial? It might be overkill, but so is our current approach of spending 5 minutes resetting all of the file paths every time we open the program. Even if it takes just as long, but is more predictable, I would be a happy camper.

Thanks!

[rkmcswain]

Veronica50506 wrote:

I am unfamiliar with startup files. Can these be used to tell Civil3D where to look for plot styles? If so, could you point me to a tutorial? It might be overkill, but so is our current approach of spending 5 minutes resetting all of the file paths every time we open the program. Even if it takes just as long, but is more predictable, I would be a happy camper.

Thanks!

AutoCAD loads several lisp files at startup. There are two main "user controlled" files. (1)"acad.lsp" loads once per session, and (2) "acaddoc.lsp" runs each time a drawing is loaded.  AutoCAD loads the first one of these files it finds, searching in order of the support file search path. So to guarantee that yours is loaded, put these files in the TOP path listed (even if you have to add your own custom path, such as "C:\Cadstuff" at the top).

The info here should help you get started. Yes you can set the plot style path(s), plotter paths, etc., using this method. We've been doing this for 10+ years and it has saved countless hours of initial setup, troubleshooting, etc. Everything is set up in a location on our server and all we have to do is add this path to the top of the SFSP and everything else is automatic after a couple of Acad restarts.

One tip that is often overlooked: If you decide to set the entire support file search path, you must include the stock OOTB paths too because you are telling AutoCAD what the entire thing should be, not just appending your custom stuff to it. 

IMO, it's easier to just SET things you want to set and not worry about what the existing condition is. In other words, if you want to specify the path for the plot styles, just do it. Don't try and query the existing path to see if it's already what you want it to be - just set it and forget it and move on.