Invisible Objects

[StormyC]

Here is a strange one...

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this drawing database.

There are a few objects in this drawing, 3d solids, that are invisible.  They are not an xref, are not on a turned off/ frozen layer, and are not turned invisible. I can confirm they are present by using gile's ZH tool (e.g. zh with 1076f90d13983).  I can also see they are present using the MGDDBGSNOOPDB command from the MGDDBG utility...

Any ideas??

(Win7 Pro, AutoCAD2014)

[Jeff_M]

Some are undefined 3dSolids with no size, others are Boxes and Cylinders which have a Normal Z of -1. By using the Block command and manually selecting the visible objects and having them deleted when the block is saved, you can then use the CTRL+A to select All. Then you can grip edit 8 of them which makes them visible (these are all of the Z=-1 objects), which then leaves 7 3dsolids with no dimensions.

[StormyC]

Thanks Jeff

However, how has the drawing database got into that state?  Do you think it could be reversed?

Oddly, when the user demonstrated the problem he opened the drawing and the objects were visible on his machine (until he started to edit it) but not when I opened the same file on mine.. both supposedly identical pcs...

Its the second time its happened on the same workstation by the same user...

[Jeff_M]

I'm not sure what would cause this. The objects without dimensions may be similar to zero length Text objects that get created when clicking in insertion point but then exiting the command.
As for the ones with the -Z for the normal, I believe these were likely drawn while in the Bottom view/UCS. Why they are not visible until gripedited is baffling to me.

[Hugh_Compton]

I've encountered the same problem.  I always end up redrawing the 3DSolids which is a pain.

I've attached a DWG with a solid visible.  Nothing can be done with this solid apart from it can be selected.  After a bit of messing around it normally disappears entirely. 

[StormyC]

OK, this is becomming more of a problem...another user on another workstation (HPZ230)

Short of "on opening a drawing: scan it for objects that match 'isnull == true' and deleting them" I dont know what I can do....

I've activated log files on both the workstations that have created these drawings... lets see if i can match a pattern of commands 'when' it happens again....

[christina.davis]

Hi StormyC, 

This behavior is currently being researched, so any additional information you can provide will go a long way. Are these files being imported/exported with other programs? For example, we do have similar reports when files are transferred back and forth with Inventor. Additionally we have found that running the BREP command on all solids will clear the "invisible" solids and may alleviate potential repeat of this. 

Thank you for any additional feedback you can provide. 

[StormyC]

Hi Christina thanks for the response;  BREP doesn't seem to do anything on my posted drawing...

RE:More details;

The solids are not imported or obtained from any other source.  They are created using custom written programs in Lisp and VB.Net.  Lisp calls defined lisp command functions within the VB.Net dll.  Those functions do the following: inserts a profile, extrudes the profile, inserts two solids and cuts the solids from the previous extrusion.  Then, xdata is added and the final solid is moved into position.

Apart from updating it to reference the new AutoCAD assemblies nothing fundamental has changed from AutoCAD 2012.

We have not encountered invisible objects until we upgraded;

from

Windows XP / Nvidia Quadro 4500 / Acad 2012

to

Windows 7 64bit / Nvidia K2000 / Acad 2014

Its worth noting that to date, in our design office, the problem has only occurred the 3 times...

I still have the log files being generated so if the problem does occurr again I should be able to give more information.

[Hugh_Compton]

Brep doesn't appear to do anything for my posted file either.

I use VB.Net too.  I use AutoCAD ACA and my code helps me to manipulate the data on objects (including 3D Solids) using ACAs property sets.  Some of my solids are inside dynamic blocks.  This could be a code issue but I haven't seen this behavior in AutoCAD releases prior to 2015.