Unable to copy/paste

[TLA_Nancy_Brault]

We have a problem with some drawing files at work. We are unable to copy/paste from one file to another. We have tried to purge and audit the files but it didn't change anything. We've also tried with different versions of AutoCAD (2013, 2014, full and LT) and the problem is still there. Does anybody have an idea of what might be the cause?

Thanks in advance!

[pendean]

You COPYCLIP a line, then you PASTECLIP and end up with 4 ARC segments?
And this problem has cropped up in all files or just one?

Are you by chance trying to copy/paste between two different open AUTOCAD versions?

[maxim_k]

Just FYI: I can reproduce such behavior only in two cases:
- when I export to DXF format from Inkscape application (it saves r.13 DXF format), then open this DXF file in AutoCAD, then try to copy something from this DXF to clipboard and trying to paste to DWG - nothing pasted. I can use copy-paste as usual only after I save DXF to DWG, and reopen saved DWG in AutoCAD.
- sometimes I can see such behavior with DWG files edited in CSoft SPDS application for AutoCAD if I open such file in plain AutoCAD.

Would be interesting to open contents of clipboard after you copy something from this file. I think you can find temporary DWG with contents of clipboard in System TEMP folder.

Maxim

[TLA_Nancy_Brault]

I've done everything in your list to clean up the drawing and it stil doesn't work.

After that i've deleted everything, detached all xrefs, purge and audit. I've drawn a line, tried to copy/paste and it paste nothing. The files are empty and clean and it still doesn't work.

[TLA_Nancy_Brault]

Sometimes its 4 arc segments and sometimes its nothing at all. We have this problem with some of the files but not all of them.

No we are not copy/pasting in different versions.

[dmfrazier]

Just out of curiosity (and a hunch), what is the file size of the "empty" file?

[pendean]

Without access to a DWG file from you with this problem, I think this style of remote help can only go so far. Be patient and wait for the right guess to come along. Good luck.

[TLA_Nancy_Brault]

72 kb

[dmfrazier]

Not as large as I was expecting, but more than twice as large as my "empty" dwg (with one line in it) at 32kb.

Have you tried (or has anyone suggested) SuperPurge?

http://manusoft.com/software/superpurge.html

[TLA_Nancy_Brault]

I've just tried the superpurge and the problem is still there.

[dmmeehan]

Sometimes, just before I slap my forehead, this happens when I paste objects to a layer that is frozen.

What does the command line show when you copy?

Are the objects you are trying to copy topo lines by chance?

[TLA_Nancy_Brault]

Be sure that the frozen layers is the first thing that I checked.
What I see in the command line is the same thing as when the paste is done properly.
The lines are just plain simple lines.

[Victoria.Studley]

Hi Nbrault,

When you create a new file, are you using one of the standard templates that come with AutoCAD, or do you use a template you created or modified at some point?

If you try both, is there a difference in the behavior of copy/paste?

[TLA_Nancy_Brault]

The copy/paste works fine with both AutoCad templates and our customized templates. We have this problem only with some files of a project that have been started with our template. At first the drawings were ok and the problem started after a while. We've never had this problem before and we are using the same templates, blocks, etc. on other files and they work fine.

[Anonymous]

I am having this problem too.  I am going to start a new post because this one seems to be at an impasse.  But everything this person described is exactly the same for our project.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if it is related, but there is an intermittent copy/paste bug that has been around since at least 2012.  After copying the objects you wish, you sometimes have to select another object in the destination drawing first before pasting you new objects.

Maybe this is what you are experiencing.

[Anonymous]

I am fairly certain this is a bug, but unfortunately your suggestion has not worked for us.  Thank you for it though!

[Anonymous]

I've been having this same problem and it seems to come and go with certain files. The problem occures with all kinds of objects but the copy function seems to work fine since Im able to paste to an empty drawing but not to the drawing I want.

Anyway I just noticed that I had similar objects (blocks) on a different layer than the ones I tried to paste and that layer was frozen. Therefore the paste didnt seem to do anything. Im not sure why this had affect on the paste since the object I already had in the drawing were on a different layer than the ones I tried to paste. Apparently same kind of blocks with the same name somehow link to each other 'cause now all of them disappear when I freeze either of the two layers.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone tried going to Control Panel, and 'Repairing' AutoCad? This has always helped me solve glitches in my acad 2014.

[Anonymous]

I have had that problem before.  It was a very large project.  No matter what I tried no macro or copy method would work.  I worked around it by using ctrl+shift+C (0,0,0) instead of ctrl+C. But Eventually that stopped working too.  

Perhaps you have an archived dwg when copy still works?   

Wblock the whole dwg? Burst and Delete what you don't need.

Nobody has mentioned OVERKILL in the cleanup responses.

XREF the dwg into another clean dwg, do a refedit and copy from the refedit.