Cannot Export to Autocad format

[Sinc]

I'm trying to export a C3D 2010 drawing to Autocad 2007 format, and it's failing with the following error:

So what does that mean?  After all, I'm EXPORTING TO AUTOCAD FORMAT, which I thought would convert things to "plain AutoCAD format".  So why is it failing with this message?

[Sinc]

Well, I tried shutting down C3D and restarting it.  C3D crashed on startup.  (Sound familiar...?)

At first I was afraid that my drawing had been corrupted...  It was due for delivery by the end of the day, I had just finished it, and was trying to export it to Autocad format so I could send it to a Microstation user...  And I couldn't!  It refused to export, then C3D started crashing on startup....  Can't tell you how disturbing that is.  Luckily, I was able to go into a co-workers office and use his computer, where I had no trouble finishing it up.  So now it looks like I get to try the "reinitiate secondary installer" stuff again....

This bug is ULTRA ANNOYING....  This is now the third machine that has suddenly gotten a corrupted install of C3D 2010 for us.  And in the various forums, I've seen lots of other people reporting this problem as well.

Hey Autodesk...  RELIABILITY IS IMPORTANT!  This software is SOOO frustrating!

Crash data looks like this:

   at System.Uri.CreateThis(String uri, Boolean dontEscape, UriKind uriKind)

   at System.Uri..ctor(String uriString)

   at Autodesk.Private.InfoCenter.CommunicationCenter.PopulateContents(ResultItemCollection& contentCollection, ICommCntrChannel channel)

   at Autodesk.Private.InfoCenter.CommunicationCenter.GetContents(ResultItemCollection& channelContents)

   at Autodesk.Private.InfoCenter.CommCntrSource.InitCommunicationCenter()

   at Autodesk.Internal.InfoCenter.PaletteMgr.get_CommCntrSrc()

   at Autodesk.Internal.InfoCenter.PaletteMgr.LoadCommCenterSources()

   at Autodesk.Internal.InfoCenter.PaletteMgr.InitCommCenter()

   at Autodesk.Internal.InfoCenter.PaletteMgr.InitSources()

   at Autodesk.Internal.InfoCenter.PaletteMgr.FirstInvoke()

   at Autodesk.Internal.InfoCenter.PaletteMgr.OnAppIdle(Object sender, EventArgs e)

   at System.Windows.Interop.ComponentDispatcherThread.RaiseIdle()

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WndProcHook(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)

   at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)

   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(Object o)

   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter)

   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WrappedInvoke(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(DispatcherPriority priority, TimeSpan timeout, Delegate method, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(DispatcherPriority priority, Delegate method, Object arg)

   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)

[Anonymous]

Hi Sinc

Have had problems getting Civil3D to microstation DGN format.

Have found I need to save the file as different name explode the whole drawing once open in autocad then save to Autocad 2007 file format. I can then convert to DGN.

Microstation should read plain autocad dwg files but have had issues with 2011 going to the client. Most likely their version of Microstation not compatible.

[Bennos1]

Hi Sinc,

Sorry this is not going help to you, but I thought this warning was "normal" ! Because of the export to an earlier version. I guess if you're asking the question it's not "normal" or you would have come across it by now.

We have never had consistent results exporting to earlier versions and have to explode our civil 3d objects (mainly point styles and labels) because our clients can never see those objects if we don't explode them.

Cheers Ben

[Sinc · Accepted solution]

I have never seen this message before when doing "Export to AutoCAD".  The whole point of "Export to AutoCAD" is that it converts everything back to the old format, even if it means losing intelligence for things like Civil 3D elements or Annotative Text.

When I got in this morning, I decided to poke around a bit before initiating the secondary installer.  I discovered that my computer seemed to have developed the same problem mentioned by rsanchez here in the groups.  I reset this registry key to DWORD=0:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.0\ACAD-8000:409\WebServices\CommunicationCenter\LastUpdateTimeLoWord

And as simple as that, everything seems back to normal.  I can open the drawing from yesterday, export to Autocad 2007 format, no problem.

Except I've discovered yet another bug.  I have some Cogo Points that have some UDP's assigned to them, and the values of the UDPs are displayed in Cogo Point Labels.  When I do "Export to AutoCAD 2007", the UDP values in the labels get lost.  If I explode the Cogo Points before the export, then they're fine.

In general, the "Export to Autocad" seems to work.  In C3D 2009 and earlier, we had to make it a two-step process to get it back to an earlier DWG format...  In other words, we would have to do "Export to Autocad 2007" first to destroy all the Civil objects, then open that file and perform an "Export to Autocad 2004" to get it back to the eariler release.  But with C3D 2010, it seems like I can directly do an "Export to Autocad 2007", and I don't have to do an "Export to Autocad 2010" first.

I haven't really explored eTransmit in 2010 yet.  A lot of times, eTransmit in 2009 simply wouldn't work at all.  But even when it did, we discovered that we generally got unusable results with eTransmit in 2009, even with the "Explode AEC Objects" option set.  So we kind of got out of the habit of using it.  Luckily, we usually send single drawings, and not drawing sets, so it hasn't been too onerous for us.

[ericcollins6932]

Not a failure - a warning that you have 3 choices:

a) leave it in its current format

b) "save as" 2007 version but will need an object enabler to see the c3d objects.

c) change to "export to acad dwg" - acad 2007 which will explode all the objects into autocad entities - forever destroying your c3d objects, but making it all viewable in acad 2007.

[Sinc]

---

@ericcollins6932 wrote:

Not a failure - a warning that you have 3 choices:

a) leave it in its current format

b) "save as" 2007 version but will need an object enabler to see the c3d objects.

c) change to "export to acad dwg" - acad 2007 which will explode all the objects into autocad entities - forever destroying your c3d objects, but making it all viewable in acad 2007.

---

That was kind of my point...

I *was* using Export to Autocad.  This message should not appear when using "Export to Autocad".  But that was just the starting point, and my problems went on from there...

Everything seems to be solved now, though.  After fixing that registry entry, I can do "Export to Autocad" and it works fine.  Well, except for the bug I mentioned, where UDP values in Cogo Point lables get reset during the Export, so the Cogo Points have to be exploded first...

[Anonymous]

i have the same problem not being able to export from civil 3d to autocad.But I cannot find the file you mentioned. Can you help?

[caddie99]

explode all. 5 x
qselect hatch pattern name=solid
erase
saveas acad 2000 format

works for me. i send all my surveys to architects

[sboon]

This dialog appears when you save a plain ACad drawing back to a previous version if the drawing includes drawing elements that aren`t supported in the previous version.  Objects with transparency and mtext with background masking are examples of this.

The message has nothing to do with the Civil3D export - it`s just a warning about the ACad objects which may not work properly in the exported file.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. That is what I ended up doing, exploding all elements. Kate Kennedy, Associate Engineer - Cad Specialist ERM, Ewing New Jersey 609-895-0050 (Main) 609-403-7474 (direct) 609-895-0111 (fax) 200 Princeton South Corporate Center, Suite 160 Ewing, NJ 08628 ________________________________ This message contains information which may be confidential, proprietary, privileged, or otherwise protected by law from disclosure or use by a third party. If you have received this message in error, please contact us immediately and take the steps necessary to delete the message completely from your computer system. Thank you. Please visit ERM's web site: http://www.erm.com

[ericcollins6932]

Yup, you can definitely do that too, but make sure you keep the original C3D file as you lose all intelligence once you blow it up...