Error message - parent/child relationship

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I recently just had my machine replaced and upgraded to windows 7 and now when I try to update instrument tag numbers on my drawings which are linked to other drawings by a parent/child relationship. The child tag does not update and I get the following error message.

'error: bad argument type: stringp nil'

Can someone explain why I am getting this message?

Thanks in advance.

[dougmcalexander]

Did you reinstall AutoCA Electrical after the upgrade?  Some programs don't function perfectly after an upgrade from XP to 7. QuickBooks, and even MS Office have issues.  I would recommend installing fresh and clean on Windows 7.  Did you convert from 32-bit Windows XP to 64-bit Windows 7?  You have to re-install in that case.  If that is not your scenario, try a repair install.

[Anonymous]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, we have done a complete re-stall and yes I did convert from 32-bit to a 64-bit. The parent/child relationship is only failing for some of my custom symbols and is working fine using AutoCAD 2012. I had initially thought that ACADE 2013 couldn't see the custom symbol in the 2013 library. However I copied the 2012 libraries over to 2013 which still didnt resolve the problem. However does the symbol not become a stand alone symbol once inserted into a drawing? Is this error message related to an install error? I will try to repair/install.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Hi Doug,

I have tried repairing and re-installing again and I am still getting the error message on 2013. What confuses me is that the parent/child relationship on these custom symbols work on 2012 using Windows 7 but gives me an error messages on 2013 using Windows 7. The surf function also works for these symbols on 2013. I really dont want to have to go through my projects and replace these symbols.

Thanks.

[dougmcalexander]

You said that these are instrument tags. Is there a WDTAGALT value assigned between peers?

You should post a drawing that has the problem so it can he analyzed. Perhaps Autodesk can comment then. Autodesk needs example data in order to troubleshoot.

[Anonymous]

Hi Doug,

There is no WDTAGALT value. The custom symbols are set-up as parent/child using tag 1 & tag 2 attributes.

Please find attached the drawings. Drg 1 contains the parent symbols and Drg 2 contains the child symbols.

Thanks.

[dougmcalexander]

I assume that the junction box is the parent device. The symbols are not named properly. JUNCTION BOX ASSEMBLY is not a proper naming method. The first letter must be H or V for horizontal or vertical wiring. The second and third character must be two class designation letters which correspond to a table name in the default_cat.mdb catalog database file. The 4th character is a number, 1 for parent, 2 for child.  I noticed a symbol named HDV2 etc.  "DV" is a default for device.  You are supposed to replace that with actual letters that correspond to a table in the catalog database.

[Anonymous]

Hi Doug,

Yeah I understand that. These names are block names that I created when adding the symbols to the icon menu file. These block names should therefore cross ref to symbols with the proper naming method. I am struggling to locate the icon menu file that I created therefore I cannot find the proper name of these symbols. The parent/child relationship works with 2012. I have a feeling there is a missing file that 2013 is not seeing. 

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Doug,

The Instruments are parent devices on Drg 1 and Child devices on Drg 2. So when I update the tags of the the instruments on drg 1, then drg 2 will automatically be updated.

[david_brude · Accepted solution]

For what it's worth I was able to update the tags in ACE2014. I am running W7 x64.  I do wonder, however, if your non-standard symbol naming convention may be contributing to the problem. I don't have an answer why it doesn't work in 2013 for you. I don't have that loaded in order to test. You may want to try rebuilding the project database in ACE2013 and see what happens. In the comp table you should see the parent child relationships. 

Regards,

David

p.s. see screen shot. I modifed one of the tags and it updated

[Anonymous]

Thanks David for that useful information.

I tried rebuilding the project database but it didnt work.

I am going to install 2014 to see if it resolves the issue.

[dougmcalexander]

THe menu.dat files are located at: C:\Users\<your user name?\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD Electrical 2012\R18.2\enu\Support

However, the name in the menu doesn't matter.  The block name has to fit what AutoCAD Electrical requires in order for proper and predictable operation.

[Anonymous]

I have upgraded to ACADE 2014 and it seems to have resolved my problem.

Thanks very much.