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NV Simulate 2012 : No plugin exists that will open .nwf

21 REPLIES 21
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Message 1 of 22
ndra
6063 Views, 21 Replies

NV Simulate 2012 : No plugin exists that will open .nwf

Dear all,

 

I'm having a weird problem with a workstation. When the user tries to open an .nwf file, that also has .dwg references, I get an error saying "No plugin exists that will open filename.nwg" and then states the dwg reference file.

 

The files in question have been made by other users in the company, using the same software (NLM).

 

PC is windows XP sp3, and also has installed AutoCAD 2011, Navisworks Freedom 2012 (so they can view files without using a license). I've already tried reinstalling, both AutoCAD and Navisworks (in that order) and removing NV Freedom, still the error persists.

 

Any ideas?

 

Regards

21 REPLIES 21
Message 2 of 22
DarrenP
in reply to: ndra

navisworks freedom doesn't open up nwf files only nwds

DarrenP
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Message 3 of 22
ndra
in reply to: ndra

Dear Darren, thanks for your reply, but I'm talking about Navisworks Simulate.

 

Regards

Message 4 of 22
ndra
in reply to: ndra

Anyone?

Message 5 of 22
VWD-MLM
in reply to: ndra

NWF files are native Navisworks files, along with .mwc and .nwd.  The plugin you seek is a reader for dwg files......you did not state which version of dwg file you were atempting to open....as a matter of fact you did not iterate which version of nwf you were opening..........one of two things is going on.....1.  you're attempting to open files (nwf and/or dwg) created from version 2013 software (which 2012 cannot open), OR, you've had a bad install, which of course you can repair install or do a total reinstall.........from ths sond of, my guess is #1.

 

Mike

Michael L. Maloney
Virtual World Designs
VDC & BIM Model Design, Clash & Coordination
mike@VirtualWorldDesigns.com
BDSU 2015, 2016
Charlotte, NC ; Fort Mill, SC
Message 6 of 22
ndra
in reply to: VWD-MLM

Hello Mike,

 

All dwg files are made by AutoCAD 2011, and all nwf files with Navisworks 2012. The same configuration for the rest of the company.

I re-installed both Navisworks and AutoCAD (this and reverse order), same error occurs. I uninstalled Navisworks Freedom completely and reinstalled Simulate, still the problem persists. I even installed DTW Trueview 2013, no change.

 

Regards

Message 7 of 22
granite07
in reply to: ndra

I am having a similar problem with Navis Manage 2013 and ACAD 2013 files. I have been using navisworks since 2006 and never noticed anything like this before. I noticed when I copied the files from my workstation to laptop to work on at home. The first time I grabbed the nwf and nwc files, and the second time I grabbed the nwc, nwf, and dwg - my laptop locks when importing the dwg to nwc and I then realized it is creating a new nwc each time I open the project; each of these times I found the problem after getting home and had to return to work to try again. Again, in the past - this was not something I ever gave much thought to and simply copied the files and went home.

 

My intuition is that the dwg file is re-referenced instead of the newly created nwc file - why, I do not know. In the past, once the nwc file was created you could forget the dwg file.

Forest Peterson, granite@stanford.edu; build-sheet
Message 8 of 22
granite07
in reply to: granite07

Anyone??? I'd like to take a 4D copy home to work on this weekend; pack-up and take the workstation in the car trunk?

Forest Peterson, granite@stanford.edu; build-sheet
Message 9 of 22
Patrick_Aps_9121
in reply to: ndra

And what about the good old trick:

close the NWF

delete the NWC of the DWG files

re-open the NWF so that the NWC needs to be re-created.

 

OR maybe this work around

Begin a new NWF

Append the problematic DWG's

If that works, save as NWD

 

In the original NWF, delete het problematic DWG's

append the newly made NWD

 

 

 

Message 10 of 22
VWD-MLM
in reply to: Patrick_Aps_9121

When NWS or NWM 'loads"a dwg file, it is in essence creating AND loading the nwc the you see.  If a change is made to the dwg file, then NW reads those changes, apllies them to the NWC and still load it.  Have you tried dopening the problem dwg file, saving down to a lower version dwg, and then appening to the NW model?  Also have you tried "nwcout" directly from ACAD and then loading only that nwc?

 

 

Mike

Michael L. Maloney
Virtual World Designs
VDC & BIM Model Design, Clash & Coordination
mike@VirtualWorldDesigns.com
BDSU 2015, 2016
Charlotte, NC ; Fort Mill, SC
Message 11 of 22
granite07
in reply to: VWD-MLM

thank you Mike - that is one of the better explanations for the behavior of NWC

 

(1) I can not use the NWCOUT command because by default it merges primitive lines into one - in the Navisworks options I have the fileReaders/DWG/lineProcessing set to "As Provided" - NWCOUT does not have a comparable option as far as I know. I use line breaks to divide the 2D portions of the 3D model into workzone phases. A guardrail is a 3D polyline given the guardrail work code as layer name and is divided into 18 segments, each represents a weeks progress.

 

(2) I had not tried opening the problem dwg file and saving down to a lower version dwg - this game of down saving always seems a bad practice, several questions:

  • on down-saving to 2010 there is a warning that the custom objects are not supported - and I am not optimistic that by changing to the 'object entity' type setting for save that these will then merge into one large lump object.
  • the 4D model is already linked, this is a large 4D model, it is linked with Civil 3D using thousands of objects and schedule tasks - it took several days to link. So, with a new dwg 2010 for the nwc, will the 4D model require relinking?
  • Based on the corrupted custom objects that are half of the project, and the solution that will likely negate the usefulness of the other half, and the most likley need to relink the 4D model - I don't feel very well.

I need to display the 4d model to field crews in the field using a laptop. My AMD BE workstation loads the dwg/nwc file fine, my ivybridge laptop locks up - both have comparable specs in CPU, GPU, RAM, and SSD. I think the AMD brute forces the load with a single thread and the ivybridge tries to do something fancy with 8 virtual cores. Maybe I just need to buy an AMD laptop - or make edits on the workstation and present the 4D model with the portable nwd and make notes for edits to make later. I want to make edits in real time as they have suggestions or errors are found.

Forest Peterson, granite@stanford.edu; build-sheet
Message 12 of 22

What is the option setting about the DWG reader ?

Is "include Xrefs" UNchecked on both computers ?

If it is on on your laptop and off at work, this could explain the long load of the nwf.

 

Other try:

Create an NWF with the DWG files only

Make an NWD out of it

Create a 2nd NWF that uses the NWD and the time project to have the 4D simulation.

On the laptop, you would only need the NWD and the project to be able to open that 2nd NWF.

 

Message 13 of 22
JeffH_ADSK
in reply to: granite07

You should be able to access the options for the Navisworks AutoCAD Exporter by typing nwopt at the command line. This should give you a standalone Options Editor set to the Exporter options for DWG. The options should operate in an identical manner to the reader.

 

The NWC cache file is rebuilt whenever the modification time of the DWG is later than that of the NWC or something else changes to invalidate the cache (e.g. a relevant global option changed). Worth checking that those make sense. Also, make sure that both NWC caching options in Model/NWC are enabled or you may be writing caches but never reading them!

 

Hope that helps,

 

Jeff



Senior Software Engineer
Navisworks
Autodesk Ltd.
Message 14 of 22
granite07
in reply to: JeffH_ADSK

Checks:

 

  • Yes, both NWC caching options are checked
  • 'last modified' timestamps greater or less than: NWF 10/17/2012, NWC 10/12/2012, DWG 10/3/2012
  • C3D 2013 G.55.0.1, HF2 'nwopt' = "Unknown command "NWOPT".  Press F1 for help."
  • DWG does not have xref files, checked designCenter/openDrawings

Retest, zipped folder contents and tranfered from AMD machine to Ivybridge machine AMD = loaded in 30 seconds, ivyBridge = "Navisworks is not responding" for 12 hours

 

Question: where is the xRef option? I looked in Navis/options/fileReader/DWG, is "convert xRefs" and "merge xRefs" the options?

 

 

Forest Peterson, granite@stanford.edu; build-sheet
Message 15 of 22
JeffH_ADSK
in reply to: granite07

The "Unknown command" result from Civil 3D sounds like the exporter was not installed subsequent to the Civil 3D install, or the install did not register the exporter correctly. Try reinstalling the exporter or manually loading the relevant ARX nwexport2013. Both NWCOUT and NWOPT are registered from the same module, so both should be available or neither.

 

Also note that if you're still using NW2012, it will not have any direct support for Civil 3D 2013 as that was released subsequent to NW2012. You could use the standalone NW2013 exporter install but this will create 2013 NWC files which NW2012 will not be able to read (and thus you'll need a copy of NW2013 to downsave the NWC).

 

Convert Xrefs processes Xrefs at all i.e. turning it off will cause Xrefs not to be read. Merge Xrefs determines whether or not the contents of Xrefs are merged into the main file i.e. a flattening/merging of the layers in the Selection Tree, or whether the Xref is displayed as a block with its own layers within a given entity on the main file's layers.

 

The 30 seconds vs 12 hours is most unlikely to be down to the machine itself; I would expect some configuration or data to be different.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Jeff



Senior Software Engineer
Navisworks
Autodesk Ltd.
Message 16 of 22
granite07
in reply to: granite07

both machines are configured almost identically - and yes they both have NW2013 with C3D2013; intuitively, I think it really is hanging on some fancy multithreading the ivybridge is trying to do - can you test in your lab and AMD and ivy with 80MB corridor model?

Forest Peterson, granite@stanford.edu; build-sheet
Message 17 of 22
granite07
in reply to: granite07

  • installed C3D 2013 SP1
  • tried installing "Autodesk Navisworks NWC Export Utility" but at install dialog box the options are grayed out - I am assuming this is becuase Navisworks 2013 is installed
  • tried NWOUT and NWOPT both are unrecognized commands
  • so, building nwf in Navisworks

also, it looks like an nwc was created at the same time, it is named the same as the dwg file and located in the same folder as the dwg file, it created a naming conflict with a previous nwc file when I moved the nwc to the folder I keep the 4D files.

 

I figured it out: Navisworks is hardcoded to think it's files are in the same folder as the dwg file, I have a seprate 4D folder and when i moved the files back to my DWG folder, it works. I think the navisworks people need to work with the Civil 3D people and discover their 'workflow' and folder sepration scema. I have 16 folders to keep C3D happy and store my 4D files,

  • 4D
  • ATC
  • C3D_custom
  • C3D_shortcuts
  • C3D_textfiles
  • C3D_subassemblies
  • Chart_of_accout
  • DWG
  • GIS
  • GPS
  • HECRAS
  • macros
  • NWC_OUT
  • C3D_QTO
  • QuantityManager
  • Schedule

still cannot build the nwc file with the ivybridge processor - have to switch over to AMD

Forest Peterson, granite@stanford.edu; build-sheet
Message 18 of 22
granite07
in reply to: granite07

update:

 

  • The nwc file had been rebuilding automatically on my ivybridge machine since it was missing from the folder Navis thought it was in, and this rebuild would fail.
  • I tried NWOPT and NWCOUT options in C3D2013 on my AMD machine, and the command was unrecognized despite installing Navis 2013 and other fixes tried and documented in the other posts.
  • Today something new: I tried NWOPT and NWCOUT in C3D2013 on my ivybridge [the AMD machine was boxed as part of project wind-down], and commands recognized and nwc build completed; the existing nwf build recognized the new nwc file - linked 4D simulation maintained.
Forest Peterson, granite@stanford.edu; build-sheet
Message 19 of 22
mehdi52222001
in reply to: granite07

hi

i want present and intruduce NV to my classmate

i need the attribute of this software and its history

im very greatful if its in Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)

THX

Message 20 of 22
JeffH_ADSK
in reply to: granite07

We do have an expectation that NWC files that are created from caching a CAD file are next to the CAD file. They are both semantically & sometimes technically distinct from NWC files that are exported from CAD applications. I would not recommend moving the NWC elsewhere when Navisworks generates it as a cache file, as it has a singular purpose - to speed up loading that CAD file by using that NWC if the CAD file is unchanged. It's an optimisation, rather than a workflow to be relied upon per se.

 

I'm not sure how this impacts the workflow you describe, but I'm not that familiar with Civil 3D's constraints. None of the NWC files that are cached are items that belong in the 4D or NWC_OUT folders. They contain only the CAD file data as was last converted. By comparison, exports from Civil 3D will be valid NWCs that belong in NWC_OUT.  If you are making 4D NWFs then the best workflow is to reference the DWGs & exported NWCs and let Navisworks decide whether the cached NWCs are still valid. This better maintains object relationships & identities as the files change.

 

We have considered moving cache files away from next to the CAD files into some central cache folder (which would effectively hide them away in a similar manner) to avoid this confusion but there hasn't been much call for it and there is some technical consideration in making very sure the cache file points to the CAD file you think it points to.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Jeff



Senior Software Engineer
Navisworks
Autodesk Ltd.

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