topic 'error in pattern file' message in AutoCAD Forum

'error in pattern file' message

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 21:58:36 GMT

I have been trying to add pattern hatches provided by eldorado stone manufacturer and get message 'error in pattern file'. It seems no matter what I try or where I file the pat file the same problem occurs. I have read so much online, deleted the files to try again, but still can't solve the problem. HELP!

Re: 'error in pattern file' message

Kent1Cooper — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 22:23:23 GMT

Welcome to these Forums!

If that's from files just as sent or downloaded from them, I would notify them and ask them to fix it. They would need to be separate files for each pattern, which doesn't seem likely, so:

If it's more complicated than that [e.g. you copied/pasted pattern definition code from some source into your own acad.pat file], the first question I would ask is whether the file ends with a blank line. If you open it in something like Notepad, when you hit Ctrl+End it should put you on an empty line at the bottom, not on the last line of code content. If it doesn't, hit Enter to make that empty last line, and try again.

If that's not the issue, can you post the file?

Re: 'error in pattern file' message

pendean — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 15:11:35 GMT

Custom Hatch patterns/ PAT-extension file rules:

1. File name and hatch pattern name must be one and the same.
2. One hatch pattern per file.
3. there must be a single blank line at the end of the definition in the PAT file.
4. The PAT file must be in AutoCAD's search path.This can be any folder, simply add that folder to the search path using OPTIONS command>Files Tab>Support File Search Path.
5. You then find all of these new hatch patterns that you added under the CUSTOM option in HATCH command pop-up (or in the Ribbon).

Re: 'error in pattern file' message

Kent1Cooper — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 21:29:14 GMT

@pendean wrote:
Custom Hatch patterns/ PAT-extension file rules:
....

6. You can also include custom Hatch patterns inside the ACAD.pat file. This makes it easier to get at them, since you can just scroll the available patterns along with all the others, and don't need to go into a different "Custom" category, nor do you need all those separate files for each. [I also remove from it patterns I know I'll never use.] But if you choose to do it that way, it's a good idea to: A) keep a copy of the original ACAD.pat file under a different name [I use acadORIG.pat] just in case; and B) also keep your collection of custom patterns in some separate file, to make it easier to incorporate them into ACAD.pat when you upgrade AutoCAD, in case their default set of patterns changes.

Re: 'error in pattern file' message

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 17:41:01 GMT

I am having this same issue with .pat files from Eldorado Stone. I have tried copying the file into the acad.pat file, as well as placing the eldorado stone file into the support folder where acad.pat is located. I'm attaching one of the .pat files provided from eldorado stone.

Re: 'error in pattern file' message

Alfred.NESWADBA — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 06:49:18 GMT

Hi,

I took your file, saved it to a folder which is included as support path for AutoCAD, started AutoCAD, started hatch and that was it, not any error message (tested this now using AutoCAD 2017)

What version of AutoCAD do you use + which service pack?
When exactly do you get your error message?

Depending on the AutoCAD release you should know that old versions of AutoCAD had a limit of 80 char's per line. So you can go through that file, clear the spaces (which are not needed), replace the trailing zeros as decimal digits and for that lines, that again are presented as errors you have to round values, but be careful, do not round the first line in the parameter file as that is the angle (rounding that value creates more issues with the distance of the hatch from it's origin)

- alfred -