AutoCAD Architecture 2018 xref'd AEC object wrong color

[asikora_frazedesign]

I upgraded my Autocad Architecture 2017 to 2018 this morning and have a few issues. In a base drawing everything appears to be fine with the 3D walls, doors, windows, etc.  Everything has the correct color, linetype, etc for new, existing, demo, etc.  When I Xref this into another file all of the Doors, Windows, Stairs, etc come is as the same layer color as the xref.  For instance

In the Base File

• New Doors are Blue w/ continuous linetype
• Demo Doors are Red w/ HIDDEN2 linetype
• and Existing Doors are Grey w/ continuous linetype

In the xref which is placed on Layer 0 initially all of the Door listed above all turn white.  If I chance the layer the Xref is on all of these object change to match that color.  This is only happening with 3D object with the exception of the 3D walls.  All of the non 3D object lines, circle, arcs, polylines, etc are remain the original color.  The walls come in just fine with the correct colors, linetypes, and hatch patterns.

Before anyone starts to write a reply NO VISRETAIN is not an issue.  I have tired it in both 0 and 1 multiple time reloaded the xref, detached and reattached the xref, etc.  It appears that these object are not defaulting to the embedded object layers and just using the current layer the Xref is on.

If I open the base file and cut and paste the model into the drawing file it appears just fine while just to the side the xref version still had white doors, windows, and stairs. 

I have made a sample file and taken some screen shots which I have attached 3 pictures below.  #1 is the original base file,  #2 is the base file xref'ed into a new file.  #3 Is the xref and the copied version side by side in a new file.

I have never had this issue in any version of autocad I have used and I hope this is just some setting I need to change.  Aging this is only affected some the Autocad Architecture 3D objects Doors, Windows, Ceiling Grids, & Stairs. It may affect others but I have not tried everything yet.

[jlvancleaf · Accepted solution]

Just a heads up for all on this thread, it looks like the update has gone live this morning.

From what I can see so far, it fixes the issues that we previously had.

Good luck all!

Jim V

[jasonswolfe]

The update is much closer, but we're still having an issue at print.  Footings (walls below the cut plane) show up correctly in the viewport as a dashed line, but at print they are continuous lines.  This is NOT affected by the Xref's linetype (changing the Xref itself to a hidden line does not make those lines hidden).  It doesn't matter what print driver we use.

ALSO - AEC objects are still being affected by the LINETYPE of the Xref.  If the Xref is changed to a Hidden linetype, for example, the AEC objects will also show as hidden.

This is a lot closer, but it's still broken and not working consistently (unless it's just something odd in our files).  Maybe others can report if this is happening to them too?  I haven't tested extensively - just trying to get things printed out for clients and realized that while it looks right on the screen, it's not translating to the PDF correctly...

Jason

[jdhoagland]

Did the 'fix' get taken down? I see nothing anywhere.

[asikora_frazedesign]

As of right now there is no fix.  The issue is in the root software not a setting, or anything that can be adjusted/fixed on the consumer side.  That being said someone earlier suggested that prior to printing you could BIND the xref, then send it to a plotter or PDF it then close without saving it.  I have been doing this for about a week know while I wait for Autodesk support team to correct this issue with an update/hotfix. 

[David_W_Koch]

I still see it on my Autodesk Account > Management > PRODUCTS & SERVICES > Product Updates, under the Last Week heading (released 5/26/2017).

[davidtetro]

Seems like the fix worked! Archived projects are displaying correctly!

Since I have the Suite, do I need to download the hotfixes/updates for all my 2018 versions (i.e. MEp) or just the primary ACA program?

[jasonswolfe]

David -

Can you give printing a shot to make sure that everything is working for you?  When we printed our drawings, the LINETYPE wasn't being interpreted correctly.  Specifically things like our footings which are supposed to show up as a dashed line would show up correctly on the screen, but then they would print as continuous lines.

Also, try changing the xref to a dashed linetype - I'm still having an issue where the xref's linetype is changing the linetype of xref'ed AEC objects.

Color seems to be fixed as far as I can tell, but we're still dead in the water with the linetypes broken.

Thanks,

Jason

[davidtetro]

Will do. Heading off to a meeting. When get back in in a few hours, deal?

[asikora_frazedesign]

I apologize I was misinformed.  My computer had not notified my there was an update and I had not seen the posting from jimvancleaf on the 26th.  I just reopened my autodesk desktop app and after a few minutes it popped up with the update.  I just installed the update and it appears to be working just fine.  Thank you Autodesk for fixing this issue. 

[Victoria.Studley · Accepted solution]

To confirm what others have said here, an update that addresses this issue is now available for AutoCAD Architecture 2018 and AutoCAD MEP 2018 via the Autodesk Desktop App and via your Autodesk Account, listed as follows:

• AutoCAD Architecture 2018.0.1 Update
• AutoCAD MEP 2018.0.1 Update

[jdhoagland]

Ok, so nothing for Civil 3D yet, which is why I'm not seeing the updates.

[jasonswolfe]

I'm working through this with Autodesk support as it seems that others are not having the same problems.  It might be that there was an issue with the installation - I'm going to have someone else in the office install the update to see if they have the same problem.

The issue that we're having is with elements that sit on "canned" layers.  Specifically we noticed this because our footings -  which are automatically assigned to the A-Wall-Fdn layer by virtue of being below the cut plane - are printing as continuous lines when their layer says they should be dashed.  They show up correctly in the viewport, but they do not print correctly.

Also, changing the linetype of an xref object is still making the AEC objects in that xref take on the linetype of the xref.

Jason

[Victoria.Studley]

Hi @jdhoagland,

Yes, that is correct. If you're seeing this issue in AutoCAD Civil 3D, I'd recommend posting over in that forum, so that the community for Civil 3D is aware and can provide you with a timely update in that program.

[davidtetro]

jason - see attached plotted drawings of archived projects. In the two examples, you can see that the lineweights and colors are fine - with one exception. In Example-01.pdf, the footings are dashed (as they are supposed to be) but their plotted color and thickness are not what they are supposed to be - black and thinner. The line type is fine.

In the example-02.pdf, the only issue is the font (I no longer use that font so it is not loaded into my fonts folder and therefore ACA used a generic font. But there, all the linework, colors, patterns, etc. are fine.

[jdhoagland]

Unfortunately, they link to you.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-civil-3d/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticl...

[jasonswolfe]

David - 

Thanks for following up.  Quick follow up question - are your footings part of the foundation wall assembly, and are they being assigned to a layer, or are you directly controlling their properties in the wall style.  In our setup, our footings (elements below the cut plane) are assigned to the layer A-Wall-Fdn which is a different color and linetype than the rest of the wall.

If I set the linetype and color directly in the wall style rather than using a layer to control those, they work just fine.  This isn't ideal for our workflow, however, as it takes away control of the display of those elements.

Also, could you confirm if you change the linetype of an xref that the AEC objects don't take on that linetype?  On our systems, if we select the xref object and change it to a dashed linetype, all of the AEC objects still take on that linetype.

Thanks!

Jason

[davidtetro]

Jason - i found out that the footing that printed in green was set for 'thin' for the plot style and not set for 'full saturation'. The footing is on A-Wall-FTNG layer and it is operating fine.

I tried a few experiments based upon your issue.

One - if I click on the xref and change the linetype or color or any of those things in my sheet drawing, I get no change to the xref. If I change the layer information in the construct. The Object Style and layers within the xref seem to take precedence.

Two - if I change the layer of the object (i.e. a wall from layer A-Wall to A-DET-HIDN), the linework does change - but only for those items within the style that are set to 'By Block' or 'By Layer'.  So, it seems as if the style is taking precedence of the display. This is the standard behavior of the AEC objects in ACA.

Now, is this problem that you are having occurring on new projects created under 2018 or are they occurring on only older projects created prior to 2018 but being updated to 2018 or is it happening on all the project - regardless of which version they were created on?

I am giving you my drawing with the footing that printed in cyan - it is the construct along with the view drawing - which has it xreffed into it. See how it behaves on your system.

[jasonswolfe]

David - 

Thanks for sending that over - it's massively helpful (if slightly confusing) to see how your files work.  I can confirm that your files do not behave the same as ours - the AEC objects do not take on the linetype of the xref.

I can also confirm that the footing is printing the wrong color.  It's printing whatever color I assign that layer to - I thought maybe you had it on a color not in the .stb file for some reason, but assigning it to colors that are definitely in the .stb (and used by other objects successfully) didn't fix it - it just printed that color instead of the original.

I copied my own typical foundation wall into your drawing, assigned the footing to your footing layer, and it printed fine.  I attached that if you want to take a look and try to figure out what's going on.

I don't exactly know what this means yet - it seems that there's something going on at the file level (rather than the system level).  I've attached my own testing files if anyone wants to take a look and try to divine what's going on.

Thanks!

Jason

[davidtetro]

jason - I messed around with the model file you sent. In the display properties, you have the plan display override checked. If I go into that overridden plan display and set the linetype to 'ByLayer', the problem goes away. I can adjust the linetype in the drawing it is xrefed into and the model xref does not change.

The door becomes dashed or hidden, and going into there and changing that form 'ByBlock' to ByLayer fixes it.

 HOWEVER - I am not too sure why this has to be the case. I would not like to see you go in and change all of your AEC styles to 'ByBlock'. I would assume that none of the 'ByLayer' or 'ByBlock' settings were changed between you using 2017 and 2018.

This was the same problem I was having before the patch - now that the patch has been issued, that problem has gone away.

Maybe a complete uninstall with a registry wipe of all 2018 instances and a fresh installation may help...?

[davidtetro]

I also just messed around with the 'VISRETAIN' setting - both setting to '1' and to '0' and it does not solve the issue. FYI.