Funny folder name appears out of nowhere?

[TRLitsey]

ACE 2014 / 2017, all workstation on Win 7, 64 bit, standalone ACE installation accessing network for project folders but all support files, catalogs and libraries are local to workstations.

Hi there,

This is new to me. Over the weekend IT was changing some file structures.  Supposedly to make it easier for them to do remote back-ups of the workstations.  I have not found everything that was changed but I am seeing something odd.

First thing in the mix is that ACE 2014 on my workstation is looking for a folder I have never seen before.

Second thing in the mix is that a co-worker just had ACE 2017 installed on their workstation. They tried to copy my 1997 project to the next revision for some schematic updates.  They had a couple of stumbles before asking for help.

I found that on the 2017 workstation AEMOBILDATAMODE was set to =1 and was creating extra files in the project folder. Set that =0 and moved past that issue but I don’t see what is going on with the Locate File window that pops up every time I start ACE 2014 today.  I have seen the window before but this time it is looking for what I believe is a fictitious folder rather than a moved file.  Is it something IT is causing?  Is the ACE 2017 workstation trying to be helpful in ways I have not seen before?  Since I will be moving to 2017 shortly I am trying to get a feel for what to watch out for.

All advise and suggestions are welcome

Thank you

ACE startup:

Project folder on network:

[rhesusminus · Accepted solution]

Project files opened in AutoCAD 2016 or later are save in unicode format. Earlier versions of AutoCAD don't like that 🙂

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-electrical/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarti...

[dougmcalexander · Accepted solution]

Trond is right.  That is the reason you see the new projectname.aepx file in your project folder.  This file was added to support the enhanced connectivity between AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor.  

If you need to open the project with an older version of AutoCAD Electrical just accept the error message, right click over the filename in project manager that contains an upside down question mark and remove this "phantom" file from the project.  Run AEREBUILDDB and choose Full Rebuild, just to be safe.  Everything should be fine after that.

[TRLitsey]

Hey there, thank you for the information.  This brings up another question.  The controls dept. all use ACE and will be moving from ACE 2014 to ACE 2017 shortly.  The mechanical group is on a network version of basic AutoCAD 2013.  They will help us with updating panel drawings.  They do not use ACE features, they just open the drawing to make a few edits to block position and the like, pretty much etch-o-sketch type edits.  Any land mines we need to be aware of with ACE 2017 layout drawings?

Thanks again for the help

[dougmcalexander]

No landmines that would not exist anyway, when someone edits an AcadE drawing with plain AutoCAD.  Re-positioning a footprint with plain AutoCAD Move presents no problem for AutoCAD Electrical.  I move footprints with plain AutoCAD move, or grip and drag.  The link back to the schematic symbols is via the Tag attribute value, or a combination of Installation, Location, and Tag.  Simply moving a footprint will not create a problem.  But, as I'm sure you know, manipulating schematic elements with plain AutoCAD can get you into trouble.

The .aepx file is important to AcadE and Inventor. Plain AutoCAD will not see the .aepx file, or the .wdp file for that matter.  It's just that certain actions taken with plain AutoCAD commands can damage the drawings to the extent that if you ever try to edit the project again with AutoCAD Electrical, there will be issues.

The jump to 2017 will require a substantial database migration.  Be sure that your existing default_cat.mdb file doesn't have irregularly named tables and that no fields within tables have been moved, deleted, or reformatted.  I have had to assist numerous customers with the upgrade to 2015 and beyond, because their existing databases were not "healthy" enough for the conversion.  You will like 2017 though.  I only go back to the older versions to assist customers.  I have all versions, back to 1997.  Release 2008 represented a huge breakthrough.  2011 and 2014 included substantial improvements as well.  2017 functions the way 2015 should have, in my opinion.