AutoCAD 2017 - (*pop-error-mode*) underflow

[dpalmerVQ54W]

When selecting the command _mstretch I get the following error

Command: _mstretch
(*pop-error-mode*) underflow.
Cannot invoke (command) from *error* without prior call to (*push-error-using-command*).
Converting (command) calls to (command-s) is recommended.

I've tried restarting ACAD but the error comes back.

I'm using AutoCAD 2017 which is a recent install. I have not seen this issue before when we were using AutoCAD 2014.

I'm aware there are other "solutions" to similar issues, but they were for previous versions.

Can anyone offer any ideas/solutions.

Cheers.

David P

[ The subject line of this post has been edited to include the product name by @handjonathan ]

[imadHabash · Accepted solution]

Hi,

MSTRETCH command is an Express Tool ... did the express tool installed or what? if NOT try to type EXPRESSTOOLS in the command line.

Regards,

[john.vellek]

Hi @dpalmerVQ54W,

I am sorry you are having this problem with your Express Tools.  The fastest way to get everything back to factory fresh is to Reset Settings to Default. Please try this and post back with your results.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[dpalmerVQ54W]

Thanks for the attempt to solve this. Typing EXPRESSTOOLS does not solve the issue.

It does appear to be an issue with the Express Tools. I will try and get my IT dept to do the reset suggested by @john.vellek,

[chriscowgill7373]

this is a known issue,  apparently something was updated in the error handler in one of the express tools that breaks the error handler, causing the message to appear.  the only known solution that seems to work everytime is to restart your autocad drawing.

[dpalmerVQ54W]

Does anyone know if there is liable to be a patch to fix this?

[chriscowgill7373]

with express tools being unsupported, there is no telling.  It could already be fixed in 2018 and I just havent started using it so I dont know.  The exact cause of the error handler being fouled up is unknown as far as I know. If it were possible to pinpoint what command causes the error to foul out, perhaps we could get Autodesk to jump on a fix.  It could even be some regular part of AutoCAD that is messing it up.  The only way I can think of pinpointing it would be to run an express tool after every command in order to determine when it goes south, and then testing to see if it is reproducible with that command.  Not an easy task.

[john.vellek]

Hi @dpalmerVQ54W,

I am unable to get this error in either AutoCAD 2017 or 2018.Have you tried to Reset your settings to Default?

[Emmsleys]

Checking in on your thread, it appears that several folks have tried to help on this issue. Were you able to find a solution? Or a workaround?

Did any of the posts in the thread help with your issue?

Please post back in the thread if you are still having an issue with AutoCAD or Select Accept as Solution for the post’s that helped.

Thanks for your time. 

[Michiel.Valcke]

We had a workstation with a similar issue.

The command that occassionally triggers this error is _TORIENT.

The workstation is equipped with Autocad MAP 3D 2017

So far restarting the drawing temporarily fixes the issue, but I can't seem to find a permanent solution on the forums.

[Anonymous]

I've had the same issue when using the burst command.

Restarting AutoCAD fixes the issue.

[Anonymous]

Getting the same error in CAD 2018 about every third time I try to duplicate an object.

LOL at the typical Autodesk response of blaming the user.

Your crap software gets less useful with each new version.

[chriscowgill7373]

@Anonymous

Express tools are unsupported.  So I can understand their lack of response.

What do you mean by duplicate, what command are you actually running? 

What command are you running that every 3rd time causes this error, if you can provide that, perhaps it will help to troubleshoot the issue.  I've been trying to pinpoint what causes the error for the last 3 software releases and have gotten nowhere with it because it isn't consistent.  Having a repeatable process will go a long way for developing a solution.

[Anonymous]

I just today started using 2017 full-time, coming up from 2014. (I did do one other project in 2017)

I'm getting this error message using PLJOIN.lsp written by Autodesk in 1999. Never had a problem with this routine in 2014. I like this routine over using pedit for joining plines because you have the option to set a "fuzz" distance. Nice when things aren't lined up perfectly.

Anyway, closing and re-opening the drawing does work, but it is a pain. On the last instance (I've had several so far in the past hour), I traced the commands I used, some built-in autocad, and some lisp routines:

Successful use of pljoing (PJ)

fillet x 2

bri x 2 (break at intersection)

ba x 2 (break at point)

erase x 2

dist

circle

line

extend

trim

erase

PJ - error

I made the jump to 2017 because of a few features that I figured I could really use. I did this in spite of some of the bugs and broken routines it has, a couple for which I wrote lisp routines as workarounds until the bugs/broken routines get fixed (yea, right.) I use this routine a lot, so it is really annoying to have it being broken in this upgrade.

[chriscowgill7373]

Are bri and ba custom commands?  did you escape out (cancel) of any of the commands?

I too still use PLJOIN, just demonstrated the differences between it and JOIN in a class I teach at work.

[Anonymous]

BRI and BA are both simple lisp routines I wrote. The only system variable they change is "osmode".

I don't recall using ESC during this sequence of commands. I have some more of the same work today, so I'll pay close attention to see if I do something different when it happens as I can go through several of these command sequences before it happens.

Forgot to mention that I'm working in C3D 2017. I don't know if any of the other posters under this topic were working in C3D when this error message came up.

[Anonymous]

I went through about 22 command sequences without a problem. Only two dwgs up, the empty drawing from startup, and my working drawing, where yesterday I had several drawings open. Maybe the completely new session cleaned it up? Only the shadow knows.......

[chriscowgill7373]

I'm not with autodesk, but I've been semi chasing this error since the 2015 release.  I've seen it in every release since then, and having a hard time pinpointing it even at my end.  My ultimate desire is to be able to reproduce the issue at will, so Autodesk has no excuse not to fix it.  Right now, there is enough grey area because it cant be readily reproduced, that I dont see it getting fixed, unless it gets stumbled upon while something else is getting updated.

[Anonymous]

From Wikipedia: The term arithmetic underflow (or "floating point underflow", or just "underflow") is a condition in a computer program where the result of a calculation is a number of smaller absolute value than the computer can actually store in memory on its CPU.

I could see this happening, I guess, with my BA (break at point) routine as it uses the same point (the picked point) to determine the break-point. Seems that if this were the problem, it would happen every time I used BA, but it doesn't, and why would it affect PLJOIN, and nothing else?

So this problem has been around for a while....what say, Autodesk?

[sjxyz]

I have this problem daily: does Autodesk not recognise the importance of the features contained within the Express Tools? Surely they should either support them or provide new tools that fulfill the same sorts of purposes and are compatible with the program as it now stands.
I regularly use Burst, Exoffset and Textexp...