AutoCAD - atc files not updating locally

[Troy_MillerA844N]

Hello, I have had this issue twice now, on random occurrences. I am adding a new block to autocad, then updating it over the network so others have access to it. When I add the block and close out of autocad, the .atc files on my computer are not updating locally so I can not copy them over to the network as they are not updated. Anyone else had this issue before?

[ The subject line of this post has been edited for clarity by @handjonathan Original: atc files not updating locally ]

[AuditInPaperSpace]

Hi Troy!

It sounds to me like you are referring to AutoCAD Tool Palettes? Could you please confirm? And when you say the .atc file is not updating, do you mean to say that you close AutoCAD, open it back up and the new block is gone from your local tool palette? Or just that the file timestamp on windows has not changed? Do you have multiple tool palette file locations?

I will be able to help you more once I have those answers. Configuring tool palettes to work over the network is complicated; you're definitely not alone in your struggles. I had a ton of trouble setting my company up. 

With the information you provided, it sounds like the tool palette may be saved in a location different than you think; Especially if you are duel-wielding tool palette catalogs, as is the ideal solution for networked tool palettes. It's also possible you're mistaking the catalog file, for the palette files, but from what you've written, I suspect you would know the difference. 

Here is a link to a fantastic resource on tool palettes. This is a handout from a presentation at Autodesk University about CAD standards, and using standard tool palettes across multiple machines. I believe that PDF originally taught me a lot of what I know about tool palettes.

Best wishes!

[Troy_MillerA844N]

Hey, thanks for replying. By the atc files not updating I mean that the autocad tool palette .atc files are not updating locally on my computer. Whenever I add new blocks in the past and close out of autocad these files usually update. This is an interesting circumstance though. I added this new block around two weeks ago and was able to do so with no problems. However, the person who made this block just made some small changes to it and asked me to replace it in autocad with the updated version. Now the .atc tool palette files will not update so I am not able to update it over the network, because it wont update on my machine locally.

It is weird though, because when I close out of autocad and open it back up, the updated block I added is still there. The only thing I can think of is maybe no data changed in the tool palette .atc file so the file from two weeks ago is the most current? The person who made some changes to the block said that all they changed was a small bit of text. This might be stored in the tool image (.dwg, which I was able to update) instead of tool palette (.atc file). Thanks.

[AuditInPaperSpace · Accepted solution]

You are correct. Blocks are not stored in tool palettes, and thus, you can update blocks that are referenced by tool palettes without updating the tool palette itself. If you open up a tool palette .atc file with an XML editor, you'll notice that it only stores the name and file path of the block. The only thing that needs updating when you change a block is the image; Images are stored in a separate folder in the tool palettes folder. See below screenshot:

This should explain the why the .atc files haven't been updating when you expect them too.

[pendean]

@Troy_MillerA844N .atc files do not update most often when you lose access to them (you seem to now indicate multiple users are accessing the one exact .atc file), or are watching the wrong file(s) for updates.

Hard for anyone way over here to tell sadly.