Stuck with malfunctioning DWG file (missing XREF)

[hsawires]

Hi,

I'm seeking assistance with a severely corrupted DWG file I received. The issue is incredibly perplexing:

• All elements in the file are strangely referenced from a missing XREF. It's like everything is within a single, absent block.
• Although I can see the contents, any attempt to interact with the XREF is futile – detaching, reloading, exporting, etc., are all inexplicably disabled. This essentially renders the file useless.

Frustrated, I attempted to open it in SketchUp and explode it there for export back to DWG. This worked, but tragically, the process stripped away crucial information: all blocks, linetypes, colors, layers, and other element properties are missing.

Therefore, my desperate plea: how can I truly explode this file and retain all its original properties? Any knowledge or alternative solutions would be a very appreaciated!

For further analysis, I've attached the problematic DWG file.

[Valentin_CAD]

@hsawires ,

Unfortunately, Blocks inserted using MINSERT cannot be exploded.

• About Exploding Compound Objects

[hsawires]

@Valentin_CAD 

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm getting a lot of "**Undefined shape" messages when I try to "Flatten" my design file. nothing happened.

Any tips on how to fix it?"

[Valentin_CAD]

@hsawires ,

You could try this:

•  "Undefined Shape [XX]" when opening a drawing in AutoCAD
• Error: "bad argument type lselsetp nil" using Burst command in AutoCAD

[cadffm]

Someone wanted to specifically protect the content against editing.
So you should contact the creator.

[hsawires]

@cadffm 

I appreciate your confirmation that the file is protected, I'm still puzzled by how this was achieved. My knowledge of AutoCAD suggests there's no native way to shield DWG files from editing. Perhaps a third-party tool was used, but the lack of a password makes me think it's something else entirely. Any insights you could share on this would be greatly appreciated!

[cadffm]

Hi,

>>"I appreciate your confirmation that the file is protected"

Not protected and not the whole file, but the structure of object inside your modelspace is clearly not created by usual worksteps.

>>"Perhaps a third-party tool was used,"

For one step a third-party tool (or programming on the fly) was needed, or some simple DXF skills.

There is one big Block which contains all objects and this block is an ANONYMOUS Block (the first chat in the blockname is an as *asterisk, that's nothing you can do by native commands and not by accident.

(these kind of blocks are used for system internal usage, for example: dimensions are visualized by a Blocks or dynamic block and more..)

In some non-Autodesk products or applications it is not unusual to create them,

but this file looks like a plain AutoCAD drawing and there is another thing what make me sure about my guessing:

>>"I'm still puzzled by how this was achieved."

Someone created a block which contains ALL objects and used an anonymous name

and instead of an usual insert to displaying the block content, he used an minsert, a multi-insert.

This is a usual native object type.

It's an old (simple) way for a rectangle array and there is a big difference between insert and minsert, you can't explode minsert by the normal way.

Try it yourself, create a circle 0.5, create a block, use MINSERT command to insert this block, 5 columns, 4 rows, distance 1 - Help[G1]

That's all.

[Valentin_CAD]

@hsawires ,

@cadffm provided an attachment (explode the block reference).

[hsawires]

@cadffm 

intersting! 

how did you explode the block reference

[Valentin_CAD · Accepted solution]

@hsawires ,

An APP was used (attached).