Slow Loading DWG if OLE Excel used

[mdwyerva]

We have experienced load times upwards of 5 minutes, sometimes, when loading a file with several OLE links to excel spreadsheets.   We've been using Excel (Office 365 in use) for schedules, and if we link 5 or 6 different xlsx tabs (maybe 20 columns by 40 rows, not esp large), the time to OPEN a 500KB (KB not MB) drawing in Autocad MEP 2020 can be over 5 minutes.   If I get impatient and start clicking to see if I am missing something, I am likely to get an AutoCAD fatal error.   It seems to hang on Regenerating Model (the last step).    OTOH, if i close the file and then reopen right away, the load may be as fast as 10 seconds. 

Attempts to clean the file (e.g, fonts, layers, purge, regapps, etc)  have not made any difference.    Obviously, we don't HAVE to use Excel, but anyone successfully used Excel without these delays?   Perhaps I am missing something obvious.

[pendean]

where are all the files stored and how are you connected to that source?

You are describing an instance where the connections are lost (or need a long time to reconnect) vs. reestablishing the connection after you close and restart the DWG file. It's like the first attempt starts to wake up everything and the second attempt is accessing what finally got woke up.

[mdwyerva]

Well, it never, ever, ever, ever, ever happens except when OLE Excel used.
Opening an Acad file is perfect 27,000 times in a row over the network
without OLE links, and then fails to reach 3 successes in a row with OLE
links. Sometimes FATAL ERROR: UNhandled e0434342h Exception ....occurs.
So, could be network related, but only if intertwined with an excel/ole
issue. Because it is not issue without OLE. Obviously, I don't have to
use OLE, or Autocad or Excel or Networks, but it is puzzling.

[Anonymous]

I have also found that DWGs are very slow to open with OLE. And in some cases the DWG tries to open all the excel files on start up. Sometimes the DWG won't open at all, and in those cases I have to restart my computer to be able to open the DWG successfully!

[pendean]

OLEs require a reading or the source file as part of the open command sequence: it is by design, and a limitation of live OLELINKS. Read this https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/drawin...

Report the issue at your support portal in your account if that does not help https://knowledge.autodesk.com/contact-support

[mdwyerva]

Agreed, OLE links are almost unusable in AutoCAD in my experience, at least for Excel.   If you Google Excel to AutoCAD, you should see find third party packages that do a good job, however, as you may already know.  

[Anonymous]

Have you tried to use "datalink" instead of "olelinks"?, I use it for customized panel schedules and works fine (not as my impatient brain wants but is ok), you link the data to a range in a XLS file, then create a table using the previous datalink, the table is inserted and it DOES NOT update automatically, so you perform the updating whenever you want but does not interfere with routine tasks as open files. This tables may delay 1 minute updating.

Look, I have from the same XLS file four links, one for each table.

[Greg.BurnsT9Y83]

If you open your OleLink Excel files before you open the cad file, it should load very quickly.