*.dcf files does not update itself after changes are made

[DGRL]

Dear forum members and Autodesk.

I have a question about the PCF files used by Plant 3D

When routing an unassigned pipe and you do not fill in the services like insulation and tracing it will show an question mark in the properties box

When changing those values in the project setup and saving it the pipes already drawn will not update those properties.

Even when using plantrefreshshaqproperties it will not update.

Can someone confirm me that this is correct or if my project is corrupt.

Does anyone knows how to fix this is possible?

If you need any more info please let me know.

Kind regards

[h_eger]

Hi @DGRL,

are your projects stored locally or on a server?

If your projects are located on a server, please delete the local chache before updating with PnPLocalDataCachePurger.exe
Is in the Plant 3D program directory.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-plant-3d/learn-explore/caas/screencast/Main/Details/6...

[DGRL]

Hi @h_eger

Thanks for the answer

It is an project stored on a network drive but its SQLite based

I did this already and it is not updating at all

All the old stuff is still having ? as tracing or insulation

When I assign a new name to the pipe it is updating perfectly but when going back to the old name it is ? again

I took a look into Piping.dcf and I noticed under the P3Dlinegropup the following

When routing an pipe ( whether it has a name or not ) it will make a new entry  inside this table

When deleting the same pipe this entry is not deleted at all

What do I need to do to get this updated?

I even deleted the registry / the local en roaming appdata

Still not updating at all

[h_eger]

Hi @DGRL,

please you can document what exactly has changed in your project.
Which values were previously used and which values have been changed in the PipeLineGroup.

[DGRL]

Hi @h_eger 

As soon as I update the whole suite I will let you know the result.

As for now it is not updating in either a new project or the same project I started with

Kind regards

[DGRL]

Steps that I follow

1. I open plant 3D

2. I route a pipe and give it a name ( i.e AA )

3. after designing the pipe I go to project setup

4. go to node P3Dlinegroup (see screenshot 1.jpg)

5. apply and ok close project setup

6. closes all the drawings open a new one ( not project related ) and fire up the command PLANTREFRESHACQPROPERTY

7. I tried even to clear cache with PnPLocalDataCachePurger.exe

8. also tried to delete reg entry of p3d including the folders in local and roaming folder

None of the pipes drawn before doing point 3 are not updating at all

Everything drawn after that is not updating as well

If you need more info please let me know

[h_eger]

Hi @DGRL,

# 4. no Screenshot 

[DGRL]

Hi @h_eger

Sorry lol

Hereby the screenshot

[jabowabo]

From your screenshot and the steps you provide, it appears that you are only changing the default settings. These settings are only applied to all NEW line groups created going forward and are in no way connected to existing line groups. If you want to change the properties in existing line groups, you will need to select an item within the group and modify them in the properties palette OR change them in the data manager.

[DGRL]

Hi @jabowabo

Thanks for the answer

Please replicate this,

Open an new project

Do not make changes in the p3dlinegroup yet

route new pipe give name AA

now place an valve in it.

save / exit restart pc en fire up p3d

open the dwg go to p3dlinegroup and change the tracing and insulation like i did in previous message

apply return to drawing

Select the valve and what do you see?

red/yellow lightning

Select all the components and give them the unassigned name
The vallues changes
Now give back the old name and the ? is back

Is this normal or is there something wrong with my installation?

senario is like this

I design an nice plant but forget to set the values of tracing and insulation or they are not yet know.
I dont wanna use the override mode

How do i update those values?

Kind regards

[jabowabo · Accepted solution]

The line group properties are not assigned in project setup - the default should be left blank here typically. They must be set in the properties palette or the data manager. Objects assigned to the linegroup inherit (or acquire) from the line group. The line group properties are under the "Process Line" section in the properties palette. Change them here and the objects in the line group will update automatically.

[DGRL]

To stay with my original post

The other thing i want to know is this

For this we have to open the Piping.DCF file ( You can find that in the project directory )
Now read out that file and go to p3dlinegroup (see screenshot Capture.PNG )
Now draw a few pipes give them names you reconize but also draw unassigned pipes

Remove a few and leave a few.

Save the dwg and exit p3d

Refresh the file and take a look at the same page

Why are the removed lines still present in the database?

Because this is causing my pipelines not to get updated after changing back to the old name

Is it possible to purge the database?

Kind regards

[DGRL]

Update

That did what i ment indeed

Was this the way to do it straight from 2010 release or is this introduced later on?

Still my question about purging the database remains open

Hi @jabowabo

Why do i see the lightning?

Are you using override mode?

[jabowabo]

The lightning icon denotes that the property is acquired from a parent entity. In this case, the piping item is acquiring from the line group. It is usually not a good policy to override acquisition properties as that defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.

The PnPLocalDataCachePurger.exe executable is supposed to clean up unused line groups. The path to it is as follows:

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2016\PLNT3D\PnPLocalDataCachePurger.exe

[DGRL]

Hi @jabowabo and @h_eger

I will open an new topic specifically for the DCF file

Both helped me perfect until now but we make 2 topics into 1 now and that's not good

Thanks guys for the time and effort you took to help me out

50% of the issue is resolved 🙂

And that the piping.dcf is growing and not purging very well is not a real pain in the (ass)

Kind regards and have a nice weekend 🙂

Hi @jabowabo

Thanks for the answer

As I tolled in my previous messages this one DOES NOT WORK

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2016\PLNT3D\PnPLocalDataCachePurger.exe

The whole local data cacxhe purger does not purge the piping.dcf file

Please open piping.dcf and take my last message to see yourself 🙂

To be able to open piping.dcf you need an SQLite browser ( can be any program you like )