Pipe Network from C3D 2020 not visible when opened in 2018

[Anonymous]

Has anyone experienced an issue with a pipe network when opening a dwg in 2018.2 that was created using 2020.1.1?

I'm trying to get our company upgraded to 2020, but when I create a test dwg in 2020 and open in 2018, the pipe network is there but will not display.  It shows up in the Toolspace, where I can select all the objects and modify properties, but it will not show up in model space.  I've checked to ensure all layers are on and thawed, which they are. 

I've searched through the forum and didn't see this issue discussed anywhere.

Thanks  

[Neil.Aryan]

@Anonymous 

Strange incident,

My client upgraded from 2018 to 2019 that time I tested many ways on both versions it was working great. But never got chance to test 2020.

It would be great if you share the file you tested so that can have look.

[Anonymous]

Although officially C3D 2020 objects are supposed to be compatible with 2019 and 2018, you may have stumbled on a particular feature that is not. The objects therefore may be proxy objects rather than pipes when opened in 2018. I did find a post on compatibility here.

You may need to refer to the section that states:

"To open an Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 drawing and view the Autodesk Civil 3D objects in a version of the software prior to AutoCAD Civil 3D 2018, set the PROXYGRAPHICS system variable value to 1 in Autodesk Civil 3D 2020 to save the graphics with the drawing and then use the Save As command to save the drawing to a prior drawing file format. When you open the drawing in a prior version of the software, the Autodesk Civil 3D objects will be displayed as proxy graphics." to see if that solves your problem. The objects may not be editable though.

If the above proxy object issue is your problem, then you need to ensure that all installations of C3D are upgraded at the same time to the same version else you may end up with in-house compatibility issues which could get messy.

Regards,

Peter

[Anonymous]

I've already deleted the file I had tested with.  It was a very simple DWG with a 4 structure pipe network and a simple surface made from 10 manually entered points.  I just wanted to see about object compatibility.  And as I said, the information for the pipe network was there and able to be edited. 

My 2018 C3D installation is up to date and the my 2020 install has been updated with update 1 and 1.1.  

I'm not too concerned with it.  Surfaces are the biggest issue when we are sharing files with a contractor.  Pipe networks usually are only used in-house.  Just a curious issue and one I thought other people may have run into.

Thanks for your replies!

[Anonymous]

Peter, as I said in my response to Neil, the pipe network information is all there and I'm able to select object using Toolspace and even edit properties.  So I don't think it is a proxy objects issue.  

Pipe networks are not something we share outside our organization so I'm not too concerned.  Just wondered if this was part of something bigger that I should be aware of, which it doesn't seem to be.

Thanks for your reply!

[Anonymous]

Just a few things below to troubleshoot. You have probably already done a number of these. I admit that I have not come across this issue myself as I don't usually try to open drawings on previous software versions.

Have you checked the network style settings and pipe style to check that it hasn't changed and that the pipes are visible in the styles?

Is the pipe type present in the pipe catalogue in 2018?

If you select the pipe network and go to edit network, are you able to add pipes to the same network using 2018 tools, are these pipes visible?

Have you tried installing the C3D 2020 object enabler?

Regards,

Peter