Sheet Set Setup Fatal Error

[Anonymous]

I have tried to create a new Sheet Set and received a Fatal Error message. This happens in both versions of Civil 3D that I have (2017 & 2018).

Any help is appreciated.

[copper.chadwick]

@Anonymous,

Hey great post and question, thanks for the screencast, its super helpful. I see you are trying to create a new sheet set from existing drawings that exist on a network location. Pretty common and straight forward workflow, but if a network environment has changed, could be a problem. Lets Isolate that the network environment isn't causing this first.

Try to copy the "N:\15042.02_Atoka...\CAD\01_SHEETS\" folder and the contents to a local location with admin or full access privileges to eliminate the possibility of it being a network connectivity/ security issue. Then re-apply the same steps as before using the new location.

• Also I have to ask are you running the installation across a network?
• Are you pulling AutoCAD resources across a network deployment of some sort?
• If so is the "U:\" drive accessible or are you able to access the files in that drive? (I am seeing this being something in the CER that you supplied as a potential for an issue. If C3D cannot see the resources / dependencies stored in a network deployment it is missing pertinent .dlls or modules that it needs to load in order to operate correctly.)

Once we can see it locally or all locations are updated and ready to go we can start to dive into the drawing files and DST files for conformance issues.

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

1. Copied the DWG files to a folder on my desktop
2. My C3D software is on my local drive, not a network drive
3. I have not changed the C3D resource location or file structure
4. This problem (Fatal Error) started the last week or two
5. I was previously able to create Sheet Sets

I hope that helps. The new Screencast is below.

[copper.chadwick]

@Anonymous,

Ok, I looked at your CER that your screencast demonstrated...Did I say thank you for making those, because they are invaluable in a forum setting. I know that many think those CER's just go away, but they are priceless to tell us what context the error occurs.

I see you are running Windows 8 SP0 which historically has demonstrated to to capture 17.59% of the exact same contextual errors you are exhibiting. Also if we look at minimum  System requirements for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2017 we see that :

• Microsoft® Windows® 10
• Microsoft Windows 8.1 with Update KB2919355
• Microsoft Windows 7 SP1

Those are the minimum OS requirements for the.

So if you were able to update you OS to the Microsoft Windows 8.1 with Update KB2919355 it would decrease the error bucket down to 1.93% from 17. 59% which is a good solution vector to begin with.

I also see that your Graphics card (GeForce GTX 760/PCIe/SSE2; 4.6.0 NVIDIA 398.36) is not shown in the recommended graphics requirements. Sometimes these things don't make any difference, until, they do.

Could you try to update the OS to the next version, being 8.1 with the KB and see what that accomplishes. I can't say what has changed in your environment within the last couple of weeks. But I would like to help you get back to a workable suite.

[Anonymous]

@copper.chadwick I tried to update my OS to the Microsoft Windows 8.1 but received the following message: "Windows Update Standalone Installer, The update is not applicable to your computer."

I've sent a message to our IT person and we plan to talk later today.

I will update you after that conversation.

[Anonymous]

@copper.chadwick I have Windows 10 Pro version 1803 on my computer so I'm not sure why the CER said otherwise. 

[copper.chadwick]

@Anonymous,

That is odd, I wonder if the reporting app is pulling info from the wrong location. If you are on Windows 10 1803 then that is putting us back to a known state.

That being said I'm going to ask if you can use the sheet set manager while launching the C3D from a default profile such as opening a new drawing using the Imperial Template. Then start a new drawing from a dwt as seen in the photo. Use this or an example file to create your sheet set from on a local drive. (I know some of this is seemingly redundant and such, but we need to continue to isolate the cause.)

By doing this we can find out if the profile or installation might have been corrupted in some manner and move to refresh the profile and or the nuclear option of a clean uninstall/ reinstall. I'm was hoping that it was a network OS environmental issue which it seems not since you are getting 1803 when the "winver" command.

 Here are the steps we will take to work this issue, it will save some time by inlcuding all of the steps in one post.

• DST Template corruption -- Now I am hoping that we can isolate this issue to a corrupted DST template by creating a brand new sheet set using default profiles and default sheet set templates. Should this prove successful then we can move to create new sheet set templates as they can be version corrupted in anomalous ways.
• Windows Profile corruption -- Try logging in to a local admin account and creating a sheet set as normal, should you succeed then the issue would be in some form of windows network profile corruption.
• AutoCAD Civil 3D Profile corruption -- At certain times (more so when migrating profile settings from older versions) to eradicate this issue, we can revert the profile by deleting the current profile and the next time you launch the software a "mini-installer" will recreate the default profiles, do not integrate any personal settings that would introduce corruption to the profile again. Then attempt to recreate the sheet set.
• 2017: Resolving installation issues with a clean install of AutoCAD Civil 3D -- Finally the nuclear option, a clean uninstall providing that you are going to recreate the dst templates and not incorporate any older files (sans drawings you'll be working with) or customization, should provide you with an absolute. Sometimes this is quicker in the short term to get someone back to billable hours, but has a longer workflow tail because their templates need to be recreated so as not introduce that corruption into the workflow. Note: It is advised to do this for each iteration of Civil 3D to avoid these kinds of issues.

Let me know how any of this goes. Or if you had found another way to resolve the issue.

[Anonymous]

@copper.chadwick

I set up Sheet Sets in two places on one drive (N) and a third on another drive (O). The first location (which was the one I originally had trouble with fatal errors) crashed but the last two drive locations at least created a Sheet Set. However, only one DWG file with layouts appeared for these Sheet Sets when there are numerous other DWG files with layouts in the selected folder.

The Screencast is 12 minutes long but I think it shows more information for you to analyze.

[copper.chadwick]

@Anonymous,

I have an idea, I was looking at your screencast. I see that the IP address schema on the (N:\\ 10.1...\DATA) and is different than the O:\\192.168.2.35 IP address schema, and the latter gave you less problems or no problems. (Sorry I didn't notice that earlier)

Traditionally that means those two network locations are in different subnets/ network locations? In turn... also be addressed differently than they were when they were created (think -- network mapping giving you the red "x" next to the folder icon).

I have some articles for best practices for the Sheet Set Manager specifically while utilizing a network. Another note, if you are utilizing a NAS (Network Storage) device it can cause real issues with sheets sets and data references. Take a look at these articles and see if there is anything that is applicable. If a NAS is being utilized a temporary solution is to work around them, they are dynamic and can cause corruption within the DST files.

About Using Sheet Sets in a Networked Environment

Improving performance of Sheet Set Manager

[Anonymous]

@copper.chadwick

I noticed the difference between "N" and "O" as well. However, the first two sheet sets were on the same drive, "N," so I think there may be a corrupt sheet set with the "Toshiba" project but not others. After all, that is the one with the larger than normal DST file. Will those articles address that as well?

[copper.chadwick]

@Anonymous,

Those articles won't address DST corruption specifically but address the functionality, setup, and local troubleshooting to take should you encounter less than great performance.

In regard to Sheet Set Manager DST file corruption regarding networks/ permissions, sometimes the workaround is to move the DST file to a local folder location (assigning ownership permissions to the file) and then move it back to the network location. Its a "hack" to set file permissions and remap the actual file in the event an NAS or any netwoek glitch corrupts the 'pathing' and permissions.

I went digging deeper and I could not find ANY way of recovering a corrupt DST file even by editing the contents directly, as it is a proprietary file format, when I open it in notepad.exe it was encypted/ encapsulated rather than a xml or other kind of editable format. Sorry for the almost non-help in that. The only way is to recreate the DST file, which is of course is not ideal, as all of the callouts etc will need remade as well.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

I wonder if it's possible that the DST file became corrupt by having two users in different locations access the sheet set at the same time (I'm in Atlanta and the other person is in Nashville)? I'm located with the "O" drive and the other person is located with the "N" drive.

[copper.chadwick · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous,

Yes! Absolutely! Great solution vector, when reading the article About Using Sheet Sets in a Networked Environment, I see that a lot of discussion in that article covers multiple users of DST files in a networked environment. Its enigmatic examining networks/ users/ and files in a workflow creating drawings utilizing DST from templates that all need to be synced globally so all users need to have the templates, in each iteration of the software. Its mind boggling that more doesn't go wrong.