no function definition: WD_ARX_FORMAT_PATH

[Anonymous]

Hello.

I am part of a large organisation and we have been requested to upgrade from AutoCAD Electrical 2011 to 2013.

I uninstalled 2011 and installed 2013 as per company instructions. In no memorable order I have applied the service pack, the Express Tools hotfix and VBA enabler. All looked fine until I tried one of the Electrical commands where nothing happened. A look on the F2 screen revealed the following message...

; error: no function definition: WD_ARX_FORMAT_PATH

a google search revealed that this may be due to WD_Load.lsp not being in the search path but I can confirm it is the correct folder.

Command: (findfile "WD_load.lsp")
"C:\\program files\\autodesk\\acade 2013\\acade\\WD_load.lsp"

can anybody suggest a way forwards please.

Dave

[zalant]

If I didn't know any better, that looks like what happens when launching the program with the Desktop shortcut for plain AutoCAD (the shortcut gets created when Electrical is installed).

I'd try logging into a newly-created local administrative Windows profile, and see if you get the same result.  Post back here what happens in that test scenario.

[Yong.Jing]

I suspect there is some issue exist during the uninstallation and reinstallation. Could you try to click reset setting to default from Programs>Autodesk>AutoCAD Electrical 2013 to reset settings to default?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your suggestion.

I have tried resetting to default and have tried a repair too but neither of these has made any difference.

I have just re-checked my bits of paper and I did also try a reinstall from the start menu with no benefit.

[Anonymous]

---

@ztravis wrote:

If I didn't know any better, that looks like what happens when launching the program with the Desktop shortcut for plain AutoCAD (the shortcut gets created when Electrical is installed).

I'd try logging into a newly-created local administrative Windows profile, and see if you get the same result.  Post back here what happens in that test scenario.

---

I am not sure what you mean by "newly-created local administrative Windows profile". These machines are locked down pretty tight and I can only log on as myself. I did create a new "profile free" shortcut and try double clicking the exe file in explorer but these made no difference, I still have the WD_ARX_FORMAT_PATH error.

I don't think I mentioned that we are using XP if that makes any difference.

We have installed from the same network location on another machine in the office and that one has not exhibited the same errors.

I am now considering doing a remove & clean install. Would you consider that as a sensible option?

[zalant]

Indeed, that would be a good idea, as clean removal is a step we often recommend to ensure that any possilble corruption on the Autodesk side of things is out of the picture.  Be sure that the Autodesk Shared folder (in C:\Program Files\Common Files) gets deleted or, at the very least, renamed prior to reinstalling.  Our clean removal document can be found here.

In suggesting a new local Windows profile, I meant for you to create just that. Often, problems with AutoCAD turn out to be specific to one particular Windows profile, or they may even only occur when logging on with a domain account.  By logging in as a different local Windows account, we can easily test for both of those possibilities, which can better help diagnose where the problem originates.  

If you're able to un/reinstall programs, however, you may indeed have local administrative rights on that workstation.  If that turns out to be the case, then you can right-click the My Computer icon, go into Manage, then Local Users and Groups, and proceed to create a new local Windows profile.  Subsequently adding that new profile into the local Administrators group will give it full local admin rights.  This Microsoft article covers all of this (pay no mind that it says it's for Windows Vista). It sounds like you're likely on a domain network there, so follow the instructions for that scenario in the article.  

If adding and logging in as a new local administrative user is not an option for you, though, the clean removal is the next best thing.

[Anonymous]

Zac, I have now created a "me" account as a local user but I still have the same problem. This is a copy of the F2 screen when logging on with the local account. If I log on with the domain account I only get the bottom 7 lines of this message.

Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: ELECTRICAL
Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: ACAD
Regenerating model.

Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: EXPRESS


AutoCAD menu utilities loaded.
AutoCAD Electrical menu utilities
; error: no function definition: WD_ARX_FORMAT_PATH

Command:
Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: ELECTRICAL
Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: ACAD
Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: MODELDOC
Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: CONTENTEXPLORER
Customization file loaded successfully. Customization Group: EXPRESS

Command:
AutoCAD Electrical menu utilities ; error: no function definition: WD_ARX_FORMAT_PATH

 with our time zone differences I am unlikely to give you another reply before I get back from my mini break in Paris. If you have any comments now I will be gratefull, otherwise I will start the clean install next week.

[zalant · Accepted solution]

Given that you're getting pretty much the same result under a different (and local) Windows profile, I would suggest that the clean removal/reinstall is the next best step to take.  Enjoy your break!  I look forward to hearing how the reinstall goes once you're back.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Zac,

I had a gap in my workload this morning so followed the Autodesk remove everything instructions and then reinstalled AutoCAD Electrical 2013. That has removed the error message. I have now installed the VBA enabler and all looks well. The only thing obviously not working yet is that the Express tool TXT2MTXT doesn't work but I think I can APPLOAD that the few times I might need it.

Now to see what it can do.....

Dave

[Anonymous]

Can you expand on your comment about "...launching the program with the Desktop shortcut for plain AutoCAD"? Our IT team has done a fresh install of ACADE 2008 on our batch machines and keep getting this error. But I know that in the past, as a part of a user setup, they had to copy a pre-defined desktop icon and place it on the local user's desktop and launch autocad from that. This was done to facilitate multiple job functions. I am wondering if our batch machines are suffering from a legacy problem involving predefined desktop icons. But I am not sure how to take what you have said here and try and track the problem.

[zalant]

When AutoCAD Electrical installs, there are usually two Desktop icons created.  One of them uses the /P startup switch to launch the acad.exe file with the specified ACADE profile.  The other one, usually labeled simply "AutoCAD 20xx" will launch the acad.exe with no specified profile, so it will come up as plain vanilla AutoCAD.  That was what I meant by that comment.  Just as you can have a shortcut with /P <<ACADE>> in it, you can also have one with /P <<VANILLA>>, as <<VANILLA>> is an included, defined profile name by default in the program.