Export to PDF failes randomly, but succeeds on retry

[Majjek]

Hello,

We have automated some 3D models in Inventor 2021, so they can be configured on request.

A piece of software handles input, opens a 3D model, updates the parameters and the model and then exports the 3D model to .step and 3D .dwg.

Sometimes (once in ~300-400 models) the export to the stepfile fails for some reason.

When retrying the exact same job using the exact same input, the exports succeeds.

This is the message we get:

I can't find anything on this message online.

The problem is that since this is an automated process, the process now stalls, because it requires manual input.

SilentOperation is already turned during the automation, but still this popup comes up.

This is probably because the messagebox comes from the STEP translator, rather than native Inventor.

The same applies to the iLogic AddIn, but that one has its own SilentOperation setting.

I can't find anything on the translators having a similar option.

Inventor is closed after every request, so I don't think it has anything to do with memory in Inventor.

Is there anybody with similar experiences?

Thanks in advance.

[johnsonshiue · Accepted solution]

Hi! Are you exporting Inventor files to STEP using the Inventor STEP Export workflow? Or, it is a 3rd-party Add-In? Please make sure you clean up %temp%. If you have a repeatable case, please share the files (zipped) with me directly. I would like to understand the behavior better.

Many thanks!

[Majjek]

Hi Johnson,

Thanks for your response.

I'm using the default STEP export workflow as described in the API help, so using the built-in STEP Translator.

I will clean up the %temp% folder first, that's always good to do.

Unfortunately we don't have a repeatable case. That's also a strange thing in this issue.

We can't reproduce it.

[Majjek · Accepted solution]

We've cleaned up the %temp% folder 1,5 weeks ago and haven't received any errors since then.

So it seems that this was the issue (there were about 150k files here and this is the only function of this server).

We will now look into a scheduled clean up every few weeks or so.

Thanks for the support.