Inventor 2018 Drawing Bug: Save Copy As to DXF missing views with breaks

[eric_schubert2]

A customer has brought a bug to our attention (two, actually...  I'll post a second bug shortly).  This currently exists in Inventor 2018.2.3.

It seems this used to be a known issue back in 2016, and was supposedly fixed in 2017, but it's still hanging around.

Problem:
When using "Save Copy As" to export an Inventor 2018 drawing file to DXF format, drawing views containing breaks do not export to DXF, unless the default configuration settings are used.  Tested in build 2018.2.3.

Desired Behavior:
All drawing views should be exported to DXF format, regardless of configuration settings.

Steps to replicate:
1. Open the attached "DXF Break.dwg" file in Inventor 2018.
2. Select File->Save As->Save Copy As
3. Set file format to DXF
4. Click the options button in the Save Copy As window to set export settings.
5. Make modification to settings, particularly the Data Scaling section

6. Open the resulting DXF file in AutoCAD. Results show views containing breaks are not being exported to the DXF file.

Steps to avoid:

1. Open the attached "DXF Break.dwg" file in Inventor 2018.
2. Select File->Save As->Save Copy As
3. Set file format to DXF
4. Click the options button in the Save Copy As window to set export settings.
5. Set the Configuration to "Default DXF Configuration"

6. You can make adjustments to which sheets are exported, the file format, model geometry only, fidelity vs closest mapping, choosing a specific ACAD template, and post-processing.  None of these seem to affect the results and views with breaks will export.

7. Open the resulting DXF file in AutoCAD. Results show views containing breaks ARE being exported to the DXF file.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I currently don't have access to a build so I cannot verify the issue you describe here. Purely based on your description, it sounds like a spline conversion issue. Could you use attached .ini file as configuration file and see if it works better? If it does, it means some of the mode edges are projected as two point straight splines or generated splines leading to the bad export behavior.

Many thanks!

[eric_schubert2]

Thanks for providing that .ini file.  I ran some quick testing and here's what I found:

• Using as-is, no modifications after picking the .ini, Sheet Scale - Model Space works fine
• Switching away from and then back to Sheet Scale - Model Space works
• Sheet Scale - Layout works
• Base View Scale - Model Space works
• Base View Scale - Layout Space works
• Full Scale - Model Space fails, broken view missing

No other changes were made.  I can do further testing, if you'd like.  Just let me know what to try.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Eric,

I am sorry that I misunderstood your issue. I don't think BetterSpline.ini would change the behavior in this case. It looks like Full-Scale Model Space option excludes break views. It never works. I cannot explain why. It is probably a missing workflow or we don't have users asking for this particular behavior.

Could you tell me why you want to export break views to full-scaled in AutoCAD dwg model space?

Many thanks!

[eric_schubert2]

I'm simply assisting a customer with exporting their files to DXF format.  Part of the reason for exporting is for shop readability, and the other part is to export flat patterns in drawings for programming on a cutting table (plasma, waterjet, laser, etc.).

They don't really plan to program off of views with breaks in them anyway.  But, the fact that exporting to DXF format fails to work properly with views that contain breaks in them --and not just in the Full Scale - Model Space option-- seems like a bug.  It worked better in the .ini that you provided, but end users aren't going to understand how to make their own configurations to get around the issue.

This shouldn't even be a problem to begin with.  It works just fine in export to DWG format, even with views containing breaks.  DXF should work, too.

Not ranting, and certainly not trying to point a finger at you.  It's not your fault.  But, I want to report this issue so it can be fixed.

[eric_schubert2]

Johnson, thanks for your help on this.  Can you confirm if this has been logged as a bug?

As I mentioned earlier, in the default configuration, it's not just the one scaling choice that causes the issue.  Seems like a bug to me.  It works fine when exporting to DWG format.

[johnsonshiue · Accepted solution]

Hi Eric,

Yes, it has been reported as a defect (INVGEN-13697) but I would not anticipate a quick fix.

Many thanks!

[eric_schubert2]

Thank you for reporting this issue to development.  We appreciate your help!.

[edoardo.pruneri]

Hello There,

I'm using Inventor 2020 and I realized that the bug is still there!!

Can anyone tell me something good on this, please?

The kindest regards,

Ed.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Guys,

I just checked the latest status for INVGEN-13697. It is not yet fixed.

Many thanks!

[liqinomickey]

@eric_schubert2 ,

Have you tried uncheck the "Model Geometry Only" check box? This should have the break view exported.